The Olivet Discourse is NOT about the End Times

[0:00] what if I told you that a chapter frequently cited as proof of the end times is actually pointing to something else entirely today we are unpacking the all of it discourse which is a journey that is going to take us through one of the most contentious and difficult to understand chapters in the entire Bible which is the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew it's going to take us through history prophecy and a fresh look at Jesus's words in his context to his audience and it might lead to some very interesting conclusions that if you're anything like me you probably didn't consider before you were shown the original context the verses before and after and the answers to the questions Jesus was actually being asked and it'll unlock everything and show you Jesus's words in a brand new light let's dig in well there's no use doing anything other

[0:47] than just jumping into the scriptures so let's open up Matthew 24 and read it from beginning to end together stopping at points where we there might be some interest and there might be something to unlock starting in verse one actually I I want to highlight something so here I am in The New International Version see how this this is what's called a paropy when you're looking at the Bible there are these like little headings and subheadings that get added to the text this isn't actually in your original Bible in the Greek document that was Matthew Matthew's gospel these words that say the destruction of the temple and signs of the end times were not actually here so what the translators of the new international version of done and it's not just them other translations do this too what they're doing is they're telling you what they think this passage is about and I never want to erode people's confidence in the English translations they take a ton of

[1:36] work and it's extremely important that you have a translation that you can read and understand in your own language but this kind of thing it points out that sometimes people go in with sort of an understanding of what they're going to read before they read it whereas if you go to the ESV which is what it's on now it just says Jesus fortells the destruction of the temple or in the csb destruction of the temple predicted but if you scroll down a little bit it says signs of the end of the age which I think end of the age is the right phrase because that's the question he's asked it's not the end of the world it's not the end times it's the end of the age but since we landed on csb let's just go ahead and read what it says here and see what it comes up with as Jesus left and was going out of the temple his disciples came up and called his attention to its buildings it's hard to explain how important the temple was to a Jewish person I'm in an American context so it's easy for me to sort of

[2:23] start there imagine that you had a building that was basically a combination of the White House with all of its National implications and like a National Cathedral where the seat of all of United States of religious expression all takes place in this one place and it had stood as like the symbol of your entire National ethnic and religious identity for thousands of years obviously it had been torn down and then rebuilt and there's this whole discussion but the concept of the temple that's sort of the meaning that it had for a Jewish person in the first century and they're like look at the buildings Jesus aren't they beautiful what what wonderful how does how wonderful does the temp Temple look today and this is Jesus's response he replied to them do you see all these things truly I tell you not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down so you're walking with Jesus you call his

[3:11] attention to the temple buildings and then you say look at how beautiful they are and he's like nah it's all coming down it'd be like walking with Jesus today and being like look at how awesome the white house looks Jesus and he says that thanks going down you would obviously be a little Disturbed you would have some questions so watch what the disciples do while he was sitting on the Mount of Olives the disciples approached privately and said tell us when will these things happen and what is the sign of your coming and of the End of the Age notice first that they left to right that's not a conversation they wanted to have with Jesus inside of Jerusalem which you could probably understand they leave they go to the Mount of Olives and then they approach him privately and they are asking okay when is that going to happen you said the Temple's going down when is that going to happen and then notice what is the sign of your coming and of the End of the Age stop for a moment in their minds because they don't yet understand

[4:00] the true nature of Jesus's mission they are asking this as one question they assume the temple coming down Jesus coming to Reign eternally and the End of the Age meaning the beginning of the next age which is the age to come which is the new heavens and the new Earth they assume all of those things are stacked right on top of each other and they're going to happen at the same time so they think of this as one question but the way that it's phrased it's at least two possibly three questions if it's three questions it goes like this when will this happen what is the sign of your coming what is the sign of the end of the age three questions if it's two questions it's when will this happen the destruction of the temple and what would be the sign of your coming in of the End of the Age hold that in your mind because Jesus answers both questions or all three questions and not in a way that they were expecting here's where he goes Jesus replied to them

[4:48] watch out that no one diss you for many will come in my name saying I am the Messiah and they will deceive many you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars see that you are not alarmed because these things must take place but the end is not yet now what I've done here is I've actually pulled up the Interlinear Greek so that we can look at that together and see the first words that Matthew records of Jesus's actual response because they hold an extremely important thing that most people don't notice Jesus's first words here are B which is take heed if you hover over this this is a really cool tool by the way called biblehub.com Interlinear you can look at the Greek and the translation of the work the word and all kinds of different um concordances and encyclopedic definitions of them where

[5:35] it pulls from all the different ways that it's been used and even related words in order to kind of get the sense of a word in the Hebrew and the Greek and the few passages that are Aramaic it covers those as well but in this tool you can then come over here and hover over the sort of makeup of a word and see what makes it tick so if you can see it's kind of small text down there but it says verb present imperative active second person plural so English and the word you makes this super screwy for us as modern Americans so when I say bring me my coffee that carries in English something that's called the understood you the problem is that we don't really have a plural you it could be I want this team of people to go get my coffee from a dungeon or it could be I'm asking my seven-year-old daughter to go get my coffee that I forgot to bring into my office from the living room I could be speaking to a team of people or just one thankfully Greek doesn't have that

[6:23] problem but stop and think about what this means he's answering their question and his warning let's just say it's Peter Peter James and John were frequently the people in these passages who were coming up to him and asking him personal questions so let's just imagine Peter right there he is let's let's let's use the images of of Simon who becomes you know renamed Peter and then Andrew in the background and let's just imagine it's these guys asking Jesus a question his answer doesn't take the shape of people who live thousands of years from now when all this happens are going to need to take heed he's he's looking at Simon in Simon's eyes Andrew's there too he's not looking past them to the TV cameras speaking to us thousands of years later this is a record of a conversation he had with his actual followers and his warning to them

[7:11] to Simon to Andrew is take heed in the technical stuff second person plural so you guys present imperative active take heed I'm giving you instructions to start following now the person that I'm speaking to most of us don't read this passage as though that's the tone and Timber of the kind of answer he's giving we don't think of him looking into Simon Peter's eyes and into Andrew's eyes and James and John and giving that kind of an answer to them but let's just see where this goes in csb it says watch out that no one deceives you again the U is a you guys in my presence watch out that no one deceives you many will come in my name saying I am the Messiah and they will deceive many you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars see that you are not alarmed because these things

[7:59] must take place but the end is not yet so here in the heart of the oliv it discourse the disciples asked Jesus about the destruction of the temple and the end of the age it's crucial to understand that their questions were not about a distant apocalypse but about their present reality and the future of their Nation these things mean completely different things in a first century Jewish context so let's make sort of a running list of things that Jesus is warning people about warning them about in their immediate future I'm literally going to write down a list so we can keep track of this as we go number one is false Messiahs next is going to be wars and rumors of wars and here's where he takes it for nation will rise up against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom there will be famines and earthquakes in various places all these events are the beginning of labor pains so already you've probably heard a

[8:47] few familiar verses that in the United States we just can't help but think about it this way even though a the rest of the world that is in the Christian faith doesn't read these verses this way with rare exception CS but generally most of the rest of the world does not read these passages this way and almost this vanishingly small proportion of Christians throughout history have read these passages this way either but I'm sure you have in your mind you hear wars and rumors of wars and that's almost like a watch word that if you've been in American Christian culture for a while you'll hear that and you'll think oh people are expecting the end times day of the Lord to happen anytime soon if they're saying oh there's wars and rumors of wars it's got this tone of like look out pay attention to the news because that's how you're going to know that like the Rapture is going to happen or something notice that these verses

[9:35] happen in kind of the opposite context it's thousands of years ago at this point and he's warning his immediate audience his disciples it gets worse then they will hand you over to be persecuted and they will kill you notice that it's you guys not them us he's not speaking to us through these Pages he's speaking to Simon and then it's being recorded they will hand you over to be persecuted and they will kill you you will be hated by by All Nations because of my name two really important things happening in the Greek there's a few ways you can translate a couple of these words by the way first off they will deliver you over to lipin which is actually tribulation so Jesus is introducing the concept of tribulation happening and it's not seven years in the future it's to them at that time and then it says you will be hated by all the nations but that a Nations is this word ethnon and it's much more frequently translated as the Gentiles it

[10:24] doesn't necessarily mean that absolutely every single nation on the planet has visibility into what's happening with Jesus's followers and will hate them it means that the Gentiles all the Gentiles which could be all the Gentiles in their specific context or all the Gentiles in the world but it allows for the possibility that it's just the ones around them will hate them which again would make sense if he's warning Simon and Andrew so you'll be hated by all Gentiles because of my name then many will fall away betray one another and hate one another many false prophets will rise up and deceive many because lawlessness will multiply the love of many will grow cold but the one who endures to the end will be saved again all of this is warning them about what was coming for them so the question becomes and it's going to be something we have to raise and then answer multiple times as we go on did these things happen in that context and the

[11:12] short answer is yes all of these things happened in the lives of his disciples and followers now this little phrase the one who endures to the end will be saved the end there doesn't have to mean the end of the world or the end of human history it could mean the end of their life it could mean the end of the tribulation it could mean the end of the painful circumstances they in and again that would make more sense because this is that passage by the way where Jesus says all of these things will take place before this generation passes away and he's indicating this gen like the people that are alive now will be alive when all this happens so unless we want to make that verse which we're going to get to as we go along not mean what it means we have to kind of take this literally and look at how this might apply to their situation then then he says this good news of the Kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to All Nations and then the

[12:01] end will come again Nations and end here Nations is Gentiles and end doesn't necessarily mean the end of all human history now this verse right here verse 14 is where it starts to really get wild let's read it again this good news of the Kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to All Nations and then the end will come to my ear and to your ear that sounds like the gospel will have to penetrate all of the unreached people groups and all of the tribes and Aber original people and all of the languages that are spoken all several hundred of them that are spoken on the planet today and then the end of human history will come the only problem with that is the Bible so in Colossians 1 let's go to verse 6 let's back up a little bit we always thank God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you

[12:48] have for all the saints because of the Hope reserved for you in heaven you have already heard about this hope in the word of Truth The Gospel that has come to you it is bearing fruit and growing all over the world just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God's grace Paul seems to indicate to them that the gospel is already bearing fruit all over the world you go a little further in the same chapter verse 23 he says uh if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the Gospel that you heard this gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven and I Paul have become a servant of it interesting so he doubles down in the context of one letter here where he's saying look this message has gone out to the whole world then in Romans 10 in order to show that the Jews had no excuse not to accept the gospel Paul says these verses that are

[13:35] also very famous and really well known so faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes through the message about Christ or faith comes through hearing and hearing from the word of God but I ask did they not hear yes they did their voice has gone out to the whole earth and their words to the ends of the world this is a citation of Psalm 19:4 but he's saying in effect yeah the message has gone out to everyone and if that weren't enough in Romans 16 at the very end of the letter he says this now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery that was Kept Secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known made known to All Nations according to the command of the Eternal God to bring about The Obedience of Faith to the only wise God

[14:23] be glory forever more through Jesus Christ amen and that's how he ends his letter Paul's letters very rarely speak about the actual proclamation of the Gospel what they're mostly about is to Believers living in light of the Gospel how to live as gospel people and Paul at least seemed to be under the impression this job had been done the seed had been planted everywhere and it was already spreading so if Paul thought that he had contributed to the Fulfillment of that goal and by the way every one of these letters was written before the destruction of the temple if that's the case then what's stopping us from in verse 14 when he's talking to Simon and Andrew hearing him as saying Jesus in back in Matthew 24 saying good news of the Kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to All Nations and then the end will come in fact I think that's exactly what it's saying

[15:10] and we're going to continue on so when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the Prophet Daniel standing in the Holy place let the reader understand then those in Judea must flee to the mountains pause because I already know some of you have heard that and you have a whole laundry list of things that come up that you been taught in Bible studies maybe that you have taught in Bible studies that you learned in churches conservative churches whatever it is maybe you heard it on the radio read it in a book you get a million things that come to mind when you read abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel and you start thinking future there's a seven-year tribulation it's got to be this whole big thing first off the phrase seven-year tribulation does not appear anywhere in the scriptures that's a cobbling together of five or six different ideas into one to kind of mish mash it into a Franken doctrine that may be true may not be true I don't

[15:57] think it is but with would have to be proven that all of those verses go together that all those pieces go together and I don't think it can be proven second remember Simon Peter and Andrew are his audience not you and me this is especially clear when you look at some of the other what are called parallel passages to this one that are in the other gospels the synoptic gospels telling the same story so Matthew's audience was very Jewish would know what the abomination of desolation was and would go looking for it that's a whole other video we might have to do a whole other time I just want you to see how Luke translates that idea when Luke pulls this up and he's he's writing to more of a gentile Greek audience and he has to he knows he has to sort of translate the idea of the abomination of desolation because there's a whole thing to unpack there he knows he has to translate that so here's how he translate when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies then recognize that

[16:46] its desolation has come near then those in Judea must flee to the mountains notice that his instructions back in Matthew 24 then those in Judea must flee to the mountains are exactly the same the abomination of desolation isn't necessar neily some future event that we're all waiting for that's signaling the end of the world or comes before or in the middle or after the Rapture we'll get to the Rapture in a minute because we're in that chapter too it's a warning to his audience when you see that thing and he like kind of leans in and it's it says let the reader understand right meaning that if you don't understand this you should go and find someone who does understand what the abomination of desolation is referring to the abomination of desolation is a gentile person elevating himself against God by entering the holy place and making a a wrong sacrifice of some sort as spoken of in Daniel interesting though this is

[17:35] clearly Jerusalem surrounded by armies which is exactly what happened when the temple was destroyed which if you remember was the question Jesus was being asked about they're asking him about the destruction of the temple he's answering them and he's saying when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies and it's about to go down get out here's the warning he gives those in Judea must flee to the mountains a man on the housetop must not come down to get things out of his house and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days pray that your Escape may not be in Winter or on a Sabbath interesting point just in passing um these are all archaic descriptions of what people looked like and how they lived and you know people working in the field and living on the tops of houses that's all first century stuff if you were to just kind of like lift this and transport it over into 21st century plus that doesn't really describe the way the people live in the

[18:24] Judea area second interesting point he says pray that your Escape may not in Winter or on a Sabbath now that's interesting because it sounds to me like again he says he doesn't know what time this is and it suggests that the the time that this could happen is kind of fluid it's not something that is eternally forn or predestined to happen on an exact date it seems like there's kind of a some play in the joints about when this is actually all going to go down he knows it will go down because he's he's aware of the plan regarding at least that much he says this for at that time there will be great distress is what it says here the word is tribulation so how am I supposed to read this he's talking about the Great Tribulation he mentions seven years Nowhere In this passage he's talking about the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel and in Luke he says that's about Jerusalem being surrounded

[19:11] by armies and the destruction of the temple which is the question he was being asked about he says at that time when Jerusalem is surrounded by armies and the destruction of the temple is at hand there will be Great Tribulation we've got another one of those phrases that people pick up and put on end times that Jesus is just not saying here he's just not saying that there will be Great Tribulation at the time that Jerusalem is surrounded by armies because of the destruction of the temple coming the kind that hasn't taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again that's really interesting unless those days were cut short no one would be saved but those days will be cut short because of the elect so these days are going to be halted at some point okay if anyone tells you then see here is the Messiah or over here do not believe it for false Messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to

[19:58] lead lead astray if possible even the elect take note I have told you in advance again how many times does he have to say you you you to Simon Peter James and John for us to go oh like maybe this is about those guys not not us and he's saying I've told you in advance I've warned you so if they tell you see he's in the wilderness don't go out or see he's in the store rooms do not believe it or as the lightning comes from the East and flashes as far as the West so will be the coming of the son of man wherever the carcass is there the vultures will gather now we got to talk about the of man some people want to say that the son of man is just Jesus's favorite title for himself it's like he's he's a human he wants to emphasize his human this people will say you're the Messiah and he'll deflect from that to son of man and it's his his favorite title it is his favorite title but not simply because it means that he's like a person just a regular person there's a

[20:45] whole passage about the son of man in Daniel 7 the whole thing we don't have time because this is a whole video in and of itself but I just need to refer to what's going on here Daniel has a dream four huge monster beasts come up out of the ocean different some of them have multiple heads and teeth and corn horns and all kinds of stuff going on um a lot of what's going on in Revelation is coming back to this image beasts and all this stuff horns and the human the horn has a eyes uh like a eyes like a human in a mouth that was speaking arrogantly and then Daniel sees this so there's these these kingdoms that come up out of the the ocean and they're destroying people and they're ruining and and and attacking God's good world and opposing him and his rule then this happens as I kept watching Daniel's still in his vision were set in place

[21:32] not one Throne multiple Thrones and the Ancient of Days took his seat his clothing was white like snow and the hair of his head like whitest wool his throne was flaming fire its Wheels were blazing fire a river of fire was flowing coming out from his presence thousands upon thousands served him 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him the court was convened and the books were opened I watched then because of the sound of the Arrogant words the horn was speaking as I contined watch watching the Beast was killed and its body destroyed and given over to the burning fire as for the rest of the beasts their Dominion was removed but an extension of life was granted to them for a certain period of time I continued watching in the night visions and suddenly one like a son of man was coming with the Clouds Of Heaven he approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him he was given dominion and glory and a kingdom so that those of every people nation and

[22:21] language should serve him his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion that will not pass away and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed so let's just pause and talk about this cuz now this whole other can of worms is open and this other cat is out of the bag Jesus is saying that he's that guy he's the son of man he's him here's the important phrase the son of man coming with the Clouds Of Heaven again to your ear and my ear as 21st century Christians that grew up in the United States we hear that and we think okay this is the Judgment scene the the books are open Thrones are placed and all kingdoms of the world are going to be judged and destroyed let's stop and think about the the movement of the direction of this person's coming right the son of man is not coming down to bring judgment he's coming up to heaven to pass judgment from the throne it's not a descension or

[23:09] a return it's an Ascension Jesus in this if if this is the son of man if Jesus is the son of man then this is a picture of Jesus ascending to a Heavenly Throne to pronounce judgment over Earthly kingdoms whatever those kingdoms are the kingdoms could be Rome Persia Assyria and Jerusalem and the the religious this Kingdom of the Jewish people could be the United States could be Russia could be China could be you know there's not a whole lot that's spoken of in these passages that give us a ton of context about when that's going to happen the point is Jesus is ascending to heaven to a throne with an open book to pronounce this judgment so again here in this context it's really interesting then that Jesus is asked what's going to go on with the temple Jesus and then it says for as the lightning comes from the East and flashes as far as the West so will be the coming of the son of man who

[23:58] that's interesting so now again they're asking him about the whole Temple thing and he's saying all this stuff where there's going to be tribulation and you're going to need you're going to need to leave and people are going to hate you for my name's sake that's all happening to you guys take heed I've warned you in advance so listen to my warnings Simon and Andrew that thing the destruction of the temple is the coming of the son of man when that when the son of man that y'all know about because you're Jews have been reading your Bible since you were children when the son of man go goes up to the throne to pronounce judgment that's his coming of the son of man and that's the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple H again I I didn't read it that way until I read it from the beginning and then went and looked at all of these different references to all these different passages here's where my view in some people's eyes gets a lot more

[24:46] complicated immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not shed its light the Stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken then the sign of the son of man will appear appear in the sky and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn and they will see the son of man coming on the Clouds Of Heaven with power and great Glory he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet and they will gather his elect from the Four Winds from one end of the sky to the other okay so this obviously has to be about end times stuff right this has to be some end times fulfillment of Prophecy of the destruction of the world right it has to be doesn't it we say that because we think Jesus is speaking in literal a literal framework here so we go outside in the daytime and look up and see that the sun hasn't been darkened or we go out at night and we see that the moon

[25:33] has not shed its light we see that the Stars haven't fallen from the sky and that the powers of the heavens will be shaken we haven't seen a sign of the son of man appearing in the sky and what we think is the son of man coming on the Clouds Of Heaven with power and great glory and Angels or Messengers with a loud trumpet and Gathering the elect from the Four Winds from end of the sky to the other we hear all that we're like well that hasn't literally happened we can look outside right now and the Sun is up so guess we're still waiting on that part again guys the only problem with that is the Bible the issue is that Jesus isn't speaking literally he's speaking like a prophet so let's let's go to Isaiah 13 just as an example where this is a pronouncement that's being made against Babylon and let's just read it from the beginning to end and see if we find some of the same kind of language a pronouncement concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amos saw lift up a banner on a Barren Mount call up to

[26:20] them signal with your hand and they will go through the gates of the Nobles I have commanded my consecrated ones yes I have called my Warriors who celebrate my Triumph to execute my wrath listen a commotion on the mountains like that of a mighty people listen an uproar among the kingdoms like Nations being gathered together the Lord of armies is mobilizing an army for war they are coming from a distant Land from the farthest Horizon the Lord and the weapons of his wrath to destroy the whole country wail for the day of the Lord is near it will come as destruction from the almighty therefore everyone's hands will become weak and every man will lose heart they will be horrified pain and Agony will seize them they will be in anguish like a woman in labor they will look at each other their faces flushed with fear first off did you notice some of this exact language in

[27:07] the other things he's talking about kingdoms Rising against kingdoms nations against Nations really ought to be hopeful that you're not pregnant when this whole thing goes down okay he's talking like that he's talking like that here remember this is a pronouncement of judgment against Babylon but here's where it gets really interesting verse n look the day of the Lord is coming cruel with Fury and Burning Anger to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its Sinners indeed the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light the sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will not shine I will punish the world for its evil and wicked people for their iniquities I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant and humiliate the insolence of tyrants you skip down just a little bit further and Babylon the Jewel of the kingdoms the glory of the pride of the Chalan will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God

[27:55] overthrew them and he ends the chapter with by saying babylon's time is almost up her days are almost over so the prophet Isaiah is using literally this exact language not to describe the destruction of the entire world in judgment but the destruction of Babylon what's called apocalyptic language is again it's a whole genre that we don't really traffic in in the 21st century but it was really popular in Jesus's day and of course before that if you read Isaiah Ezekiel Jeremiah they all speak like this at different times and Jesus is quoting this quoting from this exact passage or at least referencing it and many other passages like it calling this the day of the Lord I just find that interesting Everything Jesus is saying here there are there's biblical precedent from the Old Testament to say this isn't about some literal fulfillment in the future after a seven-year tribulation and you know a

[28:44] Rapture and all that stuff the way that we've been taught there's biblical precedent where he's pulling all of this information from the abomination of desolation the son of man the coming of the son of man the Great Tribulation the day of the Lord Sun darkening and the moon not giving its light and the Stars falling from Heaven there's Old Testament precedent for everything about this and it all points to the destruction of a local city state or a kingdom and not the entire world in the future and Jesus is warning his immediate audience about this and this is why he is telling them this because he's answering their question he continues on learn this lesson from the Fig Tree as soon as its Branch becomes tender and Sprouts leaves you know that summer is near in the same way when you see all these things recognize that he it's it doesn't have to be he that's the translation choice that they made is near at the door truly I tell you this

[29:33] generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place Heaven and Earth will pass away but my words will never pass away Jesus says he's back to these guys he's not looking at the television cameras at us 2,000 years later he's looking at Simon and Andrew from James and John and he's saying pay attention look for the signs as soon as the fig tree sprouts and the branch becomes tender and it grows leaves you know that the summer is near and the Fig Tree the Fig's going to come when you guys see the signs of this stuff going down you need to get out of here warn everyone take people out of Judea this generation is going to see this happen you guys here within the next what's a nice round number for a generation 40 years within the next 40 years or so all of this is going to happen and then he doubles down on it he doesn't say could

[30:21] be wrong he says this generation will not pass away Heaven and Earth will pass away but my words won't all of that is Jesus's answer to the first question of when will these things take place about the destruction of the temple that baffles a lot of people because Jesus doesn't speak like a 21st century Westerner and he doesn't speak like a dispensational premillennialist either he speaks like a ancient Jewish prophet and if you don't know how to handle the Old Testament prophets and what those prophecies are pointing to you have no business sing this chapter you have no business handling the entire Book of Revelation you're going to bungle it and get messed up he continues on and then we'll actually finish here now concerning that day and hour no one knows neither the angels of Heaven nor the son except the father alone as the days of Noah were so the coming of the son of man will be for in those days

[31:08] before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and given in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark they didn't know until the flood came and swept them all away this is the way the coming of the son of man will be then two men will be in the field one will be taken and one left two women will be grinding grain with a hand Mill one will be taken and one left therefore be alert since you don't know what day your lord is coming but know this if the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into this is why you are also to be ready because the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect first thing I like to point out this is a really famous like Rapture passage people want to make this say that Jesus is going to come and then people are going to get taken and the others are going to get left behind first things first I don't actually think that that's what the passage is talking about here's why this phrase the coming of the son of man it's repeated over and over and over again and I've already established from the previous

[31:56] section that I think that this is is pointing to the Jerusalem destruction the Jerusalem being surrounded by armies the destruction of the temple as Jesus is coming in judgment over the Jewish nation state that rejected him as the Messiah for another reason even if it were about the Rapture let's pause and look at this context here as the days of Noah were so the coming of the son of man will be hm what came in the days of Noah and took people away was it Heavenly rescue or was it a flood that killed everyone in judgment so even if this is about a Rapture which I don't think it is or like a picking of picking up people even if it's about the end times events and people are getting picked up being taken away is the bad thing not being left behind on the earth afterwards but again when you compare this to other passages I'm here in Luke 17 where this same exact conversation is

[32:44] happening but Luke is recording it a little bit differently says starting at verse 25 um actually look at 24 for as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other so will the son of man be in his day that sounds familiar doesn't it but first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation so again he's talking about this generation Jesus is going to suffer and then he's going to be rejected by this generation so where does he place the temporal location of all of this happening it's this generation he continues on just as it was in the days of Noah so will it be in the days of the son of man they were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage until the day when Noah entered the Ark and the flood came and destroyed them all likewise he gives another example so first he gives the same Noah example that that's in Matthew 24 but then he gives this other example just as was in the days of lot they were eating drinking buying and selling planting and building but on the day when lot went out from Sodom fire

[33:33] and sulfur rained from Heaven to destroyed them all so will it be on the day when the son of man is revealed then he applies this passage right this whole thing we just talked about earlier in the Matthew passage he applies all that stuff here on that day let the one who's on the housetop with his Goods in the house not come down to take them away and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back remember Lot's wife so he's explicitly putting all these different events together in different passages whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it but whoever loses his life will keep it I tell you that in the night there will be two in one bed one will be taken and the other left there will be two women grinding together one will be taken and the other left and they said to him where Lord he said to them where the corpse is there the vultures will gather the ones who are taken are taken some place that Jesus then like can call them corpses that's

[34:24] not a good fate the one who is taken in Matthew 24 is not taken to heaven to the good place in a Rapture they're taken away to be judged and destroyed and the one who is Left Behind is the one who gets to continue living in the context of each of these passages a lot of weird things that people have believed over the centuries toally get nuked if you just keep reading so Jesus is warning them and he's saying when that day comes the temple getting wrecked Jerusalem being surrounded by armies just leave pay attention to the signs like when the Fig Tree you know when you start to get the tender branches and the leaves come out you know you're going to get Summer soon when you start to see this stuff like percolating Simon Andrew James John get people together warn them and leave don't grab your stuff and stick around Jerusalem will be destroyed you all need

[35:11] to listen I'm warning you ahead of time get out before that happens and it's going to be we're going to consider that me coming in judgment over them it's the day of the Lord maybe not the Big D and that's a whole other thing there's like a small D day of the Lord where God is judging local city states and then the Big D day of the Lord where he's judging all evil but he says this is why you are also to be ready because the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give them food at the proper time blessed is that servant Who the Master finds doing his job when he comes truly I tell you he will put him in charge of all his possessions but if that Wicked servant says in his heart my master is delayed and starts to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards that servant's Master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know he would cut him to pieces and assign him a place

[35:58] with the Hypocrites where there will be weeping and nashing of teeth ladies and gentlemen Matthew 24 so let's break this down because we've been in that view looking at scripture for a while and that's exactly where we need to be but it's also time for us to sort of unpack this Matthew 24 is not about the destruction of the world it's not about the end times it's not about Jesus warning people 2,000 years of in advance 2,000 plus years in advance to avoid things that they could never prepare for or avoid while saying it was this generation that was going to see all these things happen Matthew 24 is entirely about the destruction of Jerusalem the end of the Jewish age and the beginning of the church age Jesus warning his followers not to be deceived or think that the second coming has already happened but that this judgment on Jerusalem is his coming in judgment over Jerusalem and that they are not

[36:47] part of that they're being warned ahead of times so that they can leave but Jerusalem being surrounded by armies was the thing they were supposed to be warned about and worrying about and looking for a way out of but we do know that church fathers such as eusebius epiphanius and even first century historians like Josephus do record that in advance of the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in the year ad70 a huge mass of Jewish Christians left Jerusalem and fled to the decapolis to a city called Pella meaning that several of Jesus's followers who were there that day did their job Faithfully warned people planned to leave and kept their eyes open and vigilant for the coming of the son of man in judgment over Jerusalem and thousands of people's lives were spared because they heeded Jesus's warning that he gave them in

[37:35] advance and left before the destruction Came Upon Jerusalem When Jesus ascended and was enthroned next to God it was from that position that he pronounced judgment over Jerusalem and enacted his judgment in the destruction of Jerusalem for their rejection of him and to make very clear that the God who arranges things the God who has power and say so is no longer approving the dead ritual of the Jewish way but instead was breathing life on a new way through his son who he Vindicated and enthroned lifted up and placed in the place where there are Thrones placed next to him to pronounce judgment alongside him so let's sort of recap here at the end in the heart of the olivate discourse the disciples are asking Jesus about the destruction of the temple and the end of the age and they understood all of that

[38:22] to mean end times Jesus is reframing this whole thing about the destruction around the destruction of the temple and saying that all those things that you thought were the end of the age and the beginning of the Eternal age are not it's I'm judging these I'm judging this Jewish state that has rejected me and that will begin the next age but not the final age their question was not about a distant apocalypse which doesn't even mean what we say it means by the way it just means a revealing of something but about their present reality and the future of their nation and their lives and Jesus answers their questions saying this will all take place within this generation now Jesus made some pretty startling predictions about the temple and Jerusalem in Matthew 24 he spoke of Great Tribulation false Messiahs we've got our list from earlier wars and rumors of wars Nations and kingdoms rising up against each other famines and

[39:10] earthquakes Jerusalem being surrounded by armies and historically all of this stuff aligns strikingly with the events of 70 AD when you take it in context when you look at all the references that Jesus is making to other passages like in Isaiah 13 and in Daniel 7 and even the cross references across the different versions of this story from Matthew 24 is where we sort of camped out as our home base but we also went to Luke 17 Luke 21 all of this points toward when the Roman army this fulfillment is a testament to the accuracy and trustworthiness of Jesus's words then we looked at the the one taken in the other left passage as though you know people have often seen that as being about the Rapture but in reality those verses clearly speak about judgment not salvation the context shows that that being taken meant being Swept

[39:59] Away by the calamities of the time the flood in Noah's day fire from heaven in lot's day and the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in Jesus's day this interpretation aligns a lot more closely with the overall message of Matthew 24 and the overall context of the various places from which Jesus is pulling the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel Finds Its fulfillment in the events leading up to 70 AD when Jesus referenced Daniel he wasn't forecasting a distant future event he was warning his followers of the impending Roman Siege of Jerusalem and again understanding that link is key to deciphering what's going on in the ol of it discourse why does any of this matter because I hear so so frequently from people saying well you know you could you could get really deep in the weeds in eschatology but eschatology is a waste of time we need to just be Faithfully living Our Lives as followers

[40:46] of Jesus in the here and now and there's a little bit of Truth to that the problem is that Doctrine has consequences beliefs have consequences aw toer is quoted as saying what comes to mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us and if for example on other videos I've discussed Calvinism versus these other views if you think that God sovereignly ordains and decrees and arranges absolutely everything to happen the way that he wanted it to happen so that everything that you see outside is going according to his plan whether people wanted it to be that way or not if people are disobeying God only because he's making them disobey him and people who are sinning and robbing and murdering and pillaging are doing so because God is pulling their puppet strings to make them do that that gives you a mental picture of God that makes you say I can't trust him and that will affect your ability to try to live Faithfully in the same way if you've been taught to

[41:35] read newspaper headlines looking for signs that destruction is coming on us now what you're accidentally doing is importing this whole passage from Jesus about what was going to happen to them into our present day and worrying about your Eternal future when you've specifically been told not to worry you've been told to have hope and joy in the Lord but instead of hope you're living in fear imagine if we as Christians had a perspective on eternity which was centered on preparing for Christ rather than an antichrist centered on living out the mark of the Lamb rather than avoiding the mark of the beast centered on preparing for Redeeming the Earth and living out that story in our daily life now rather than escaping the Earth to be destroyed and ultimately centered on Hope rather than

[42:23] on fear if we consistently lived like that and we live like we believed that was the story we're participating in now it would change everything so understanding the all of it discourse and Matthew 24 and all these are the passages is not just an academic exercise it's challenging us to reconsider our views on Prophecy the end times and the meaning of the story that we think we're living out by recognizing the true nature of Jesus's predictions we can approach biblical Prophecy with the more informed context sensitive perspective we can enhance our understanding of all of scripture and we will have a much more hopeful story to inhabit for our personal lives today as his followers and if that's interesting at all to you you might want to check out this video where we talk a little bit more about what the hope of eternal life actually looks like for the Christian I hope it blesses you further up and further in