Matthew 24:1-51
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 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. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
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.’
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 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.
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. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The Day and Hour Unknown
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus gives His disciples some information on the End of Times...The disciples and many of His early followers thought the Messiah would be a great military leader...They thought the Messiah would have a large, great army and defeat the Romans and/or the opposition of believers...He would bring peace on earth...The disciples thought things would be easy for the believer...It would be a Golden Age, a celebration when and before He comes again...
Jesus tells us a few things that will happen in His second coming...It will be a chaotic time...First, the time will come when no know is expecting Him to come...No one knows when His second coming will be here...Jesus does not even know when He will come, the second time...God, His Father will tell Him when the time is right...Only the Father knows when that perfect time will be...Second, He tells us their will be deceivers during the second coming...Many people will come and claim that "I am the Christ."...Many will be deceived by these deceivers...Third, they will hear of wars and rumors of wars...But upon hearing of wars and rumors of wars, believers are not to be alarmed...Nation will rise against nation...Kingdom will rise against kingdom...There will also be (other) disasters...Famines and earthquakes will happen...Such things must happen...All these things (the unexpected time, deceivers coming, rumors of war, natural disasters) are the beginnings of the second coming...There will be great distress, that will be unequaled from the beginning of the world until now...This distress and chaos will never be equaled again...Immediately after this distress and these disasters, the sun will darken and the moon will not give light...Stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken...Jesus will appear in the sky...The Son of Man will come for the second time...He will not arrive by a virgin birth, but by coming on clouds in the sky, and have and be with great power and glory...His angels will trumpet, and He will gather His believers from all around, from one end of heaven to another...The time will be right...All these things must happen...The timing of His next coming will be at the Perfect Time..
Jesus told the Twelve about Daniel's prophecy...There would be an abomination that causes desolation...This desolation will be near or around the Holy Place...Jesus again reminds His disciples to be wary of false prophets...There will be false Christs, and they will be able to do miracles and great signs, and they will deceive many people...Believers must be aware and on guard for these false prophets...This is the second time, He tells us of these deceivers...We must be aware of the deceiver, who appears to be Christ-like...We must keep watch for the time He will come, and watch out for the deceivers...
Jesus then tells His disciples that they will be persecuted and put to death...They will be handed over and be persecuted...This would have shocked them, because they thought that He was the Messiah...Why would they be persecuted?...Why would they die?...Wickedness will increase, and the love of most will grow cold...But the believer who stands firm will be saved...From all Jesus tells us here, this we must never forget, and always hold onto...Followers of Jesus, when He returns and all the disaster of chaos happens, we must stand firm in our faith, and when we do, we will be saved...