Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Part 2 -- John Karmelich

1. This is Part 2 of Matthew 24. If you have not read Part 1, you may want to read that one first.

a) Chapters 24-25 are all one speech by Jesus nicknamed the “Olivet Discourse” as Jesus gave the speech from the Mount of Olives.

b) It is the largest bulk of prophecy you can find in the Gospels.

c) The speech is also stated in Mark’s Gospel (Chapter 13) and Luke’s Gospel (Chapter 21).

i) Each Gospel account has a few variances in the details.

2. Let’s get to the fundamentals: Why is this speech important for Christians to understand?

a) The speech is about the Second Coming of Jesus.

i) To be a “Christian”, I believer there are only a handful of things one needs to believe in order to have eternal salvation.

a) The “apostle’s creed” as found in most Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches has those fundamental ideas.

b) While these three branches of Christianity disagree on lots of things, they agree upon the fundamentals.

ii) One of those fundamentals is to believe that Jesus is coming a second time.

a) Exactly “what Jesus does when he gets here” in this second coming is debated among the major Christian denominations.

b) One view, taught by most Roman Catholics, is that Jesus comes a second time to take us all up to heaven for eternity.

c) The other view, which is taught by Evangelical Christians, is that Jesus comes back to rule on earth for a 1,000 years. We as Christians rule with Jesus. After that, there is a “new heaven and earth” and we live for eternity in the presence of God.

d) Either way, the point is that life does not go on forever as it is now.

e) A fundamental belief of Christianity is that in the same way human life has a beginning on earth, there is going to be a “wrap up” job by God.

b) The most important thing is that near the end of this chapter, Jesus gives us a command to watch for his second coming. This is in Verse 42.

i) At the same time, Jesus specifically says that no one but God the Father knows the day and hour of Jesus Second Coming. This in Verse 36.

ii) The whole idea is to keep us on our toes and watch out for Jesus’ return.

iii) With that said, let us continue Jesus’ speech in Chapter 24:

3. Verse 26: "So if anyone tells you, `There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, `Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it.

a) If somebody tells you “Jesus came back to earth, and is currently living in a condominium in Cleveland, Ohio, don’t believe them. J

b) Unfortunately, many cults claim they have “the true Jesus” in their midst preaching away.

c) Jesus point is that when he does come back it will be obvious to everyone.

d) That is his point in Verse 27. Speaking of which….

4. Verse 27: For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

a) Notice the word “as” in the beginning of the verse.

i) Jesus’ Second Coming will be as (like) lightning.

ii) If you’ve ever watched a lightning storm, especially in the desert climate of Israel, you will know you can see it across the horizon.

b) Jesus point is that when he comes, everyone will know it.

c) I may be wrong on the next point, but I do think there is some significance to the word “east” as in “east to west”.

i) Let’s face it, when we see lightning, it can come from any direction.

a) I kept thinking, “Why did Jesus mention “east to west”?

b) I do know, that the Jews believe, when the Messiah, comes, it will be from the eastern direction. (Reference: see Ezekiel 43:1).

ii) There is a gate to the Old City of Jerusalem called the “Golden Gate”.
It is currently blocked off. Religious Jews believe that when the Messiah comes, he will enter Jerusalem through that gate. (I hold this view as well.)

iii) With all that said, I have to admit every now and then I do look up to east to see if Jesus is coming. I do that not so much as I think I can see him from my driveway as it is to remind myself that one day Jesus is coming back.
I want to be looking in the right direction. J

5. Verse 28: Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

a) This is a difficult verse to interpret.

b) Why would Jesus, talking about his return, now give this commentary about carcasses and vultures?

i) Some commentators believe it ties into “Battle of Armageddon” as described in Revelation 16. If you read that, it is not so much a battle as it is a “wipe out” as Jesus destroys a multi-million-man army out to get him.

ii) Revelation describes the birds eating the carcasses of the killed (Rev. 19:17,19:21)

c) With that said, I don’t think that is Jesus’ point.

i) He just described the “east to west lightening flash”.

ii) Now he describes this vulture/carcasses scenario.

iii) I believe Jesus’ simple point is, if you see a bunch of vultures in the distance together, you know they caught something. It is obvious.

a) “Equally” as obvious will be Jesus second coming.

b) Again, Jesus uses simple illustrations to point out that his second coming will not be some secret event that only a “special group” can see.

6. Verse 29: "Immediately after the distress of those days " `the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'

a) Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 13:10; 34:4

b) A few verses back, Jesus just stated that his second coming will be “like lightning” in the sense it is obvious to everyone who sees it.

i) Now Jesus is describing “no sunlight, no moonlight and no starlight”.

ii) In summary, it will be dark out. J

iii) Remember when Jesus wrote this, there was no electricity.

iv) My personal view is all our electric lights will be out as well.

v) With the sky that dark, can you imagine how it will look as Jesus appears?

c) I also take the view that somehow, this will be a global phenomenon. It will be visible to every part of the globe. I don’t know how that will happen. That’s God’s problem. J

d) Notice in Verse 29, the words, “After the distress of those days”. What days?

i) This means that all the signs described in the past lesson (the first half of this chapter) are all future tense and describe “those days”.

ii) This is why I take the view that this describes the end-times, 7-year tribulation.

iii) It is describing some specific time period where “distress” will occur.

a) Personally, when I look at all the horror that mankind has committed through the centuries, and Jesus refers to this specific time as “distressful”, that scares me a little. J

b) Jesus other point is that this distressful period will not go on forever.

c) This specific time has a beginning and has an end.

iv) This is why I disagree with the “amillennial” view.

a) The “amillennial” view of the end times is that the time of “7-year” tribulation is not literal. This view is that it covers the last 2,000 years of Christian history (and counting).

(1) The amillennial view is Jesus just comes back, and well, that’s it.

(2) This view is that there is no literal 1,000-year millennium of Jesus’ ruling on earth. There is just life-in-heaven after Jesus’ return.

b) The other major view is the “pre-millennial” view. This view is that there is a literal 7-year period. It is followed by another literal 1,000-year millennium.

c) Among “pre-millennialist” are the two views:

(1) View #1 is that a “rapture” of the church happens prior to this 7-year period. This is called the “pre-tribulation (“pre-trib.”) view”.

(2) View #2 is that a rapture of the church happens after the 7-year period. This is called the “post-tribulation (“post-trib.”) view.

(3) Both of these views believe in a literal 7-year period and a rapture of the church prior to a 1,000-year millennium where Jesus rules and reigns from the earth.

(4) Jesus rules over those who survive through that tribulation.

(5) We as Christians rule with Jesus during this period.

d) Now that you know all of this, it is time to go to Verse 30. J

7. Verse 30: "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

a) I stated a page back, that every part of the globe will see Jesus return.

i) Notice that Verse 30 states, “all the nations of the earth will mourn”.

b) Ok, the big question: “Why do the nations mourn?

i) To summarize, people will think in some manner, “They blew it”.
They worshipped things other than Jesus, false religions, false gods, or simply ignored God all of their lives. Now here is Jesus returning.

ii) You have to remember that the tribulation period “features” a large majority of people turning their collective backs on God.

a) They worship the Antichrist. They accept this coming world leader as the answer to their problems and worship him as a deity.

b) There is a world wide celebration mentioned in Revelation is when God’s two witnesses are killed. The world, “exchanging gifts with one another” to celebrate their deaths! (Reference: Revelation 11:10).

c) Revelation 19 speaks of the world having “an army” to go up against Jerusalem to fight against God.

d) In summary, this is not a good time for believers in Jesus. J

e) Then, all of a sudden, the period comes to an end, darkness appears, and the world realizes “Uh oh, we bet on the wrong horse. Here comes Jesus.”

iii) There are Christian bumper stickers that say something like” “Jesus is coming back, and this time he’s angry!” I don’t think that is far from the truth. When Jesus comes the second time it is for judgment on the world.

c) As to the “world mourning” over Jesus’ return, there is a similar prediction in Zechariah:

i) “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me (Jesus), the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. (Zechariah 12:10, NIV).

a) The piercing, I believe refers to the nail prints from the crucifixion.

b) This is a prediction of the Nation of Israel collectively saying in that day, “Oh oh, we made a mistake. Jesus was the Messiah.”

c) Notice the aspect of “mourning” in the Zechariah verse.

d) OK, what is the deal with “clouds”? Why does Jesus say he is “coming with clouds”?

i) Jesus visibly appeared to the disciples and others after his resurrection.

ii) Paul said that over five hundred people saw the resurrected Jesus (1^st Cor. 15:6).

iii) Here is the description of what the disciples last saw of Jesus:

a) “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.” (Acts 1:9, NIV)

b) In Verse 11 of Acts 1, an angel says He “will come back in the same way”.

c) That same way is with clouds.

iv) Think of clouds as a “word-picture”.

a) Clouds make things “fuzzy”. It makes things hard to see.

b) On the other hand, Jesus clearly says that everyone will see his return.

c) Maybe “clouds” makes the site of Jesus return more visible.

d) My personal view (I can’t prove this) is that the cloud-reference is about the mystery of God the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit.

(1) We cannot fully comprehend God. Just as we cannot fully comprehend what is in front of us if it is foggy (cloudy).

8. Verse 31: And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

a) This verse is describing “his elect” among the people of the world being taken to heaven.

b) Those who hold the “post-tribulation” view love this verse.

i) They read this verse and say, “Ah ha! You see, we as believers don’t get “raptured” up into heaven until after the tribulation of those days”.

ii) Paul uses “the elect” to refer to the church. (e.g., Romans 8:33, Col. 3:12)

c) Those of us who hold the “pre-tribulation rapture” view, have a rebuttal. J

i) Let’s look at a couple of verses in Isaiah:

a) For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, (Isaiah 45:4 NIV))

b) I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, And from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, (Isaiah 65:9, NIV)

ii) My point is that when Jesus says, “my elect” here, he is talking about the Jewish people. I believe specifically, he is talking about Jewish believers in Jesus.

iii) I believe that during the tribulation, millions of people become Christians, including many, many Jewish people.

iv) Paul also uses the word “elect” to refer to Christian Jews (e.g., Rom. 11:7).

v) There is a view among many “pre-trib.” types that prior to Jesus’ second coming, the Jewish nation has to pray for Jesus to return:

a) Then I (Jesus?) will go back to my place (heaven, after crucifixion?) until they (Jewish people) admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.” (Hosea 5:15, NIV)

b) I added the parts in parenthesis. This shows how this prediction by Hosea could be about the Jewish nation “admitting their guilt” (i.e., failure to recognize Jesus) and “earnestly seeking him”, (i.e., praying for his return).

c) Given that view, can you see why Satan desires to destroy the nation of Israel today? From Satan’s viewpoint, “If I can destroy the Jewish nation, they can’t pray for Jesus second coming, and therefore I win”. That theory would explain the “illogical” reasons why the Arab-world is so “hell-bent” on the destruction of the modern nation of Israel and the anti-Semitic attitude of the world.

d) Ok, I admit, I’ve deviated a little off the topic. J

i) My point is that when you read of “Jesus gathering his elect” here in Verse 31, consider the possibility that Jesus is either talking about 1) all of us who are Christians who are alive at this time or 2) if you believe the Christian church is “already in heaven watching this from the balcony”), then it refers to a new group of Christian believers who get saved at this time.

e) One last point to consider from Verse 31:

i) In the last lesson I talked about the day the Antichrist goes into the temple and demands to be worshipped. This event is called “The Abomination of Desolation”

a) From that day to Jesus’ Second Coming is exactly 1,290 days (Daniel 12:11).

ii) Yet we are going to read in Verse 36, Jesus saying, “No one knows the day nor the hour” of his return.

iii) Doesn’t that sound like a contradiction? On one hand, we know its 1,290 days from “D-day” but Jesus says, “no one knows that day”?

iv) You reconcile that by remembering no one knows the day the 1,290 period starts.

9. Verse 32: "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.

a) Now we get back to the question of when is this going to happen.

b) Jesus point is we don’t know the day, but by these “signs” Jesus is giving, we should know it will happen soon after these signs occur. That is Jesus simple point.

c) For those who don’t know about fig trees, they are barren in the winter, and start to grow leaves in the spring. If you don’t have a calendar and wonder what time of the year it is, you can tell by looking a fig tree and seeing leaves, but no fruit yet.

d) There are commentators who make the point that Israel is often compared to a fig tree in places in the Old Testament. If you do a bible search, you will find 17 references to fig trees in the Old Testament. Almost all of them, if not all, are hints that they apply to the nation of Israel.

i) With that said, I think they are reading too much into this verse.

ii) I think Jesus is simply saying, “If you see leaves on the fig tree, you can tell the time of the year. If you see all the “signs” I’ve described in Chapter 24 start to happen, you know that my second coming is near”.

iii) Remember that this whole speech is an answer to the question of when will be your second coming and what signs will happen prior to its occurrence.

10. Verse 34: I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

a) Is Jesus saying, “You guys, the disciples will not die until all of this happens?”

i) Remember that some bible scholars hold the view that all of these events are past tense. This view, called “the preterist” view, is that Jesus is describing all the things that happened soon after Jesus death. Remember that the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70AD.

ii) The only problem with this view is that Jesus Second Coming didn’t happen yet.

iii) Historically, the preterist view doesn’t work because Jesus said that when his second coming does happen, the whole world will see it.

b) There is another view that word “generation” can be translated “race”.

i) It is the view that the Jewish race will not die out until all of this happens.

ii) The Jewish race has miraculously survived for thousands of years. Name any other race of people that has survived for 2,000 years without a homeland. That alone should be proof of the existence of the God of the bible.

iii) While this “theory fits the facts”, I really think generation means “generation”, which leads to the next theory:

c) When Jesus meant “this generation”, I believe he simply means the generation that sees the start of all of these events is the same generation who sees the end of all of these events.

i) My point, and I believe is Jesus’ point, is that “this does not go on forever”.

ii) This tribulation period has a definite starting date and a definite ending date. Only the God the Father knows the starting date (See Verse 36).

iii) This is another reason why I disagree with the “amillennial” view, which argues that there is no literal 7-year period. I believe Jesus is saying there is a specific time period in which all of this takes place, and the entire scope of events occurs within one generation.

iv) So onto the big question: Are we living in that generation?

a) Well, first of all, I hope so. J As horrible as these events are, life with Christ and his second coming is going to be greater than our present life.

b) Our job as Christians is to live our lives based on how we are going to be treated (rewards) for eternity.

c) Many think that because Israel a country again, that started God’s “time clock” of one-generation. I don’t see it that way. Besides it has been 50 years since Israel was reformed. This generation is getting old. J

d) Personally, I think the “generation” will be obvious when it does happen.

(1) Maybe it will be when the Temple is rebuilt.

(2) Maybe it will be soon after the rapture of the church.

(3) Since Jesus says “no one knows the day nor hour”, I don’t really worry about the starting date.

(4) I just know, it will happen, and I am to watch for these events.

11. Verse 35: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

a) John’s translation of Verse 35: “Jesus words? Bank on it! J”

b) Many people think, “Hey, its been 2,000 years. You really believe he’s coming back?

c) Jesus is saying it will happen. We don’t know the day, just that it will happen.

i) They (scoffers) will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
(2^nd Peter 3:4, NIV)

ii) Peter’s point: People scoffed 2,000 years ago at Jesus return. They still do it today.

iii) Remember from the last lesson how literal was the fulfillment of Jesus’ prediction of how “not one stone will be left upon the other”. The bible is 100% accurate in its predictions coming true. It is that way about the future.

d) I heard a wonderful comment based on the following verse:

i) Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions (“dwellings”); if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:2-3, NIV)

ii) The modern comment is, “If the Lord created the heaven and earth in 6 days, and the same Lord has spent 2,000 years preparing a “mansion” for us, can you imagine how wonderful that place is going to be?

iii) The reason I believe Jesus has waited so long in his 2^nd coming is that He wants heaven to be full of believers. God loves people so much, he just wants to be with us for eternity. The longer Jesus takes, the more people will accept him, and the more people will be in heaven.

a) On the other hand, it can’t go on forever, as Jesus promised he