Know Your
Bible
VOL. 10 January
23,
2011
NO. 4
A Study Of Matthew
Twenty-Four (II)
Jesus said, “He that
shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Mt. 24:13). We cannot
lift the word “end” from this context and make it the end of the world. The end,
in this context, occurred in that generation (Mt. 24:34). It was the end of the
temple and Jerusalem which occurred in 70 A D. In fact, in the next verse, Jesus
said the end would come after the gospel of the kingdom was preached in all the
world (Mt. 24:14). This occurred before the destruction of Jerusalem and
the temple. Paul said the gospel had been preached in all the world in (Col.
1:6,23) about 62 or 63 A D. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in 70 A
D.
Jesus said, “When ye
therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)”
(Mt. 24:15). Jesus refers to what Daniel wrote (Dan. 9:23-27). Daniel was
writing about the destruction of Jerusalem. You might find it difficult to
determine from the book of Daniel what he was referring to by “abomination of
desolation”. However, you can plainly see that Daniel is talking about the
destruction of Jerusalem and the “sanctuary”, the temple. What Jesus says in
Luke’s account of these things will clear up the matter. Jesus said,
“When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the
desolation thereof is nigh” (Lk. 21:20). This would be the time for Judea
to flee to the mountains (Mt. 24:16; Lk. 21:21). People who apply these things
to the end of time need to explain to us what good it would do to flee to the
mountains. It reminds me of years ago, when I was preaching in a school building
at Camp Creek in Leslie County, Ky. I was using a public address system. A man
across the mountain on Bad Creek heard me preaching. I said something about
people going to hell. He ran in the house and told his family to get the guns
and dogs and flee to the mountains, because the world was coming to an end. I
don’t know what good he thought guns and dogs would do, if the Lord was coming
back. Jesus was not talking about people in Leslie County, Kentucky fleeing to
the mountains. He was talking about people in Judea fleeing to the mountains.
The world was not being destroyed, but Jerusalem and the temple. Jerusalem and
the temple were located in Judea. This is why those in Judea were told to flee
to the mountains (Mt.
24:16).
Dear reader, look at
verses 17-22. How can any of those verses apply to the end of time? At the end
of time, there will be nothing in your house that will help you, or that you
need. However, if you are fleeing to the mountains, to escape being destroyed
along with Jerusalem and the temple, there are numbers of things in your house
you would need. Things like food, clothing, etc. It gets cold in the mountains
at night, so you could use a coat. However, you cannot afford to go back
to your house. You must flee to the mountains immediately for your safety. If
you are in the field, you cannot afford to go back to your house for clothing to
keep you warm. To save your life, you must flee to the mountains. If Jesus is
talking about the end of time, it would not matter if you are expecting a new
baby, or if you have a small nursing baby. How would fleeing to the mountain
help you, if you have a nursing baby? But since Jesus is talking about the
destruction of Jerusalem, fleeing to the mountain may save you and your unborn
child, or your small infant. However, it would be much easier to flee to the
mountains if you are not expecting, or carrying a baby along with you. It would
be much easier to hide in the mountain, if there is not an infant crying out. If
Jesus is talking about the end of time, it wouldn’t matter whether it was summer
or winter. It would make no difference whether it was the Sabbath day or
not. However, it makes a lot of difference since Jesus is talking about
the Roman army coming to destroy Jerusalem and the temple. If it is in the
winter time, with snow, ice, and cold, living conditions, in the mountains,
would be much more difficult. You would miss that coat you couldn’t afford to go
back to your house to obtain much more in the winter time, than you would in the
summer time. If you have to flee on the Sabbath day, you would find the gate of
the city closed, making it much more difficult to get away into the mountains.
None of this would matter if Jesus is talking about the end of time. In verse 21
Jesus said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the
beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be”. There is no
way you can apply this to the end of time. It is true the tribulation of hell
will be worse than anything that ever has been. However, there is nothing to
follow the tribulation of hell that will be anything less than hell itself. The
tribulation associated with the destruction of Jerusalem will fit. There was
tribulation associated with the destruction of Jerusalem that was worse than any
tribulation prior to that time, and also worse than any that has followed that
time, and there never will be such tribulation on earth again. You have the word
of Christ on that. To get an idea of how terrible this tribulation was, go to
the library and get a copy of Josephus, the Jewish historian, and read about the
tribulation associated with the destruction of Jerusalem. You will be impressed
with the truth of what Jesus spoke here. Those days of tribulation were so great
that no flesh could have been saved, even the elect, if those days had not been
shortened (Mt. 24:22).
Those who take the position that
Jesus is talking about the end of time think they have conclusive proof in
verses 29-31. Before we examine those verses, let me remind you again that Jesus
said all these things would be fulfilled in that generation (Mt. 24:34). Also,
let me remind you that Jesus told Peter, James, John and Andrew (Mk. 13:3) that
when they saw these signs they would know the time was near for the destruction
of the temple (Mt. 24:32, 33). Now, let’s examine these
verses.
Jesus said,
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened,
and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and
the powers of the heavens shall be shaken” (Mt. 24:29). Some would
say this has to refer to the end of time. However, such is not the case. In
Isaiah 13 God predicts the fall of Babylon (V. 1). In verse 6 Isaiah said,
“Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand”. In verse 9 Isaiah said,
“Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger,
to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of
it”. Notice the word desolate used both about the destruction of Babylon
and the destruction of Jerusalem. In verse 10 Isaiah said, “For the stars of
heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall
be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to
shine”. In verse 13 Isaiah said, “Therefore I will shake the heavens,
and the earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of hosts,
and in the day of his fierce anger”. The words of Isaiah sound very much
like the words of Jesus Christ. Neither Isaiah nor Christ is talking about the
end of time. Isaiah is talking about the destruction of Babylon, and Jesus
Christ is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem. In the book of Joel, the
prophet warns the city of Zion (Joel 2:1). Zion would be destroyed. The prophet
said, “The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun
and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the
Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he
is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very
terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:10,11) The prophet is not
describing the end of time, but the destruction of the city of Zion by an army
of locust. Very similar language is found in Joel chapter 2, a passage
which Peter quotes on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21) and applies to events
associated with the crucifixion of Christ. The great and notable day of the Lord
that both Joel and Peter talked about is not the end of time, but the day of
Pentecost where men for the first time called on the name of the Lord and were
saved.
Jesus said, “And then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes
of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a
great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four
winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Mt. 24:30,31). The argument is
made that this has to be talking about the end of time. I suggest to you that
all Scriptures are to be understood in their context. Verse 30 says, “then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven”. But remember Jesus did
not give any signs about the end of the world. All the signs had to do with the
destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple. Also, verse 34 said all those things
would be fulfilled in His generation (Mt. 24:34). His generation ended 2000
years ago. Therefore, “the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory”, would refer to His coming to destroy Jerusalem,
which happened in that generation, and not His coming to destroy the world,
which may not come for yet many more generations. We have already shown that
Jesus came many times, but He will come only one time to destroy the world. He
came to destroy Jerusalem and the temple in His generation. He will come again
to destroy the world, but Jesus did not know when that would be (Mt. 24:36).
Jesus and God have sent the angels many times to gather chosen ones for various
purposes. The Greek word angelos is sometimes translated messenger. God’s
messengers are not always those who live in heaven. In verse 31 the messengers
gather the elect (chosen ones) from all over the world to destroy the temple and
the city of Jerusalem. All of this happened in His generation (Mt.
24:34).
A Verse By Verse Study Of The End Of Time (Mt.
24:36-51)
“But of that day and
hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Mt.
24:36). Jesus could give the disciples signs to tell them when Jerusalem would
be destroyed, but He could give no signs to show when He would return, because
He did not know when He would return. Jesus did not know when He would return,
but He knew it would be “as the days of Noah were” (Mt. 24:37). Jesus
knew that His coming would be as it was before the flood. “They were eating
and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered
into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away”
(Mt. 24:38). It will be the same way when the Lord returns at the end of the
world. People will be eating, drinking, and getting married, and the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, unexpectedly, and the wicked will be cast into
hell. There will be no signs that people can see to help them prepare. Jesus
said, “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth
come”(Mt. 24:42). If the “goodman of the house had known in what watch
the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his
house to be broken up” (Mt. 24:43). “Therefore be ye also ready: for in
such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Mt. 24:44). Jesus did
not know when He would return, but he knew in one part of the world “two men
shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Mt.
24:40). He knew that in another part of the world it would be at the time when
women grind at the mill (Mt. 24:41). He knew some would be taken, i.e. saved,
and others left, i.e. lost. Jesus knew that we should be “a faithful
and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them
meat in due season” (Mt. 24:45). He knew that the faithful and wise servant
will be serving the Lord faithfully when the Lord cometh. This faithful and wise
servant will be made “ruler over all his goods” (Mt. 24:46,47). Jesus
also knew the evil servant would think the Lord delayeth His coming and will
thus mistreat his fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunken, and the
Lord will come when he is not expecting Him (Mt.
24:48-51).
---Windell
Wiser