Matthew Chapter 24
(2021 - Do not study Matthew 24 without studying Luke 17 also. Luke 17 has "timestamps" that Matt 24 does not.)
(2021 - Here also I will put the new notes, the 2021 notes, below in their own section.)
This is the third account of these events. As presented in the Chronological Bible, we had Luke 21 first, then Mark 13, and now Matthew 24. There are new notes on those two previous accounts that I think finally interpret Jesus' words in a way that makes sense to me. Doesn't mean they make sense to anyone else. Doesn't mean they're right. So keeping in mind that this same ground has been covered twice already, I will be a little less "stand alone" on the notes here in Matthew. I will try to focus more on additions or deletions here.
VERSES 1-14
Note verse 2:
2 But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." [Mat 24:2 ESV] The wailing wall is a stack of stones. They are stacked really high. I think one would be fully justified to say that the wailing wall is not part of the temple. But if I wanted it to be the temple, I might say that Jesus was standing up top looking at columns and arches and such - the Temple, not it's foundation - when he said "not one stone...". And this last is probably the case. Is the wailing wall part of the wrath toward the Jews? It is almost like their most sacred spot is in the basement of the Dome of the Rock. Is that an accident? Is that an obvious indication that the wall is not a big deal? Maybe even that it isn't where the Temple even was?
2022 - Clearly, Jesus and the disciples (we are talking about more than just the 12 here) had left the city, and gone outside the walls and were seated - resting, recuperating from the day's events - on the Mount of Olives. They were away from the crowds, they had found some privacy and respite. We don't know who asks the questions, because likely one started asking and others added to it. It could even be that Matthew is giving us an idea of the questions that were asked as Jesus' taught them about what was coming. The questions may have built upon Jesus' teaching, rather than all having been asked at the beginning, and then Jesus organized them before he began answering. This last is the way I've always pictured his answers. He listened to all the questions, organized what he wanted to teach them, and then his discourse, uninterrupted. But it may not really have played out quite that way.
2025 - It makes one wonder about the advisability of putting words in red, and implying that they are the precise exact words spoken by Jesus, in the correct order, and uninterrupted. This is a pretty big stretch. Entirely possible within the context of inspired writing...but is it really that way?
The questions are different in Matthew. There are clearly, distinctly three questions in Matthew where Luke and Mark had only two. Mark and Luke seem to confine the questions to ONLY what Jesus had said about the stones. They want to know when these things are going to happen, and what the sign will be that they are about to happen. Neither Mark nor Luke asks anything beyond that. Which does not mean they didn't know that got talked about also. In fact, since both of them do include the information Jesus gave about his second coming, we can assume they knew that part also. That is just not what they focused on. Matthew on the other hand includes the further questions. He too asks "when will these things be", and I think this first question is about the Temple. But beyond that, Matthew also asks what will be the sign of your coming. Not the sign of when the Temple will fall, but of Jesus return. That is an interesting question, isn't it? Because we've been told at least twice that the disciples at this point still did not understand that Jesus was going to die, rise again, ascend to heaven, and come back a second time. If they didn't get that, why would they ask when Jesus is coming back? And the third question in Matthew is "what is the sign of the end of the age". I think that's how that goes together. As in Luke and Mark, Jesus' answer begins with a warning that they should not be deceived.
These warnings continue down through vs 8. Matthew does not mention any signs in the heavens either. We only saw that in one of the three. Matthew stays right with Mark through vs. 8. Luke adds in the terrors and great signs in the heavens. Then all three come right back together to talk about the persecution that is coming. Delivered up to synagogues and prisons. They will be hated, even killed for Jesus' name's sake. Matthew talks about this persecution but he spends a lot less time on it than Mark and Luke did. Matthew doesn't mention that the gospel must first be preached to all nations as Mark mentions at this point in the answer. (LATER...Oh my! If this is about 70 AD, then maybe it means the gospel had to be preached to all the Jews before the destruction of Jerusalem and Israel as a nation!!! All the Jews had to be given a chance to embrace the Kingdom of God before Jerusalem - and the Temple - fell. Because those who were still following the Law after the Temple fell had no place at all to continue the requirements of the Law. To stay under the Law after that point meant you were just out there with no way to delay the punishment for sin until next year. At this point, it was the gospel or nothing, and it was necessary that all have a chance to embrace the New Covenant before the old became simply impossible! I think this is right. I think this is very right!) Matthew doesn't talk about not preparing their remarks beforehand when they are delivered up. These instructions may well have been to the apostles only, to tell them what lay ahead for them specifically. Many Christians prior to 70 AD were persecuted, and many converted Jews were also, but the warning still seems to be specifically for the apostles. Matthew sort of hits a glancing mention of parents against children, brother against brother, but again, he is very brief about this.
2022 - Vs 9: "9 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake." [Mat 24:9 ESV]. If we take the position that Jesus is answering the first question - when will the temple stones be thrown down, then we have to understand this verse as referencing events before 70 AD. So the "hated by all nations" would first and foremost refer to Rome hating Christians and blaming them for everything bad that happened, and burning them at the stake and all those things. Remember also though, from Acts, that Paul was thrown into prison also by local authorities in lesser provinces. Surely Ephesus hated Christians and persecuted them as far as the followers of Diana are concerned. The Greeks despised their talk of life after death, ridiculed them, and possibly in local jurisdictions imprisoned and killed Christians and stole their assets. But Rome was the dominant force in the Middle East, near East, and Asia at this time, and all the way up into Europe. So for the most part, it makes good sense to see this verse as Jesus talking about the coming Roman and Roman-inspired persecution of Christians up until 70 AD.
Then in Matt 24:11 he talks about false prophets. Back in vss 4, 5 Matthew says Jesus warned them about false Christs - those who would claim to be Jesus returned already. Now Matthew adds a warning against false prophets also. These will steer people off the track. Jesus says that iniquity will be multiplied. In ESV it says "lawlessness will be increased". I don't know that this was a specific characteristic of Jerusalem prior to AD 70. I don't know if it got considerably worse leading up to then. After all, it was the Romans who were making most of the laws by this time. From the Fall of Jerusalem videos I watched yesterday, there were many rebellions, many groups that opposed the Romans, and then there were also those who thought Roman rule was just fine. These probably turned their relatives in the rebel groups over to the Romans. That may be what all this is about precisely. This verse:
10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. [Mat 24:10 ESV] This would have been the betrayal of their countrymen - of patriots some might call them - to the Romans. They are falling away from loyalty to Israel. The Jews had already rejected the gospel, so they are not falling away from that.
Then this verse: 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. [Mat 24:13 ESV] This comes right after "the love of many will grow cold". So I think this means not to give up, not to live in depression, not to decide there is no hope in God. As the times get worse and worse - more lawless, more upside down, where even your own family may betray you and you have to live and work and sleep with this kind of stress - Jesus' followers are to endure. To rest in him no matter what the world brings. Because those who do will be saved to eternal life in heaven. This is not about physical survival of the hardships. Can't be if you look back at vs. 9 where it said some would be put to death.
Then vs 14:
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. [Mat 24:14 ESV] See above, LATER in all caps. The Kingdom was offered to the Jews. The gospel of the Kingdom had to be preached - to all the Jews - before the end of the Temple. There were no Jews in North or South American at that time, none in most of Africa, the Far East, or Russia and China. There were no Jews there to be reached. The Jewish world at that time was much smaller, and the gospel did indeed reach the whole world of the Jews before 70 AD. This makes so many verses finally clear.
VERSES 15-28
2023 - While reading Rev 6, I made some more notes on these verses. See those between the three stars in the notes on that chapter.
Vs 15 we get to the abomination of desolation. Here are the next verses:
15 "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. [Mat 24:15-16 ESV] In the Gore video I saw yesterday, he tied the siege of Jerusalem by the Governor of Syria to the verse in Luke that says "when you see Jerusalem surrounded". That's Luke 21:20, which then proceeds to say "flee to the mountains". Matthew and Mark don't mention the siege, but they mention the abomination of desolation and then they say flee to the mountains. If we take that 6 day siege by Syria as the specific event that Luke is talking about, then it seems to me we would need to put that abomination of desolation showing up pretty much simultaneously. The video said they didn't know why that governor left. Cestius Gallus was the leader of the surrounding forces from Syria. Jerusalem was surrounded and then the siege abandoned, which Christians in Jerusalem recognized as the sign Jesus had told them to look for. Gore says they left the city in numbers. But we don't see the abomination of desolation here. I don't think it makes any sense to believe that Mark and Matthew are jumping here to end times while Luke continues talking about 70 AD. I think it is logical to assume that the abomination of desolation - which I believe is an idol, a statue, and false god - was placed in the Temple somewhere right along here. Hmm...Gore says that the zealots - the rebel groups - inside Jerusalem took the breaking of the siege as a sign from God that he would rescue them and they took off after the Syrians and killed many of them. Was there perhaps a rebel leader who elevated himself to God's appointed? No...I think it was an idol. But...at this siege, the Romans had pretty much been run out of town? Who would have set up that idol at this particular time???
Mark says the a of d will be seen standing where he ought not to be. Matthew says he will be standing in the holy place. (need to make sure there is no alternate word construction here. Are we sure he means the Holy Place in the Temple? This would be inside the doors, inside being the key word, between the door and the veil. "...ought not to be" is much broader. And back in Daniel, it is not about the a of d "standing", but about the a of d being "set up". Daniel also mentions - in both 11 and 12 - that the "regular burnt offering" will be taken away. It would be good to do a study of all the times that ever happened, and especially the times it happened between 29 AD and 70 AD. You know, it could be that this happened with the a of d and the regular burnt offering at one point, and everyone's eyebrows went up, and then sometime later (or sometime before) Cestius Gallus surrounded the city. Circumstances indicate to me that the a of d would have come sometime before the city was surrounded. There is a lot of digging to be done here. Moving on though today...Oh! One more thing. That parenthetical "let the reader understand" is in both Mark and Matthew when they talk about the a of d. Surely this means it will take some real study to recognize when this happens. Maybe it was done in secret, and only the people of that time were aware of it, and it was never recorded anywhere?
(((2023 - So let me just insert as I read these notes today that I am thinking 24:1-14 are about events pre-70 AD, but then in 15, when the A of D shows up, is about end times. Through vs 14 is in my past, 15 on has not yet happened. See if that holds up as we keep going. Vss 15-28 are about the revelation of the A of D and the Son of Perdition. The rise of the miss-labeled Antichrist, all the way up to just before the second coming and Armageddon. Vss 29-31 are the rapture. There is overlap here...The rapture occurs before "the vultures gather", though Armageddon may be shaping up before the rapture. 32-35 are about these last few signs. Once the sun goes dark, the generation that sees that happen will see the end of it all. The second coming of Christ to establish his kingdom will not be some "any time now event", but an imminent "you will see it" event. So vs 36 means NOT that Jesus could just appear any second for the second coming, but that we need to watch the fig tree! Watch for the signs, because we do not know when these events will begin to unfold. Why would Jesus say this UNLESS a lot of these things will happen BEFORE the rapture!?!?! He is telling his disciples this, not addressing future left behind converts! Once these things begin to unfold, THEN you better be watching every minute FOR THE RAPTURE, not the second coming!!! Except...why the parable of the 10 virgins? AHHH! They all knew the bridegroom's arrival was imminent, just didn't know the exact hour!!! That fits also!!! Yes, this year, it makes sense to me as summarized inside these parentheses.)))
2024 - These notes are not well organized...so I am putting this addition right here for now. The verbs in vs 22, "had been cut short" and "would have been saved" are both aorist passive indicative. The aorist tells us that we are not sure of when this will take place. When translated into English, it is customary to express this as past tense...which can be very misleading sometimes and certainly is here. The "when" of the cutting short and the saving is best determined by looking back at vs 21, where the verb "there will be" is in future tense, denoting that what we're talking about has not yet happened at the time Jesus is talking, and also the verb in 22b, where "will be cut short" is also in future tense. So the two aorist verbs are bracketed by future tense verbs, making it clear that this dreadful time is both future, and will be supernaturally shortened. Jesus is talking about HIS future. For those that say this has already happened, we need proof that there was a situation in the past, referred to by Jesus, that would have resulted in the demise of all mankind, but God stopped it. When did mankind historically come near extinction...which is the only thing that can or will keep God from fulfilling the Abrahamic promises?
2022 - Some additional scriptures that I think are relevant here.
First this, from Paul:
"3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. ... 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved." [2Th 2:3-4, 8-10 ESV]
We know from the context of this passage that the early Christians in Thessalonica were afraid Christ had already come. Paul is making it clear to them that Christ had NOT come back yet by reminding them of two "signs" of the second coming that he had previously discussed with them. There will be a rebellion, and the foretold "Man of Lawlessness" will be recognized for who and what he is. Paul makes no reference to Daniel, as was made in Luke and Matthew. Paul's reference seems to point very clearly to a walking and talking human being - a man. So let's look at some verses from Daniel:
"31 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate." [Dan 11:31 ESV]
"9 He said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. 11 And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days." [Dan 12:9-11 ESV]
The verses from Dan 12 are an amplification of those in 11, not something new and/or separate. We know this because in 11, we see that a person takes away the regular burnt offering, and in 12, we see how long that will last. 3.5 years of 360 days each, plus 30 days. The same event is in view. This 3.5 year interval, in connection with vs 9 saying these events are sealed until the time of the end meaning that is when these events will occur. What does this tells us? We know that forces controlled by the man spoken about in 11:31 will set up an abomination of desolation - doesn't say where exactly - near the time of the end. We can be pretty certain that it will be set up 1290 days before the second coming of Christ.
So the real point here is that Jesus, in Matthew 24:15, is NOT talking about AD 70, but about the same time Daniel and Paul were talking about, which in context is clearly a visible, recognizable sign of the RAPTURE, not of the second coming. This seems inarguable in light of 2Th 2:1-4 which is about our being gathered together.
Furthermore, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, and telling them - the church, the saved who may be alive and remaining at the rapture, that they will see and recognize the abomination of desolation.
There is a lot of confusion for me here...A few more verses:
"27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator."" [Dan 9:27 ESV] This verse is talking about a person, a "he", rather than one of neuter gender as we see in Dan 11 and 12. Here in 9, we are talking about a King. It is difficult for me to see how you get from "on the wing of abominations come shall come one who makes desolate" to "the abomination of desolations". Daniel was written long before Matt 24 and in a different language. It is not possible that Jesus interpreted Dan 9 incorrectly. But...then you have Dan 11, where they "set up" the abomination that makes desolate, as if it is a "thing" and not a "person".
"15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain." [Rev 13:15 ESV] To me, this "image of the beast" is the abomination of desolation. But it is hard to make these words say "the one who makes desolate and came on the wings of abomination".
So...let's not spend any more time here trying to figure out if we are talking about the beast himself, or a statue made to the beast. These two things appear to come along VERY close together indeed during the end times. So maybe Jesus is speaking of one and Daniel the other but they are nevertheless both speaking of the same chronological point in the history of earth. And that time, I think unarguably, is somewhere in the 7 year tribulation period.
2022 - So if we accept the reasoning above, and place the appearance of the a of d - whichever it may be - in the 7 year period at the end of the world - and PRIOR TO the rapture - then several things ought to be noted.
One is that Jesus wants his disciples to know how to identify that the time has come. They asked him, and he tells them, not because he likes their intellectual curiosity about end times, but because this is vital information for the coming church age. Jesus tells us in vs 36 of this same chapter that even HE does not know the calendar date when these things will occur. Therefore, it was entirely possible that these disciples he was speaking to would see these events, and they would need to recognize that they were inside this prophecy. I will not go into detail here, but in Revelation, the final ruler of this world, the beast who functions under the direction of Satan, the beast depicted in the image made by the second beast that can speak and cause people to worship the first beast as god, shows up in Revelation 13, AFTER Satan has been cast out of heaven. The statue shows up at the end of the trumpet judgments which come after the seven seals. This is VERY FAR into that last seven years...and Jesus' disciples needed to know about it, so they would recognize what was happening.
2022 - My working theory is that the rapture occurs inside the sixth seal. That's when the church leaves the earth, and no saved people are left on earth. I think the references in both the OT and the NT about the sun going dark, the moon turning to blood, and stars falling from the sky can all be correlated to the rapture - which occurs at the sixth seal. After the rapture, two things begin. First, the wrath of God is released on the earth. The seals were tribulation, but not of a kind and proportion that will be seen during the pouring out of wrath. Second, Christ begins gathering his people Israel so the promises can be fulfilled. We see this begin with the appointment of the 144,000 just after the sixth seal and before the seventh. At this same time, we see great multitudes around the throne in heaven. This is the bema judgment. The church has just been raptured out, and are judged for their works. This happens in heaven as the 144,000 are appointed on earth. Christ judging his church is the indication that he is assuming Kingship over the earth itself, not just a spiritual kingdom, but he is now beginning to move toward establishing his earthly kingdom. This kingdom is for the Jews, and at this time, with the preaching of the 144,000, vast numbers will be converted and begin coming home to Israel. As a further indication that we are at a turning point in God's plan, the seventh seal is opened and...nothing happens. There is silence as a preliminary to the commencement of a new phase of God's plan. And then God's wrath begins with the seven trumpets. Inside the sixth trumpet, we get this verse:
"7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets." [Rev 10:7 ESV]. The mystery revealed. This verse sheds more light on that:
"7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way." [2Th 2:7 ESV]. To whom does this "mystery of lawlessness" refer? Context says it is the first beast of the earth. The one so many call Antichrist. THE Antichrist. He will be revealed shortly after the sixth trumpet, which occurs in Rev 10. Then we get the two witnesses in Jerusalem, obviously sent by God since they cannot be killed, they call down fire from heaven - all supernatural events inexplicable by science. The whole world - all the lost still on earth - will recognize that God is real, and is at work on the earth. No more atheist beyond this point. Then at 11:15, this:
"15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever."" [Rev 11:15 ESV].
ONLY NOW are the dragon and his angels expelled from heaven. This must happen before the dragon can empower his Antichrist and elevate to world power above all men on earth at that time. NOW, in Revelation 13, after all the trumps, is this mystery revealed. The earth will KNOW that the Antichrist is Satan's pawn, that his power is from Satan and not from God, and the earth will know that a great opposition, a great battle, the final battle, is on the horizon.
2022 - Why did Jesus want his disciples to know and recognize events all the way at the end of the 7th trumpet...unless they were going to be there? The church came out at the end of the seals, but the Jews - which is who Jesus was speaking to on the Mt of Olives - would still be around, unsaved because of their blindness for the entire Age of the Gentiles - and they will need to recognize the signs as they read the NT for the first time. They will need to "fix" their location in the chronology of the end times.
THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE Matthew 24 is about.
Beginning in vs 16 then, we understand that Satan has been thrown down to earth, he is FURIOUS about that, and he elevates the Antichrist to power with the sole aim of wiping the Jews from the face of the earth. All the masks are off, all the players identified. So if you are a Jew when the man of lawlessness is revealed, Jesus says to RUN for your Lives! The Great Tribulation is in progress, and Jesus return as conquering King is now imminent.
(((The next few comments were put in BEFORE the 2022 comments above. I think of them as an earlier iteration that turned out to be inaccurate. I think the 2022 comments above are very accurate. I don't want to delete what is below, because I want to be able to remember how I got to 2022. I put in three *'s to bracket my previous interpretation. Below the second three, I continue with 2022. )))
***
Then we go into the "alas" or the woe in other translations, and the "those days" part. Pregnant women will be in a bad way, don't even go back home, and all that, and these are in all three accounts. Then in Matthew, these two verses:
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. [Mat 24:21-22 ESV]
So. Yesterday, I thought we could say here that this tribulation was the worst thing that had ever happened to Jerusalem, even worse than the Babylonian siege in 586 BC. But today, I see this "no, and never will be" part, which means it will never be worse than this. Ever. Even in the end times. I don't think I am prepared to say that what happened in 70 AD was worse than the world will ever see. Then read on to the part where no human would be saved were this not cut short, and one is almost forced to say that beginning in Matt 24.19, and beginning in Mark 13:17, these two writers have shifted to end times. Luke, however, does not shift here. Luke talks about the age of the Gentiles here. And why shouldn't he? He is writing to Gentiles. In the Harmony, there is a big gap between Luke 21:23a and 23b, and an even bigger gap between Lk 23:24 and 24. In that first gap Matthew and Mark put the information about the tribulation of those days being so bad. End times perhaps. In the second gap, Matthew and Mark talk about false Christs and false prophets, while Luke is silent at this point.
So how do we reconcile this...Do we back up and say that Matthew and Mark switched to end times when they talked about the abomination of desolation? And only Luke continues with the events prior to 70 AD? If we say that, then Matthew and Mark left out some pretty important stuff for both Jews and Christians in Jerusalem leading up to 70 AD. Why would they leave out the surrounding army and go all the way to the end and talk about the abomination? And Luke doesn't talk about the abomination at all. Luke doesn't talk about it maybe because the saved Gentiles won't be around when the abomination appears? Only Jews will need to be aware of that, and what is to come after. If we interpret it this way, we have to say that "getting out of town ASAP and not coming back home if you're already gone" is common advice to both 70 AD and the end times. Sames words are used...which naturally makes you want to see them as speaking of the same time period. But does not require it to be that way...
So. Let's revise, and say that Matthew and Mark, speaking to Jews, are talking about the near future destruction of Jerusalem until they mention the abomination of desolation. Their narratives from that point are about the end times, and specifically about the breaking of the covenant with many that the Antichrist will make. When he breaks that covenant, persecution of the Jews such as has never before been seen will commence and Antichrist and Satan try to prevent the fulfilling of the promises to Abraham by genocidally eliminating the Jews. There will be the same sort of betrayals then - brother betraying brother - as was seen in 70 AD, and covered by Luke as to the Gentiles in the near term. And then they all come back together at the second coming, when Christ will return - with the saved, including the Gentiles - and the timelines re-converge here. This happens at Mark 13:29, Matthew 24:24, and Luke 21:25.
If you read it this way, then Luke's message to the Gentiles diverges (the gap starts) at Luke 21:19 and goes to Luke 21:25. In that gap, you have Mark 13:14-28 and Matthew 24:15-23. So as of right now, this is how I think it all fits together. If you read it this way, then the one biggest problem I had with getting surrounding armies and a of d together and documented at the same time goes away completely. It means that only Luke passed on what Jesus said about surrounding armies, but just because Luke is the only one who wrote it down does not in the least mean that it wasn't common knowledge in the church at Jerusalem. Maybe Matthew and Mark didn't need to write that down. Matthew was educated and went into a lot more detail about the end times for the benefit of the Jews. By the time he wrote his book he understood better what was coming for the Jews. Mark was writing Peter's version, likely from Rome, under house arrest, and mainly to Christians there in Rome. They didn't need to know what was going to happen in Jerusalem in 70 AD because they were not IN Jerusalem. Oh my...that is a really good point! So the only "weakness" in this is why Matthew didn't say more about 70 AD. If Matthew was in the Jerusalem church - that is, if he spent the rest of his life after the ascension right there in Jerusalem with the Jews - he would have known that the surrounding army thing was common knowledge, and may have felt no need at all to state the obvious.
And why didn't Luke say anything here about the second coming? Because he'd already related what Jesus said about that back in Luke 17. There, Jesus answered the Pharisees, and then he spoke directly to his disciples about the son of man coming. There, Luke recorded Jesus' words about the time of the Son of Man coming being like the days of Noah, and he talks about two women grinding and about two in one bed, with one taken. So in Luke, he talks about grinding grain and sleeping. AND, some manuscripts also put in the verse about two in the field, but ESV leave that vs of Luke 17 - vs 36 - out of the text and puts it in the footnote. One a day job, the other night. Matthew 24 talks about two men and two women, both doing day jobs. Why day and night? Because like the rapture, when Jesus comes, half the world will be in daylight, half in darkness. In both cases, he will gather from the whole world. It makes sense that the world will be a bad place, trying to move on despite the terrible things that are happening, because in Tribulation, only the Jews, or mostly the Jews, are the only ones who'll be saved, and they'll be outcasts, they'll be hunted, they'll be imprisoned and killed for their beliefs. People who will sit idly by while this kind of things goes on are just like Nazis. Partying while the Jews are gassed, like nothing is out of place. So Luke doesn't need to talk about the son of man, because he's already done that. Just to kind of drive that point home, only Luke relates that question of the Pharisees, and Jesus' address to his disciples about the coming of the Son of Man afterward. Matthew and Mark hadn't put that in writing before. Matthew, since he was writing to the Jews, put it into his chapter 24 in great detail.
Later in 2021 - I came back to Matthew 24:28. It corresponds to Luke 17:
28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. [Mat 24:28 ESV]
37 And they said to him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather." [Luk 17:37 ESV]
Luke was recounting Jesus' words about the coming of the son of man. Jesus mentions Noah and the Ark, and so refers to the whole world dying. That's a lot of corpses. He also talks about Sodom and Gomorrah and fire raining down on those places. Again, a lot of corpses on that occasion also. So in Luke, they want to know where all these dead bodies will be. Jesus gives the corpse and eagle answer. What about in Matthew? Well he is also relating Jesus words about the coming of the son of man. He uses much the same language, but Matthew doesn't put the part about the days of Noah here. He skips all that and goes straight from the coming being like lightning to the carcase and the eagles. But Matthew does use that phrase later in the chapter, after the corpse and eagle reference, over in vs. 37. It certainly seems that the verses from Luke and Matthew are talking about the same time - the second advent, when the Conquering King comes. As for that corpse and eagle thing...MSB says the return of the Son of Man will be visible from a long way, as a dead body can be located from far away by the vultures circling. He says this goes along with the lightning as another example of the visibility of the return. I...don't really buy that. MSB goes on to say this imagery also speaks of the judgment that will accompany His return. I think so. This imagery ties in to Noah's time, and to Sodom and Gomorrah as to the level of judgement that will occur.
***
2022 - Then jump ahead to vs 27:
"27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." [Mat 24:27 ESV]
Here is the sign of his coming. This directly answers the question posed to him in vs 3. All the things described in 15-26 will happen. Persecution of the Jews will at a level never seen before, nor ever again. They will be desperate for the return of Christ to relieve them of their desperate circumstances. When they hear of signs and wonders being performed, they will want to believe they are true, and that they mean Christ is returned. They will long for it as never before. The signs and wonders will be counterfeits orchestrated and empowered by Satan himself to tempt the Jews out of hiding so that he can wipe them all out. THAT is why Jesus is so detailed in what he says here. And he caps it off with the TRUE sign of his coming. A light as bright as lightning, shining for the whole world to see. That, and nothing short of that, will be the sign.
VERSES 29-31
This has been a really productive, but long morning, the third of three. I am going to just read through the rest of this chapter - vvs 29-51 - and focus on them next year.
In vs 29 of Matthew 24 the accounts all come back together. They combine at the second coming of Christ, in power and glory, as conquering king. He will gather the elect at that time. It says he will gather them from the four corners of the earth and from the ends of heaven. So he will gather the living saved and those who have died saved up to that time. All these will be gathered up and come with him. The dead in Christ will all have been gathered to heaven at the rapture, along with the living saved at that time. Then the times of Tribulation and Great Tribulation, which are about the Jews almost exclusively, will take place. So the only people left for him to gather will be those saved and still alive in Great Trib - those who endure to the end - and those who have died during Trib and Great Trib - the martyrs under the throne!
2022 - So I have a big problem here. I have maintained that these signs within the sixth seal are the signs of the rapture:
"12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place." [Rev 6:12-14 ESV]. Compare this with Matthew 24:
"29 "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 heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." [Mat 24:29 ESV]
Here is the problem: Matthew 24 puts these signs in heaven AFTER the end of Great Tribulation. And AFTER that, the angels go out with a trumpet and gather his elect. This sounds for all the world like the rapture, and correlates well with the Parable of the Wheat and Tares that Jesus tells later. So...did Matthew put this in here out of order? Is the rapture one thing, and this gathering in another thing? Perhaps a consolidation of the Jews who survive Great Tribulation just prior to Armageddon? The signs are not exactly the same, but really, if the rapture had already occurred...Ahhhh...The signs would have to be similar...no, it makes sense that the signs prior to the rapture - when Jesus appears in the sky - would be very similar to the signs when Jesus returns to earth FROM the sky! So both Matthew 24 AND Revelation cover BOTH the rapture - the near return - and the Second Advent - which is the completed return to earth. And this gathering here in vs 31 is indeed the gathering of all those saved on the earth, almost all of whom will be Jews.
(Stopping here in 2022. There is more in vss 36 to the end of the chapter. I need to determine what time these verses are about...rather than just assuming I know. But I will leave that to 2023.)
36-39, For next time: How can it be that the world will not be expecting the second coming if it is at the end of Great Trib? (Later - Go look at the explanation in Luke 17). Surely all will know by that time that the Bible is real and correct, and things will be in such an upheaval that they can't be going about business as usual. Can they? With all those people dying, with supernatural creatures around, with a "forced" worldwide religion and worship of a man. These verses are only in Matthew. (Wrong. They are in Luke 17). These verses are not about the rapture. So many think they are because of the whole one taken and one left thing. But if Jesus is going to gather his own at the second coming then this kind of thing is sure to happen. But it won't be secret. And Matthew says nothing about two sleeping in the bed at night. Both things he mentions happen in the day time, so the gathering here could be instantaneous. Where is that other verse, about two sleeping in the same bed? It is NOT matched up in the Harmony with these verses in Matthew 24. It is Luke 17: 26-37 or so. It has much in common with this passage, as I believe Luke 19 also did. That corpse and vulture thing is also in Luke 17. What does this phrase mean? Luke 19:41-44 is the other passage I was thinking of. Give the Gore video, Luke 19 is clearly about 70 AD.
There is still a LOT to be assimilated from these chapters. But it is time to move on today.
2022 - I just can't seem to get myself out of 24. I started 25 and it just seems to be required that I get the rest of the way through 24 before I can begin to assimilate 25. Everything from 24:4 to 25:46, the end of 25, is in red. Matthew wrote it as a single discourse, one continuous illumination of things to come by Jesus himself. There is not a word here that is unimportant. You just cannot skip over anything. 24-25 almost have to be covered on the same day.
2022 - So. 24:36-51.
Vss 32-35 are an injunction to watch for the signs in their entirety. You have to be able to distinguish the end times from say the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich. There is no denying that persecution was monstrous during that time, hatred of the Jews was at a fever pitch. But were there false Christ's around, trying to draw the Jews to them with supernatural miracles? Was Hitler ever in Jerusalem at all? There wasn't even a temple. They didn't even have a country. So the signs were not all there. You have to be discerning to apply Jesus' words about the end accurately.
2022 - Vss 36-44 describe the moral conditions prevailing in the world as the end nears. More information, more signs to look for. Additional information for those who will experience Great Tribulation. How are we to understand the whole "one taken and the other left" concept. I have always heard this applied to the rapture. But as of today, in 2022, that doesn't seem to be what it is really about. It seems to be more about this second gathering, done by angels, of those elect. Not a gathering to heaven, but an earthly gathering into the protection of Christ just before he descends to earth to establish his kingdom. If you "accept" the analysis to this point, you almost have to read it as something that occurs near the end of Great Tribulation. The implication is that somehow, even during Great Trib, people - unsaved people - will be operating under the assumption that life is going to go on as normal. The only way I see to resolve this would be that most of the world has put their trust in Antichrist to keep order and to return things to normal. They will be trying to go on with life as if they are NOT living in the last seven years. It is difficult to reconcile this with the earlier idea that there will be no atheists at this time. If that is also true, then we can only understand this days of Noah reference as people knowing God is real and choosing willfully to disregard His power and his utter control of human events. That is a bit of a stretch...but that is where you have to be.
2022 - So what then are we to make of vss. 45 on, and especially of vs 48 on and the wicked servant? This would have to be about Jews who choose to accept the prevailing morality of the world at that time, and accept Antichrist as their leader. Those who worship him in order to avoid persecution, and in so doing they betray their own people, and they eschew the promises to Israel. These are Jews who ignore the 144,000 and attempt to assimilate themselves into that final Satanic world order. Because how would we otherwise understand their fate:
"51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." [Mat 24:51 ESV]. There are good servants and evil servants at the end of this chapter - and I would say ALL the servants in view are the Jews. Jews who still refuse Christ during t/gt will be surely deserving of the kind of fate that vs 51 foretells.
2023 - So the 2022 paragraph just above is all wrong as I see it today. A better interpretation of this is included at the beginning of the Matthew 25 discussion. Take a look there.
THE Notes below are from 2020
Last chapter had the 7 woes to the scribes and Pharisees, ending with their father's killing of the prophets, and Jesus saying they are their father's sons. Then the lament over Jerusalem. Now 24 starts, after this message of 7 woes, with Jesus leaving the temple. As Mark and Luke record, Matthew also says his disciples remarked about the magnificence of the buildings of the temple. Architecture seems an odd thing to bring up at this time. But in Matt 23, Jesus says "See, your house is left to you desolate". They may have believed the "house" was the temple. This lament is not recorded in Mark. In Luke, it says people were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings - right after the widow's mites. This is the same sequence as in Mark.
The quote is the same though. Not one stone left upon another. Matthew puts the upcoming discussion on the Mt. of Olives also, as Luke did. It was a private discussion, not for the crowds. In Matthew there are three questions. First, when will these things be (referring to the tumbled stones) in a general way. Based on what follows, I think they wondered if it was coming immediately, or at some point well into the future. Second question is about the "sign" of his coming, third is about the sign of the end of the age. From this, I don't see how anyone could think all three questions are concerned with just one future event. The destruction of the temple, the coming of Jesus as King, and the end of the world are the three times in view.
Jesus begins his answer with a description of what "normal" will be. False Christs will come, saying they are Jesus returned, and leading people astray. Wars and rumors of wars, always. Don't even be alarmed by these things, the "end is not yet". Then vs 7 says this:
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. [Mat 24:7 ESV] Wars will continue, as will famines and earthquakes. These things are normal, they are not signs or portents at all. These are just the beginning. Birth pangs. At some point, labor will begin. Maybe you could make a case for alternating peace and upheaval...but how would you ever see that as a sign? You wouldn't. You cannot look to these things as indicators.
In vs 9, as in Mark and Luke, the whole world will turn against Christians. They will be killed. In the face of this level of persecution, many will fall away, even turn on each other, ratting others out to save themselves. Even during this, the one who endures will be saved. To me, this phrase says that this time of persecution is the last seven years. I think this is about saved Jews during Trib and Great Trib, and not about the church. The church will be gone when these things happen. It makes sense that Matthew would be writing to the Jews about this time.
This verse:
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. [Mat 24:14 ESV]
The 144,000 and the two witnesses of the end will proclaim this gospel. The 144000 are sealed right after the sixth seal - which I think is where the rapture will occur. Only Jews will be left at that time, and the 144,000 will be the missionaries to them.
Then - AFTER the gospel is proclaimed - the Abomination of Desolation appears. When he is seen, those in Judea should flee to the mountains. They shouldn't go home. Once the A of D makes his true purpose and identity known, persecution of the Jews will rise to an unprecedented level. He, and Satan, will be trying to rid the whole planet of Jews to prevent the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, at Sinai, and to David. A Son of David is to sit on the throne. If there are no Jews left, then David has no son to fulfill this. That's why they don't go home. This part is not about 70 AD. When Jerusalem is encompassed by armies - as in Luke I believe it was - that is about 70 AD. This is not. Vs 21 confirms:
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. [Mat 24:21 ESV]
Unprecedented tribulation. Great tribulation. The last half of the last 7.
In those days also, false Christs will arise and do great signs and wonders. This is about the beast and the false prophet! They are the fakes, tempting even the elect to go astray. Jesus says then that when He appears again, when he comes back to take His earthly kingdom, there will be no room for speculation. They won't have to wonder if this one or that one is the real one. It will be an obvious fact.
Then, AFTER all this persecution and tribulation, this will happen:
29 "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 heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [Mat 24:29 ESV]
How can anyone say that this verse in Matthew is not exactly about this next verse in Revelation????:
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. [Rev 6:12-13 ESV]
AFTER these heavenly events, THEN the sign of the Son of Man appears. The earth will mourn, because for the most part, at that time, the earth is evil. Those left have taken the mark of the beast to stay out of trouble, and now they see the Son of Man arriving, they know their time is over, and that they are about to be ended once and for all. If this was the rapture, why would the world mourn? He will gather the elect from the four winds and from the ends of heaven. This is the gathering before the Millennial.
These signs will foretell the second coming as green shoots on a fig tree foretell summer is near. The generation that sees these signs will be the final generation.
It will be as the days of Noah. None will be feeling like things are really getting bad, there will be no general anticipation of end time events. But those who've read Matthew 24 are to be looking for it always. This could be interpreted as the rapture...but not in context. The whole Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and great glory is Jesus arrival to begin the Millennial kingdom.
First, when will these things be (referring to the tumbled stones) in a general way. Not right away, but during the generation that sees the signs.
vs 34 answers this question.
Second question is about the "sign" of his coming, vs 30 - THEN will appear the sign. The sun, moon and stars will give the sign of the appearance of the Son of Man. Very specific about that.
third is about the sign of the end of the age. Perhaps vs 35 - heaven and earth will pass away. This is after the Son of Man appears. So the Millennial comes before the end, not the other way around. The Millennial is on this earth, not the new heaven and the new earth.
Vss 36-51 are about being ready. Not joining those who act like the people of Noah's day, but staying apart from them. Don't be lulled into this kind of "eat, drink, and be merry" thinking. Life is more than parties, and persecution comes first for those who believe. It will be a terrible time.
These warnings are for the Jews who will still be here, and still be elect, during Trib and Great Trib. They are not for the church.