The Three Questions Of Matthew 24
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?” (Matt. 24:3)
One of the mistakes Christians make in reading the Bible is caused by our tendency to look at everything through “Church colored glasses.” By that I mean we read it as if it all applies directly to us without regard for the context or historical background. I know Paul said everything that was written in the past was written to teach us (Romans 15:4) but that doesn’t mean it was all written to us or about us. It means we’re supposed to learn from the experiences of those who came before us. A prime example of this kind of mistake can be found in our interpretation of the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25). I’ll show you what I mean.
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” (Matt. 24:1-2)
These two verses set the tone for the entire discussion, yet in our rush to get to the meat of the passage they are often ignored. From Mark’s account we know that after Jesus said this, four of the disciples came to Him for clarification. They were Peter, James, John and Andrew (Mark 13:3), and they asked Him 3 questions; When will this happen? (When will these buildings be torn down? ) What will be the sign of your coming? What will be the sign of the End of the Age?
So let’s look at them individually to gain more of the background that prompted these questions. We’ll find that the first two are pretty simple, but the third one is a different matter altogether.
When Will This Happen?
The view of Jerusalem at sunset from the Mount of Olives is breathtaking, even today. In the Lord’s time it was even more so because the Temple was still standing. To them it was the most beautiful building imaginable. There’s a saying based on the Talmud that goes, “One who has not seen the Temple from the time of Herod has never seen a magnificent building.” It had been 46 years in the construction and was not finished yet. At sunset its white limestone exterior took on a bright golden hue, as if it was made of pure gold.
Repeating His Palm Sunday prophecy from Luke 19:41-44 Jesus said the temple and surrounding buildings would be so completely destroyed that not one stone would be left standing on another. Luke’s account of the Olivet Discourse is found in Luke 21. He’s the only one who recorded a detailed answer to their first question, “When will this happen?”. Luke 21:12-24, a description of the Roman conquest of 68-70 AD, was the Lord’s answer.
What Will Be The Sign Of Your Coming?
Obviously they meant His 2nd Coming and He actually gave them 2 clear signs. After describing several things that would not be specific signs, but merely “birth pangs”, He gave them the first clear sign in Matt. 24:15. It’s the Abomination of Desolation standing in the Holy Place and it will mark the beginning of the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:21). The second unmistakeable sign of His coming is described as the Sign of the Son of Man. It will signal the Great Tribulation’s end (Matt. 24:29-30). After that the Lord will return on the clouds with power and great glory.
What Will Be The Sign Of The End Of The Age?
This question is more complex than they ever imagined when they asked it, even though the answer is simple. Ultimately, the sign of the End of the Age will be the Lord’s return to become King of the Whole Earth (Zech. 14:9). After that the Kingdom Age will begin. This question is the one where so many believers are way off the mark. It’s those “church colored glasses” I mentioned. But when you understand the disciples’ perspective you’ll see that it was not possible for them to be thinking of the Church Age when they used the phrase “end of the age” like so many Christians assume. Here’s why.
Over 500 years previously the Angel Gabriel had told Daniel how and when the end of the age would come (Daniel 9:24-27). He said that from the time they received permission to restore and rebuild Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity there would be 70 periods of 7 years each (These 7 year periods are often called “weeks” because the Hebrew word Gabriel used means “a week of years”.) This gives us a total of 490 years (70 weeks).
When the disciples posed their questions to Jesus, 483 of those years (69 weeks) had come and there were only 7 years (1 week) left. You can imagine their astonishment when He told them that having come so close, just when the end was in sight, the temple and surrounding buildings would all be destroyed. How could this be? The temple was essential to their worship. It had been under construction for 46 years and as I said above was not finished yet. How could it be torn down so completely and then rebuilt again in just 7 years?
It was this astonishment that had led to their questions. They didn’t know anything about a Church Age that would cause a 2000 year pause in Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy. Even today, most of us don’t understand that the Church Age didn’t end the Age of Law, it has just interrupted it seven years short of its scheduled completion. How could they have understood it? (The fact that the Age of Law hasn’t ended explains why there will be a Temple erected in Israel soon. They will need one to complete the final 7 years.)
40 days after the Resurrection, even after receiving the Holy Spirit (John 20:22) the disciples were still thinking that the End of the Age was at hand. When Jesus led them up to the Mount of Olives where He would soon ascend to the Father, they asked Him, “Lord are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?”Once again He didn’t explain anything about the future, but said, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority” (Acts 1:7-8).
I’ve Got A Secret
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“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority” (Acts 1:7-8)…………so stop all the hogwash…….no one knows and jesus said it…….live long and prosper and spock said it.
John, John…..
Google: Talmud truths.
There’s a chance, no matter how seemingly slight, that you might learn something.
God is a Spirit and HIS deep truths are ALWAYS spiritual. When you decide that some physical thing is relevant in your interpretation, you become unstable in your understanding. The temple GOD refers to is the spiritual temple made of “living stones”. As a stone, you are shaped and molded by the quickened scripture which feeds your spirit-man.
The word that our LORD uses is naos-the living temple made of born-again believers [not hieron-the physical temple.] But even the living temple is all but destroyed now as many have fallen away to Scofield heresies…that is, the judaizing of their church. [The first church in Jerusalem gave in and allowed judaizers into their church. This led to Paul's naming it "another gospel and another Jesus." He cursed it and in In 70 AD, this temple was destroyed... the rapture doctrine has allowed the same to happen in today's church..the sheep are once again lost.]
I use the word “church” because it is what you know. The word “church” is never capitalized in scripture, It means a group…as in “a church of Greek and Roman women went to the town market to see if they could see Jesus”
The big secret to me is that the true Israel is HIS born again followers. Those who elevate carnal Jews (those who call themselves Jews) to “chosen by GOD” status give away their own birthright. You, if you are born again” were chosen by GOD..not any nation of people who hate your Lord, worships money and, through usury, have driven your country into a death spiral of war and debt.
If you go to a gathering that mixes the carnal tenets of Judaism with the spiritual truth Christianity, you must break this spell that you are under. Christ told you that carnal Israel was lost thus when He was alive, HE was the entirety of true Israel, The tree the unsaved are grafted to is HIM and those who are spiritually born again. To carnal Israel , who became lost under Babylonian rule, it was said..seeing you deem yourself unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
The Lord said HIS work was finished and that HE had lost none. His work was to save all who would accept HIM as their saviour and yet, HE said, “I have come BUT for the house of Israel. The only way to understand this is to realize that, as it was prophesied in Jeremiah, this vessel called Israel would be remade. There is no “substitution” ..it was the same vessel that was remade. Now Israel would be accessible to all men when they accept Jesus and are born again spiritually.
He hath sent THE Holy Spirit to guide you in all things. Stop listening to hirelings and eat of the truth of scripture made alive.
“I know Paul said everything that was written in the past was written to teach us (Romans 15:4) ”
Actually most of the works attributed to Paul are not, but written way after he died by other people.
“One of the mistakes Christians make in reading the Bible is caused by our tendency to look at everything through “Church colored glasses.””
Understandable considering they cherry picked through any and all ancient pagan literature, put it all in a single book and claimed sole ownership. The fact they then destroyed the source of the material, eg, by burning the libraries of Alexandria to the ground so nobody could reference it, is a typical example of a dictatorship destroying any competition.
I have some questions:
1.How long have you known Jesus?
2.Was he with his apostles for one year or for three?
3.How old was Jesus when crucified?
4.You say he was tried and crucified in Jerusalem , can you remember the date of this great event?
5.Were you present when Jesus was taken down from the cross?
6.Were you present when be was buried?
7.Do you know if he was actually buried, or where he was buried.
8.Were any of you present when Jesus came forth from the grave?
9.Then, you were not with him when he was taken down from the cross; you were not with him when he was interred, and you were not present when he rose from the grave?
10.When, therefore, you say, he was dead, buried and rose again, you are relying upon the testimony of others?
11.Will you mention the names of some of the witnesses who saw Jesus come forth from the tomb?
12.Mary Magdalene, and she is here and may be questioned?
13.You saw him, then, as the apostles did after he had risen?
14.But you did not see anybody rise out of the grave.
15.Are there any other witnesses who saw the resurrection?
16But if you didn’t see him dead, and buried, and did not see him rise, how can you tell that a most astounding and supposedly impossible miracle had taken place?
• There was war before Christianity; has Jesus abolished war?
• There was poverty and misery in the world before Christianity; has Jesus removed these evils?
• There was ignorance in the world before Christianity; has Jesus destroyed ignorance?
• There were disease, crime, persecution, oppression, slavery, massacres, and bloodshed in the world before Christianity; alas, are they not still with us?
Which of the religions has persecuted as long and as relentlessly as Christianity?
Which of the many faiths of the world has opposed Science as stubbornly and as bitterly as Christianity?
In the name of what other prophets have more people been burned at the stake than in the names of Jesus and Moses?
What other revelation has given rise to so many sects, hostile and irreconcilable, as the Christian?
Which religion has furnished as many effective texts for political oppression, polygamy, slavery, and the subjection of woman as the religion of Jesus and Paul?
Is there, — has there ever been another creed which makes salvation dependent on belief, — thereby encouraging hypocrisy, and making honest inquiry a crime?
To send a thief to heaven from the gallows because he believes, and an honest man to hell because he doubts, is that the virtue which is going to save the world?