The Gospel of Matthew Study Help (Matthew 24:9-14)
Jesus’ Private ministry
Questions on this study
- When did Jesus’ prophecy of the destruction of the temple take place?
- Who destroyed the temple?
- Why did the destroyers take each stone of the temple down as Jesus said they would?
- What defines an age in Scripture?
- What are the two parts of the age in which we now live?
- What is the second part of the present age called?
- What is the fulfillment of Daniel’s 70th week?
- When and how will Russia’s armies be destroyed?
- Why is it doubtful that Russia will use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, Europe, and the West?
- Matthew and Luke both talk about persecution, but what is the difference?
- In context, what does this verse mean? “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. “
- What is the mission of believers as we see the end time approaching?
Introduction
Today we return to the study of the Olivet Discourse, beginning with a review of the questions Jesus answers in the previous study of Matthew chapter 24. If Matthew is one of the most important books of the Bible, chapter 24 is one of the most critical chapters of Matthew.
As the disciples went out and departed from the temple, the disciples remarked to Jesus concerning the temple’s buildings. Jesus replied to them: “See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you; there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down,” Matthew 24:2. That prophecy came to pass in AD 70 when Titus and his Roman army descended on Jerusalem, destroying the city and the temple literally throwing down each stone. In order to get the gold and silver overlay, they took stone by stone down until there was nothing left of the temple.
After Jesus and the disciples arrived at the Mount of Olives and Jesus sat down, the disciples asked, “tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and the end of the world?” Matthew 24:3. Jesus answered them with something they did not ask. He said, “…Take heed not man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall deceive many,” Matthew 24:4-5. Many have come claiming to be Jesus and have deceived many, but they all have died. Then Jesus said, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet,” Matthew 24:6. There have been both many wars and rumors of wars throughout history. Then Jesus gives them the first sign of the nearing of the end of the world: “For nation shall rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows,” Matthew 24:7-8.
Nation against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom includes the entire world. The first war of this nature took place in 1914 with the First World War, which resumed later with the Second World War, which ended in May 1945. Now we stand on the brink of what could be the Third World War, which could very well be the last before Armageddon, the one the Lord will put to an end at his second coming with significant destruction of the armies gathered against Israel.
Jesus refers to “the end of the age” a couple of times in Matthew chapter 13. As we learned in the previous study, an age in history is a period of time with a beginning and an end. According to Daniel, our current age has two parts beginning in 605 BC when Babylon conquered Jerusalem up until the beginning of the church. The second part of this age is the church age in which God is calling out His church from the gentiles. The church age will continue until Jesus comes to call out His church before the tribulation, fulfilling Daniel’s 70th week, the seven years of tribulation. At the end of the tribulation, which concludes Daniel’s 70th week of seven years, Jesus will come to earth; this is His second coming proper, which will include the church and the resurrected saints. He will put an end to Armageddon, along with some other events that I will not take time to mention at this time, at which time He will set up His World Kingdom on earth.
As I write this, the world is troubled with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as it should be, wishing God would judge Putin and his allies, those other godless nations, China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, etc. The time is coming when that will happen. The War with Russia and its allies is recorded in Ezekiel 38-39. A great nation to the north of Israel, a reference to Russia, which is geographically in a straight line to the north of Israel, Ezek. 36:15; 38:6, 15; 39:2, will be allied by several other nations. They will gather in the valley of Megiddo and will plan to come upon Israel in a sneak attack at a time when Israel is at peace with the world, Ezekiel 38:11; this will be a disaster for Russia and her other allies, Ezek. 39:3-6, 11-20, as they will be annihilated as God rains down judgment on them with fire and brimstone.
There is a lot of concern about whether or not Putin will use nuclear weapons. Since 1945 when the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan, nuclear knowledge has increased, and we are now in the nuclear age that makes the atomic bomb seem like a firecracker in comparison. As time goes by, more and more people will learn how to bring enormous damage to the human race; this is scary as rogue countries like Iran develops a nuclear bomb and North Korea already has several of them. How long will it be until terrorist organizations also have access to them? We live in a very dangerous world that is increasingly getting even more dangerous that could result in deaths on a scale that nobody’s ever imagined before. The big question is, will it happen; will Russia be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into war with Europe and the West? If my understanding of Scripture is correct, I doubt it. If they did, the United States and NATO would annihilate Russia before it is time.
Let’s get back to the narrative; since the signs Jesus is referring to have been increasing in severity and frequency, beginning early in the 20th century, it is evident that we are fast approaching the end of the age and the second coming of Christ.
The next question concerns the temple’s destruction, but Matthew does not record an answer to this question. The narrative jumps from discussing the end of the age to Jesus coming with His Kingdom. However, Luke does include the answer to question #1. In Luke chapter 21, we see that Jesus talked about the destruction of the temple in AD 70, and Luke records all the answers while Matthew skips the first one. To understand Olivet Discourse, we need to study Matthew chapter 24 and Luke chapter 21.
Some discretion is needed between Matthew’s discussion of persecution and Luke’s gospel. They are referring to two different periods of history. Matthew talks about the persecution that happened shortly before the temple was destroyed in the first century. Josephus, the Jewish, claimed that 1.1 million Jews were killed in the city at that time. Luke talks about the persecution that will be in the future at the end of this age.
Matthew summarizes the answer to #1, which is now history. Jesus says before the temple is destroyed, there would be persecution, particularly of the church leaders. They are to be dragged into the synagogues to stand before the governors of Rome. The church’s persecution was a sign to those in that day that the temple’s destruction was at hand. Luke says in Luke 21:20 that armies would surround Jerusalem, indicating the temple was about to be destroyed. Titus and his Roman army penetrated the walls of Jerusalem and destroyed the temple and the city in AD 70. Jesus said that when you see armies surrounding the city, flee the city and don’t return. Those that heeded His saying were spared.
As we continue with the next part of Matthew’s discourse, we go to the fourth question, when Jesus gives us signs of His second coming and the beginning of the Kingdom; these verses begins with a brief overview of the events right before His return:
Matthew 24:9-14, “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”
The verse above is the introduction to those signs that will come before the return of Jesus and the beginning of the kingdom age; this will be a time of persecution of the saints of the Lord as the saints were persecuted in the first century. We already see it beginning worldwide and also now even in the United States. All this will happen before the second coming of Christ. Jesus tells us that believers will be martyred, persecuted, and hated. More believers have been martyred across the world in the previous century than all history combined. This persecution will follow the birth pang description Jesus gave, increasing in severity and frequency. Such persecution is presently only in specific places, but then it will be everywhere constantly. A time is coming at the end of the age when it will be impossible to be a follower of Christ without being hated, persecuted, and threatened with death.
This hatred and persecution of the saints in Christ will cause some Christians to stumble:
Matthew 24:10, “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. “
Jesus says in verse 10, many believers will fall away, betraying one another and even hating one another. The Greek word Paul uses here is “skandalizo,” which means to stumble or take offense. They are not falling away from the faith, although there will be an apostasy of the false church that shall occur after the rapture of the true church. Also, many true believers, saved during the tribulation, will stumble at this time or sin in the face of persecution to protect themselves; this will be a life-or-death situation, and many will react in a wrong way. Even the disciple Apostle Peter felt threatened before the crucifixion of Christ and denied even knowing Jesus. Jesus warns us of this in Luke 18:8 that He will find very little faith on earth waiting to receive Him when He returns. I think this includes the time leading up to the rapture of the church. It is good that we are saved by faith only and not by how we act at times. It is also essential that we understand the prophecy of the end-time events to stand firm should we be present in those difficult times.
As we come to the following passage, Jesus says His coming will be met by false prophets who will mislead many on the earth as lawlessness increases:
Matthew 24:11, “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”
Once again, we see as we approach the end of the age, there will be an increase in birth pangs, and there will be false prophets everywhere. That is beginning to happen even now. Lawlessness will also increase; this is also happening today at the rate unseen in a long time in America.
There is a real danger of the collapse of society under the weight of hate and division so prominent today In the United States:
Matthew 24:12, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. “
As a result of the collapse of society, Jesus says in verse 12, People’s love will grow cold. We see the love of many grow cold as their attention is turned upon the world and away from Almighty God. Society is on the verge of collapse as people find everything to oppose except the evil that rages across the land. Love is defeated by hatred, malice, pride, and sin. At the end of the age, love will grow cold or become a rare thing of the past. It is hard to imagine a world without love and the resulting evil that will prevail. As bad as things are now, it is terrifying to think how bad it will be at the end of the age when there is no longer any love to be found. Without love, the world will be a ruthless place to live.
There will be many saved during the tribulation beginning with 144 thousand Jews in a day who will become evangelists spreading the gospel of Christ; this will be a time of persecution of believers, but those who are true believers will endure until the end:
Matthew 24:13, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. “
In verse 13, it seems that endurance is the means of salvation, which we know it is not. What then does this verse mean? Those who endure to the end, particularly the Jews, will have the opportunity to be saved when God pours out His Spirit on them, or those who are already saved will surely endure to the end. “Faith that fizzles had a flaw from the first.” The book of Revelation describes this time as great persecution of believers when there will be great lawlessness, and false prophets shall rise, deceiving the world during the absence of love. Also, the gospel will be going out in all directions to all the nations of the earth with the final opportunity for salvation before the end comes. At this time, many of those Jews who have endured the tribulation will come to Jesus crying out in faith to Jesus for salvation, and Israel, at last, will be saved.
Verse 13 informs us that these signs Jesus has been giving to His disciples will now take place during this period of tribulation. That is why I said earlier that there are no signs to be fulfilled before the church’s rapture. The tribulation in itself is the great sign of Jesus’ impending return to the earth, and it fulfills Daniel’s 70th week of prophecy before the end comes. We are witnessing at the present and have been witnesses for generations signs announcing the end of the age and a warning for people to prepare. The final symptoms of the second coming of Jesus will occur at the time of the seven years of tribulation, becoming more intense as the end draws near.
Perhaps you are wondering how the coming difficult times before the return of Christ will affect you and your family; the answer to that is uncertain and depends on how certain events evolve, for example, we don’t know yet the outcome of the present war Russia has staged against Ukraine; it could become the third world war. We know that everyone will experience some pain. We have already seen the results of war, famines, earthquakes, and plagues, which are ongoing until Jesus returns. In the meantime, there is no need to be concerned about death because that day is already appointed to us according to Scripture. Our best determination should be to adopt the mantra of the Apostle Paul who said, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain,” Philippians 1:21. We can rest assured that Christ will take the church out before the tribulation when things on earth become unbearable.
Finally, Jesus announces the final push of the gospel before the end, the world’s last opportunity for salvation:
Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
The signs of the end of the age are already here, even though we don’t know how much longer it will be before the second coming of our Lord. We know from the Bible, the great commission given to the church in Matthew 29:19, that our mission is to be ambassadors for Christ spreading the gospel. So, don’t let the present state of the world disturb you; Jesus warned that it would happen. For all believers in Christ, the best is yet to come.