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| Chapter 24 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, "See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." 3 And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?" 4 ¶ And Jesus answered and said unto them, "Take heed that no man deceive you; 5 for many shall come in My name, saying, ‘I am Christ,’ and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then shall many lose faith and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. 15 "When ye therefore shall see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand), 16 then let them that be in Judea flee unto the mountains. 17 Let him that is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house; 18 neither let him that is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, ‘Lo, here is Christ,’ or ‘there,’ believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Therefore, if they shall say unto you, ‘Behold, He is in the desert!’ go not forth; or ‘Behold, He is in the secret chambers!’ believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the vultures be gathered together. 29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, 30 and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and with great glory. 31 And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32 ¶ "Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour, knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark 39 and knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken and the other left. 42 "Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. 45 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, ‘My Lord delayeth his coming,’ 49 and shall begin to smite his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunken, 50 the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. |
v1-25 The Fall of Jerusalem and future events. The material in this chapter also contains considerable prophetic information made by Jesus. Some of the predictions appeared to have been fulfilled in 70 A.D. in the destruction of Jerusalem, other parts seem to refer to the Church age and also the Tribulation period. It is therefore difficult to interpret the information. Much of the information given by Jesus seems to parallel the vision of Daniel’s seventieth week. In addition some of the material ties up with Revelation. Matthew’s record appears to contain information about events still in the future while an apparently similar account in Luke 21:12-24 appears to cover the Church age. The initiation of this discussion is due to a question made by the disciples. v1 The Temple, at the time of Jesus, was built by Herod and was considered a magnificent structure. It was constructed of very large limestone blocks covered with golden decoration and ornaments. There must have been a great national pride in this structure, this appears to have included the disciples. v2 It was therefore a terrible shock to the disciples when Jesus tells them that soon the temple would be destroyed. v3 The Mount of Olives is a hill to the East of the city of Jerusalem, from the top of this hill you could see the Temple. While Jesus and the disciples were sitting on this hill that evening they asked Jesus, "when shall these things be?" - that is the destruction of the Temple. "What shall be the sign?" The Jewish Teachers knew from the Old Testament that the coming of the Messiah would indicate the end of evil, the wicked would be destroyed, Dan 9:25-27. The disciples would have been taught this and so they were expecting an answer from Jesus which would have developed this teaching, hence their words "end of the world." This idea was still present after the resurrection, Acts 1:6,7. Jesus directly indicates that the answer involves the events given in Daniel, the answer concerning the tribulation of Israel. See also Rev. 6-19. v4-14 First Half of Tribulation. The order of the Seals in Rev 6:1ff and the order of events in verses 4-14 are very similar, these are the first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation. v5 Appearance of one who are saying, ‘I am Christ,’ The appearance of the Antichrist - the first seal. Though there may be some to appear before the tribulation, 1 John 4:1-5. v6,7 "Wars and rumour's of wars," Rev 6:3,4, the second seal. v7 "Famines," Rev 6:5,6, the third seal. "Pestilences and earthquakes," Rev 6:7,8. Death for quarter of the earth’s people. v8 "Beginning of sorrows," - ‘birth pains,’ things are about to get worse. v9,10 "Shall kill you," Rev 6:7,8. Fifth seal. The Jew and the Christian are hated by the world. A turning away from their faith. v11 "Many false prophets," 2 Thess 2:8-12. v12 "Love of many shall wax cold." Because of the state of the world many, who were religious, will abandon their beliefs, including the Jews. v13 There will be a saved group of Jews, given the ‘Mark’ by God as protection. v14 "Gospel preached." The Messianic kingdom is about to be established, the message of salvation will go throughout the world. See Rev 11:3-12. v15-28 The second half of Tribulation. v15 The ‘abomination of desolation.’ See Dan 9:27; Dan 12:11; Dan 11:31. This event predicted the worship in the temple by Antiochus, when he profaned (not showing respect for God or holy objects) by offering a pig on the alter, but also it is referring to the Antichrist, who will demand idolatrous worship for himself in the new Temple he had built. Rev 13:5-8; 2 Thess 2:1-4. Jesus indicates that all these events are future, v21 indicates that it can only be referring to the Tribulation time and not due to the events associated with 70 A.D. and the destruction of the temple. v16-20 The events show that the second half of the Tribulation will be very terrible under the Antichrist. Immediate flight will be necessary, Rev 12:6; 14. "On the Sabbath day," this could cause problems for the non believing Jews, the problem will not apply to any true believers still on the earth. The Church has already left and will be in heaven. v21 Further warnings of coming terrors. "since the beginning" and "nor ever shall be," identifies the events to be only the final tribulation. v22 "Days ... shortened," The terror of the Antichrist will be cut short by God and the arrival of Christ, 2 Thess 2:8. v23-27 Many would be ‘saviours’ will appear during this persecution time. But the coming of Christ will not be a gradual event. It will be like a flash of lightning covering East to West, it will be very obvious. v28 "Carcass," spiritual dead and decaying wicked, while the "vultures," agents for divine judgement are waiting. Consider Rev 19:17,18. v29-31 Son of Man comes. v29 "Immediately after," compare v21. There is no reference to the Rapture of the Church, 1 Thess 4:16,17 as further events happen on the earth until v30. v30 This is the actual return of Jesus to the earth at the end of the tribulation to setup the Messianic Kingdom. v29 "Then shall the sun be darkened." This event and the other events in the heavens is also recorded in Joel 3:15 "15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining." and Isaiah 13:9,10. v30 "The sign of the Son of Man," What is the ‘sign of the coming’ we are not told, possibly His glory. Whatever it was it makes the Jews and world " all the tribes" will recognize the Messiah. See 2 Thess 1:7,9. v31 "Angels." Collect the ‘elect’ from all round the world, "the four winds." Compare the parables of the ‘Kingdom of Heaven,’, Matt 13:18ff, the collections carried out by the angels. v32,33 The ‘fig tree’ is a frequent symbol in the Bible for the nation of Israel. Luke 13:6-9; ‘I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time:’ Hosea 9:10. Look at the notes on fig tree behaviour in Matt 21:19,20. ‘When the leaves appear,’ Jesus is saying that summer is near. A rebuilt, revitalized nation is about to enter the end events. v34 "This generation shall not pass till......" On first reading it appears to suggest this applies to the same generation as the disciples, but this cannot be possible, though the nation was scattered in 70 A.D. The original word now translated generation, (genea) can also be translated ‘race’ or ‘family.’ This makes better sense, the Jewish family will not be destroyed, even though experiencing severe suffering. It will be part of the arrival of the Messiah for the Millennium kingdom. In addition, apparently, the early church were still understanding and expecting that the Lords return was still to happen, even after all the disciples and followers had died. v35 Jesus makes a serious prediction, "Heaven and earth shall pass away." Consider Rom 8:16-18; Rev 21:1. v36 It is very important to note only the Father knows when this will happen, no one else knows!!!! Acts 1:6,7. Take no notice if someone tells you "they have worked out or know when." v37-39 "The days of Noah." These were days when men had turned away from God, great wickedness was everywhere, they just lived as they wanted, finally God moved and judged the world with the flood. Only those who followed God were saved and inherited the ‘new world.’ The return of Christ will be like this. v40-42 This passage follows on after the ‘tribulation’ and return of Christ, so it cannot be referring to the "Rapture of the Church." Two will be working in the field, one taken for judgement, one to receive the blessings of the New Kingdom. Two women grinding, one taken. A warning to the listeners of Jesus and us today "Watch, be prepared." This warning is repeated in v44, and Matt 25:13. v43-44 If the owner of the house had known that a thief was going to break into his house then he would have kept guard and watched. Believers have been warned and have no excuse for not being prepared and ready for the return of Jesus. v45-51 This story is showing the behaviour between a servant who can be trusted to do his job properly and the evil servant who take advantage of his master being away. The master has placed the trust servant in charge of his home and other servants while he is away. He is faithful in his duties and as a result when the master returns he is rewarded. The evil servant uses the power and lack of control to take advantage of his fellow servants, he does not use the authority he has been given properly and lives a life unworthy of his position. This man takes advantage of the delay in his masters return, because he does not know when the master will return. Believers are in this situation, the possible return of Jesus has now been over 2000 years, and still we do not know when. The believer is the servant of God and we each have been given an area of responsibility while we are waiting for His return. There are others who appear to be servants of God, the evil servants, who misuse their authority and power. Christ will return suddenly and without warning, His appearance will reveal the servants who are hypocrites. v51 "Weeping and gnashing of teeth" shows the eternal result for these hypocrites. |
Easy English Translation
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