Great Chapters of the Bible

Scripture: Matthew 24:1-2

C.I.: Matthew 24

Everything from the “Left Behind” books & movies, predictions of the Lord's return (May 21, 2011 – Harold Camping), even today's global upheavals (tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, wars, etc.), are causing many to wonder about the Second Coming! Today…!

I. Jesus Teaching Regarding the “End Times,” (Matthew 24)

A. Understanding the Outline of this Chapter, (v. 3)

1. ( v. 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?'””
a. (Scripture Reading) – the disciples believed the temple would be destroyed at the end of the world!
b. How Jesus responded to their ??, “When Jerusalem/world will be judged & the signs preceding each.”
c. In Jesus answer, He speaks of His 2 judgments; one upon Jerusalem & one upon the whole world!

B. The Lord's Coming in Judgment upon Jerusalem, (vs. 4-35)

1. S igns regarding the destruction of Jerusalem, (vs. 4-14)
a. First, why was Jerusalem to be destroyed?
1) The political reason: Sicarii (dagger-men) were killing, Romans, sympathizers, Herodians….
2) Titus' “Arch of Triumph” in Rome shows the sacking of the temple in Jerusalem.
3) The “real reason”: ( Matt. 27:24-25) , “And Pilate washed his hands in front of the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man's blood.' And all the people answered and said, ‘His blood be upon us and on our children.'.”

b. Jesus warns His disciples of a number of signs which would precede the destruction of Jerusalem…
1) ( v. 5 ), “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.”
2) ( v. 6 ), “There will be wars and rumors of wars.”
3) ( vs. 7-14 ), “…nation will rise against nation… false prophets will arise… lawlessness will increase… gospel of the K. will be preached in the whole world.”
4) “There was a great number of false prophets…,” Flavius Josephus, “The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem,” Book VI, Chapter V, Section 2.
5) ( Rom. 1:8 ), “…your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.”


2. Historical & Literary warnings regarding the destruction of Jerusalem, (vs. 15-28)
a. The “abomination of desolation”- There has been considerable debate about what this means…!
1) ( v. 15 ), “When you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand – Matthew writes )...”
2) ( Lk. 21:20 ), “ When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies then you recognize that her desolation is at hand. ”
3) Josephus, “Now the Romans… brought their ensigns into the temple, and set them over against the eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifice to them.”
4) Therefore, the presence of the Roman army and what they brought into the temple (idolatry)!



b. The other “warnings” clearly show that Jesus is speaking of a regional rather than global incident!
1) ( v. 16 ), “Those who are in Judea flee into the mountains.”
2) ( v. 17 ), “Let him who is on the housetop not go down to get things out of the house.”
3) ( v. 18 ), “Let not him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak.”
4) None of these things would matter if Jesus were speaking of His Second Coming.

c. Jesus uses a “literary marker” to help us understand He is NOT speaking of His Second Coming.
1) ( v. 19 ), “…woe to those who nurse babes in those days .”
2) ( v. 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.”
3) When the Bible speaks of Jesus 2 nd Coming, it is always referred to as something which takes place immediately. The siege of Jerusalem lasted from A.D. 66-70.

3. Old Testament allusions regarding the destruction of Jerusalem, (vs. 29-31).
a. ( v. 29 ), “But immediately after the tribulation of those days , the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”
1) This surely sounds like a “2 nd Coming” statement. Yet this “judgment Day” language was used before, (i.e., in the Old Testament).
2) ( Ezk. 32:7-8 ), “I will cover the heavens and darken the stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you and I will set darkness on your land.”
3) Yet God is not describing the end of the world but His coming in judgment upon the land of Egypt. ( v. 1 ), “Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him….”

b. ( v. 30 ), Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.”
1) Surely this is talking about our Lord's 2 nd Coming, right?! WRONG!!! Been used before…
2) ( Isa. 19:1 ), “The oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud, and is about to come to Egypt.”
3) This “about to come” is showing the nearness of God's judgment upon Egypt in Isaiah's day!

c. Jesus alludes to 2 prophets & 2 prophecies from the O.T. which both refer to the same event, God's judgment upon a single nation – Egypt. Thus He is saying just as God judged Egypt so will He also in
the same way judge Israel/Jerusalem!

4. A parable regarding the destruction of Jerusalem, (vs. 32-35)
a. ( vs. 32-33 ), “Now learn the parable from the fig tree; when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.
1) Hal Lindsey – Fig Tree, “The Late, Great Planet Earth,” p. 43.
2) Jesus gives the interpretation, “When you see all these things…!”

b. ( v. 34 ), “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
1) Hal Lindsey, of course, believes “this generation” refers to the generation of people alive at
the founding of Israel in 1948, (cf. p. 43, “The Late, Great Planet Earth” ).
2) “This generation” = Means the same thing here as it meant in Matt. 23:35-36 , “That upon you may fall the guilt of all the R. blood shed on the earth, from the blood of R. Abel to the blood of
Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple & the altar, truly I say to you, all these things shall fall upon this generation .” I.e., the generation then alive!!!

c. ( v. 35 ), “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words will not pass away until all these things take place.”
1) To emphasize His message, Jesus declares its certainty is more permanent than the creation!
C. The Lord's Coming in Judgment upon the World, (vs. 36-51)

1. Notice there is a change in the “literary marker” so there is also a change in the message, (vs. 36-44).
a. ( v. 36 ), “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”
1) The “those days” passages (vs. 19, 22, 29) are now replaced with “that day,” = 2 nd Coming!
2) ( Quote I Cor. 15:51-52; II Thess. 4:16; II Pt. 3:10 ), “I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead shall be raised mperishable, and we shall all be changed,” “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first…,” “For the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will melt with intense heat, and the earth and
its works will be burned up….”
3) God's judgment upon Jerusalem spanned several years. It will happen in a day for the world!

b. ( vs. 37-39 ), “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.”
1) While there were many signs to be observed (historical & scriptural), Jesus (contrary to most religious programming today) tells us there will be NO “ signs” preceding His coming! )
2) When Jesus spoke about His coming in judgment upon the nation of Israel, He chose two scriptures which both referred to God's previous judgment upon a singer nation – Egypt. 3) But now when Jesus wants to refer to God's coming judgment upon the world, He uses Old Testament scripture which shows the global nature of that judgment – FLOOD!

c. Since there are no signs before the coming judgment, how are we to warn others? (2 ways)
1) First, the same way God warned the people in Noah's day – preaching, ( I Pt. 3:20; II Pt. 2:5 ), “…when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark…,” “… [God] preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.”
2) Second, the divine warning from God Himself, ( v. 44 ), “For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will!”


2. A parable regarding the destruction of the world, (vs. 45-51)

a. ( vs. 45-51 ), “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time, 'and shall begin to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when you he does not expect and at an hour which he does not know, and
shall cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; weeping shall be there and the gnashing of teeth.”?
1) Jesus uses this parable to teach us some important things about His 2 nd Coming.
a) God's people have been given responsibilities by the Master (evangelism – Matt.
28:19; Acts 17:30-31 ), “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…,” “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring that all men everywhere
should repent, because HE has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from
the dead.”
b) Our Master (Jesus) has gone away for an indeterminate period of time.
c) He will return at a time when we do not expect.
d) He will dole out rewards/punishments based on our faithfulness to His commission.