IS MATTHEW 24 JUST ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM?
In Matthew 24:1 we read that Jesus left the temple, and in verse 2 He says to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” This prompted the disciples to ask, “Tell us…when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (verses 2-3).
There are some who believe that Matthew 24 is solely about the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, while others believe the entirety of the chapter is about the end times. The Holman New Testament Commentary says, “The best solution should probably begin with the assumption that Jesus was looking ahead toward several acts of judgment, spread throughout history, and foretelling them as a conflated, composite unit. Some details of Jesus’ prophecy have been and will be fulfilled at more than one point in history.”3 The commentary further states that “this judgment, in its prophetic entirety, would take centuries to complete.”4
This prophecy “would take centuries to complete.” Remember, prophecy unfolds over time. While speaking in a synagogue (Luke 4:18-19), Jesus read Isaiah 61:1-2 to His listeners: “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God.” Do you see how that verse ends? It says, “…and the day of vengeance of our God.” Except when you read Luke 4, you see that Jesus didn’t read “… and the day of vengeance of our God.” He stopped reading at the comma, after the word “favor.” Who stops reading at a comma? No one! But Jesus couldn’t say “the day of vengeance of our God” because it wasn’t time for that; at His first coming, He had not come in vengeance. That’s His second coming. We’re still waiting for that part of the prophecy to be fulfilled.
When we read Matthew 24:2-3, the disciples pose their inquiry as one question. To them, if the temple was to be destroyed, then surely that meant the end of the world had come because the temple was enormous! Their inquiry can be broken down into three separate questions:
•When will this (the throwing down of the temple) happen?
•What is the sign of your coming?
•How will we recognize the end of the age?
This prophecy has been unfolding for nearly two millennia. The destruction of Jerusalem came in AD 70, and just as Jesus said, not one stone was left upon another. That particular part of the prophecy was fulfilled. As I mentioned earlier, there are many who believe that every sign mentioned in Matthew 24 was fulfilled in AD 70, not just the destruction of Jerusalem. Although some of the signs mentioned in chapter 24 were evident in AD 70, not all of them were. The temple’s destruction was only one of the judgments foretold by Jesus. He was also foretelling the signs of His coming and the end of the age. These signs are also mentioned in Mark 13 and Luke 21. Read through these chapters and take note of the signs that are already visible today:
•deception
•wars and uprisings
•famines and pestilence
•earthquakes
•fearful events
•roaring and tossing of the sea
•persecution and killings
•apostasy (turning from the faith)
•those who turn from the faith will betray and hate each other
•an increase of wickedness
•the growing cold of love
•great signs in the heavenlies
•the preaching of the gospel to every nation
•false prophets and messiahs show great signs and wonders
•great distress
The abomination of desolation in the temple is among the signs that must be fulfilled before Christ’s second coming. This sign will happen during the tribulation, when the Antichrist sets up an image of himself inside the temple, which has yet to be built.
As we look around the world, we can see that…
— most of these signs are in existence today, increasing in
frequency and intensity,
— getting us closer to the snatching away (Greek, harpazo) of those in Christ,
— which moves the world into the tribulation period, where the signs will only intensify
— and will usher in the second coming at the conclusion of the tribulation.
A CONVERGENCE OF SIGNS
Like no other time in history, there is a stunning convergence of signs taking place. Because there are way too many signs to cover in this book, let’s look at just a few of them.
Deception
As Jesus responded to His disciples, His first words were, “Watch out that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4). Jesus was warning them that deception would be so prevalent in the world that even His closest followers could be deceived. He speaks of deception four more times in Matthew 24 (verses 5, 11, 23, 24), so we know that this problem will be widespread as we get closer to the end of the age.
In recent years, studies have concluded that the Christian share of the US population is declining, while the fastest-growing religious affiliation is the “nones”—those who do not affiliate or self-identify with any organized church or religion. The nones represent 26 percent of the population, ahead of evangelicals at 22.5 percent.5 A Barna Group poll revealed that Generation Z (those born between 1999 and 2015) are the least-Christian generation in American history, with 35 percent calling themselves atheists, agnostics, or of no religious affiliation. Only 4 out of 100 teens hold a true biblical worldview.6
A gospel of “niceness” has left a void in the hearts of young people and in adults as well. For decades now, many pulpits have offered fare that has left the church spiritually malnourished. Sixty-seven percent of Millennials have no religious affiliation.7 Among the reasons Millennials cite for not going to church is that they only learn morality there, and they already consider themselves to be moral people: They don’t murder or steal, they help the poor and disenfranchised; what they learn at church they’ve already learned from self-help books and podcasts.
Another study reported that 56 percent of Americans say that God is not a prerequisite for good values and morality.8 Most people in America today believe that they can be good without God, without the cross. More than half of the people in the United States say Jesus isn’t necessary.
Deception of the Highest Order
Jesus said in Matthew 24:24, “False messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” We like to think that false prophets or teachers will look like crazy-haired people shouting about Jesus on a street corner, but the reality is they often come in a beautiful or handsome package and say only “non-judgy” things. If we don’t agree with the truth a pastor preaches, then we can find any number of pastors, ministers, authors, talk-show hosts, journalists, speakers, professors, and celebrities who will say exactly what we want to hear. It doesn’t matter if it’s not truth; our ears will receive it as truth because it’s what we want to hear.
Terry James says,
False christs and false prophets have been a part of human culture since the early days of history. Soothsayers of every sort have always been able to delude. The human mind, since the fall in Eden, has always seemed to gravitate toward false promises rather than toward truth.9
In 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Paul told Timothy,
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
Deception is slick and comfortable and makes us feel good. Paul told Timothy what would happen in the last days, saying that unbelievable things would be taking place and that deception would be rampant. After stating the warning in verses 3-4, Paul said to him, “But you, keep your head in all situations” (verse 5). The English Standard Version says, “As for you, always be sober minded.
”
Yes, “keep your head in all situations”; crazy and unbelievable things are happening, and will continue, reminding us again that things are looking up to Christ’s return.
MANY WILL FALL AWAY
Jesus said in Matthew 24:10, “Many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another” (ESV). In place of the words “fall away,” other translations use the words “turn away” or “shall…be offended” (KJV), and they all mean the same thing in the original Greek text: “to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, to offend, to entice to sin, to cause to fall away, to be offended in one, i.e. to see in another what I disapprove of and what hinders me from acknowledging his authority.”10
The last part of that definition is particularly interesting. To many people, the truth of the Bible is offensive and they disapprove of it, which hinders them from acknowledging God’s authority. It’s common to hear people say, “I don’t think that’s what the Bible means,” or “I don’t think God would do that,” or “I feel this is what God means,” or “I don’t agree with that.”
But nowhere in Scripture does it say, “What do you think?” “How does that make you feel?” Or “Do you agree with that?” God’s Word is about what He says, not what we think or feel or agree with, and there’s the problem for many. Pastor Darren Tyler said, “If you say, I could never agree with or serve that God—the one I disagree with, the one I don’t understand—I can only agree with a god who can’t change, challenge, or transform me. I can only serve a god that agrees with me… what you’re saying is that god is you.”11 For many today, even within the church, if the truth hurts, offends, or contradicts “their truth,” if they disapprove of what God’s Word says and don’t like or agree with what they read in Scripture, they won’t acknowledge God’s authority in those areas, leaving them open to anything but truth.
Pastor Allen Jackson said,
We’ve been a little stubborn with regard to the Word of God. We’ve approached it a bit arrogantly. We’ve been reluctant to give God’s thoughts room in our thoughts. We’ve determined that our thoughts are higher than His… When truth is rejected by the people of God, demonic influence steps into the void.12
In a word, deception. According to Barna Group research, 3,500 people leave the church every day. It is estimated that between 6,000 and 10,000 churches close their doors each year.13
Decades ago, the Western church decided it needed a makeover; surely there was a way to make the gospel less offensive. In “What Happened to My Church?,” an article from Olive Tree Ministries, Jan Markell writes,
Someone made a conscious decision that we should have a “new way of doing church,” although many members and attendees agreed there was nothing wrong with old ways of doing church. Terms began being used like “purpose-driven,” “seeker-sensitive,” “church-growth movement,” “postmodernism,” “Emergent,” and more. People started to hear about love, unity and tolerance. We must be known for what we agree on, not what we disagree on. Everything and everyone must be accepted. Aberrations must be accepted. Sin must be accepted. People loved having their ears tickled. They would be encouraged to “feel good” and have their self-esteem built up. Sound doctrine was being set aside…sound doctrine will separate and divide so we must tread lightly in that area…It seemed like an “eleventh commandment” came into the church: Thou shalt not offend.14
When the truth isn’t spoken or taught, deception creeps in, making the truth intolerable to bear. Jeremiah called out the prophets and priests of his day for not speaking the truth saying, “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?” (Jeremiah 5:30 ESV).
False teachers hadn’t gone away in the New Testament era, and according to Jude, they often slipped in unnoticed (verse 4). They are similarly unnoticed in many churches today. Many have huge platforms on the Internet and in social media, where they are retweeted, reposted, and shared to thousands upon thousands of people. Jackie Hill Perry said of these false teachers, “They hide well because we’ve made liars our heroes.”15
The power of these false teachers can’t be underestimated or trivialized; they cause great confusion and because of this, when the truth is finally spoken, even when it’s spoken in love, believers can also be easily “offended” and turn or fall away from the faith. Many false teachers present “their truth” with bits of God’s truth thrown in. In this way they twist and pervert the truth.
Again, for many people, the truth is offensive. When Pilate asked Jesus in John 18:38, “What is truth?,” he didn’t let Jesus answer. Scripture says he turned around and went out again to the Jews. People today are fighting, arguing, and bickering over the truth, but if the truth comes from Jesus, they don’t want to hear it. They find it offensive.
In December 2017, Google released its “Year in Search 2017” list of most popular searches for the year. The Bible and God were not listed in the top 100. There was absolutely nothing religious in the top 100 searches, but pornographic content was listed several times. Google processes more than 63,000 searches every second; that’s 5.6 billion searches a day.16 Now let this sink in: God was nowhere to be found in the top 100 searches. Jesus said, “I…came into the world to testify to the truth” (NLT). But very few people want to Google that.
Earthquakes
The link between the earth’s rotation and seismic activity was highlighted in a paper by Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado in Boulder, and Rebecca Bendick of the University of Montana in Missoula, for a meeting of the Geological Society of America. “The correlation between Earth’s rotation and earthquake activity is strong and suggests there is going to be an increase in numbers of intense earthquakes next year,” Bilham said.
In their study, the scientists looked at earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 and greater since 1900. “Major earthquakes have been well recorded for more than a century and that gives us a good record to study,” said Bilham. The researchers discovered that when the earth’s rotation decreased this would be followed by periods of increased numbers of intense earthquakes. The earth’s rotation began one of its periodic slowdowns more than four years before their research became available. “It is straightforward,” Bilham said. “The inference is clear.” In speaking of severe earthquakes, he said, “We could easily have 20 a year starting in 2018.”17 Their research proved close. According to World Earthquakes Live, 2018 was marked by 18 earthquakes that were 7.0 or greater in magnitude.18
The United States Geological Survey reported that a record 70 earthquakes had occurred in a 48-hour period, including a magnitude 6.2 earthquake off the coast of Oregon and a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in Alaska. (Three months later, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck in Alaska.)19 This caused scientists to speculate on the “increased seismic activity” along the Ring of Fire, where about 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur.
Wars and Rumors of War
According to warsintheworld.com, there are 69 countries involved in active conflicts globally at the time of this writing. In Africa, 265 ongoing conflicts are being waged, 181 in Asia, 82 throughout Europe, 260 in the Middle East, and 30 in the Americas (many of these waged against drug cartels).20 Right now, there are 824 active conflicts being waged around the world. Remember, Jesus called wars and rumors of war part of “the beginning of birth pains.”
Nation Rising Against Nation and Persecutions and Killings
In Matthew 24:7 Jesus said that “nation will rise against nation.” The Greek word translated “nation” means “a people.” A people group will rise against another people group. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity, an academic research center, monitors worldwide demographic trends in Christianity. In a ten-year period, it is estimated that more than 900,000 Christians were martyred, or an average of 90,000 Christians each year. 21
Christian
persecution is worse now than any time in history.22 More than 70 million Christians have been killed since Jesus walked the earth.23According to TRT World, a Turkish international news channel, in a 15-year period, the Christian population in the country of Iraq alone has plunged from 1.5 million to 250,000 today.24 The Open Doors USA World Watch List reported that in the top 50 countries globally where persecution takes place, an average of 11 Christians are killed every day for their faith.25 We are told 215 million Christians faced persecution this year, with a projected 14 percent increase next year that represents 30 million more people abused for their faith. This means that 1 in 9 Christians experience high levels of persecution worldwide.26
Open Door USA also reports that millions of Christians have been persecuted in Africa and the Middle East, forcing them to flee their homes for refugee camps. In a seven-month period, more than 6,000 Christians, mostly women and children, were killed in Nigeria. Many of the people in these regions have turned against the Christians among them just because of their differing beliefs, and the Christians are killed in horrific acts of genocide. There are too many stories to document them all here, but just as Jesus said, believers will be persecuted, and “nation will rise against nation” as people groups continue to slaughter one another.
Famine
At the time of this writing there are more than 20.7 million people who are starving or at the risk of starving in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, and northeastern Nigeria. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, “A famine diagnosis means that at least one in five households faces an extreme lack of food, that more than 30 percent of the population is suffering from acute malnutrition, and that at least two people out of every 10,000 are dying each day.”27 According to the World Food Programme, The Global Report on Food Crises provides the latest estimates of severe hunger in the world. “An estimated 124 million people in 51 countries are currently facing Crisis food insecurity or worse.”28 This is an 11 percent rise from the previous year.
The Time of Jacob's Trouble Page 24