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This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened (Luke 21:32)
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The Kingdom of Israel
John Shepard
April 8, 2002
Olivet Discourse (Mat 24)
The purpose of this article is to analyze the Olivet Discourse in terms of end-time prophecy and demonstrate that it is harmonious with amillennialism.
Read a harmonization of the Olivet Discourse from the parallel accounts in the gospels.
End Time Prophecy Leads to Rome | The Kingdom of Israel
The Olivet Discourse matches the amillennial viewpoint very well.
The disciples initiated the conversation. Jesus had been referring to the temple often. Perhaps the disciples wanted to clarify the role of the temple in what they thought was a physical kingdom.
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This prophecy was literally fulfilled in August 70 A.D. The disciples didn't expect to hear that the temple would be destroyed. They wanted to know more. They wanted to know more about the details of the political kingdom that they still thought Jesus was going to set up.
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They first ask "when" -- they are eager to get started.
The topics of the Olivet Discourse are outlined here:
Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom. (1 Cor 1:22)
The disciples are asking for a sign even though Jesus has already taught against this. But Jesus Himself is the sign.This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against. (Luke 2:34)
God uses signs to validate that He is doing a new work so Jesus honors their request and gives them signs.End Time Prophecy | North Forest | Top of page
His first concern is that they not be deceived. Verses 5 -- 14 list the deceptions.
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Jesus is referring to people who claim to be the Messiah. Since the Jews had the idea that the Messiah would be a political ruler (and not deity) the word Messiah used here refers to them. Certainly previous to the Jewish War (67-70 A.D.) there were many of these.
Two examples:
Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. (Acts 5:36-37)
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The word "end" here refers to the Jewish War in 67-70 A.D. But this is not the end of the world. The disciples mistakenly believe that these rumors of wars indicates that the millennial kingdom (which they think is the end) is just about to happen. But the end of the world is a long way off in the far distant future.
They thought that the word "end" referred to the beginning of the millennial kingdom but Jesus corrects them. The real meaning of the world "end" is the end of the world at the second coming of Christ immediately before the final judgment.
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The Jewish War in 67 - 70 A.D. is an example of this.
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In this metaphor the word "birth" refers to the destruction of the nation of Israel in the Jewish War of 70 A.D. which would make it clear to everyone that the church is now the "true" Israel. As Israel is destroyed, the church is born. So when the disciples hear about the troubles happening in Israel, this to be a sign for them.
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This refers to the persecution of the church by the Jews and the Romans. It has application to the persecution of the church throughout the entire church age.
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Under the pressure of persecution by the Jews and Romans many Christians would turn away from the faith. This would cause division among believers and former believers.
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There would be various false teachings. Many of the books in the New Testament deal with the issue of heretical teachings.
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This is as a result of the deception and persecution referred to in verses 9 -- 11.
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In order for a person to be truly saved they must endure the persecution and not be led astray by the deceivers. This is an important theme in the book of Revelation.
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The book of Acts testifies that the gospel was preached to the whole world.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
Jerusalem and the temple would not be destroyed (in 70 A.D.) until this happened. All the books of the New Testament (except possibly Revelation) were written before this event and we can verify from the New Testament that the church had penetrated the entire Roman Empire by 70 A.D.End Time Prophecy | North Forest | Top of page
There are 3 verses in the book of Daniel in which he refers to the "abomination that causes desolation." Jesus is referring to only one of these (Daniel 12:11):
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Christ's warning was very practical. The violation of the God-ordained use of the temple was a sign that a horrible calamity was about to fall upon the people living in Jerusalem and Judea. Those who heeded His words would be spared from being trapped in Jerusalem and massacred during the Roman siege.
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The nation of Israel was completely destroyed by the Romans. Jerusalem was set on fire and the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. Jerusalem was finally completely destroyed by the Romans in 135 A.D.
The word "distress" does not refer to a final trial before the second coming of Christ because of the phrase "for then" which indicates that we are still in the same context as verse 15.
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God chose to spare some of them. Josephus reports that in the siege of Jerusalem 1,100,000 were killed but 97,000 were taken prisoner. Of these, many more were killed over the next several years. But there were survivors among them and among those who managed to escape.
The phrase "no one" refers to the Jews in Jerusalem and Palestine who were the target of the Roman advance.
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These verses are parallel verses with verse 5. The revolutionary madness that overtook Israel and led to the Jewish War deceived many. The Greek word "christ" is the Hebrew word "messiah," which the Jews believed referred to any political leader of the Jews who would lead them in a revolution against the Romans. In typical Jewish style these false political leaders would use every extraordinary event that happened as a sign or miracle and use it as evidence that they were indeed God's anointed Messiah who would overthrow the yoke of the Romans.
In verses 24 and 25 Jesus talks about false Messiahs and in verses 27 - 31 He interrupts the chronological flow of the discussion to talk about His second coming in the distant future as the true Messiah.
The word "elect" refers to: (1) Israel, which was tempted by the deceptions of the false Messiahs; and (2) the church, which was plagued by false teachers and heretics such as the Judiazers and Gnostics.
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It was common for the Jewish revolutionaries to travel to desert hideouts such as Masada where they would fight the Romans and procure weapons. Sometimes they would flee to the desert for safety. There was also a lot of revolutionary activity in the inner rooms of the temple because they were safe there from the Romans since the Romans would not violate the temple. It was only in the final siege of Jerusalem that the Romans finally violated the sanctity of the temple. It was actually the Jewish revolutionaries who were constantly violating the temple by (1) using it as a military command post, (2) allowing armed terrorists to hide there, and (3) assassinating opponents and one another in the temple.
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Jesus transitions from talking about false messiahs, to talking about Himself, the true Messiah.
Jesus here makes a statement about the coming of the true Messiah (the second coming) that is unmistakable. The coming of the Messiah upon the world will be visible to all. Some preterists claim that Christ's second coming occurred in 70 A.D. as an invisible event but from this verse we can say that this is incorrect.
Jesus now begins talking about the second coming, the destruction of the world, and the final judgment.
Full Preterists must assume that the Olivet Discourse is strictly chronological and that the a speaker or writer can never interject explanatory material, but this is rather arbitrary. Since Jesus was just talking about false Christs it is reasonable that He would interrupt the chronological narrative to explain how we can recognize Him at His second coming.
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A figure of speech meaning that by looking at the visible effects (the gathering vultures) we can know for certain about that which caused the effects (a carcass, which attracts vultures). In other words, by noticing that the things Jesus has been talking about are coming to pass (the effects), we can be sure of the cause, which is that (1) God has replaced the nation of Israel with the church, and that (2) God is judging Israel for their rejection of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.
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Now we jump to second coming, the destruction of the world by fire, and the final judgment.
The images in this verse refer to the destruction of the earth at the second coming.
This verse skips the time between 70 A.D. and the second coming and it also skips the time of final trial and apostasy for the church immediately before the second coming.
The "distress of those days" refers to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, while the images of the signs in the heavens refer to the second coming, the destruction of the world, and the final judgment. He is thus contrasting these two judgments of God -- one directed toward the disobedient nation of Israel and the other directed to the entire world and all the wicked who have ever lived.
The word "immediately" is a literary device that we see often in the New Testament. It does not mean that little or no time transpired between the two events but that (1) one event follows the other, and (2) we do not need to concern ourselves with what happens between the two events. An example to illustrate the usage:
Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. (Mathew 21:19)
In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!" (Mark 11:20)
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Everyone will see Jesus when He comes again. And everyone will mourn because of sin. Unbelievers will mourn because they are about to be judged for their sin, and believers will mourn because Jesus had to die for their sin.
The phrase "that time" refers to the events of verse 29 and correspond to the second coming.
This verse contradicts the Full Preterist view because these events didn't happen in 70 A.D.
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The resurrection from the dead of all believers occurs at the second coming of Christ. Two parallel passages:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Cor 15:51-52)
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thess 4:16-17)
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Jesus transitions back to the topic of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
Similar to verse 28 to indicate that by seeing the signs we can know that the predicted events will shortly occur.
Full Preterists often object to what they consider as a "gap" in the amillennial interpretation of the Olivet Discourse, but even they must agree that verse 32 steps back and disrupts the chronological narrative.
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Jesus continues to warn them about the troubles with the Romans that the Jewish revolutionaries will soon provoke.
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Many of the people who were listening to Jesus in about 30 A.D. would still be alive to witness the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Some even listened to His warnings and fled Jerusalem when they saw the signs and thus escaped destruction (more info).
In verse 34 Jesus finishes His main discussion in answer to the disciples questions. Following this He has a series of short discussions about various related topics.
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Jesus is now talking about the second coming and the destruction of the world and continues on this topic for the remainder of the passage.
It can happen at any time. There is only one prophetic event that must happen first and that will happen within 40 years -- the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D.
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These verses indicate that there will not be a great tribulation (ala premillennialism) immediately before the second coming. Just as the great flood came without warning (except Noah's preaching about it) so, also, the second coming will come without warning, followed by the destruction of the world by fire. It can happen at any time so we should always be ready. Those who decide to wait to get their lives right with God are taking a big risk because they may not get the chance. The second coming could come one minute from now or it could come thousands of years from now or beyond. There is no way to know because there are no more prophetic events that must happen as a precondition except the final trial and time of apostasy for the church which is closely linked with the second coming. So the very next prophetic event to occur is the second coming of Christ followed by the destruction of the world by fire and the final judgment. The final trial and apostasy will go unnoticed by the world at large.
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The people who are taken are the wicked unbelievers. We know this from the previous verses in which the people destroyed by the flood are "taken." They are taken for judgment to the great white throne judgment. The ones who are "left" are resurrected and taken into the new heavens and new earth.
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There is no way to know because there are no clues and no prophetic events that must yet happen.
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The idea of the thief breaking into the house emphasizes that we need to be watching to prevent the enemy from stealing from us.
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Just as an owner of a home needs to be vigilant to prevent a thief from breaking in, so also believers need to be vigilant to walk with the Lord at all times so if He comes we will be ready. We should live as if He will come at any moment. If we knew Christ was returning tomorrow how would we live today? That is the idea.
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