Copyright © L. L. Griffith, 1989, 1996. This document may be reproduced in whole or in part provided that this copyright notice is reproduced on each copy made.
Email: <lelgee@voicenet.com>"The days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."
In Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, the above are the words of Jesus Christ which serve to introduce three different questions from his apostles. They ask:
The discourse with his apostles was made privately to them, as Mark 13:4 states. It was a private revelation to them, and was not made in the hearing of any of the people.
In order to follow this thesis, it is probably best for the reader to have some kind of a harmony of the gospel records in mind, and probably even better still, if the reader is able to have before him, a book similar to Wieand's Harmony of the Gospel, so that he might follow along without becoming utterly confused by the course of the events as they are laid out by the Lord. The natural mind has a tendency to skip over or omit portions of the record, whereas a visible record of the three gospels laid out side-by-side will remind the reader of what the Lord actually said, and the order in which he presented his answers to the apostles' questions.
We should not omit portions of the records. We should not insist upon any preconceived ideas concerning the "history" of the things spoken about. We should insist upon a diligent and good-hearted study of the facts presented in the Lord's discourse.
Proceeding on the ground that the Word of God is not subject to time limitations, and that the Word of God is therefore always true, regardless of the time in which the Word is heard, the following thesis inevitably takes the approach of a "last days" perspective. (In accordance with my thesis concerning Daniel's prophecy, there are three "ends" but only one true "finish" for the people of Israel).
Is there any doubt in any one's mind that the Lord and his apostles did not preach the gospel and warn the people about the wrath of God to come upon the nation for its persistent disobedience to the commandments of God? Peter affirms that Paul wrote in all of his letters about the wrath to come, and warned the people toward obedience. So it seems that the public was thoroughly warned to expect a swiftly coming day of judgment on Jerusalem, even as the parable of the Marriage Feast in Matthew 22 suggested. In truth, the marriage of the king's son certainly was postponed until a more propitious day.
In reply to this first question, the Lord makes these observations:
The sufferings begin with arrests, persecutions, delivery to councils, beatings in the synagogues, and being put into prison. They will have hearings before governors and kings, as witnesses of the Name of Christ. They are warned not to prepare a defence beforehand.
At this point in time, the Lord states the fact that :
At the time of their trials, they will speak under the power of the Holy Spirit - a mouth and a wisdom - which none of the Adversary will be able to withstand or contradict. The family members of the people will be strongly divided against one another, betraying all those who testify in the Name of Jesus, to their death. All the people will hate his followers "for His Name's sake."
Matthew's record varies his writing of it a little by saying:
All three records agree that:
Matthew then inserts:
Whereas Mark made a brief reference to this gospel being preached to all nations as an adjunct of the time when the witnessing to Christ's Name is being done.
These are the events which introduce the beginning of "the end" for the present old creation of things pertaining to Israel. The Lord has explained the events which are occurring, which bring about the time of Jacob's trouble.
But, Luke had also interjected that these days are a time when also "There will be terrors and great signs from heaven." The gospels of Mark and Luke address the signs of the time more particularly. Their questions were:
Therefore, this is the nature of the query which Jesus is next concerned to answer. The Greek text introduces this segment of his reply by the use of the word, hotan. (The English translation says either "So when" or "But when.") The word means, at the time of the action under question. It is the time of the beginning of the end.
The fearful sights (which are the terrors), and the signs from the heavens are things which are co-related to and appear when Daniel's prophecy of the "abomination of the desolation" is "about to take place" and "these things are all to be accomplished."
When the time of the placement of the abomination of the desolation comes, signs from the heavens also appear. These are the things then present:
Luke records the Lord's comments about the time:
Mothers and babies will be at special risk (for the love of the majority will have grown cold) when they must flee. They are to pray that the time is not on a sabbath, nor in the winter season.
Next comes upon Israel the greatest of all times of tribulation and of distress.
| "For then there will be great
tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, no;
nor ever will be. "And if those days had not been shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened." - Matt. 24:21-22. | "For in those days
there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the
creation which God created until now, and never will be. And if the LORD had not shortened the days, no flesh would be saved, but for the sake of the elect whom He chose, He shortened the days." - Luke 21:19-20 |
It is at this point in the Lord's discourse that he states the cause of the tribulation:
Presumably the sword and the captivity comes from the hands of the armies which have surrounded Jerusalem. Notwithstanding,
This ends his reply to the second query, When is this "about to take place?," and, When are all "these things to be accomplished?" Note that both Matthew and Mark write that these things run concurrent with the appearance of the false Messiahs and the false prophets. The appearance of the false Messiahs and the false prophets apparently are designed to counteract the witnessing of the elect and the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to all the nations. As both writers state, the purpose of the apostates is to lead the people astray from the witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But Jesus has forewarned his disciples.
They are warned:
"Wherever the dead body is, there the vultures will be gathered together." This cryptic remark has puzzled a lot of Bible readers throughout time. But when understood in its context here of the conditions and the apostasy of the last days, it is not such a puzzle. The "vultures" will gather around all "the dead" who give heed to their lies, to their great signs and wonders, and will quite literally lead them to their death.
The third and final question for answer is about the manner of the Lord's coming and of the close of the present order. His coming will, Jesus says, "be as" (hosper gar) "the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west." His coming will be a sudden, brilliant display of light across the whole of the heavens. ...It will also be a time when all the tribes of the land will be in mourning. In explanation of the manner of his coming, the words of Jesus are recorded in all three of the gospel records.
Immediately with those "last days" there will be the "fearful sights and great signs from the heavens," per Luke 21:11, which later produces the perplexity and foreboding of what is coming upon the whole earth, per 21:25. Jesus addresses this fear and identifies the things which will cause it.
"For immediately with the
tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon will not give
her light, and the stars shall fall from the sky; and the powers of the heavens
shall be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of man shall appear in the sky... | "But in those days with
that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars of the sky shall be falling out, and the powers which are
in the heavens shall be shaken... - Mark 13:24-26 | "And
there shall be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress,
nations in perplexity, a sounding and stirring of the sea, men cold-hearted from
fear and expectation of that which is coming on the habitable, for the powers of
the heavens shall be shaken... - Luke 21:25-26 |
With, (meta), here is in the (Greek accusative) English objective case. Used so, it does not signify afterward or following afterwards.
In conjunction with the days of the tribulation, the activity of the things in the heavens also occurs. These things are the weapons of the LORD's warfare. See Isaiah 28:20; Jeremiah 50:24-25; and Psalm 83, for examples of the heavenly weapons which are shaken against the earth.
The shaking of the powers of the heavens against the earth is the sign of the close of this age. It is the signal for the resurrection of the dead, and for the redemption of the just. When these signs appear, the Son of man will also come upon, in and with the clouds of the heaven. His herald will sound the trumpet before him. And Jesus will have received his power and his great glory for his earthly rule. At that time he comes, he will send out the angels to gather his elect from every place on earth. This is the end which Daniel was assured by an angel that he would attain. He will then stand in his lot.
The Lord's private discourse to his apostles ends with him giving some illustrations by way of parable concerning the time of the end. The reader should be wise enough by himself now to decipher these parables for his own good understanding of other matters pertaining to "the end."
The same things are shown, in the same manner, in the book of the apocalypse of Jesus Christ, wherein the "great and fearful day" of the LORD is brought to pass, and the kingdom of God is restored upon the earth.