The Gospel of Matthew Study Help (Matthew 24:32-39)

Jesus’ Private ministry
Questions on this study

1. What is the symbol of the olive tree in the Bible?
2. What does it mean in the parable Jesus used when the olive tree puts forth a tender branch?
3. How is the regathering of Israel related to the end time events?
4. What is the first major sign of the beginning of the end of the age?
5. When did the Zionist movement begin or the regathering of Israel?
6. How are we to properly interpret “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled”?
7. What does the word generation mean in the contest of the verse above?
8. We hear a lot today about the atomic time clock being only seconds away from the end of the world; is that the clock to which we should be paying attention, and if not, which clock should be gaining our attention?
9. In verse 36, Jesus enters into a brand-new subject not spoken of before and not known before: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man.” What is Jesus talking about?
10. Jesus introduces a new subject that had never been heard of before; what is the meaning of this special occasion, of He wanted His disciples to be aware?
11. Today, people are living in a time of upheaval with no end in sight, but be assured things will return to what may seem as normal; what is that assurance?
12. With what you and I know, for what should we be thinking about and preparing?

Introduction

In today’s study, we are in the middle of the Olivet Discourse leading up to the end with the emphasis on eternity. This is only 36 hours before Jesus’ death on the cross as he sits on the Mount of Olives explaining to His disciples the signs of the end of the age and His second coming. The questions the disciples asked Jesus included three things, and Jesus added a fourth in the form of an explanation:
1. When will the destruction of temple take place and what will be the signs of it?
2. What will be the signs of the second coming?
3. What signs are there of the end of the age?
4. Jesus adds what events should not be considered signs.
Jesus explained first what will not be signs. These are signs that have occurred now for nearly 2000 years. Next, Jesus explained the destruction of the temple and the signs of the end of the age which will indicate that the time is near. These begin to take place with the First World War. Finally, Jesus gave the signs of His second coming which take place during the Tribulation period.
In our previous study, Jesus completed His explanation of the final signs before His second coming at the end of the great tribulation. Before we move to the next topic, Jesus gives a conclusion for the answers He has given. It is in the form of a parable:
Matthew 24:32-35, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
Some Bible scholars believe that the olive tree is a symbol of Israel, a classic representation of Israel in the Bible. So, when we see the branch is yet tender, the fig tree is moving from its dormant phase at the end of winter, at which time it appeared dead with no leaves. This matches the approximate 2000 years when Israel appeared dead as a nation, subjugated to other nations. When it puts forth a tender branch, it indicates new life matching the rebirth when Israel was formally recognized as an autonomous nation in 1948, although, Israel had already reached a national status by this time. This is the major sign that indicates the beginning of march up to the end and the second coming. To the world Israel was a dead nation and Hebrew was a dead language, but today both are very alive.
So, the question is, how is Israel coming alive related to the end time events? Israel becoming a nation is the first sign that the beginning of the end has come. Even before Israel was recognized as a nation in 1948 and as early as the beginning of the 20th century there had been a regathering of the Jews to the Holy Land, and a lot of work had gone forth for the preparation of the rebirth of Israel and that work is not finished. It will continue until Jesus returns to earth.
In verse 34, Jesus gives a unique promise, which connects the nation of Israel’s return from the dead to life to the end time events. He says, “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” The generation that witnessed the rebirth of Israel in 1948 for the best part are passed away, so how is this explained? There have been a couple of ideas as to the meaning. The first one was that once Israel became a nation the end would come within that generation. We know that one is false because it has been over a hundred and twenty years since Israel became alive again at the beginning of the 20th century and seventy-four years since Israel was recognized as an independent nation, which is past the generation theory; a generation is typically a 20-to-30-year period.
The formal recognition of Israel in 1948 as an independent nation was just one part of the rebirth of Israel which began at the beginning of the 20th century and still continues today. There are millions of Jews living in New York City and LA alone which have not yet regathered to Israel along with millions of other Jews across the world. According to Scripture, there is a time in the future when all Jews will be gathered to Israel:
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth,” Isaiah 11:11-12.
There are two things we need to understand to properly interpret “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” First, Jesus is explaining that all things which He is describing must come to past before the end of this generation and the end can take place. What generation? obviously, no one generation could last that long. This generation is not concerning one specific generation; it includes all the things taking place from the outset of the Zionist movement around the beginning of the 20th century continuing through the world wars and the rest of the signs of the 1900s and continuing all the way to the present and then extending to very end of the Tribulation and the second coming of Christ.
Second, this generation which Jesus mentions is not a normal generation or one single human generation, which shall not pass away before all these signs take place and the end comes. The fig tree Jesus mentioned earlier representing Israel as this generation that will experience the signs leading up to the end. The word “generation” in verse 34 is a word translated from the Greek referring to a family or a tribe. Therefore, in context, it does not mean the same as our word generation but refers to a tribe or a people; in this case the nation Israel. So, Israel shall not pass away before all the signs have been completed and then the end will come. Today Iran is threatening to destroy Israel and is working on a nuclear bomb. According to the prophecy of Jesus, Israel will not be destroyed.
It is not the atomic clock that we hear about so often that indicates the end is near; it is the time clock Israel, which is God’s time clock telling us the events leading up to the end have begun. Nothing in all of God’s creation can stop God’s time clock or reset it; the signs Jesus mentioned will take place right on schedule. Jesus said, in verse 35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Heavens and Earth shall pass away as a result of the end times events, but His word will not pass away. The universe as we now know it will one day cease to exist but God’s word shall remain and all His promises which include a new heaven and a new earth.
Today it is easy to believe we are losing control and everything seems hopeless, but verse 35 reassures us that all is well for the believer, that our security is not of this world but is in God and His word and that alone. Everything else is passing away, all those things the world counts as valuable, material things, money, pleasure, health, and happiness are one day going to end. I might add here that I don’t think Christians should be living in mansions and spending money on frivolous things but should use it to help others and the cause of Christ.
James reminded the church of this: “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days,” James 5:1-3.
Now we come to verses 27-28, which is a transition into the next section and a new topic of the discourse:
Matthew 24:27-28, “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”
Jesus describes His second coming in comparison to a bolt of lightning coming out of the east. The world today is a darkened place with sin, evil, and degradation. At the time of the end, physical darkness will be added when the sun, stars and the mood fail to give their light. Then suddenly out of the east, Jesus will appear and light up the entire earth. His coming will be as sudden and as swift as a streak of lightening.
Paul describes the second coming in terms that will be frightening to unbelievers but joy to those who have been redeemed:
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9and from the glory of his power; 10When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”
According to verse 8, Paul says it will be a time of retribution to those who have denied Christ. It is a horrible judgment: “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,” Matthew verse 28; the vultures will gather to devour the corpses left in the wake of Jesus return to earth.
Revelation 19 gives the vivid details: “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great,” Revelation 19:17-18.
No one will escape the judgement of God who has rejected His son. Verse 18 above says to the birds of prey, “That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.”
Matthew 24:31 says, “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect…” The elect includes all those who have been saved during the tribulation. As they gather along with the saints and angels and the Lord, there will be a time of celebration and great joy at the inauguration of the Kingdom.
There is another great event that will take place at this time: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,” Revelation 20:1-2. That old dragon Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit for the duration of the Millennial. At the end of the Millennial, Satan will be released for a season, which will end with a complete fulfillment of that verse in the beginning of the Bible: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel,” Gen 3:15. This will put an end to Satan’s attack on God’s creation forever. At that time, we who are the believers in Christ will enter the heavenly age.
Jesus now turns to the most important question the disciples asked Jesus concerning His return to earth:
Matthew 24:36-39, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
In verse 36 Jesus enters into a brand-new subject not spoken of before and not known before: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man.” What is Jesus talking about? This is different from that day He spoke of before. There are no signs relating to this day. He says that not even He knows but only the Father in heaven has that knowledge. That is something we need to discuss later, but for now let us consider the meaning of the phrase Jesus uses here. There were signs for the other events Jesus mentioned like the destruction of the temple, etc., but there are none at all for this special day.
What is the meaning of this day of which He wanted His disciples to be aware? The circumstances of this day are different from anything He has spoken of before. There are three things we need to understand concerning this time still in the future: The circumstances of this day; the details of this day; the purpose of this day.
Beginning with verse 37, we see the circumstances of this day: “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Jesus gives the key to understanding the circumstances of this day; it will be like the days of Noah. The days of Noah dated back 4,500 hundred years when God destroyed the world by a flood. Here is what we know about those days: First it was just an ordinary time when there was no evidence of an impending doom coming upon the earth. People were eating and drinking and giving in marriage as usual.
From this reference, we see they were eating, which implies they were planting their crops and harvesting as usual. Secondly, they were drinking implying they were taking time to party. There was no apparent reason to be concerned about anything out of the ordinary happening. There was no fear of judgement. People were optimistic of the future; third, they were marrying and giving in marriage. They seem to be no way concerned about anything marring their future. They expected life to continue as normal. God had already informed Noah of future events coming on the world; he and his family were the only one who knew what was coming. He told Noah in Genisus chapter 6 that He would destroy the world in 120 years. Noah was constructing an ark and warning the people of the impending judgement coming upon the earth, but no one was listening.
Jesus said in verse 39 that the world in those days did not understand that the flood was coming. Jesus coming the second time will be like it was in those days when the people were completely unaware and unconcerned. However, there was a second group, Noah and his family, who were prepared and waiting. Today the people of God are prepared and also looking for Christ’s second coming. Jesus has been talking about specific signs of His second coming at the end of the Tribulation when people will not be living life as ordinary, eating and drinking and giving in marriage; they will be living in horrendous conditions, hiding in caves and groping in darkness, and according to Revelation the seas are turned to blood, mountains are falling. But now he is talking about a day in the future that has no signs which separates it from the second coming. This is something the so-called religious world, for the most part, is not understanding.
It is a different time, which Jesus refers to as the coming of the Lord. So, what is this special day? It is that time when suddenly Jesus comes in the clouds to call up His church to meet Him in the sky and to rescue them from the terrible judgment coming upon the earth. In a sense it is like when God rescued Noah and his family from the flood.
Today, people are living in a time of upheaval with no end in sight, but be assured things will return to what may seem as normal, when once again the world will be eating and drinking and giving in marriage unconcerned and unaware of the impending judgement about to fall upon the earth; in a twinkling of an eye Jesus will return for His church.
When we look around us at the conditions in America and across the world, it reminds us that the we may be close to the end. Although it may seem that things will never get back to what may seem to be normal, it will because the conditions Jesus referred to are quite normal with people eating, drinking, and giving in marriage. However, that will not be the time for believers to pretend, along with the world, that all is normal; it will only be an illusion for a while before untold, terrible things will come upon the world. No one knows when that will be; it could happen any minute or it may be years away. With what you and I know, it is time for us to think about spiritual things and how we can prepare for the coming of the Lord. The Scripture instructs us to be looking and waiting for that glorious day.
Our next study will be a continuation as we enter the second part of the time Jesus is talking about.