Matthew 24

The Destruction of the Temple

1Now as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings. 

 

After Jesus condemned the religious leaders, the disciples showed Him the temple buildings. This was the second temple of Jewish history. The first temple was planned by David and built by Solomon. The second temple was built by Zerubbabel. However, the temple was unfinished. Herod continued this work. It would not be completed until 64 A.D. 

 

The third temple will be built by the Antichrist. The fourth and last temple will be the Millennial Temple, which will be built by God Himself.

 

2And he said to them, “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!”

 

The disciples were enjoying showing Jesus the Temple. Jesus must have shocked them when He predicted that this beautiful temple would be torn down. Jesus predicted that every stone would be torn down. When Titus burned the Temple in 70 A.D., the fire melted all of the gold which was between the rocks. He ordered the Roman soldiers to tear down every stone so that all of the gold could be gathered as plunder. Titus was an unbelieving Gentile, but he fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus.

 

Signs of the End of the Age

3As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 

 

The disciples asked Jesus three questions. They wanted to know when the temple would be torn down? Jesus will answer this question in Luke 21.

 

They wanted to know the sign of His coming? This question will be answered in the last part of this chapter.

 

They wanted to know what was the sign of the end of the age? The disciples were living in the Time of the Gentiles. The disciples wanted to know when the Messiah, instead of the Gentiles, would be ruling Israel. The Time of the Gentiles will end when the last Gentile ruler is defeated. The last Gentile ruler to rule over Israel will be the Antichrist. After the Antichrist is defeated, then the Messiah will establish the Millennial Kingdom and rule from Jerusalem.

 

4Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one misleads you. 

 

Jesus answered the third question first. The disciples wanted to know the sign of the end of the age. Many false teachers will attempt to mislead the Jews.

 

5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many. 

 

There will be many false messiahs who will come to the Jews. Many of the Jews will be misled by these false messiahs.

 

6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come.

 

There will be many wars and rumors of wars. Many people worry when the devil begins to move his agenda towards the Great Tribulation. However, these things must happen before Christ returns.

 

 7For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 

 

It is important to understand what the Jewish idiom "nation will rise up in arms against nation" meant in the days of Jesus. The Bereshit Rabbah states, "If you shall see kingdoms rising against each other in turn, then give heed and note the footsteps of the Messiah."

 

The Zohar Chadash statism "At that time wars shall be stirred up in the world, Nation shall be against nation and city against city; much distress shall be renewed against the enemies of the Israelites."

 

Therefore, one of the signs of the Second Coming is world wars. There were no world wars anywhere in the world until 1914. World War I and World War II were two signs that mark the beginning of the end of the age which is to come. World War I jump-started the growth of the Zionist movement. World War II re-established the Jewish nation.

 

Between World War I and II, there was global depression. This time period was so bad, that historians call it the Great Tribulation. After World War II, famine has continued in many nations throughout the world. From 1918–1919, a pestilence killed 23 million people. In 1920-1921, both the Great Chinese Famine and the Great Russian Famine occurred.

 

Earthquakes have also increased. There have been more people-killing earthquakes in this last century than in all of the rest of history combined. In the first 1000 years after Jesus, there were approximately 5 recorded major earthquakes.

 

Look what follows:

 

    14th century, there were 157 major earthquakes.

    15th century, there were 174 major earthquakes.

    16th century, there were 253 major earthquakes.

    17th century, there were 278 major earthquakes.

    18th century, there were 640 major earthquakes.

    19th century, there were 2119 major earthquakes.

    Nearly 900,000 earthquakes have been recorded thus far in the 20th century. An earthquake                       every hour!

 

 

8All these things are the beginning of birth pains.

 

World Wars I and II were the first birth pain of the Messianic Kingdom. Before a woman gives birth, she experiences painful birth pains. Before the joy of the Millennial Kingdom arrives, there will be the terrible birth pains of the Great Tribulation.

 

Persecution of Disciples

9“Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. 

 

As soon as the Jews cry out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, then Jesus will return.” Satan knows this prophecy. Therefore, during the Great Tribulation, the Jews will be persecuted. The Antichrist will attempt to exterminate every Jew on the planet so that they cannot call out for their Messiah to rescue them.

 

10Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 

 

Many Jews will betray each other to the Antichrist.

 

11And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, 

 

1 Corinthians 13 predicted that true prophets would disappear. They disappeared after the Temple destruction of 70 A.D. Jude and Peter predicted an increase of false teachers during the church age. Jesus predicted false prophets prior to His return. The re-emergence of false prophets in the charismatic church appeared about the same time as World War I.

 

12and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. 

 

The Holy Spirit leaves with the church at the Rapture. Evil will no longer be restrained. Lawlessness will increase. Many nations are already passing anti-biblical laws, such as Biblical censorship in public schools, abortion, same-sex marriage, hate crimes, etc.

 

There is a lot of cold love in the world. The hippie generation of the 1960’s said “Make love, not war,” but the love that they were talking about was not agape love. It was pornea love, which is fornication, adultery, and homosexuality. Pornea love is prevalent in the world today.

 

13But the person who endures to the end will be saved. 

 

According to the prophet Zechariah, two thirds of the Jews will be killed by the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation. According to Paul, all of Israel will be saved. The “all Israel” is the one third of the Jews who survive the Great Tribulation. Those Jews who make it to the end of the Great Tribulation will be saved. They will enter into the Millennial Kingdom.

 

14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

 

The church will not accomplish this task. This task will be accomplished by the 144,000 witnesses of Revelation 7 and by the angels who proclaim the gospel in all languages to all nations.

 

The Abomination of Desolation

15“So when you see the abomination of desolation – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 

 

The Book of Daniel contains in writing such specific prophecies of Babylon, Media, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The prophecies are so specific that liberals must late-date the book to escape its prophetic element. 

 

Jesus disagrees with those liberals. He taught that Daniel was a prophet. Daniel predicted that the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt during the Great Tribulation. Daniel also predicted that the Antichrist will one day stand inside of this Jewish Temple and declare that he is God. For this event to happen, Israel must be scattered all over the world, re-gathered into their land as a reborn nation, and then they must rebuild their temple. The signs of the two world wars, false prophecies in churches, cold love, lawlessness, the return of Israel as a re-born nation, and preparations to rebuild the temple demonstrate that the return of Jesus is very near.

 

16then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. 

 

When the Antichrist steps into the temple and declares that he is God, then the Jews in Judea need to flee to the mountains of Petra.

 

17The one on the roof must not come down to take anything out of his house, 

 

The Antichrist will immediately begin seeking out the Jews to exterminate them. They will not have time to take anything out of their house.

 

18and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 

 

If a Jew goes back to the field to get his cloak, he will be captured and executed by the Antichrist.

 

19Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! 

 

The Jewish mothers’ pregnancies will keep many of them from escaping the Antichrist.

 

20Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 

 

If the Antichrist declares himself to be God during winter, then the roads will be overflowed with water. They will not be able to get out of Israel fast enough. If the Antichrist enters into the temple on the Sabbath, then many of the public transportation systems will be closed down. Many of the Jews will not be able to escape. Since Satan knows this prophecy, he will most likely step into the temple, declare himself to be God, and immediately start a Jewish genocide program on a Sabbath day in the winter. He will want to exterminate as many Jews as he can, so that they will not be able to cry out for their Messiah. 

 

21For then there will be great suffering unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. 

 

Six million Jews, or 1/3 of the Jewish population, was killed by Adolph Hitler during the Holocaust. Twelve million Jews, or 2/3 of the Jewish population, will be killed by the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation. 

 

22And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 

 

Jesus is talking to a Jewish audience. The elect are the Jewish messianic believers. The Holy Spirit will cut this Jewish genocide short in order to preserve the one third of the Jewish believers who will enter into the Millennial Kingdom. The Great Tribulation will only last for seven years. Otherwise, all Jews would be exterminated. If they are all exterminated, then they cannot cry out for their Messiah. If they cannot cry out for the Messiah, then Jesus will not return. If Jesus does not return, then Satan will control the title deed of the earth. Therefore, Satan is on a leash and he will only be able to go as far as God allows him to go.

 

23Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe him. 

 

The Antichrist will establish false messiahs in order to lead the Jews into traps. His goal is to capture as many Jews as he can so that he can exterminate them.

 

24For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 

 

If the elect did not have supernatural information, then the false messiahs and prophets would deceive them as well. Notice that these false prophets will perform signs and wonders. However, these signs and wonders are used to deceive others into worshipping the devil. Christians need to be aware of these false miracle workers. They are in the modern charismatic churches today. They mix truth with error through their prophecies, tongues, words of knowledge, miracles, and hearings.

 

25Remember, I have told you ahead of time. 

 

The Jews who are living during the Great Tribulation have been given divine written information in advance so that they can avoid this persecution. Satan attempts to keep Jews ignorant of this chapter and especially this verse. 

 

26So then, if someone says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him. 

 

This is a trap to capture Jews and exterminate them. The Jews have been warned in advance by the written Word of God.

 

27For just like the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 

 

Jesus will not appear secretly in 1914, as the Jehovah Witnesses falsely claim. When Jesus returns, He will appear as a flash of lighting across the sky. He will appear as the Shekinah Glory . Every eye will see Him. Notice that He comes from the East. The Muslims have blocked the eastern gate with a graveyard to prevent Jesus from returning through this gate. Their thinking is that a Jewish rabbi will not walk across a graveyard, because according to the Mosaic Law, this would make Him unclean. 

 

28Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

 

God will call the birds to a feast (Ez 38:17-20). The feast will be the unbelievers who attempt to exterminate the Jews. Instead of the Jews being exterminated, it is the Gentiles who attack the Jews who will be exterminated.

 

The Arrival of the Son of Man

29“Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 

 

Jesus will now answer the second question, “what is the sign of your coming?” There will be five blackouts before and during the Great Tribulation. When the stars fall and heaven is shaken, then Christ will quickly follow.

 

30Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

 

The sign of the Son of Man is the Shekinah Glory. Everyone will see the Messiah arriving on the clouds of heaven. The followers of the Antichrist will mourn, because their man lost the spiritual battle.

 

31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

The elect are the 1/3 of the Jewish messianic believers who survive the Great Tribulation. Angels will supernaturally gather all of them from all nations of the world and bring them into the land of Israel. This angel gathering will begin the final fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant.

 

The Parable of the Fig Tree

32“Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 

 

In the Old Testament, the fig tree was a symbol of Israel. When the leaves of Israel began to blossom, then the Second Coming of Jesus is near.

 

33So also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the door. 

 

When Israel returns to her land, then the Messiah is near. Israel returned to her land in 1948. There have already been two world wars.

 

34I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 

 

Many commentators falsely claim that a generation is forty years. They have falsely claimed that the Rapture will appear 40 years after the Israel independence of 1948, forty years after the Six Day War of 1967, etc. This is date setting, which is forbidden in Scripture. The Rapture is imminent and can happen at any time in history. The term “generation” is used many different ways in Scriptures. It can mean twenty, forty, seventy, eighty, or one hundred years.

 

When the Antichrist steps into the Temple at the midpoint of the Great Tribulation and declares that he is God, then the generation who observes this prophetic historical event will not pass away until the Millennial Kingdom is established.

 

35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

 

Jesus was more than just a Jewish carpenter or a great rabbi. He was God in the flesh. He predicted that His words would never pass away. Many people all over the world study His words every minute of the day. Everything else in the universe will disintegrate by entropy, but not the written Word of God.

 

Be Ready!

36“But as for that day and hour no one knows it – not even the angels in heaven – except the Father alone. 

 

The Greek word for “but as” is Περὶ δὲ (peri de), meaning “but concerning a new subject.” The prior subject was the Second Coming of Christ. The new subject is the Rapture of the church.

 

God the Father alone knows the day of the Rapture. No one else knows. Jesus did not know in His humanity. The angels do not know. The Jehovah Witnesses do not know. Neither does any other cult or ism or human book writer.

 

37For just like the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 

 

There will be no signs preceding the Rapture. The Second Coming will occur seven years after the signing of the Antichrist-Israeli peace treaty and three and a half years after the Antichrist steps into the Holy of Holies and declares himself to be God. During the days of Noah, no one knew the exact day that it would begin raining.  So it will be with the Rapture, but not the Second Coming.

 

38For in those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. 

 

People will be eating, drinking, and marrying when the Rapture occurs. 

 

39And they knew nothing until the flood came and took them all away. It will be the same at the coming of the Son of Man. 

 

The flood was a surprise event not preceded by any signs. The Rapture will come in a parallel manner.

 

40Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41There will be two women grinding grain with a mill; one will be taken and one left.

 

One will be taken in the Rapture to be with Christ. The other will be left in the world to experience the wrath of the Great Tribulation.

 

42“Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

 

The Second Coming will come seven years after the signing of the peace treaty and three and a half years after the Antichrist has declared himself to be God in the Holy of Holies. The Rapture is imminent. It can happen at anytime. Therefore, believers are to be alert. Those Jews who will read Matthew 24 are to be alert.

 

 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

 

Believers are to be alert. There are no signs which precede the Rapture. The Rapture is imminent. Jesus can return at any time. He may even rapture the church out ten or twenty years before the Great Tribulation begins.

 

The Faithful and Wise Slave

45“Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their food at the proper time? 

 

When the Rapture occurs, the good and wise servants of Christ will be laboring for the kingdom of God. 

 

46Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work when he comes. 

 

The servants who are laboring for Christ will be blessed at the Rapture.

 

47I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions. 

 

Those who labor for Christ will be given more responsibility during the Millennial Kingdom.

 

48But if that evil slave should say to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with drunkards, 50then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, 51and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

The evil slave is the unbeliever. When the Rapture occurs, he will not be laboring for Christ. Instead, he will be laboring for himself. Jesus will return, but the unbeliever will be surprised and unprepared. He will love the world, just as Lot's wife loved Sodom and Gomorrah. He will be left behind at the Rapture. He will live or die during the Great Tribulation. At the Great White Throne Judgment, he will be transferred from hell into the Lake of Fire for eternity.

 

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Appendix

 

Note: Most dispensationalists teach that Matthew 24:36-43 is a second coming passage and not a rapture passage. The majority view is not always correct. Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum's The Olivet Discourse (pp. 18-20) gives a minority view and an opposite view from the Greek language which is more accurate. Dr. Fruchtenbaum's exegetical argument is listed below:

 

Now the passage turns to the issue of the Rapture of the Church, the timing of which cannot be known in advance. The discussion concerning the Rapture is in Matthew 24:36–42 and Luke 21:34–36.

 

The Matthew account reads: But of that day and hour knows no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only. And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of Man. Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left: two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left. Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord comes.

 

Luke’s version reads: But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare: for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth. But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.

 

Within premillennial and pretribulational circles, the majority view today is that this passage is speaking of the Second Coming rather than the Rapture. Two main reasons are given. First, contextually, Jesus has been speaking about the Second Coming and since this passage follows that discussion then, logically, it would mean that He is speaking of the same thing. Secondly, the “taking away” of Matthew 24:40–41 is taken to be the same as verse 39, which is a “taking away” in judgment. Hence, the “taking away” is in judgment at the Second Coming, not the blessing of the Rapture.

 

In answer to the first point, Matthew 24:36 begins with the word, But, which in Greek is peri de. The peri de construction in Greek is a contrastive introduction of a new subject; hence, it is often translated as: But concerning (1 Cor. 7:1; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1; 1 Thes. 5:1). The use of this construction points to the introduction of a new subject. So, yes, He has been discussing the Second Coming until this point. However, the peri de means that He is now introducing a new subject, and that is the Rapture. In answer to the second point, in Greek, the “taking away” in verses 40–41 is a different term than the one used in verse 39, and so it need not be interpreted as the same kind of “taking away.”

 

Concerning the issue of the Rapture, the Messiah makes four main points. First, in verse 36, as to the question of when; this is known only by one Person, and that is God the Father. It was not known by the angels, nor was it known by the Son in His humanity, but only by God the Father. If the timing of the Rapture has been hidden from both angels and the humanity of Jesus, how much more so is it hidden from mankind in general! For that reason, the only clue given concerning the timing of the Rapture is that it will occur sometime before the Tribulation, and it may not necessarily occur just before the Tribulation. It might easily occur ten or twenty years before that time. As to the question of when the Rapture will occur, the answer is simple: no one knows. This is not true of the Second Coming of the Messiah, which will someday be a datable event; it will occur exactly seven years after the signing of the seven-year covenant and 3-years-42 months or 1,260 days—after the Abomination of Desolation.

 

Secondly, according to verses 37–39, there will not be any signs preceding the Rapture as there will be signs preceding the Second Coming. When the Rapture occurs, it will happen while there are normal conditions on the earth. The Flood also came while there were normal conditions on the earth, while men were eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. None of these things are sinful, but are necessary for human survival and propagation. While normal conditions existed on earth, the Noahic Flood arrived and swept them all away. In the same way, while there are normal conditions on the earth, the Rapture will suddenly occur in verses 40–41, sweeping away all believers. This will not be true of the Second Coming. When that event occurs, conditions on earth will be far from normal, as earlier sections of the Olivet Discourse and the Book of Revelation clearly show.

 

Thirdly, in verses 40–42, when it comes, it will mean a separation. According to the key passages on the Rapture (Jn. 14:1–3; 1 Cor. 15:50–58; 1 Thess. 4:13–18), it will be a separation of the believer from the unbeliever.

 

Fourthly, there is the supplication in Luke 21:34–36 to watch for the purpose of escaping the Tribulation. Throughout the Olivet Discourse, to watch means, “to be ready.” Watching is the equivalent of readiness, and readiness is equivalent to salvation. So the means of escaping the Tribulation is by means of salvation. Only those who accept the Messiah before the Rapture of the Church can be ready and watching.

 

Luke gives two reasons for watching: first, so that believers may escape all these things that shall come to pass during the Tribulation. What Luke states in verse 35 should not be missed. He points out that the Tribulation will “come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth.” In other words, no one living on the earth can escape the effects of the Tribulation. It will fall upon all earth-dwellers. In verse 36, Luke also states there is a possibility to escape all these things that shall come to pass. This possibility is not if one is on the earth. Hence, to escape all these things, one must be off the earth. The second reason for watching is so that the believer might stand before the Son of Man in Heaven. This will be the result of the Rapture: we stand before the Son of Man and by standing before Him, we escape all these things. Both of these things can only be accomplished by the Rapture, and that is why to watch is to be saved.