This weekend is Easter. It should call to mind the parable of the landowner who hired laborers to tend his field and who when he called for the bounty of the vine, were supposed to send it forward. Only when the landowner called for his property and the fruit of his fields to be delivered, the managers beat and killed the men sent to collect.
Then the owner of the field sent more men to collect the bounty from his fields and the managers killed them so they could keep the produce and yield for themselves. Thinking they would respect the owners son, he sends his boy to the managers to collect what is rightfully the owners and the manager say to themselves, "Surely we will kill the son and then we can keep it all for ourselves!" So they murder the son of the owner. What will the owner do with these managers of his estate when he returns? This parable is in Matthew 21: 33-46. Christians seem utterly baffled by this parable.
This is the story of Jesus and the religious leadership in Israel 2,000 years ago. The chief priests and the Pharisees did the exact same thing as the priests had done with all of God's messengers. They rarely understood the Scriptures and seldom followed God's will and desires. For the majority of the history of Christianity people have understood the great evil that was perpetrated by the religious leadership against Jesus. They preferred what they had and refused God. So they killed Jesus. It is undeniable. It is black and white. They were bad tenants.
Some would eventually repent and believe, but many stuck to their guns and hated Christians as much as they hated Jesus and they still do. The biggest insult right now is the fact there are people who want to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem so they can resume animal sacrifices. This is nothing more than spit in the eye of Jesus and the complete rejection of the Messiah for the exact same reasons as last time. They like what they have in the here and now and do not want or even know what God desires for them and all people who believe in Jesus.
So why do Christians today fall all over themselves to take "Holy Land" tours? Why do Christians today send money and endless amounts of support and Federal Reserve Notes and military hardware to the modern state of Israel?
They have been duped!
A large effort began in the 1800's to reform or reconstitute the state of Israel and they flooded the world with bad literature and worse theology to justify the zionist beliefs of a nation state for Israel along the lines of the Old Testament. They completely ignore how God rejected the plans and desires of man 2,000 years ago and sent His Son so they could be saved from their sins.
The modern state of Israel is still yelling, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" They have only one king and that king is Caesar.still to do this day.
I cannot fathom the amount of energy, money, and time that has been spent in the last 150 years to sway opinion so Christians would be stupid enough to agree to fund, finance, and militarily support the construction of another temple in rejection of God's Son. The temple is nothing more than a thumb in the eye of God because they rejected the Messiah 2,000 years ago and they still reject him today just as violently as they did then because they prefer this world and want nothing to do with God or His plans. They hail Caesar and no one else.
So why are Christians first in line to support, fund, and militarily defend Israel? This is the question I wish pastors would ask their members.
Christians are duped and know not their own Lord and Messiah. They have fallen for the great deception again. It is just baffling. They would kill Jesus just as violently today if they could get their hands on him when they should repent, fall down on their knees in sackcloth, and throw ashes in the air. God does not want the modern state of Israel to exist as it does and He does not want another temple with its worthless animal sacrifices built. This is bad theology based on lies.
The temple of God is within each believer and it is inside this temple God will reside when they believe in Jesus. This used to be common knowledge, but propaganda works. Jesus lives, don't you think it is time you got to know Him?