Matthew 24:3-283And 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? 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 rumors 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 of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24For 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. 25Behold, I have told you before. 26Wherefore 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. 27For 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. 28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. (Matthew 24:3‑28)
THE LORD had just pronounced the solemn words of judgment with respect to the temple: “Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” After leaving the city He goes to the mount of Olives and His disciples come and ask Him: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the [age]?” — that is, the end of the time during which the Lord should be absent from them.
This leads the Lord to speak of many things which should take place before His coming. There would be false Christs appearing and deceiving many, and there would be wars and rumors of wars. There would be fanes, pestilences and earthquakes in many places. But these would only be the beginning of sorrows for that guilty nation on account of their rejection of Him. They would be persecuted and killed and hated for His name’s sake. False prophets should arise and deceive many, and on account of the prevailing lawlessness many would give up their profession of faith. But those who would endure through this time of trial, would be saved. Also there would be those who through this time of trial would carry the gospel of the kingdom unto all nations, before the end would come.
It is clear that what the Lord is speaking of here does not refer to Christians, but to the Jewish disciples as they were then, and to the Jewish remnant of the future day. The Jewish remnant’s hope is for Messiah to come in His glory back to earth to reign over them, to set them free from their Gentile oppressors, when His presence should put an end to all their sorrows and bring in everlasting joy. The Christian’s hope, however, is to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, to reign forever with Him in heavenly glory and eternal happiness.
The Lord then refers to the prophecy in Daniel 9:27, 12:11; when the nation should be given over to idolatry, and an idol would be set up in the temple. This would bring about the great tribulation. Those who refused to worship this idol would have to flee into the mountains to escape. It would be the greatest tribulation that ever had taken or ever would take place. But the Lord has set a definite limit on how long that tribulation could last. “Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
The Lord warns them of false prophets and Christs, who should show great signs and wonders and who would, if it were possible, deceive the Lord’s own people. “Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Bold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.” For Christ’s coming would not be in secret when He returns to deliver His own. “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.” Every eye will see Him then, His appearing will be as sudden and rapid as the lightning.
ML-01/06/1963