A Warning About the Future - Matthew 24:1-28

©Copyright November 12, 2017 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

People love to have information about the future. The whole point of insider trading is you find out about a stock that is about to do really well (through information not available to everyone) and buy it before it jumps in value.

Some students work hard to cheat on a test or get term papers online so they can get a good grade without studying. The cheaters often get a good grade (without the accompanying education) and the possibility of a scholarship.

One of the attractions of gossip is having information that other people don’t have. It makes us feel like we are “in the know” and people want to know what we know. Even though what they “know” may be false, they don’t care because even perceived knowledge is power.

Because of these realities, it should not surprise us that people rush to conferences on prophecy and snap up books and turn to speakers who profess to teach what the future holds. We long to know details so we can get an advantage over others and be prepared. Over the next couple of weeks we are going to look at one of the key prophetic passages in the entire New Testament. In Matthew 24 Jesus talked about what was going to happen in the future.

The passage before us is interpreted in different ways by different people. I admit to not being fully persuaded on any opinion. In fact, I find the myriad of interpretations to be one of the most confusing aspects of end times prophecies.

Two Questions

In this text before we can understand what Jesus says, we must listen to the questions the disciples ask:

As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. 2But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”

3Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?”

There are two different questions that were asked by Peter, Andrew, James and John (see Mark): First, when will the temple be destroyed? And Second, “What will be the sign of the end of the world?” Most likely the disciples associated these two things as synonymous. I believe Jesus sees them as two separate events. Our job then is to figure out which question Jesus is answering. I believe in the first part of Matthew 24 (today’s text), He is answering the first question about the destruction of the temple. In the last half of the text He is addressing the second question.

Another of the challenges in interpreting prophecy is the tendency of prophecy to point initially to something current, while also pointing to something future. For example, in Isaiah 7:14 there is a prediction of a virgin who would have a child. It was a sign to the King in the immediate present but was also was a picture of how God was going to bring Christ into the world.

God told David He would bless his son and make his name great. The immediate fulfillment was Solomon, but he was also pointing beyond Solomon to Jesus.

When Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son and the son was spared by a ram in the thicket, it was a test to reveal to Moses the faith he had. But in many ways that act was pointing to the Lamb of God, God’s son, who would be sacrificed for us. (Many believe they both took place on the same hill!)

In a similar way, the words we are about to look at may have both a short-term and long-term fulfillment. In other words, they apply immediately to what happened in AD 70 but may also give us a glimpse of what is going to happen at the Second Coming of Christ.

Preliminary Warnings

As Jesus was leaving Jerusalem, the disciples looked back and saw the majestic structure of the Temple standing out in the horizon. The temple was rebuilt (it had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC) around 516 BC (this is recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah). In the time of Jesus King Herod was doing an extensive renovation of the Temple. That renovation had been going on for over 40 years. It must have been a spectacular site as they looked back from the Mount of Olives!

Before Jesus answered their questions, he warned them:

“Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 6And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.

This was a problem then and now. Thee false teachers declare they have “new revelations” and understand the “keys” to what is going to happen in the future.

Some make bold predictions about the Second Coming of Jesus and lead their “followers” into peril. There are many false teachers. They come in many forms.

They talk of conspiracies. They claim Jesus never claimed to be God. They say He was married to Mary Magdalene who bore Him children. All of that is nonsense! There are Christian teachers who seem to spend every Sunday talking about the end times. They have it “figured out” even though Jesus says very plainly “no one knows the day or the hour.”

The best way to recognize a false Messiah or false teacher is to be on intimate terms with the true Messiah! We must be students of the Scriptures so we can discern between truth and error.

Jesus tells us that we are not to panic because of contemporary events. We frequently hear people telling us that the hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural phenomena prove that Jesus is coming soon. Jesus said there will be wars and natural disasters. These things are bad and serve as signs of the need for the Lord to come but they are not indicators that He is necessarily near. Jesus says they are just the first of the birth pangs. These things remind us of the return of Christ but are not indicators it is about to happen. It is simply life ion our sinful world. We are not to be taken in by doomsayers.

I have a friend who said she was severely depressed lately and that was not like her. She wrote back a few days later and said she believed she was depressed because she was watching the news all the time! The news keeps our interest by always reporting some kind of crisis (whether they have to create a crisis or not). If you watch the news constantly you will be emotionally exhausted and you will be sure the world is coming to an end any moment.

Jesus also warned the disciples that they will face persecution. Some will defect from the faith. Jesus also said the gospel would be preached to the whole world. I do not believe He meant every single person in the world would hear. He was talking about every nation (in the known world). The early believers believed this condition had already been fulfilled.

The Lord said: the person who remains faithful in this time of delay and persecution is the true believer. Jesus warned that the love of many people will grow cold. In other words, many who profess faith will fall away. They will face trouble or difficulty and will choose the easier path. They are “believers” only as long as it is attractive or easy.

Jesus is not saying some genuine believers will walk away from their salvation. There are too many other places in the Bible that tell us when we truly come to Jesus or salvation, we ARE saved. We are given God’s Spirit to guide and direct us. He is a deposit that GUARANTEES our inheritance.

This is a reminder that many people respond superficially. They respond to stimuli; they want to be part of a group; they are moved by a speaker, they are desperate in a time of turmoil. They appear to receive the gospel but are responding to something other than Christ. This is why follow up with new believers is so important. Just because someone says a prayer or walks an aisle does not mean they have any real idea about what they are doing! The first step with any new profession of faith is to review what the gospel is. We must help people to “count the cost.”

The flip side is: those who endure to the end will be saved. The true believer is prepared to follow Christ through the storms of life. They do not follow Him because it is the easier way . . . they follow because it is the right way, the only way, to being right with God.

The Coming Crisis

15“The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) 16“Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 17A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 18A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. 19How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. 20And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. 22In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.

I believe Jesus is pointing to an event in the immediate future. The immediate context seems to be AD 70. It seems that this was the Coming of the Lord in Judgment on Israel for rejecting the Messiah. David Platt wrote,

Approximately 40 years after Jesus spoke these words, around AD 70, Roman armies began surrounding the city of Jerusalem to overtake it. And when they did take the city, the Roman army destroyed the temple and made sacrifices to false gods, declaring Titus, the Roman emperor, to be supreme. Daniel 12:1 refers to a time like this: "There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time." This is the same language that's used in Matthew 24:21. The time of Jerusalem's destruction in AD 70 was a horrifying, ghastly time. It was a virtual bloodbath of Jewish men and women who were pummeled by the Roman army. The Jewish historian Josephus described the savagery, slaughter, disease, and famine that marked the Jewish people during those years. Parents resorted to cannibalism with their own children and many Jews were taken into slavery. The death toll was in the millions. And all of this took place about 40 years after Jesus said these words to His disciples. It's little wonder that He tells them in verse 15 to flee when these things start taking place. They were told not even to go to their homes to get their clothes when the Roman army invaded. We begin to understand why Jesus spoke of "woe" to "pregnant women and nursing mothers," for if their flight were on the Sabbath, they couldn't take the necessary precautions, or if their flight were in winter, the frequent rains would cause the waters to rise, making it difficult to escape (v. 19).[1]

Everything that happened at that time fits with what Jesus predicted would happen.

Jesus’ advice to the people was to get out of town as soon as they saw what was happening. (If this was referring to the Second Coming of Jesus, getting out of town would not help you!) This was the opposite of what people normally did. Usually people would run to the walled cities for protection. Jesus told them not to do that. Their only hope of escape was to waste no time and flee as fast as they could. The reason it would be hard for pregnant women was because it is harder to move quickly. And if this took place on the Sabbath the gates would be closed and travel would be restricted.

Because Christians took the advice of Jesus, they were spared. Thousands of Jews were killed in the capture of Jerusalem. The Jewish historian Josephus drew a picture of those days and it was a horrible massacre.

Verses 22-22 continue,

For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. 22In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.

This persecution was going to be fierce. The fact that a remnant of Israel survived was an evidence of grace. If God had not intervened, the Jews would have been virtually erased.

Verses 24-28 remind us that false prophets try to deceive believers as well as unbelievers. The only reason they will not deceive the elect (or true believers) is because the Holy Spirit guards us and alerts us.

The last proverb: “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate the end is near.” We know this is true. If you are driving down the Carman blacktop and see a bunch of buzzards flying around you know there is something dead nearby. Likewise, when we begin to see the world turning (as it is now) toward greater and greater godlessness, we should recognize the end is near.

Conclusions

I think there are some clear lessons for us as we look back on these words. First, despite appearances, things are NOT out of control. There are times when it feels like things are a runaway train that cannot be stopped. Gunmen shooting up churches; a man firing into a Las Vegas crowd; starvation, AIDS, sex trafficking and much more may lead us into hopelessness.

In spite of all of this, the Lord remains on the throne. Nothing surprises Him. It is tempting to despair as we read about all the tumult in the world. Nature seems to be revolting, people are becoming more violent. Less and less is considered sacred. We are not E-volving, we are DE-volving. However, take courage. This is exactly what Jesus said was going to happen. Our job is to remain faithful.

As we see the events happening around us, they should serve as constant reminders that there is a day coming when the Lord over All will bring all things to an end (before He brings about a new beginning). We must guard against the idea that this life is all there is which lead people to either recklessness or despair.

Second, we need to beware of End Times Hysteria. There will always be people who call us to run to this teacher or that teacher for the “secret code” to the end times. There will be fads that draw crowds and people will endlessly debate aspects of the end times. We must remain level headed. It is right and proper to study but we should do so carefully. We must keep in mind that Jesus has told us

No one knows the day or hour (and yes, that also includes the year!)

The coming of Christ will be sudden and unmistakable. We do not need to know secret codes or possess de-coder rings. We will talk more next week about the “immanence” of the Lord’s coming (meaning it could be at any time).

We must not become complacent thinking His coming is still a long ways away.

Third, we should prepare in this life in such a way that we are ready for the Coming of the Lord if it is today. The only surefire way to be ready for the return of our Lord is to follow Him every day. We should live our lives in such a way that if we knew for sure He was coming tomorrow; we wouldn’t change anything we were planning to do.

There have been and continue to be storms. We know we will face persecution, we need to be ready to stand firm. Down through the centuries, God’s people have endured incredible trials joyfully because they counted it a privilege to be numbered among His followers. They were living now with a focus on what would happen in the future. We must not “give up” on God.

The Lord is coming. It may be today, tomorrow or years from now. The question is: Are you ready?

[1] David Platt EXALTING JESUS IN MATTHEW Loc 5937 Kindle Version