本期视频，魏泰德牧师讨论了怀爱伦的《善恶之争》 第一章，标题是《耶路撒冷的毁灭》。

在这里，我们看到耶稣在橄榄山上，注视着耶路撒冷及圣殿，一边哭泣一边说：“巴不得你在这日子知道关系你平安的事，无奈这事现在是隐藏的，叫你的眼看不出来。因为日子将到，你的仇敌必筑起土垒，周围环绕你，四面困住你。并要扫灭你和你里头的儿女，连一块石头也不留在石头上，因你不知道眷顾你的时候。”（路加福音19:42-44）

要知道耶路撒冷的城墙既高又坚固，怎么可能被毁灭呢？

40年后，预言实现了：“这是一件骇人听闻的惨事……圣城所坐落的整个山头，像一座火山一样四面着火。房屋轰然一声，一座一座地倒塌了，被卷入烈火吞没无遗。香柏木的屋顶成了一片火焰，镀金的尖阁看上去好像烧红的大铁锥一样；城楼上的火焰与烟云直升天空。邻近的山头映得通红；照出黑暗中的人群正在恐怖焦急中注视着这一场大劫……罗马兵士跑来跑去的呐喊声，倒在烈火中之叛徒的哀鸣声，大火焚烧的怒吼声，和梁柱倒塌的轰隆声，混成一片…… 沿城一带，回应着哭泣号啕的声音。”

令人惊讶的是，没有基督徒在此毁灭中丧生，他们是如何逃脱的呢？

基督给过门徒一个警告：“你们看见耶路撒冷被兵围困，就可知道它成荒场的日子近了。那时，在犹太的应当逃到山上，在城里的应当出来，在乡下的不要进城。”他们信了这些话，并注意这些应许的预兆。

然后，在薛提亚统率罗马军兵包围了耶路撒冷城后，又撤退了。“其实这是上帝的慈悲安排，指示他自己子民逃脱的良机。主所应许的兆头已经向那些等待着的基督徒显现了，现在正是给一切听从救主警告的人一个机会。”（怀爱伦《善恶之争》30页）当罗马人在提多的指挥下返回时，所有注意到这一警告的人都已经逃走了。

这些场景将以更宏大的方式重现。“救主所说有关耶路撒冷遭受刑罚的预言，将要应验在另一件事上；对于这件事，耶路撒冷的凄凉荒废只可算是一个隐约的预表。从这蒙拣选之城的厄运上，我们可以看出这个拒绝上帝恩典并践踏他律法的世界所必遭受的灭亡……世人拒绝上天权威的结果真是一系列的可怕。虽然如此，但那有关将来之事的启示，却提供一幕比这更为忧郁的景象。”（怀爱伦《善恶之争》36页）

尽管如此，我们却无需惧怕，耶稣“已经警告世人关于最后毁灭的日子，又给了他们（我们）许多兆头，使一切愿意的人都可以知道毁灭的临近，逃避那要来的忿怒。”（怀爱伦《善恶之争》37页）

你相信末日即将到来吗？你看到耶稣复临的兆头了吗？你为此预备妥当了吗？

 “信耶和华你们的 神，就必立稳；信他的先知，就必亨通。”（历代志下20:20） 想了解更多耶路撒冷的毁灭，欢迎登录网站https://greatcontroversyproject.org/  阅读怀爱伦著作《善恶之争》。

This week, Pastor Ted Wilson discusses the first chapter of The Great Controversy by Ellen White, entitled “The Destruction of Jerusalem.”

Here, we find Jesus on the Mount of Olives, gazing down on Jerusalem and its temple, weeping while saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in on every side, and level you and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:42-44, NKJV).

Knowing the walls of Jerusalem were high and fortified, how could this destruction be possible?

Forty years after that instance, the prophecy was fulfilled: “It was an appalling spectacle…The whole summit of the hill which commanded the city blazed like a volcano. One after another, the buildings fell in with a tremendous crash and were swallowed up in the fiery abyss. The roofs of cedar were like sheets of flame; the gilded pinnacles shone like spikes of red light; the gate towers sent up tall columns of flame and smoke. The neighboring hills were lit up; dark groups of people were seen watching in horrible anxiety the progress of the destruction…The shouts of the Roman soldiery as they ran to and fro, and the howlings of the insurgents who were perishing in the flames, mingled with the roaring of the conflagration and the thundering sound of falling timbers…all along the walls resounded [with] screams and wailing” (Ellen White, The Great Controversy, page 34).

Amazingly, no Christians died in the destruction. How did they escape?

Christ gave His disciples a warning: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her” (Luke 21:20-21, NKJV). They believed these words and watched for the promised sign.

Then, under the command of Cestius, the Romans surrounded the city of Jerusalem. But later, they withdrew. “God’s merciful providence was directing events for the good of His own people. The promised sign had been given to the waiting Christians, and now an opportunity was offered for all who would, to obey the Saviour’s warning” (Ellen White, The Great Controversy, page 30). All who heeded this warning had already fled when the Romans returned under the command of Titus.

These scenes will be repeated in a much bigger way. “The Saviour’s prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow. In the fate of the chosen city, we may behold the doom of a world that has rejected God’s mercy and trampled upon His law…Terrible have been the results of rejecting the authority of Heaven. But a scene yet darker is presented in the revelations of the future,” Ellen White continued on page 36.

Nevertheless, we don’t have to fear. Jesus “has warned the world of the day of final destruction and has given [us] tokens of its approach, that all who will may flee from the wrath to come” (page 37).

Do you believe the end is near? Do you see the signs of Jesus’ second coming? Are you ready for it?

“Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper” (2 Chronicles 20:20, NKJV).

To learn more about the destruction of Jerusalem, read The Great Controversy by Ellen White at https://greatcontroversyproject.org/.