Matthew 24 opens with a stunning prophecy that was fulfilled only a few decades after the
crucifixion. The disciples wanted to show Jesus around the marvelous buildings of the temple in
Jerusalem, but instead Jesus tells them that not one stone of it would be left on top of another. To any Jew, for whom the temple was the heart of their nation’s religious life, this would be a shocking thought. It seems it was contemplating this that prompted the disciples to ask Jesus about “the end of the age”.
“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”
(Matthew 24: 2)
The beauty of Matthew 24 is that Jesus does answer this very question, laying out in a simple way
the general course of end times events, which are also the signs given by which we should know that his coming draws near. Starting with the warning that there will be false Christ’s he then speaks of the wars that will precede the end of the age:
“And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” (v. 6)
(i.e. These events proceed the end, but are not the end as such)
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines,
pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows”. (v. 7-8) In effect, what Jesus seems to be saying is that these events are not the very end of the age, but they are the beginning of those times immediately prior to the end of the age. One could not be certain
based only on this account, however these verses closely parallel what we see in Revelation 6:2,4,6.
That the tribulation appears to begin with a war of conquest (6:2, “conquering and to conquer”) that ultimately spreads to a wider war (6:4, “to take peace from the earth”). According to both passages P a g e 34
this is followed, or accompanied by, famines and pestilences in various places. Alternatively it’s also possible that both Revelation 6:2,4,6 and Matthew 24:6-8 refer to a series of “lead up” events
occurring over an undeclared time span prior to the tribulation proper.
Verse 9 in Matthew 24 continues to parallel Revelation chapter 6, teaching us that following the
wars of those days great persecution will arise against the saints who will “be hated by all nations”
for Jesus name's sake. At this dark time the forces of Satan will act largely unrestrained upon the earth and through the mechanisms of the kingdom that Satan has brought into being Antichrist will
wage war against the saints (Rev 13:7). This is a war that God's people will not fight with guns but with faith and the Holy Spirit. Ultimately these saints are viewed in heaven arrayed in white robes of righteousness, and in Revelation 20 we are told that they will reign with Christ a thousand years. (On Earth during the millennial age).
And this reminds us that end times are not the end as such, not even of things upon the earth. The
term “the end of the age”, which is the term used in Matthew is really much clearer. The great
tribulation occurs at the end of the current age, but afterwards a new era is ushered in where Christ himself rules over the earth. He is the “rock carved out without hands” that smashes the feet of the great image in Daniel's prophecy and becomes a great mountain that fills the whole earth. It will be the fulfillment of this prophecy when in the latter days God destroys corrupt human government
and establish his own divine government over the whole earth.
Keeping in mind the coming wonderful age will surely help maintain the courage of those saints
facing persecution by the final empire. But this persecution will also test the true state of believers, for unless someone has the Holy Spirit they will be more likely to be offended by true Christianity than to allow them self to be hated by the world. This may be what verse ten refers to when it says that:
…many shall be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
(Matthew 24:10)
Those who are offended may practice a form of Christianity, since betrayal suggests someone who
should by nature be an ally, however the Christianity of the betrayers will probably be of the type predicted by Timothy when he said that in the end times people “would have a form of godliness but
denying the power thereof”. If history is anything to go by this false “harlot” church of end times P a g e 35
may even turn out to be the spearhead of persecution against those who hold to a true New
Testament faith.
From verse 15-20 of Matthew we have a specific prophecy and warning to those in Israel during the
end of the age. They are told that when they see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, that they should flee to the mountains. In II Thessalonians 2:4 it says that the Antichrist will sit in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. This will be a latter day desecration similar in spiritual character to what happened on December 25, 168 BC
when the occupying king, Antiochus the Great, offered a sow on the great altar in the Jewish temple and erected an altar to Jupiter1. This was the more immediate fulfillment of Daniel 11:31, however
the theme of the ‘abomination of desolation' in the temple is picked up on by Jesus to speak of a yet future event that will take place during the end times.
Up until this point in the narrative the tribulation has been in what we might call ‘human' terms. The difficulties that have come upon the earth have been of the normal kind – war, famines, disease and pestilences, earthquakes and persecutions. However, the Antichrist “sitting in the temple of God
showing himself that he is God” will it seems be the point at which divine judgment is released
against his kingdom. In verse 21-22 it says:
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be”
“And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened”.
Then, at the end of these days, verse 23 gives us a renewed warning about false Christ's, that we
should pay no heed to reports that Christ has come and is in this place or that. Verse 24 tells us that false Christ's and false prophets will come and show great signs and wonders (by the working of
Satan according to II Thessalonians 2:9), in order to deceive, if it were possible, even the elect.
But Christ's return will not be as his first, in the body of a man2, but as verse 27 describes:
“For as the lightening comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”.
Then going back a bit and re-iterating in more detail, in verse 29 Jesus gives us a prophecy that was also given by the prophet Joel in the Old Testament, and by the apostle John in Revelation. It is that P a g e 36
at the end of the tribulation, just preceding the Lords coming, the sun and moon will go dark and
stars will fall from heaven (possibly what we call 'falling stars' or 'meteorites'2). Then in verse 30
Jesus tell us that prior to his coming the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and that all the tribes of the earth will mourn as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory. Presumably they will mourn because they realize that he is returning in
ultimate judgment. The sign mentioned in verse 30 may refer to the flashing like lightening from the east to west at his coming (v27), or it could be something like the star that the Magi saw when Jesus was born. (In Revelation 22:16 Jesus says he is “the bright and morning star” . ) Whatever the sign is these verses speak of the same point in time as Revelation 6:15-17 when those who are still
unrepentant will hide in caves and call on the mountains to fall on them and hide them from his
wrath. 3
Then in verse 31 we see an awesome thing, that at the time of his coming he will send out his angels with a sound of a great trumpet and they will gather his elect from the four winds of heaven.
This has similarities in imagery with I Thessalonians 4:16,17:
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…
Note the mention in both passages of the involvement of angels, the sounding of a trumpet and the
coming in the clouds.
In the following verses Jesus goes on to say that we should recognize when these times are near
(v33) and that “this generation”, the generation who see the preceding signs, will not pass away
before all things are fulfilled (which makes it clear that the whole last days timetable will take place within a relatively short timeframe). However, while we are expected to recognize when the times
are near, Jesus warns against date setting by telling us that we will not know the exact day or hour of the Lord's coming (v36). People often confuse these two thoughts as though not knowing the day or
the hour means that we cannot know the season, but this is not the case at all. That we should
recognize the season is further affirmed in I Thessalonians 5:2-4, for having just said that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night it goes on to say in verse 4:
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
P a g e 37
In other words, the coming of the Lord will overcome the unbeliever as a thief in the night, but the believer should understand events as they unfold and know that it means that the return of Jesus is near.
So all up these passages in Matthew 24 form the simplest overview of future events anywhere in the
bible. While much depth is added by studying other prophetic passages, we should pay a lot of
attention to this straight forward teaching that not only lays out the whole end time scenario, but does so very much in consecutive order too.
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TRIBULATION OVERVIEW