Matthew 24 – The Deserted House
Introduction
A. Matthew 23:37-39
1. God wanted to take care of Israel the way a hen takes care of her chicks.
2. But they would not let Him. John 1:9-13.
3. The house of Israel was left deserted, empty, abandoned.
4. “For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
a. The coming of the king, Matthew 21:9.
b. They were not going to see Him in His role as teacher, prophet, and healer of the sick. Only as “the Lamb of God.”
c. When Jesus rose from the dead, no one saw Him except the chosen witnesses of the Lord. Acts 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:41. “not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”
B. Matthew 24 is prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem.
1. The stones of the temple would be “thrown down.” 24:2
2. Jesus prophesied the signs that were to accompany the last days of the temple.
I. Matthew 24:3-14 “and then the end will come”
A. Three-part question: 1. "When will these things be?" – 2. "And what will be the sign of Your coming,” 3. “and of the close of the age?"
1. When: v. 36 "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."
2. What sign: both of the coming and the end of the age.
3. Coming as a judge, V30, 37, 39 (Luke 21:27)
4. Coming in the clouds, V30: Isaiah 19:1-3 (Malachi 3:1-2; 4:5; Matthew 16:28)
--Daniel 7:13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.”
-- Psalm 18:6-12 Poetry that describes what God does when the saints suffer and call on him.
-- Psalm 104:3 The clouds are chariots when God walks on the wings of the wind.
-- Jeremiah 4:11-13; Psalm 97:2-3; Nahum1:3; Zephaniah 1:15
5. God in a cloud pillar: Exodus 13:21-22 (14:19-24; 16:10; 19:9, 16; 24:15-18; 34:5; 40:34-38; Leviticus 16:2; Numbers 9:15-22; 10:11-34; 11:25; 12:5, 10; 14:14; 16:42; Deuteronomy 1:33; 31:15; The glory of God entered into Solomon's Temple, 1 Kings 8:10, 11; 2 Chron 5:13, 14; Ne 9:19; Psalm 78:14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-2
6: Jesus in the Cloud: Acts 1:9; Revelation 10:1; 14:14-16; Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Lu 9:34
B. Matthew 24:4-8: "But the end is not yet." (v6)
1. Many would deceive by saying "I am the Christ"
2. They would hear of wars and rumors of wars.
3. There would be famines and earthquakes in different places.
4. All these are but the beginning of birth pains.
C. Matthew 24:9-14 "tribulation"
1. The disciples would be hated by all nations because of the name of Jesus.
2. Many would stumble.
-- Hebrews 10:22-25 Some of them stopped assembling to worship. 12:1-13 To endure persecution was to endure the Lord's discipline. Necessary to encourage one another.
-- 1 Peter 4:12-19 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial” - “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed” - “If the righteous is scarcely saved …”
3. False Prophets, V11 – 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1; 2 Corinthians 11:13, 26; Galatians 2:4
4. Wickedness multiplied, the love of many would grow cold. V12 – 23:25 Greed 2 Peter 2:12-22
5. V13, "but the one that endures to the end will be saved." Matthew 10:22; Revelation 2:10
6. V14, "and this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come."
-- Matthew 28:18-20 The Great Commission
--Fulfilled: Acts 2:5; Ephesians 2:17; Colossians 1:23; Romans 1:5; 10:18; 16:26; 1 Timothy 3:16
II. Matthew 24:15-28 – The Abomination of Desolation
A. Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 The armies of the Greeks and the Romans.
B. Luke 21:20 – Parallel text: “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.”
C. Matthew 24:16 "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."
1. V17-18 (Genesis 19:17, 26) “not turn back to take his cloak."
2. v19-20 “And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!"
3. V21-22 "There will then be great tribulation..."
D. Matthew 24:23-28 – Deceitful signs
1. False Christs, and False Prophets “will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”
2. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. To move them from their way of thinking, some would deceive them “by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us.”
--The man of sin, the son of perdition would oppose and rise against all that is called God. V4
-- v9 "The Mystery of iniquity" would manifest itself, “the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”
-- v11 “Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
3. Men are deceived because they do not love the truth. John 1:9-14 “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”; 2:23-25; 3:19-21 “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”; 5:36-42 "You have no love of God in You." If we do not love God and we do not love the truth, it will be very easy to deceive us.
-- 2 Corinthians 13:4-5 "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; Test yourselves. " 1 Thessalonians 2:4 "So we speak, not to please men, but to please God, who tests our hearts." 5:21 “Test everything; hold fast what is good. " 1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out of the world.”
--The errors of evolution, those of feminism, those of Catholicism and Calvinism, those of Evangelicals... They come out of the desire to hide the judgment of God their Creator and the truth with which He judges us. We must examine the heart always because it is very easy to fall into error when we do not humbly love the word that corrects us.
E. “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” Matthew 24:27-28 -- The judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ would be clear and obvious. An earthly judgement of Jerusalem would be manifested by the slaughter of the unbelieving Jews.
-- Ezekiel 39:17; Isaiah 34:6; Jeremiah 19; Zephaniah 1:7; Revelation 19:17
III. Matthew 24:29-35--The Coming of the Son of Man
A. A metaphor of the ancient prophets: “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”
1. Amos 8:9 The language of judgement.
2. Joel 2:10, 31 Context of the locust plague. Prophecy of the change of dominions and powers of the nations. It contains prophecy of the Kingdom of Christ, which Peter said was fulfilled on Pentecost. See Acts 2:16-21.
3. Micah 3:5-8 The darkness of the false prophets, V6.
4. “The powers” refers to the powers of the kings to whom God gives dominion. Jesus said to Pilate, John 19:10, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.”
B. Matthew 24:30 “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
1. "And then all the tribes of the Earth will mourn"
-- Acts 2:5 “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.” … V32 “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” ... “36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
2. Matthew 24:30-31 “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
-- Acts 2:33 “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, (with power and great glory)
-- “and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”
3. Acts 1:8 (Mark 9:1) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
-- When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the apostles and they preached the gospel, Jesus Christ was glorified and they performed miracles, "with power and great glory" in the name of Jesus. (Acts 3:6 "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk.")
4. John 7:39 Jesus was glorified when the Holy Spirit was given.
5. John 12:23, 27-33. The Gospel vindicated Jesus and glorified Him.
6. John 11:4 The glorified Son of God; 12:16 Glorified Jesus; 17:24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
C. Matthew 24:31 “And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
1. The trumpet of Joel 2:1, 15 – Peter cited Joel 2:28-32 (Acts 2:27-31) to explain the marvels of Pentecost and preached the gospel that “gathered his elect from the four winds" (Acts 13:48; Ephesians 1:4; Romans 8:28-30) of God from Jerusalem "from one end of heaven to the other,” Acts 1:8. “to the end of the earth.”
2. The Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20.
3. Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world, for testimony to all nations; And then the end will come."
4. Joel 2:16, "Blow the trumpet in Zion; … call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants.” (Peter applied v. 28-32 to Pentecost. It is the same context. Zion is Jerusalem.)
IV. Matthew 24:32-35 The lesson of the fig tree.
A. The fig tree grows according to well-known cycles. One can anticipate the arrival of summer by observing the changes of the fig tree. Jesus declared that the destruction of Jerusalem could also be anticipated by observing the events mentioned. The end would be “near, at the very gates."
B. Matthew 24:34 During the days of his own generation, Jerusalem would be destroyed.
1. As in Mark 9:1 Some present would be alive when the Kingdom of God came with power.
C. Matthew 24:35 The words of Jesus, being the words of the Son of God, they are eternal.
1. Heaven and earth will end. 2 Peter 3:5-12
2. The word of God remains forever. 1 Peter 1:22-25
3. Hebrews 1:1-3 The word of Jesus upholds the heavens and the earth.
4. Psalm 119:89-91
V. Matthew 24:36-44 Only the Father knows when there will be judgment.
A. Not the Angels, not even the Son knows.
B. As in the days of Noah. The world will continue in its ordinary routine without realizing the coming judgment.
1. “Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.”
2. “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.”
3. Jeremiah 3:14, “Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord; for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.”
4. “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
5. Matthew 25:1-14 Like the ten virgins. Five wise who were prepared and five foolish ones who were not ready, because they did not carry oil.
VI. Matthew 24:45-51 "Who is therefore the faithful and prudent servant?"
A. "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” V46
1. Matthew 25:21, 23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”
B. “But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know” Matthew 24:48-50
1. “And will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 24:51
2. Matthew 25:12, "I Don't Know You" (Matthew 7:23)
3. Matthew 25:28-30, “And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
4. Matthew 25:41, 46, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” V46 “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Conclusion
A. Matthew 24 pronounces the end of the temple and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, because they did not bear the fruit that God demanded of them.
B. Jesus explained the reasons for that judgment in Chapter 23, and then in Chapter 24 presents the condemnation in the terms of Jeremiah's prophecies that judged the first temple, the one that Solomon built.
C. Jesus prepared the faithful Jews, so that they would not to be discouraged by the destruction of the Temple of the only true God.