Matthew 24

See also Mk.13 and Luke 21.

     This much abused passage should be read like all prophecy.  It applies first of all to the first hearers.  But it also is typical, and has a more universal application.  Therefore, it is a real and true message to any generation, but since it deals with judgment to come, it has an especially strong application to the final judgment.  At the time Jesus said it, at the end of the O.T. age and the beginning of these last days, Jesus describes the end of that age.   But much of the message also applies as characteristic of the age that follows, which will end with his coming at the Last Great Day.

     Matthew 24 in its entirety describes in increasingly symbolic and typical language the end of the O.T. age.  That age ended with Christ’s death.  But by God’s grace Jerusalem was given another 40 years before the final end came, when the temple was destroyed in A.D.70.  This end of the O.T. age was called “the final period of the indignation,” in Dan.8:19.  Cf. Is.26:17-27:1;  John 2:19-21.

     Since that time, we live in the end of the ages (Heb.9:26).  The time is short.  The judge is at the doors (v.33).  He will come suddenly and without warning.  All men need to repent and come to Christ as long as it is still called today.  This is the character of these last days.  The fall of Jerusalem was a type of the end of the world.  Throughout these last days there are many such warning trumpets.  But when the last trumpet sounds, our reigning King will come to judge the quick and the dead.  We live by faith in Christ’s kingdom now, but await the fullness, when “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”  (Rev.11:15).

     24:1-2.  It was literally true that the Romans left not one stone upon another of the temple complex.  The “wailing wall” one can still see in that place is nothing but a retaining wall, and was never a part of the temple buildings.

     24:3.  Though Jesus did not return to judge the whole world in A.D.70, he did draw near to bring judgment on Jerusalem as a sign of his power and glory (v.30), and to bring an end to sacrifice and the O.T. system (Dan.9:27; Heb.9:26).  This is a kind of sign and seal that he indeed can and will come to judge all flesh when the time is fulfilled.  He is in place to do it, at the Father’s right hand.

     24:4-5.  V.24;  2Thess.2:2.

     24:6-8.  These kinds of travail are warnings of judgment to come, but not of the immediate judgment itself.  It will come without warning (vv.27; 36-39).

     24:9-14.  V.9, cf. Acts 12:2-3.  V.14.  Did the gospel go to all the nations before the end of Jerusalem in A.D.70?  The way they spoke of the world, yes.  And there is some evidence in distant places like India, that it reached more of the globe than most people imagine.  Also, by both pilgrimage and commerce, much of the world came to them, and they preached to “every creature”.  See Acts 1:8; 2:5; Ro.10:18; 16:26; Col.1:6, 23, etc.

     24:15-28.  Luke, writing for Gentiles, interprets v.15 a bit for us.  “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand.”  (Luke 21:20).  The armies of Rome standing in siege around Holy Jerusalem is what the reader is to understand.

     How did all this come about?  Florus, the last Roman governor of Judea, brought on the revolt of the Jews.  Vespasian led the siege of Jerusalem, but he went back to Rome to become Emperor, leaving his son Titus in charge.  V.16 raises a question.  How will Christ’s people flee with the city under siege?  The answer is, that the Romans heard a false report of trouble in the north with the dangerous Parthians.  They withdrew for a short time, and the believers, recognizing the sign, escaped.  V.22 may refer to this reprieve for the sake of the elect.  The Romans soon returned and desolated the city in A.D.70.

     24:23-28.  These false saviors rebelled against Rome twice more even after Jerusalem’s desolation, winning impressive early victories.  But in the end it was a horrible disaster for the Jews.  V.25 may possibly mean, “I told you about this before” (rather than in advance).  Cf. Luke 17:23.  In v.28, the corpse is the dead body of Judaism.  The eagles (margin) probably refer to the Roman eagle standards of the siege army.

     24:29-31.  Were it not for v.34, one would surely think these verses could only speak of the end of the world, and typically they do.  But the primary focus is still on the fall of Jerusalem.  In v.29, the language is poetic symbolism, just as it is in the O.T. passages it quotes.  Is.13:10 is an oracle against Babylon.  Ezek.32:7 is against Pharaoh of Egypt.  Joel 2:10,31 is against Zion, but concerns a locust plague.  Of course all judgments picture the final judgment, and thus the language is doubly appropriate.  And symbolically, the luminous powers of heaven and the principalities and powers of this world rise and fall together.  V.30 may be somewhat confusingly translated.  Looking at Dan.7:13 and context (which v.30 quotes) we see a coronation of the Son of Man to the seat of all power in heaven.  He is given authority over the fourth great beast (Roman Empire) which has arisen out of the sea (cf. Rev.13:1-4; 14:14).  In the KJV, v.30 reads, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth [land] mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”  Add to these things the fact that Jesus quoted Dan.7:13 again to the high priest at his trial, and that Caiaphas understood his claim to divine sovereignty very well, and was furious (Mt.26:64 f.).  I think what Jesus says here, and what Caiaphas understood, can be paraphrased something like this:  “The lights are going out for your little world.  When you see your destruction coming, that will be the sign to you that the Son of Man has taken his seat in heaven.  All the tribes of this land shall mourn, and they will know that the King of Kings draws nigh to settle accounts.”  V.31 is somewhat parallel to v.14.  The messengers (angels) will go forth with the gospel trumpet to gather the elect from every direction under heaven.  The judgment on Christ’s enemies brings salvation to his people.

     24:34.  Read Mark 9:1.

     24:35-51.  These verses also applied to the day at hand for that generation, but even more than the previous text, they apply to all men at all times in these last days.  We know not the day nor the hour.  Be on the alert.  Be at your task.  He comes.  He surely comes.