Three
Prophetic [Jewish] Questions
[1]
24:3 And as he sat upon
the mount of Olives,
[1] the disciples [Peter,
James, John and Andrew (c/p. Mark 13:3)] came unto him privately,
saying,
[a.]
Tell us
[11.] when shall these things be [when shall the temple be
destroyed...the temple concerns Israel: not the Church]? and
[12.] what [shall be] the sign of thy
coming [what shall be
the sign of your coming to establish the kingdom
of heaven on the earth], and
[13.]
what [shall be] the sign] of the
end of the world [what
shall be the sign of the end of
the age]?
1. When shall the temple be destroyed? [See Luke
21:12-24]
2. What shall be
the sign of the end of the age
[2]?
24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them,
[1] Take heed that no man deceive you
[the end-time Hebrew
disciples of Jesus saved after the Rapture of the Church under the ministry of
the 144,000 and two witnesses (
Rev. 7:3-4
and Rev. 11:3;
which are predominantly the so-called "lost tribes" of Israel.].
24:5 For
[2] many shall come in my name,
[a.] saying, I
am Christ
[3]
[the
Anointed One; the Messiah...the
subject here is the whole house of Israel (the house of Jacob:
descendants of the the 12 sons of Jacob scattered by God throughout the entire
earth; who the Lord will cause to rediscover their hidden links to the God of
Israel and Covenant of Abraham)];
[b.] and shall
deceive many.
24:6 And
[3] ye shall hear of wars and
[4] [ye shall hear of] rumours of
wars:
[a.] see that ye
be not troubled:
[b.] for all
[these things] must come to pass,
[c.] but the end is not yet [the end of the age is not yet] .
[5] nation shall rise against
nation [this occurred during the first 4
seals of the Book of
Revelation while the Church was on the earth
(Rev.
6:1-11), and shall
continue at an accelerated pace during the last 3 ˝ years of this age],
and
[6] kingdom [shall rise] against
kingdom: and
[7] there shall be
[11.] famines,
and
[12.] pestilences,
and
[13.] earthquakes,
in divers places.
24:8 All these [are] the
beginning of sorrows [lit., birth pains of the nation Israel
(Isa. 66:8)].
24:9 Then [when
these signs come to pass] shall they
[1] deliver you
[Hebrew Christians and any others saved after the Church leaves the earth]
up to be
afflicted, and shall
[2] kill you [Hebrew carriers of the
gospel during the last half of
the Antichrist Covenant week
and Daniel’s 70th week of years]: and
[3] ye [born again Jews] shall be hated of all nations*
[a.] for my name's sake [Lit: and ye shall be hated by all the nations on
account of My name—a hated nation for sake of the name
of Jesus].
[*1Pet. 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
2:10 Which in time past [were] not a people, but [are] now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.]
The
end-time persecution of born again
Jews
24:10 And then [when there is widespread open persecution of Christian Jews]
[1] shall many be offended, and
[2] shall betray one another [c/p. vs.
Matt 10:21; Mark 13:12;
Luke 21:16], and
[3] shall hate one another.
24:11 And
[4] many false prophets shall
rise, and
[a.] shall
deceive many.
24:12 And
[5] because iniquity shall
abound, the
[a.] love of many shall wax cold [because they are offended (vs.
10); c/p. 2
Thes. 2:3;
Rev. 3:15].
[1] he that shall endure
[a.]
unto the end,
[11.] the same shall be saved
[delivered alive at the second coming
of Jesus (c/p.
Matt. 10:22;
Mark 13:13)].
[1] Note: the Rapture of the Church is not taught as a subject in the Book of Matthew…or any of the other Gospels.
[2] Jesus sets forth the signs prior to His second coming [c/p. Mark 13:5-8; Luke 21:8-11].
[3] This reference to the coming of the Messiah [which literally means the Anointed One] is given to Jesus’ Apostles who were shortly to be commissioned to go into all the world to establish the Church by the preaching of the gospel. To rightly divide this chapter, however, we must remember that Jesus is talking about the temple—its destruction in AD 70, and later in this chapter its desecration by the Antichrist (Matt. 24:15). In fact, the whole of chapters 23 through 25 of Matthew are teachings given by Jesus within a Jewish context. The first great question concerns the destruction of the temple. The second great question concerns the signs of the end of the age; and the third great question concerns the signs before His second coming to establish the kingdom of heaven on the earth. Although much in these chapters have application to the Church, Jesus’ focus here is to set forth things concerning Israel and the Jews, and not the Church.