MATTHEW 24

THY KINGDOM COME PART II

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 (All scriptures are from the New International Translation unless otherwise indicated.)

No study regarding the kingdom would be complete without first considering Matthew 24.

The theme of Matthew 24 is, there will be no FOREWARNING sign of Christ’s second coming.

Matthew 24 lists the following signs:

1.      False announcements “Here is Christ” V5, 11, 23-26

2.      Wars and rumors of wars Matthew  V6

3.      Famines V7

4.      Earthquakes V7

5.      Signs in heaven (Luke 21:11)

6.      Persecution V9

7.      Gospel preached to the world V14

8.      Abomination of desolation standing in holy place V15

9.      Fig tree V32

These signs cannot refer to Christ’s second coming because:

Matthew 24:5-50, 25:6-13

V5 “For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am the Christ, and will deceive many.” The announcements ‘I am Christ or here is Christ’ will only deceive.

In other words this is not a sign of Christ’s second coming”.

V6 “...wars and rumors of wars, you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”

In other words this is not a forewarning sign of Christ’s second coming.

V36 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father”.

In other words, there will be no forewarning sign, of Christ’s second coming.

V37 “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

V38 “For in the days before the flood, people were eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.

V39 “and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man”.

In other words there will be no forewarning sign of Christ’s second coming.

V40 “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.

V41 “Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

V42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come”.

In other words there will be no forewarning sign.

V43 “But understand this: ‘If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

In other words there will be no forewarning sign.

V44 “So you also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Also Luke 12:40)

In other words there will be no forewarning sign of Christ’s second coming.

V50 “The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.”

In other words there will be no forewarning sign.

Matthew 25:6 "At midnight the cry rang out: `Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!”

Matthew 25:13 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

In other words there will be no forewarning sign of Christ’s second coming.

there will be no FOREWARNING sign of Christ’s second coming is the messages of the New Testament.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.”

In other words there will be no forewarning sign of Christ’s second coming.

1 Thessalonians 5:2,3 “...you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape”.

In other words there will be no forewarning sign of Christ’s second coming.

2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare”.

In other words there will be no forewarning sign of Christ’s second coming.

Revelation 3:3 “I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you”.

In other words there will be no forewarning sign of Christ’s second coming.

Revelation 16:15 "Behold, I come like a thief!”

In other words there will be no forewarning sign of Christ’s second coming.

Some may argue that Jesus has given us general signs of his coming but no specific signs.

Matthew 24:39 “...and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man”.

In other words there will be no forewarning sign of Christ’s second coming.

If these signs don’t tell of Jesus second coming what do they tell?

Matthew 23:13 “Woe”, Mt 23:14 (KJV) “Woe”, Mt 23:15 “Woe”, Mt 23:16 “Woe”, Mt 23:23 “Woe”, Mt 23:25 “Woe”, Mt. 23:27 “Woe”, Mt 23:29 “Woe”. [Woe: deep sorrow, grief, or affliction; an exclamation depressing dismay or misfortune.]

Matthew 23:36 I tell you the truth, all this [woe, misfortune, grief and deep sorrow] will come upon this generation. [Before this generation dies it is going to suffer all this.] (Also Matthew 24:34)

Matthew 24:3 “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”’

They asked him two questions. One with three parts and the other with two.

(1 “Tell us, when shall these things be, i.e. when will the woes come, and when will Jerusalem and the temple be destroyed?

(2 “What shall be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Matthew 23:3.

Matthew 24:6, 7 “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”

all this was Fulfilled before AD 70.

You will hear of wars/Nations against nations:

Between the time Jesus made this prediction (AD 33) and the fall of Jerusalem, (AD 70), the Jews lost 138,000 men in wars against the Serians, Romans, Samaritans, Italians and others.

There will be famines in various places:

Acts 11:28 - Agabus predicted a famine that soon came to pass.

THIS PROPHECY WAS FULFILLED BEFORE AD 70.

There will be earthquakes in various places:

(The following is a list of earthquakes that occurred between AD 33 and AD 70.)

Matthew 27:51 “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.”

Matthew 28:2 “There was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.”

There were earth quakes at Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos, Rome, Laodicea, Hierapolis, Colossae, and Campania. THIS PROPHECY WAS FULFILLED BEFORE AD 70.

[Luke. 21:11 “There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.]

There will be great signs from heaven:

Josephus mentions many signs. A star shaped like a sword hung over Jerusalem for a whole year. A comet of the same duration. Horses and chariots were seen fighting in the clouds and a mysterious voice from the temple crying, “Let us depart hence.”

All these and many other signs took place before 70 AD., and therefore we would not expect them to refer to Christ’s second coming.

FALL OF JERUSALEM (see also The Tail Of Two Cities)

Matthew 24:8 “All these are the beginning of birth pains.” [Birth of the Jewish suffering.]

Josephus, who was a firsthand witnessed of the events, told of the great suffering.

He told that early in AD 70 nearly two million Jews had fled ahead of the Roman army and had secured themselves behind the walls in the tiny city of Jerusalem. (The city was 5,400’ X 3,000’, just over 1 mile long and just over 1/2 mile wide. Each person had just 8 square feet of space for himself.)

The mighty Roman army completely SURROUNDED the city and blocked off all avenues of escape. Rome held this position for nearly 3 1/2 years.

Jewish street gangs inside the city constantly fought for control. These Jewish thieves fought, raped, killed and plundered the Jews who could not defend themselves.

Since there was an abundance of gold inside Jerusalem many people swallowed as much gold as they could and then jumped over the wall to escape. Once they felt they were safe they relieved themselves and retrieved the gold. Roman soldiers soon witnessed this event and as a result, as soon an anyone escaped they captured the person, sliced open his stomach and searched for the gold.

Soon starvation began to spread through the city. The streets were filled with dead, stinking bodies. The most anyone could do was to throw the bodies over the wall. Soon there was a solid row of putrefied bodies all around the city. Josephus tells us that the starvation was so bad that mothers were killing and eating their own children.

One million, one hundred thousand (1,100,000) people died and 97,000 who were taken captive.

The climax came when the Roman soldiers broke thorough the wall and invaded the “Holy Place.” They offered a sow on the alter thus fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel 9:27 and 12:11. (I think I read someplace that the soldiers found that the blocks in the temple wall were laid with gold as mortar.) The Roman general gave orders that the temple be not destroyed but the soldiers tore the temple down block by block and thus fulfilled Jesus’ prediction. (The soldier’s only pay was the spoils of the war.)

(Luke. 21:12 “But before all this, (War with Rome) they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.”)

Persecuted/put to death:

Acts 4:1-3 “The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people....  They seized Peter and John... they put them in jail.”

Acts 5:19 “They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.”

Acts 5:40 “They called the apostles in and had them flogged.

Acts 7:57-58 “At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.”

Acts 12:1-2 “It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.  He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.”

We know of the persecution of Jesus, Steven, James, Paul, John and through secular history we learn that all of the Apostles and many many Christians were persecuted under bloody Nero, before AD. 70.

Matthew 24:9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me”. (Because of the way you treated me.)

The Jewish nation was persecuted by all nations.

V10 “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other..."

V11 “and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. [See notes for V5]

V12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

V13 “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved”.

[Every Jewish Christian who remained faithful to Jesus escaped and was saved from the slaughter at the fall of Jerusalem. The Roman general, Cestius Galius, unexpectedly raised the siege and withdrew his army from the walls of the city, and according to Josephus, every faithful Christian escaped.]

V14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come”. [The end of what?]

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world.”

Romans 1:8 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.” 

Romans 10:18 “But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: ‘Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”’

Colossians 1:6 “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit.”

Colossians 1:23 “This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.”

Romans was written 57-58 AD. Colossians 59-62 AD.

Then the end will come:

Was the gospel preached to the whole world?

What came to an end when it had been preached to the whole world?

Matthew 24:15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel-let the reader understand...”

Daniel 9:26, 27 “After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’(434, perhaps 1 year and 69 days) the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolation’s have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”

Daniel 11:31 “His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation”. (Something so bad that the Jews will desolate the temple.)

Matthew 24:16 “...then (after the Romans offered a pig see my notes under Matthew 24:8) let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

V17 “Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house.

V18 “Let no one in the field (Strong: A drive for cattle) go back to get his cloak.

V19 “How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!

V20 “Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath”.

In Judea winter is rainy and cold. Snow covers the highlands. Chilling winds sweep over the plains. Winter is a hard time to travel particularly for women who are with child or are nursing babies.

The Jews respected the Sabbath day’s distance of 9/10 mi. On the Sabbath day the gates of the cities were closed from sun-down Friday until sun-down Saturday and no one was permitted to enter or leave the city.

Question: If these verses are telling of or pointed to the second coming of Christ who would want his garments or anything in his house? What could he do with such things?

Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore do not let anyone judge you ... with regard ... a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come.” (Since the Sabbath day requirement was taken away, and there is no such requirement for us now, why pray that their flight should not be on the Sabbath day?)

Why was the warning given only to such as “be in Judea” (V16) and not the rest of the world? What good will it do for any in Judea or America or anywhere on the earth to flee to any place when the Christ returns??

We need to remember that the subject of Jesus predictions thus far was the distraction of their capital, the scattering of their people and the end of the Jewish age.

Matthew 24:21, 22 “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” (Josephus’ account of the destruction of Jerusalem is terrible.)

If these days had not been cut short: Josephus tells us the number of Jews slain in the three and one half-year siege was 1,100,000. They were out of food so the rate of those starving to death was increasing very fast every day. Just a little longer and none of the Jewish race would have survived.

Luke 21:24 “They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations”. (This literally happened. The Jews were sent out of the land of Israel and threatened with death if they came back.) Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Jerusalem was owned by Gentiles from AD 70 to 1945 and even today there is a constant battle for ownership.)

Matthew 24:23 “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.”

V24 “For false Christ’s and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect-if that were possible.

V25 “See, I have told you ahead of time.

V26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. (It will not be Jesus! See notes under Matthew 24:5.)

Luke 17:23-25 “Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them.  For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.  But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”

Here Jesus speaks of his suffering in the year 33 AD and inserts a fact about his second coming more than 2000 years later.

the Sign of Jesus’ second coming is not a FOREWARNING sign:

V27 “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.”

In other words, “There will be no forewarning sign, of Christ’s second coming.

Revelation 1:7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him.”

In other words, Jesus’ coming will not be like a sensitive person, hiding in the wilderness but when he comes every one will know it and will know where he is. When Jesus comes again there will be no forewarning sign!)

Fall of Jerusalem

Matthew 24:28 “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.” [At the fall of Jerusalem there were carcasses of men and vultures all over the place. The dead were not buried.]

V29 “Immediately after the distress of those days” ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”

This may be referring to the dark glum of utter despair.

Sign of the Son of Man:

Matthew 24:30 “At that time (Strong: “At the time when...” or just “When...”) the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky”.

[Mark 3:24, 25 “For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by His generation. 

In other words, “There will be no forewarning sign, of Christ’s second coming.

Matthew 24:31 “And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

[The important thing for those to know, who first read matthew 24, was the signs of the distraction of Jerusalem.]

Matthew 24:32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.

V33 “Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.

What things are coming?

1. False announcements of Christ’s presence

2. Earth quakes

3. Signs in heaven

4. Wars

5. Persecution

6. Gospel being preached to the world

What is near? The suffering in Jerusalem and the opportunity to escape.

Matthew 24:34 “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened”. (Cf. 23:36 “All this will come upon this generation.”)

V35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”.

Sign of Jesus’ second coming

V36 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. In other words, there will be no forewarning sign, of Christ’s second coming.

V37 “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

V38 “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark…”

V39 “and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

In other words, there will be no forewarning sign, of Christ’s second coming.

IF MATTHEW 24 WAS TO WARN PEOPLE BEFORE AD 70 WHY DO WE STILL HAVE IT IN OUR BIBLES TODAY?

Lesson for us:

·        There will be a pay day some day.

·        We should not panic when we hear of wars, earthquakes etc.

·        The godly will escape if they are ready.

·        We should live every day as though we knew that Christ would come today.

Revelation 20--1,000 year reign of Christ:

Although I have not studied this subject to my own satisfaction, I have come to the following conclusions.

1.      The word thousand is used often as a figure for an indefinitely large number.

Exodus 20:6 “...but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Deuteronomy 1:11 “May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised!”

Deuteronomy 5:10 “...but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Deuteronomy 32:30 “How could one man chase a thousand?”

Joshua 23:10 “One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised.”

Psalms 50:10 “...for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.”

Psalms 90:4 “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by.”

Psalms 105:8 “He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations.”

2.      Christ began His reign on the day of Pentecost when His church/kingdom was established.

I am thinking that Revelation 20 might be interpreted like this: Satan was bound (potentially) when Christ rose from the grave. Before Christ’s second coming Satan will be loosed. The persecution of the church will come become worse and worse before Christ’s second coming which immediately precedes the end of the world and the judgment and Satan being bound in fact.

Lesson for us:

·        There will be a pay day some day.

·        We should not panic when we hear of wars, earthquakes etc.

·        The godly will escape if they are ready.

·        We should live every day as though we knew that Christ would come today.

 If you find this sermon to be at all controversial, PLEASE read my comments on the Contact Us page.

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