What Did Jesus Mean By Losing Saltiness and Being Thrown Out To Be Trampled?
Luke 14:34-35
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.”
The people of Israel were to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world as they shined Jesus to the world.
Matthew 5:13-14
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
The people of Israel would lose their saltiness and light if they denied Jesus as the Christ.
The people of the world were without God and hope in the world.
They were living in spiritual darkness and worshiping demonic gods.
Israel was to be salt in their tasteless life and light in their dark world.
By denying Jesus as the Christ, they would have no salt or light to offer the world.
As a result, first-century, Christ-denying Israel would be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
Thrown out and trampled underfoot is a direct statement by Jesus about judgment on unbelieving Israel when the Roman soldiers would trample them underfoot from AD 66 to AD 70.
In Luke 21:20-24, Jesus spoke about Jerusalem being trampled underfoot by the Roman armies.
Luke 21:20-24 (NKJV)
“But when you [first-century Israel] 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...
...For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled...
...But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!...
...For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people...
...And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations….
…And Jerusalem will be TRAMPLED by Gentiles [the Roman soldiers – AD 66-70] until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled [AD 70 when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed]."
This trampling was fulfilled in Revelation 9:5, 11:2, and 14:20 when the final old covenant judgments were poured out on old covenant Israel.
Revelation 11:2
But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles [the Roman armies]. They will TRAMPLE on the holy city for 42 months [Spring of 67 to September of 70].
During this time, the Roman armies besieged Jerusalem for five months.
Revelation 9:5
They [Roman armies] were not allowed to kill them [unbelieving Israel within the walls of Jerusalem] but only to torture them for five months [April-September of AD 70].
After the five month period, the Roman armies broke down the walls of Jerusalem and the temple and entered Jerusalem, trampling on many dead bodies.
Jesus spoke about this siege in Luke 19:41-44.
Luke 19:41-44 (see also Revelation 9:5)
…As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said,
“If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace [Jerusalem accepting Jesus as the Christ] — but now it is hidden from your eyes...
...The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side...
...They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Before, during, and after the siege, the Roman armies trampled on Jerusalem.
Revelation 14:20
They [unbelieving Israel] were TRAMPLED in the winepress outside the city [the Roman soldiers were located outside the city of Jerusalem and they trampled on the people of Jerusalem when they entered the city; they trampled on the people, cities, towns, and villages of Israel as they made their way to Jerusalem], and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia [the north to south measurement of biblical Israel – 180 to 200 miles].
An army being a winepress to carry out God’s judgment by trampling on old covenant Israel was old covenant language.
In Lamentations 1:15, Jeremiah described the army of Babylon as a winepress that trampled on Judah (the kingdom of southern Israel).
Lamentations 1:15
The Lord has rejected all the mighty men in my midst; He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. Like grapes in a winepress, the Lord has TRAMPLED the Virgin Daughter of Judah.
See also Isaiah 5:5; 10:6; Jeremiah 10:12; and Daniel 7:19 for example of armies trampling on Israel in delivering God’s judgment.
In Luke 14:34-35 and Matthew 5:13-14, when Jesus spoke about the people of Israel losing saltiness and being thrown out to be trampled on, he was referring to the old covenant law judgments when the people of Israel who denied Jesus as the Christ would be trampled on by the Roman armies from AD 66-70.
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