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NASB | Luke 19:44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 19:44 and they will level you to the ground, you [Jerusalem] and your children within you. They will not leave in you one stone on another, all because you did not [come progressively to] recognize [from observation and personal experience] the time of your visitation [when God was gracious toward you and offered you salvation]." |
Bible Question:
Greetings Brothers and Sisters! Looking for some help on this passage of scripture. Luke 19:41-44 (NASB95) 19:41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 19:42 saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 19:43 "For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, 19:44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." Is it accurate to say that the time of ones visitation may be over long before ones death so to speak and that after this time of visitation the way will be hidden? I struggle to even ask the question properly :-( These are the things that stand out to me and I want to make sure I am not reading into this. Verse 44 mentions the time of ones visitation and the fact it was not recognized. Verse 42 seems to me to say judgment had already been passed for the things which make for peace were "now" hidden from their eyes. Does this apply to salvation? |
Bible Answer: Dear Humbled, There's a tendency in almost everyone today to try to dig up some kind of deeper meaning behind things. Its almost as if there is a disdain for things that obvious and clear. Evangelicalism suffers from this malady today. It is true that the Scriptures cannot properly be understood without the Holy Spirit. To the lost there is little hope of comprehending. I don't think that's because it is something magical. The lost are so concerned with themselves and their hatred of God that they push the truth away. God is far above our ability to understand. Nevertheless, He has taken great care to explain Himself through history, poetry, instruction, etc. of the Word of God. Even the authors of Scripture wanted people to understand. They weren't trying to hide things in a code or something. Now that doesn't mean that everything is simple. No, sometimes truth is deeply profound. But that doesn't mean we should expect it to always be so profound! Consequently, when we read a passage we look for the clear and obvious meaning. Let's look at this passage: And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out." And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation." (Luke 19:39-44 ESV) Christ is speaking to the Pharisees. They were objecting to the people's reaction to his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (see verses 36-38). Christ had told the Pharisees that they did not believe in Him because they were not "His sheep" (John 10:26). Instead, they chose the darkness that they loved (see John 1). Christ tells them that God has given them up to a judicial blindness. They can't see the things that make for peace with God. As a consequence judgment would come upon them. Christ prophesies here of the destruction of Jerusalem. The "visitation" he speaks of here is His own entrance into history: the very thing happening before the Pharisees eyes. I hope that helps you to understand this passage properly. You might want to look through the thread I posted sometime back on properly interpreting the Scriptures (#156916). In particular there is a section on interpreting narrative (#157733). (This passage in question is of the literary form known as narrative.) In Him, Doc |