Matthew 24:1-51
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew 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 rumours 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 of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, 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, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which 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 except 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 shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: 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 carcase is, there will the eagles 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 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.
Note:The generation of a man is 70 years. The Apostle John lived into his 90s, and had not passed away during the Tribulation of those days, the siege and overthrow of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the end of the Jews Priesthood:
(Psalm 90:10
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.)
Note:When God speaks, His Words are forever, and He wrote them in a Book, the Holy Bible, to use as a Witness of Himself forever. The Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth is God, the very Son of God, and His Words stand forever, for all eternity . . .
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 Noe 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 goodman 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 up.
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 and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, 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.
Note:The pagan Roman armies were fittingly called the abomination of desolation,because, being heathen armies, they were an abomination to the Jews, and because they brought desolation upon the country. The sight of them, therefore, became the appointed sign for Christians to quit the city immediately, flee!
Abomination in the Hebrew means: a detestable thing, abominable. Abominable means: repugnantly hateful, detestable, loathsome, distasteful, objectionable, offensive, i.e.: a repugnant smell. Opposed or contrary in nature or character.
22And except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved. (Matthew 24:22 above.)Since the Lord is speaking to the Jews, this means that if God had not shortened the siege and restrained the pagan Romans, they would have exterminated the Jewish race. However, for the Elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days. Since the term "Elect" means either the True Jews or Christians . . .
Mark 13:22
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
Mark 13:27
27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
Note:The Elect directly above means Christians. It also is used of True Israel, meaning that God spared a remnant of the Jewish people, because He had Covenanted with the Patriarchs that they should be His "Chosen" people, as the Jews are also God's Elect:
Romans 11:28-29
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes.
29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Note:This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Some hold that "all these things," in verse Matthew 24, verses 33 and 34 (above), refer only to what was said concerning the fall of Jerusalem, ending with verse 28 of Matthew 24. Others have contended that the phrase includes the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth for His Elect, but refers directly to the end of Jerusalem, which was a "type" of the end of the world. I believe, rather, that "all these things" embraces all that has thus far been Prophesied, and that "this generation" means the Jewish race (people) as a whole, instead of only those then living.
The Greek word is used in the sense of race in the Greek classics, and as examples of such use in the New Testament, we look at:
Matthew 12:45
45Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
Luke 16:8
8And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
The above two Scriptures indicate a grouping, a people, as is used in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth has described the awful end of the Jewish nation. After such a destruction, and the scattering of the remnant to the ends of the earth, all the examples of history would declare that the Jewish race (people) would become extinct. The Lord Jesus Christ, however, declares that, contrary to all probability, it shall not pass away until He returns. They still exist, some 1878 years after the prediction, distinct, but without a country, until May, 1948. (Fall of Jerusalem 70 A.D. Israel returns as a nation in 1948, therefore 1948 minus 70 = 1878).
The Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth foretells more particularly the ruin that was coming upon the people of the Jews, their city, their Temple, and their nation, Matthew 24:15, (above, and below) etc . . . . Here He comes more closely to answering their questions concerning the desolation of the Temple; and what He said here, would be of use to ALL of His Disciples, both for their conduct and for their comfort, in reference to that great event, the Lord Jesus Christ describes the several steps of that calamity, such as are usual in war:
Matthew 24:15
15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Daniel 11:31
31And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
Daniel 12:1-13
1And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
4But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
5Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
6And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
7And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
8And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
9And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
11And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away,and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
Note:From the time that the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth by His sacrifice of Himself will take away the daily sacrifices and ceremonies of the Law, thus destroying the Jewish Priesthood. The Jews today have no Priesthood, simply Rabbis, teachers.
12Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
13But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
Matthew 24:4-16
4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15When ye therefore shall see the abomination ofdesolation,spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Note:Desolation in the Greek here means:desolation(desecration) that results from being cut off (isolated), to lay waste, desolation, devastation.
16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Note: It is plainly understood that Jerusalem is in question in the passage, and its vicinity, for they that are in Judea are commanded to flee into the mountains. The Disciples who shall be there at that time are to pray that their flight may not be on a Sabbath day-an additional testimony that it is the Jews who are the subject of this Prophecy, not Christians as Christians keep the first day of the week, Sunday for Worship not the Sabbath as does the Jews. A testimony also of the tender care which the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth takes of those who are His, thinking even in the midst of these unparalleled events, of whether it would be wintry weather at the time of their flight.
Besides this, other circumstances prove, if further proof were needed, that it is the Jewish remnant who are in question, and not the assembly of the Christian Church. We know that all Born Again Believers are to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
1 Thessalonians 4:17
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.