The evening of the third day: The Lord answers the concerned disciples about the end of Israel. Matt 24The evening of the third day:
After His last solemn warning to those in the temple the Lord and the disciples took a walk up the Mount of Olives.
The disciples were definitely concerned. So much had happened that day and things seemed to get progressively worse. The Lord had started with denunciations of Israel which progressed to predictions about complete destruction.
The teachings of Christ seemed to get more dire as the day went on. Parable after parable predicted judgment that grew worse and worse. The Lord had even stood in the middle of the temple court and publicly condemned the religious people and their beloved temple, likened to a den of thieves in pronouncing 7 woe’s against them. Earlier they had challenged His authority and late in the afternoon He spoke as their God of judgment.
Matt 23:37-39 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! 39 "For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, ' Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'"
This passage reveals that Israel could have avoided the Tribulation completely, but as Christ will reveal to His disciples, the end will not come until the Tribulation is over.
From the Mount of Olives at certain places the Temple is in full view. We can imagine the sun setting on the temple’s magnificence. Though the Jews had hated Herod they did love the beauty of their temple. The marble stones, some of them 24 feet long, were so beautiful with wavy patterns that looked like waves that it was said that it wouldn’t be prudent to even cover them with gold.
As the sun gleans off the gold and the massive structure of the temple, casting long shadows in the courts it seems to almost come alive with God’s glory, and the Lord stated that it would be left desolate and that not one stone would be left upon another.
Matt 24:1-2 And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down."
This is the nation of the disciples and this is their temple as well and they are naturally concerned.
But not only that, where was the Lord going? We can assume that they understand that when Israel says, “Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord,” that is the Second Coming of Christ. He said that they wouldn’t see Him again, until that time.
Would they see Him again?
The Lord does not give a timeline or indicate that the destruction of the temple would be immediately followed by His return. There is an indefinite period of time between the two, which we now know for sure because we have the canon. You have to remember that all of this is brand new to them.
They are extremely concerned and probably a little afraid.
So finally someone breaks the silence and asks the question; actually they ask two questions:
Matt 24:3 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
In Mark’s account there are four disciples named:
Mark 13:3-4 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, 4 "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?"
The Lord will not answer the first question. Sorry Raptards, but no one knows the when. But He does answer the second question concerning the sign of His coming and the end of the age.
This is why in the CA we can be interpreters of historical trends but we can never know when the Lord will return. Our ability to interpret history is a gift within the mystery doctrine for the church.
However, there is an answer to their first question concerning the destruction of the city under Titus in 70 A.D.
Luke 21:20-24 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. 21 "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city; 22 because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 "Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people, 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
But again, an actual timeline is not given.
First is given a warning:
Matt 24:4-5 And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. 5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
To the disciples this warning would apply to Jewish seductions attempting to lead them after false Christ’s. There were in fact many who claimed to be Messiah’s after Christ’s death and before the destruction of Israel – about 40 years of satanic attack against the teachings of Christ and His disciples.
Acts 5:33-42 But when they heard this, they were cut to the quick and were intending to slay them. 34 But a certain Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. 35 And he said to them, "Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. 36 "For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody; and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. And he was slain; and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 "After this man Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away some people after him, he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. 38 "And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action should be of men, it will be overthrown; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God." 40 And they took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them to speak no more in the name of Jesus, and then released them. 41 So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Acts 8:9-13 Now there was a certain man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city, and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, "This man is what is called the Great Power of God." 11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. 13 And even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip; and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
Josephus in War of the Jews, Book 2, sections 4 and 5 states:
4. There was also another body of wicked men gotten together, not so impure in their actions, but more wicked in their intentions, which laid waste the happy state of the city no less than did these murderers. These were such men as deceived and deluded the people under pretense of Divine inspiration, but were for procuring innovations and changes of the government; and these prevailed with the multitude to act like madmen, and went before them into the wilderness, as pretending that God would there show them the signals of liberty. But Felix thought this procedure was to be the beginning of a revolt; so he sent some horsemen and footmen both armed, who destroyed a great number of them.
5. But there was an Egyptian false prophet that did the Jews more mischief than the former; for he was a cheat, and pretended to be a prophet also, and got together thirty thousand men that were deluded by him; these he led round about from the wilderness to the mount which was called the Mount of Olives, and was ready to break into Jerusalem by force from that place; and if he could but once conquer the Roman garrison and the people, he intended to domineer over them by the assistance of those guards of his that were to break into the city with him. But Felix prevented his attempt, and met him with his Roman soldiers, while all the people assisted him in his attack upon them, insomuch that when it came to a battle, the Egyptian ran away, with a few others, while the greatest part of those that were with him were either destroyed or taken alive; but the rest of the multitude were dispersed every one to their own homes, and there concealed themselves.
In fact, Paul, after a riot ensued in Jerusalem, was accused of being this Egyptian:
Acts 21:37-38 And as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, "May I say something to you?" And he said, "Do you know Greek? 38 "Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?"
Further into the CA this warning still applies since there have been many false Messiah’s claiming the title of Savior.
After the warning to not go after false doctrines and false teachers, the early stages that are the sign of His coming are mentioned.
Matt 24:4-8 And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. 5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. 6 "And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
Yet another warning is given to not be afraid. The church will not enter the great Tribulation therefore there is no reason to fear the end.
The signs are wars and rumors of wars, world wars (nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom), as well as famines and earthquakes. All of these thing have increased greatly in the last century.
Also is indicated their outward persecution, but not only theirs.
Persecution is a historical reality, but the context of this passage brings us into the Tribulation when Israel will suffer the greatest persecution in their bloody history.
Matt 24:9-14 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. 10 "And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. 11 "And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. 12 "And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. 13 "But the one who endures to the end [through faith and not being stupid; those who physically survive the Tribulation], he shall be saved [delivered]. 14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations [there will be 4 instances of worldwide witnessing: the 144,000; the tribulational saints; the two witnesses in Jerusalem; and angels], and then the end shall come.
The Rapture of the Church is simply Christ saving His bride from this time. The Rapture is for the Church alone and therefore not indicated in this discourse.
Matt 24:15 "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
This occurs at the midpoint of the Tribulation.
The abomination of desolation is an image of the Roman dictator. This image is put in churches throughout the world. This is the way the World Council of Churches will develop.
A Roman dictator commands a ten-nation confederation which will be in the old Roman Empire — Western Europe plus USA plus maybe a couple of other nations in the western hemisphere.
This Roman dictator will also hold together his empire just as the Roman empire was held together, “Caesar is God!”
In so doing there will be a way in which people will recognise Caesar is Lord [God], just as they did in the ancient Roman empire — image of the Caesar put up in the temple. And so in the temple in Jerusalem there will be in the holy of holies the image of the Caesar and this is because the dictator of the Jews in the Tribulation is in a hot spot and he makes a deal with the dictator of Rome.
In the deal the Roman says you must accept my religion, ecumenical religion, and to show that you do so you will put my statue, a gold statue, up in the holy of holies. The abomination of desolation is that statue. This abomination of desolation was spoken of by Daniel the prophet — 9:27; 11:31; 12:11.
When that statue hits the holy of holies it is a signal for born again Jews to get out of town immediately.
Matt 24:16-28 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; 17 let him who is on the housetop not go down to get the things out that are in his house; 18 and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak. 19 "But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days! 20 "But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath; 21 for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. 22 "And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short. 23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. 24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 "Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 "If therefore they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go forth, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them. 27 "For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
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