The Coming of the Son of Man (1 of 2)

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The passages in the Gospels that refer to “the coming of the Son of Man” are particularly important to understand in this study because they form the basis for the arguments of the hyper-preterists, the unbelieving skeptics and liberals, the dispensational premillennialists, and for the most part all of the historic premillennialists, who all believe that any references that have to do with this subject can only be referring to the Second Coming of Christ.

Matthew 10:23

The first of these passages is found in Mat. 10:23. In Mat. 10, Jesus is sending out His twelve disciples to bring the gospel of the kingdom to Israel. In the middle of a series of warnings about the persecutions they were to experience, Jesus says:

When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

In the context of these warnings, the word “you” clearly refers to the twelve disciples. Jesus is telling them that something is going to happen before they finish doing what He has told them to do. In other words, something is going to happen in their lifetime before they have even finished taking the gospel into all the cities of Israel. What is going to happen? The “Son of Man” is going to “come”.

Many bible commentators have interpreted this verse in a number of different ways. Some have suggested that Jesus meant that the disciples would not finish going through the cities of Israel before He would catch up with them, but none of Christ’s disciples had suffered any of the persecution yet mentioned here in this text up until the time of Christ’s crucifixion, or even shortly thereafter.

Others have suggested that the Son of Man would “come” by proving He was the Messiah upon His resurrection. But, again, the persecution that Christ describes still had not yet come.

Still others believe, like William Hendriksen, that Jesus is using what is termed by some to be called “prophetic foreshortening,” which takes into account the Ascension of Christ and the whole time in between up until, and including, His Second Coming (New Testament Commentary of Matthew, pp. 466-468).

Similarly, dispensationalists understand the text as a reference to the Second Coming and what will occur when the Jews evangelize Palestine during a future 7-year tribulation.

And finally, there are also those who believe that Jesus is referring here to the coming in power upon His ascension to His throne in heaven, as evidenced by the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies in 70 AD. This is the view that I will be defending in this article.

With regards to the dispensational view, D. A. Carson has this to say in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary,

Dispensationalists are inclined to see v. 23b as a reference to the Second Coming that “views the entire present church age as a parenthesis not taken into account in this prophecy” (Walvoord; cf. A.C. Gaebelein)…It detaches v. 23 from its context (if vv. 16-22 refer to post-Pentecost Christian experience—so Walvoord), or else detaches vv. 16-23 from their context (if the verses do not apply to any of Jesus’ disciples, but to believers living during the Tribulation after the church has been raptured away). There is no exegetical warrant for either detachment; and both would be incomprehensible, not only to Jesus’ hearers, but also to the first readers of Matthew’s gospel….The coming of the Son of Man in v. 23 marks that stage in the coming of the kingdom in which the judgment repeatedly foretold falls on the Jews. With it the temple cultus disappears, and the new wine necessarily takes to new wineskins…The age of the kingdom comes into its own, precisely because so many of the structured foreshadowings of the OT, bound up with the cultus and nation, now disappear…The Son of Man comes…Above all, this interpretation makes contextual sense of v. 23. The connection is not with v. 22 alone but with vv. 17-22, which picture the suffering witness of the church in the post-Pentecostal period during a time when many of Jesus’ disciples are still bound up with the synagogue. During that period, Jesus says in v. 23, His disciples must not use the opposition to justify quitting or bravado. Far from it. When they face persecution, they must take it as no more than a signal for strategic withdrawal to the next city…where witness must continue, for the time is short. They will not have finished evangelizing the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes in judgment on Israel (pp. 252-253).

With regards to the phrase, “you will not finish going through the cities,” Adam Clarke writes:

The word here is generally understood as implying “to go over or through,” intimating that there should not be time for the disciples to travel over the cities of Judea before the destruction predicted by Christ should take place (Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, p. 789).

According to Clarke, this is the idea that was “generally understood” in his day. Albert Barnes concurs with Clarke: “That is, in fleeing from persecutors from one city to another, you shall not have gone to every city in Judea till the end of the Jewish economy shall occur” (Barnes Notes, The Gospels, p. 113).

And finally, Alexander Balmain Bruce of The Expositor’s Greek Testament, humbly writes: “We are only feeling our way as to the meaning of some of Christ’s sayings. Meantime, all that we can be sure of is that Christ points to some event not far off that will put a period to the apostolic mission” (vol. 1, p. 164).

That “period” was the destruction of the natural nation of Israel and Jerusalem which pretty much left no more Jews or cities to evangelize. And I am sure there was no longer any Jewish believers returning at that time to any of that region, unless they wanted to be killed.

So with that said, the “coming” to be understood here can be none other than the “coming” that Christ later described in the Parable of the Tenants and the Parable of the Wedding Banquet in Mat. 21:33-22:1-14, when He says, “Therefore, when the Owner of the vineyard COMES, what will He do to those tenants? He will bring those wretches to a wretched end” (21:40-41). And again, “The King was enraged, He sent His army [ie., He came as Christ said He would in the previous parable] and destroyed those murderers and burned their city” (22:7).

Clearly, the “coming” that Christ describes here in Mat. 10 is addressed to His apostles and their evangelistic efforts (not ours), and His “coming” in power as King of kings to destroy those murderers and burn down their temple and city before those efforts would be exhausted.

Matthew 16:27-28

The second passage in consideration for “the coming of the Son of Man” is found in Mat. 16:27-28:

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

In Mk. 9:1, it says, "before they see the kingdom of God come with power." In Lke. 9:27, "before they see the kingdom of God." Again, we see Jesus informing His disciples that something is going to happen within a relatively short period of time—actually to occur within the lifetime of some of those who heard Him. What will happen, He says, is that the Son of Man will come in His kingdom. But what does Jesus mean by the “coming” of the Son of Man in this particular instance? Or, "in His kingdom," or "with power" as Mark indicates? And what does Jesus mean by saying that it will all occur within the lifetime of His listeners?

Most of the interpretations that have been presented for Mat. 10:23 have also been presented in connection with Mat. 16:27-28 here, so we won't go over those again. It has also been brought forward that the “coming” of the Son of Man in Mat. 16:28 refers to the Transfiguration in Mat. 17:1-8. But this cannot be what Jesus is referring to, because this same language has evidently just been used in Mat. 10 above, which would take the disciples beyond the days of the transfiguration, and the phrase is just about to be used again in Mat. 24:30, Mat. 25:31, and Mat. 26:64, which are undoubtedly speaking about one and the selfsame thing; and again, taking them beyond the days of the Transfiguration. So the most plain and natural teaching of these passages is that before some of Christ’s apostles were to die, they would see the Son of Man coming in His glory with His mighty angels in His kingdom and with power; rendering unto every man according to their deeds. And Christ later buttresses this same idea of some of them dying before He came in such a way in His Olivet discourse in Mat. 24:9, “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” And even His words “this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Mat. 24:34) allude to this idea. With regards to the rest of the things that Jesus says in these verses, we will discuss them a little later.

Obviously, some of the interpretations of Mat. 10:23 and 16:27-28 have stronger support than others, but before we come to any final conclusions regarding the meaning of all these texts, we must look at Jesus’ discussion of “the coming of the Son of Man” in the Olivet discourse.

The Olivet Discourse

In the Olivet discourse, as found in Mat. 24-25; Mk. 13 and Lke. 21:5-38 (including Lke. 17:20-37, which many overlook), Jesus again refers to "the coming of the Son of Man" and what it entailed, and which by now was not unbeknownst to His disciples. For His disciples have already heard Him refer to it in Mat. 10:23, 16:27-28, and particularly in Luke chapter 17, mentioned above. And the same things mentioned in the Olivet discourse that were to signify His coming, are also stated in His comments earlier to some upon His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, in Lke. 19:39-44, and also alluded to in two parables mentioned earlier in Mat. 21:40-41 and 22:7 (particularly notice 21:40, “when the Owner…comes”). And after the Olivet discourse, it was to also be that which the Sanhedrin were to hear about, and even somehow "see" in their day, in Mat. 26:64 (see also parallels in Mk. 14:62; Lke. 22:69).

Matthew 23 records Jesus’ announcements of woes upon the rebellious nation of Jews who would eventually have Him crucified. As He departs from the temple, some of His disciples point out how beautiful the temple was with all of its surrounding buildings (Mat. 24:1; Mk. 13:1; Lke. 21:5). That all the disciples were present while “one” or, even “four” were the spokespersons for the rest is commonly accepted by the majority of commentators. Those who attempt to make a case otherwise (for ulterior motives) do not believe Jesus was addressing all the disciples, but only the “four” that asked the question in Mark’s gospel, so that when Jesus references them as “you” in His discourse, He didn’t mean all of them. But what about the fact that only “one” in Mk. 13:1 is said to have brought attention to the magnificence of this temple with its buildings? How are we to understand that? And by the fact that the others brought up the question, this clearly reveals to us that they heard the reply to that “one” individual’s statement. Whether it be “one” who brought the temple's with its buildings to Christ’s attention, or the “four” who asked Him privately about when the destruction of those temple buildings would take place, it is clear, to most of us, that all twelve disciples were present as the other synoptics seem to indicate, and that the “one,” as well as the “four,” were the spokespersons for the rest. That’s entirely another study for another time, but suffice it to say for now, all the disciples were there, present and accounted for.

Now Jesus responds to His disciples by saying, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone here shall be left on another; every one shall be thrown down” (Mk. 13:2; also Mat. 24:2 and Lke. 21:6). The disciples then ask Jesus a question, which is a paraphrase of all three synoptics: “Tell us when all these things will happen? What will be the sign that they are about to be fulfilled? What will be the sign of your coming to bring an end to this age and to all these things?” (Mk. 13:4; Mat. 24:3; cf. Lke. 21:7). Clearly, in the disciple's minds, they understood all these things as Christ (the Messiah) coming in judgment to fulfill these things, and clearly they asked for a “sign” when His coming to do these things was about to take place. All these questions were related to just one idea or event: the destruction of the temple with its surrounding buildings. Whatever the disciples might have understood about what kind of “coming” it would be, one thing is clear: Jesus answers the question exactly how He had always done in the past, with both figurative and literal language. And clearly, in their minds, it was all to be one puncticular event, and they were asking for a “sign” when it was to all occur. The Olivet discourse that follows is Jesus’ answer to their question.

False Messiahs, Wars, Famines, and Earthquakes

Jesus first tells His disciples that there will be false messiahs, wars, and rumors of wars (Mat. 24:4-6). He then says, “Such things must happen, but the end is still to come” (v. 6). He then says there will also be famines and earthquakes in various places” (v. 7). Then Jesus says that these things are just “the beginning of birth pains” (v. 8). Then there will also be persecutions whereby some of them would be put to death. There will be false prophets, and much wickedness whereby the love of many will grow cold, even turning many from the faith for the things which they are about to see coming upon the brethren (vv. 9-12). But “he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (v. 13). See footnote below for a more detailed explanation of these things.[1]

In verse 14, Jesus says that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (i.e., the destruction decreed). That the gospel was preached in all the then known world before Jerusalem fell, Paul affirms for us in his epistles (Rom. 1:8; 10:18; Col. 1:6, 23). But I tend to take verse 14 along with verse 30, and the parallels in Mk. 13:10 and Lke. 21:25-26 as “the whole inhabited land” (Gk. oikoumene) of Palestine, not the whole “earth”; and the term “nations” (Gk. ethnesin), as referring to “the peoples” of the Jewish nation. On the other hand, Mat. 24:31 and Mk. 13:27 denote what Paul is referring to in Colossians above (while Luke omits this). In verse 30, Matthew adds that when the sign of the Son of Man appears in the heavens that “all the nations [Gk. phoolai; lit., “tribes or clans”] of the earth [Gk. ghays; “land”] will mourn” due to the calamities that were to befall them, and not us in the future.[2] 

This idea of the Jews mourning on “the earth” as occurring in their land, and not to people mourning all over the world, is again seen in Jeremiah: “Tell this to the nations, proclaim it to Jerusalem: A besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of Judah. They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against Me, declares the Lord….My people are fools; they do not know Me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding…. This is what the Lord says: The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely. Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark” (4:16-17, 22, 28). This phrase here, “the earth will mourn,” is clearly referring to the Jews who would be in mourning due to the calamities which would befall them. This entire chapter is speaking only to Israel and the disaster from “the north“ (the Babylonians) that was to come upon Judah and Jerusalem (vv. 5-6), causing "the heavens," or the leaders of their nation, "to grow dark." In a similar manner to these latter words spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord again pronounces judgment over Israel through His prophet Micah:

Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign Lord may witness against you…Look! The Lord…comes down and treads on the high places of the earth…all this is because of Jacob’s transgression, because of the sins of Israel. What is Jacob’s transgression? Is it not Samaria? What is Judah’s high place? Is it not Jerusalem? ….Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble….It has reached the very gate of My people, even to Jerusalem itself (1:2-9).

Again, Isaiah cries concerning Israel:

Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me. The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him (1:2-4).

While in Matthew 24:30b and in the first part of Jeremiah above, the Lord has the physical land of Palestine in mind, in the latter part of Jeremiah and here in Micah and Isaiah above, the Lord refers to the common people of Israel figuratively as the “earth” who would be in mourning, and the “heavens” as a figurative representation of their leaders; and which is commonly used throughout the writings of the Prophets with regards to nations, their leaders, and the people underneath them. And we will discuss this a little more later when we come to the topic of the sun, moon, and stars being darkened or even cast down to earth.

Now the Greek word ("ethnos") for “nations” in Mat. 24:14; Mk. 13:10 and Lke. 21:25, does not just denote “foreign” nations, as the Strong’s Concordance would seem to imply and others would have us believe; for a careful cross-referencing of the Greek "ethnos" and its usage in the Greek Septuagint with its translation of the Hebrew "go-ee" or "goyim" used for “nations,” clearly shows that the Jewish nation (and not just Gentile nations) was sometimes to be understood using both of these Greek and Hebrew words, as we will soon just see in a moment.

After the comment made by Matthew that “the sun will be darkened…the moon will not give its light” and that “the stars will fall from the sky” (to be discussed below), Luke adds an additional thought after this same statement, in Lke. 21:25: “On earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.” Again, remembering that we are still in the context of events that were to transpire in and around the destruction of apostate Israel and Jerusalem, “on earth” can only be referring to the immediate vicinity or land of the Jews, and can, and should be, translated as “land” (Gk. ghays, lit., “earth or land”). Adam Clarke takes note of this in his commentary, and attributes all that is to transpire as “coming upon the land” of Israel, as he does with the same Greek word used in v. 35, translated “the whole earth,” as actually, “of this whole land” (Adam Clarke’s Comm. on the Whole Bible, p. 887).

Now the word “nations” has been difficult for some, but when we read the Prophets, it wasn’t unusual for them to use this word with regards to the people of Israel as a whole. For instance, Jeremiah writes: “This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (25:11). Now we know that it was Israel that was to go into captivity for “seventy years.” This prophecy was for no other nation(s), but for them alone. Keil and Delitzch take note of this by saying with regards to this verse: “ ‘This land’ is not, with [the Hebrew word] Näg., to be referred to the countries inhabited by all the peoples mentioned in ver. 9, but, as in ver. 9, to be understood of the land of Judah; and ‘all these peoples’ are those who dwelt around Judah. The meaning is unquestionably, that Judah and the countries of the adjoining peoples shall lie waste, and that Judah and these peoples shall serve the king of Babylon” (Jeremiah. vol. 8, p. 374).

Now we know for a fact that more than one tribe other than Judah went into captivity, that being “Benjamin,” and also some from of the tribe of Levi (Ezra 1:5). And the two occurrences of the word “nations” in Jer. 25:9, 11, is the Hebrew word “haggoyim” [Strong’s, 1471] which denotes a plurality of people. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says on the root “goy” for this word, pronounced, “go-ee,” that “the basic idea is that of a defined body or group of people…it may refer to a nation, whether a foreign nation or Israel. Goyim on the other hand more usually refers to nations…” (vol. 1, p. 153). Notice that the TWOT says, “more usually,” but not always! In Ezk. 2:4, God tells Ezekiel that He is sending him to the Jews who were in the Babylonian captivity with him (Judah, Benjamin, and some Levites), referring to them as “the people…obstinate and stubborn” (Heb., “goyim” [Strong’s: 1471], translated “nation” in v. 3 of the KJV). In Judges 2:20, it is again denoted with regards to the Israelites: “And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He said, because that this people [Heb., haggoee”; Strong’s: 1471] hath transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto My voice” (KJV). In Ezk. 35, Edom is said to come against Israel referred to as “two nations [Heb., “haggoyim”; Strong’s: 1471] and countries” (v. 10; cf. vv. 5, 11-12, 15), with this either referring to both the northern and southern tribes of Israel and Judah, or possibly just Judah and Jerusalem. And Israel is again described later in Ezk. 37:22 as, "two nations" or "goyim" (lit., Hebrew, Strong's: 1471). And finally, Zeph. 2:7 says: “…the residue of My people [Heb., ammi] shall spoil them, and the remnant of My people [Heb., “goyi”; Strong’s: 1471] shall possess them” (KJV). It is also translated in Josh. 3:17 as “children”; in 4:1 as “people”; and in 5:6, 8 as “children”; and all using the Hebrew “haggoee” (Strong’s: 1471).

In the King James Version, this Hebrew word is translated 4 times as “the people” (plural), “nations” (plural) 425 times, “nation” 120 times, and even sometimes translated as “Gentiles.” The Greek word for “nations” in Lke. 21:25 is “ethnown” from the root “ethnos”, and in the KJV it is translated two times as “a people” in Rom. 10:19 (1st occur., Gk. ethnei), and “the people” in Acts 8:9 (Gk., ethnos). And in Jer. 25:9, 11; Judges 2:20; Ezk. 35:10; 37:22 and Zeph. 2:7 (all mentioned above), the Septuagint translation (LXX) translates these occurrences of this Hebrew word used for the Israelites, with the same Greek word found in Lke. 21:25 mentioned above. In Jeremiah, it translates verse 9 with the Greek word “ethneh,” and in verse 11 with “ethnesin” (v. 10 in LXX). In Ezk. 35:10, it translates the Hebrew haggoyim with the Greek “ethneh,” and in Ezk. 37:22 "goyim" is likewise translated "ethneh." And in Judges and Zephaniah, the LXX translates both of these words with the Greek word “ethnos.” I’m sure there are more instances of this to be found with some further cross-referencing between the LXX and the Hebrew. But I think enough verses have been shown to prove beyond all doubt, that the word “nations” in Lke. 21:25 can be linked with the idea that the “peoples” of Israel were in the mind of Christ when He used this word, and not the Gentile nations at all. God had used these words before concerning the Israelites, and there is no reason to doubt that He (or Christ) was using it here in Luke as well with regards to them, as clearly the context would also have us demand. The word “nations,” in Lke. 21:25, is not to be entirely ruled out as referring to that great body and plurality of natural Jews that this judgment was said by Christ to come upon.

Although history affords to us the fact that other nations besides Israel were also coming under the harsh judgment of God via the Romans, it would seem that based upon our analysis above, that it is safe to assume that the word refers most likely to “the peoples” of the land of Palestine. Even the term “world,” in the next verse (Gk. oikoumené, lit., “inhabited land, earth, or world”), could include this idea of other people in the world, besides the Jews, but as we see this word used elsewhere, such as in Lke. 2:1[3], Acts 11:28, and Acts 24:5, in none of these instances is every single person in the world to be understood, so why should there be any reason to understand it any differently here? Again, the context lends support that judgment was coming upon the “inhabited land” of the nation of Israel, not the whole world in general. Whether one believes these prophecies to be all future, or all past, or even split-up and referring to some things past and some things future, they would naturally have to understand that the wording used here was with regards to the Jew's locale or area, and none other. This prophecy isn’t concerned about the "trouble" of other nations, but the "troubles" that were to surround the nation or twelve tribes and clans of Israel. And even if the word “world” here were to denote those other than just the Jews, then this still wouldn’t change the fact that this prophecy’s primary focus and purpose was to announce Israel’s destruction, no matter what time period we are talking about. Whatever the rest of the world would encounter, it was to be only secondary to this prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Many countries outside of Palestine were just as much under the rule and sway of the Romans, as Israel was. And Israel’s "distress" would also be their "distress" as well. It was a tumultuous time. The sins of many were “being filled up,” and God was using the Roman armies to judge all of them for such sins, as the Bible everywhere attests to us in the Law and the Prophets.

Now as far as “the roaring and tossing of the waves” goes, that this was to “naturally” or “literally” have occurred would have been the least of Jerusalem’s worries at this moment, as it would be for anyone at any time. And if this were to be the Second Coming of Christ, it would be far more catastrophic than that, for at that time everything is to melt with a fervent heat, licking up every ounce of water in its path like the water that Elijah poured around the altar of the false prophets in the book of Kings. Again, the writings of the prophets come to the rescue in our understanding and interpretation of Christ’s words here: “Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring many nations against you, like the sea casting up its waves” (Ezk. 26:3). Jude uses the same terminology with regard to the wicked as being like “wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame” (v. 13). And Isaiah adds: “But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud” (57:20; cf. 17:12-13). The Jewish peoples (“nations”) in the land (“earth”) of Palestine were going to be overcome with anxiety, anguish, and perplexity at the “roaring and tossing” of the waves of the Roman armies that were about to come over them like a flood. They would be “perplexed” indeed, for no sooner would many among them be proclaiming, “peace, peace” (as they did in the past in Jeremiah's day in Jer. 6:14; 14:13), then comes only sudden destruction. Jesus had told them:

If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you (Lke. 19:42-44).

Adam Clarke comments on verse 14 here:

God would have the iniquity of the Jews published everywhere, before the heavy stroke of his judgments should fall upon them; that all mankind, as it were, might be brought as witnesses against their cruelty and obstinacy in crucifying and rejecting the Lord Jesus…. When this general publication of the Gospel shall have taken place, then a period shall be put to the whole Jewish economy, by the utter destruction of their city and temple” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible, p. 818).

In the next section of this discourse, Jesus warns all His disciples to flee quickly when they see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet (vv. 15-20). In Luke’s parallel account, this “seeing” the abomination that causes desolation is explained to us by Luke as when the disciples would “see Jerusalem surrounded by armies”(21:20); or, in other words, the Roman armies with the ensigns of their idols gathering into the sacred precincts of the city, or “the holy place” as Mark words it. This entire area: land, city, and temple was considered at that time all “holy” to the Lord. The Old Testament attests to this fact with Scriptures too numerous to cite. But it was to become the Jew's "holy place," and not God's.

Jesus has also said that those in the fields were not to return to the city. If the abomination of desolation was, as some suppose, an “idol” that was set up by the Romans inside the temple, then how would the disciples that lived outside of the city “see” such a thing so as to not rerturn? But if the abominable thing to watch out for was the armies encompassing Jerusalem, as Luke describes it for us, then anyone, anywhere, could “see” such a thing and make plans to flee. The city and temple were all but demolished by the time the Romans had set up their idols at the eastern gate of the temple to offer up their sacrifices. They were already well within the city and temple precincts, let alone the countries round about them, and the siege would not have allowed anyone to escape from the city at this time. No, the abomination was the abominable armies that the disciples anyplace, anywhere, and at any time could “see” in order to flee.

Now Daniel himself speaks of such abominations that “make” or “cause” desolation in Dan. 11:31 and Dan. 12:11. And we know that it was the Jews themselves who initially caused it, due to their sin. For Daniel in two places, chapter 8:12 and verse 23, says these desolation's were “by reason of [their] transgression” and “when the transgressors are come to a full” (KJV). But the ones who actually do the “desolating” or “destruction,” are the idolatrous and abominable Gentile armies. As Ralph Woodrow notes here:

“The very prophecy indicates that the “abomination” would destroy the city and the temple—would make it desolate….But with the teaching that the “abomination” is to be an idol set up in the temple, there is nothing but contradiction. How could the abomination be an idol set up in the temple, when the temple was to be destroyed by the abomination?…It should be pointed out also, that while idols are, of course, abominable, they are not desolators! It is armies that make desolate, not a powerless idol!….The “abomination” that would make desolate was to be something SEEN by the inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem….It is evident that Jesus was not talking about an idol in the holy of holies, for such could not be SEEN by the population of Jerusalem and Judea” (Great Prophecies of the Bible, p. 66).

Additionally, these are all parallel and not separate or detached accounts as some suppose, for all three say, “let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Mat. 24:16; Mk. 13:14; Lke. 21:21). And Lke. 17:31 also includes with the rest that “no one in the field should go back [to their houses or in the city] for anything (cf. Mat. 24:18; Mk. 13:16; Lke. 21:21c).

Now Daniel records a couple of abominations that were to occur: one notably by Antiochus Epiphanes around 168 B.C. (Dan. 8:11; 11:30-32 and 12:11; see Albert Barnes, Daniel, in Barnes' Notes), and the other one that Jesus had in mind and foretold by Daniel in his ninth chapter, verses 26-27. Jesus warns that what will follow next will be great tribulation unlike Israel has ever seen before, or ever again (vv. 21-22). Their temple days were over, their sacrifices were to be brought to an end, never to be offered again. Over one million were slaughtered and about 90,000 were taken captive as prisoners, with some even being sold into slavery. The famine from the siege was so bad, that even Josephus records how many women even cooked their own children and ate them in order to survive.

Now Luke adds at this venture something the other writers do not mention. He says, “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled”(21:24). The “times of the Gentiles,” in context, is referring to the “trampling” of the Gentile Roman armies and the time allotted or decreed by God for them to do so. This is not to be confused with Rom. 11:25 about “the full number of the Gentiles” that are to come into the Church, which is an entirely different subject matter. The former has to do with their “trampling” of the Jews, the latter with regards to their salvation.

Similar examples of such "times" determined by God are found in Dan. 11:36, Rev. 17:17, and also in Rev. 11:2. Daniel says, “And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods: and he shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished; for that which is determined shall be done” (ERV). Rev. 17:17 reads: “For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish His purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled.” And finally, Rev. 11:2 reads: “But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.” They would trample on it no more, and no less, but only as long as God had allowed or determined for it to be done.

Interestingly, the “times of the Gentiles” that Luke speaks of were a time, times, and a half a time, 42 months, or 3½ years in which it took Jerusalem to be destroyed by the Roman armies, from September of 66 AD to April of 70 AD. And also of interest is the fact that this was the same amount of time that it took for the desolation brought on by Antiochus Epiphanes around 168 B.C., as recorded for us by Josephus (Ant. 12.7.6; Wars, Preface, 7; Wars, 1.1.1.; cp. Dan. 8:14; 12:11). Could it be that Jesus was referring to those “times of the Gentiles” back then that took 3½ years to desecrate the temple, as something that was to similarly occur with the Jews by the Romans in 70 AD? Regardless of what one believes on all this, in the time it took for the Jews to eventually cut-off Christ after only 3½ years, Christ would likewise cut them off in the space of 3½ years; and He used the Gentiles to do this.

Matthew and Mark refer to this time period as “tribulation” or “great tribulation” (Gk. thluphees). Luke adds “days of vengeance” and “days of great distress [Gk. anagkay) and wrath upon this people” (vv. 22-23). Josephus concurs:

Whereas the war which the Jews made with the Romans hath been the greatest of all those, not only that have been in our times, but, in a manner, of those that ever were heard of; both of those wherein cities have fought against cities, or nations against nations….Accordingly, it appears to me that the misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to these of the Jews are not so considerable as they were; while the authors of them were not foreigners neither. This makes it impossible for me to contain my lamentations (Preface to Wars, par. 4).

For some to say that this is a “tribulation” for another day and time off into our future, they have to completely ignore the setting in which this prophecy is being placed here; for it is the destruction upon Jerusalem that the disciples were to witness in their day. There was no ambiguity as to what Jesus was talking about. They had asked Him about the temple that they were physically looking at, and for which He said would be destroyed–and not after another one is rebuilt in our day or time. Even the demonstrative pronoun “this” in “this people” (Gk. toutw) requires that we understand the people then living as Jesus’ contemporaries who were to suffer the same fate as the city and temple (cf. Mat. 21:40-41; 22:7; Lke. 19:43-44).

Moses likewise prophesied of such a fate of the people who sinned:

The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you. Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you. Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities (Deut. 28:49-57).

All these things were done and recorded by Josephus, even to the eating of children. And all unheard of before this time.

Again Moses prophesied: “The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you” (v. 68).

And again, Josephus tells us how those that survived were led away as captives by the Romans, with some even being taken into Egypt:

…as for the rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old, he [Titus] put them into bonds, and sent them to the Egyptian mines. Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theaters, by the sword and by the wild beasts; but those that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves….They were all received by the Romans, because Titus himself grew negligent as to his former orders for killing them, and because the very soldiers grew weary of killing them, and because they hoped to get some money by sparing them; for they left only the populace, and sold the rest of the multitude, with their wives and children, and every one of them at a very low price, and that because such as were sold were very many, and the buyers were few (Wars, 6.9.2; 6.8.2)

As the Jewish historian Josephus records, the horrors of this destruction were incomparable to any that the Jews had witnessed before, or would ever again, since there are no more prophecies regarding literal rebuilt temples, sacrifices, the reinstitution of Levitical priesthood, or the like. For such things to occur again they would have to be in the Divine Sovereign plan and will of God. The Jews cannot just arbitrarily build temples and incorporate all of these other things unless God were behind their building program, which the Jews and false Christian teachers today think that He is, but is not! And it is of no coincidence that the Jews have been kept from doing this by the Gentiles for nearly 2,000 years now with no relenting. And as the Jews had their time with God for nearly two millennia, so too the Gentiles are now having their time with God “until the full number of the Gentiles has come in” into God’s fold (Rom. 11:25), and then comes the end. And “since Muslim religious foundations own the Dome and consider it particularly sacred, such actions [of attempting to overthrow it] would inevitably lead to violence….Visitors are subject to strict security screening, and items such as Jewish prayer books and instruments are prohibited” (Wikepedia.com).

Just the fact that the Islamic Dome of the Rock still stands in Jerusalem, still occupied by “Gentiles,” lends credence to the fact that God is keeping the Jews from ever rebuilding there again. Again, they can’t rebuild unless it is God’s will for them to do so. And since God Himself has put an end to all of these things through the perfect sacrifice and atonement of His Son, the shadows will always remain distant shadows of the past, never to be seen again. That is a prophecy that is of no “private interpretation,” and for which you can take to the bank. And anyone who attempts to encourage the Jews to take over the Islamic building of the Dome of the Rock in order to reconstruct a temple, will be met by God’s further resistance and judgment upon all such Jews, just as in 70 AD and the years following. God's sentiment about such things has not changed. And what some think is to be the Jews salvation or restoration, will only end with their further demise and desolation, with God continuing His promise that “it is finished” and “your house is left unto you desolate”; and with the glory of God having permanently left that temple for a temple made without hands.

Paul said in Gal. 2:18 that if we "rebuild" what Christ has "destroyed," then it makes us out to be “transgressors” of God's Law, if indeed in God’s sight we are to still keep those laws. So to not "rebuild" those things is to show ourselves as not the transgessors, but all those who still maintain the literal observance all those things—and that includes building literal temples as well. When the people resisted the words of Jeremiah to submit to Nebuchadnezzar—they met their fate, not victory—because God’s word to them was not to rebuild, but to go into captivity for seventy years for their sins. We too have a more sure word of prophecy, that they who listen to it and do not resist, will do well who pay attention to it as a light shining in a dark place. God’s word to them today is: “Today is the day of salvation. Believe now on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. For this promise is to you and to your children, and to as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

Josephus tells of the Jews in Alexandria who revolted against the Romans:

...they were destroyed unmercifully; and this their destruction was complete, some being caught in the open field, and others forced into their houses, which houses were first plundered of what was in them, and then set on fire by the Romans; wherein no mercy was shown to the infants, and no regard had to the aged; but they went on in the slaughter of persons of every age, till all the place was overflowed with blood, and fifty thousand of them lay dead upon heaps (Wars, 2.18.8)

If God showed “no mercy” to them then, what makes anyone think that He will bless those who bless them now by sending them money in order to help them rebuild temples and bring back Jews into the land so that they can attempt to reinstall the Levitical priesthood and their sacrifices all over again? This is happening as we speak, people. All such Christian's are delusional, to say the least, and do not know their Bibles, but esteem the teachings and traditions of their adored Christian pastors and leaders more than they do the teachings of Christ. They are deceiving and being deceived; they are “blind guides leading the blind” and whose false prophecies will all fall to the ground.

Flashes Like Lightening

In Mat. 24:23-26, Jesus warns His disciples not to believe reports that He is in the desert or in some secret place, or inner room. For “just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (v. 27, NAS). If you will notice on the front page of my blog, in the top right hand column, you will see that such language was used by the prophets as a descriptive term for God’s judgment upon ungodly nations (in that particular case, Israel) in a non-literal manner. Here in the Olivet discourse, it was again (as in the past) to be upon Israel. Lightening is a descriptive term for the “sword of the Lord’s judgment” that was to be literally meted out upon God’s enemies by the vengeful forces of other marauding nations. Such images as these in the foregoing verses are to depict the Son of Man as seated in power and coming in His glory to execute judgment, which in Matthew here is said to “flash” like “lightening.” Ezekiel uses such language to depict it as the flashing “swords” of the enemy (Ezk. 21:8-16), one of God‘s four sore judgments (Ezk. 14:21). And it is even God who uses such language as this again through the mouths of one of His prophets, saying: “I cut you in pieces with My prophets, I killed you with the words of My mouth; My judgments flashed like lightening upon you” (Hos. 6:5). These “words” of harsh judgment from God (or Christ) that were to flash like lightening were the words of Christ here in the Olivet discourse, and in Mat. 23, when He had said to Israel, “Your house is left unto you desolate [or abandoned]” (v. 38), and for which Luke would again speak of as concerning the armies with their swords that were to surround Jerusalem and desolate them (21:20). Such “words” of judgment upon these unbelieving Jews in 70 AD were couched in the two parables known as, The Parable of the Tenants and The Parable of the Wedding Banquet, which say: “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” and, “the King was enraged. He sent His army and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city” (Mat. 21:41; 22:7). And in Mat. 21:45 it says that these Jews “knew He was talking about them.” In the past, God judged Israel with flashing “swords” via the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, Antiochus Epiphanes, and now to be with the Roman armies. All these things mentioned were the “sign” that the disciples were asking for concerning what was to lead up to when the destruction of all the temple buildings would occur and give evidence to the fact that the Messiah truly, was come. When those armies were there, Christ was there, as even Isaiah says when God brought the Medo-Persians upon Babylon:

The Lord’s chosen ally will carry out his purpose against Babylon; his arm will be against the Babylonians. I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I will bring him, and he will succeed in his mission. Come near Me and listen to this: From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I AM THERE” (48:14-16).

For all of you who want your “parousia” of Christ, there you have it! When the Medo-Persian armies encompassed Babylon, Christ was there! When the Roman armies encompassed Jerusalem in A.D. 70, Christ was there! Even as Joel cried out, “The Lord thunders at the head of His army” (2:9). The Lord is not talking about literal locusts here in Joel, mind you, but He is using them as an analogy to describe in His own peculiar ways “the northern army” (2:20, 25; cf. 1:6) of either the Assyrians or the Babylonians that were to sweep across Palestine, devouring everything in their path. Joel said, “the Lord “thunders” (or “flashes like lightening”) at “the head” of “His army”—the “northern army” He said He would use to mete out His judgments upon Israel with. And notice that Joel also says God is at “the head” of it. Again, God (or Christ) is there!

Such a manifestation of God's power and presence is what the Lord meant when He told the Sanhedrin that from that moment on (or, literally, from "henceforth") they would "see" the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Mat. 16:64; Mk. 14:62; Lke. 22:69). Elisha prayed to the Lord that his servant Gehazi would “see” just such a phenomena: “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see. Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2Ki. 6:17). The Lord is just as much in all of these events in life, just as sure as king Ahab who was disguised among those who were his fighting men (2Ki. 22:29). No one could “see” Ahab (or even the Lord) there, but they were both there nonetheless. David said, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there (Psm. 139:7-8). The Sanhedrin would “see” Christ alright, but not in the way that they thought they were going to see Him. It was not unusual for Jesus to talk like this (cf. Jhn. 9:39-41, et al). The “parousia” that Christ was referring to, He said was to be like the days of Noah and Lot! Was Christ “physically” seen in the days of those judgments? Of course not! Similarly, Christ's judgment to come spoken about here in the synoptics, was not to be witnessed in seeing His “physical” presence, but a physical destruction by Him was nevertheless to be seen by all, and it would be the manifestation or “revealing” of His power and His presence. Christ would be there alright! But not in the way that most had expected. After all, Christ said He would come “like a thief,” or stealthily. And it was to be the “sign” that He was indeed ruling and reigning “in heaven.”

Consider also Jer. 4:26, where God says to Israel, “I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of Jehovah, and before his fierce anger” (ASV). Or, again to Israel in Micah 1:3, “For behold, the LORD is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth [i.e., the land]” (NAS). And again, to Israel, in Ezk. 20:34-35, “I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face” (NAS). In none of these instances did God “physically” come down, at least not with what the physical eyes could see; but God says He “came down” nevertheless, even “face to face.” You can't get much closer than that!

Jesus had told some Pharisees, “the days are coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man” (Lke. 17:23), and in another place He said that they would not see it until they said, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Mat. 23:39). For those who can receive it, Christ has come! They, on the other hand, missed the day of their visitation, not “recognizing” God’s coming unto them because it was "hidden" from their eyes (Lke. 19:42b, 44c). But as soon as they believed, they would be born-again and their eyes would be open to see His kingdom, rule, and reign in a way that they had never envisioned it before. (cp. Jhn. 3:5).

Vultures Upon Carrion

What follows in verse 28, is not what is to follow the rapture of Christians at the Second Coming of Christ, but is again the language that God uses through His prophets with such descriptive images of birds feeding on carrion to denote, this time, the Roman armies swooping down upon Israel and devouring everything in their sight. Similar language was decreed over Pharaoh of Egypt in Ezk. 29:1-5 and 32:4, and over Cush in Isa. 18:6; and again over the nations in Rev. 19:17-18. In Ezekiel 17:7, 12-13, the king and kingdom of Babylon is likened unto “a great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage” that “carried off” Jerusalem’s “king and her nobles bringing them back with him to Babylon…He also carried away the leading men of the land, so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again…” In Ezk. 29:1-5 and 32:4, the Lord likens Pharaoh as a great fish, or monster, lying among its streams with all the fish of the streams (Pharaoh’s people) sticking to his scales (in reliance upon him), and God casting him and his hordes upon the open land as “food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air” (29:5). In 29:8, 12 and 19, God explains all this by saying: “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says, ‘I will bring a sword against you and kill your men and their animals. Egypt will become a desolate wasteland….I will make the land of Egypt desolate among devastated lands, and her cities will lie desolate forty years among ruined cities. And I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries….I am going to give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” Egypt was "carried off" by the "great eagle" Nebuchadnezzar and his armies.

Again, in chapter Ezk. 32:2-4, Egypt is “like a lion among the nations…like a monster in the seas…muddying the streams,” but “with a great throng of people” God says, “I will cast My net over you and they will haul you up in My net [just like a bunch of fish]. I will throw you on the land and hurl you on the open field. I will let the birds of the air settle on you and all the beasts of the earth gorge themselves on you.” Again, the Lord explains the parable: “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you. I will cause your hordes to fall by the swords of mighty men—the most ruthless of all nations. They will shatter the pride of Egypt, and all her hordes will be overthrown. I will destroy all her cattle from beside abundant waters no longer to be stirred by the foot of man or muddied by the hoofs of cattle” (vv. 11-13). Jesus does not have to explain Himself when He repeats such concepts and ideas in His Olivet discourse. If we had only read our Old Testament Scriptures with regards to what God has said in the past through His prophets, we would already have known by now what Christ is talking about here in the gospels—it was the destruction of Israel by the Romans who would leave many behind only to be slaughtered, and "carried off" the rest!

In Mat. 24:39b-41, this “carrying away” of the people of Israel is likened unto the flood in Noah’s day that took all the ungodly away, and for which these Roman armies were also to come in like a “flood” and sweep away the Israelites (Dan. 9:26c; cp. 11:40; Jer. 46:7-8; 47:2; Isa. 8:7-8). It would be like the two men in the field, and the two women grinding at the mill, wherein one would be taken away and the other left. How do we know this, since verse 28 here in Matthew isn’t mentioned right after verses 39-41? Well, first of all, because this is what this entire prophecy is all about—the destruction of Israel. And secondly, because this phrase in verse 28 is repeated again in only one other place in Lke. 17:37 (a chapter often overlooked) immediately upon the heels of talking about the days of Noah and of Lot, which says, “I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left." And the disciples asked, “Where Lord?” Jesus replies, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” Nothing could be more clear to us here that Christ was not talking about anyone’s restoration, deliverance, or even a “rapture” here, but the Jews annihilation, just as He used this same kind of language through His prophets. During this siege upon the city that was to occur, some would be left for the vultures to feed on, some would be carried away by them. The Roman armies carried away many people into captivity, and those who were left, they murdered. No one was spared, except for Christ’s disciples who were warned to flee beforehand. Like ravening vultures the Roman armies devoured all who were before them, and even carried some of these “dead carcasses” so-to-speak off to a private place to do all of their bidding with. More will be said on these “vultures” later, under More Food For Thought.

Sun and Moon Darkened, Stars Falling From Sky

In Mat. 24:29, Jesus says,

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.

Here we further see Jesus using the same kind of cosmic apocalyptic judgment language that the Old Testament prophets used frequently to describe impending judgments upon nations, where the Lord would shake them as in a sieve and remove all their glory, pomp, and splendor; even bringing them low from their lofty positions. In Isa. 13:10-11, such language was used to depict the judgment on Babylon in 539 B.C.; in Isa. 34:4, judgment on Edom in 703 B.C.; in Ezk. 32:7, judgment of Judah in 586 B.C.; in Amos 8:9 judgment upon the northern kingdom in 722 B.C. None of these things “literally” occurred; it is the language that God frequently uses to describe their demise. In Dan. 8:10, such language is used concerning Antiochus Epiphanes, which says his horn “grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them.” And this was the very thing that he did to God’s people when he overtook the city, temple, and land; even “pitching his royal tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain” (11:45), which Josephus and Maccabees records for us concerning Antiochus and his son (Ant. XIII. 7. 3; 1Macc. 3:40-4:3; 6:48). And they even had control of the citadel of Mt. Zion (1Macc. 1:33-36 ). Similarly, in Joseph’s dream, his father is likened unto the “sun,” his mother the “moon,” and his eleven brothers as the “stars,” each representing a hierarchy of differing and subordinate positions of glory.

In a similar manner, Israel was promised glorious days of blessing ahead when obedient to God, but dark days of trouble and judgment for disobedience. Isaiah writes with regards to the blessings of obedience: “Then your light will break forth like the dawn [of the sun], and your healing will quickly appear;…then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday….Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end” (58:8, 10; 60:20). Ezekiel also declares, “As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness” (34:12).

For disobedience, the Lord declares with such words: “We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows” (Isa. 59:8). “That day will be darkness, not light…pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness” (Amos 5:18, 20). “The Lord has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget anything they have done…In that day, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight” (Amos 8:7, 9). “That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness” (Zeph. 1:15). The distant nations “roar is like that of the lion, they roar like young lions; they growl as they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue. In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks at the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be darkened by the clouds” (Isa. 5:29-30, cf. v. 26). In Jer. 4:27, the Lord again uses these words to express Israel’s soon demise: “This is what the Lord says: The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely. Therefore the earth [the land] will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.” Jeremiah again warns Israel, “Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God before He brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but He will turn it to thick darkness and change it to deep gloom” (13:15-16).

Concerning the false prophets of Israel, God says: “Therefore night will come over you, without visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the prophets, and the day will go dark for them” (Micah 3:6). And the same is said of the women of Israel whom the Lord would make widows: "I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. At midday I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of their young men; suddenly I will bring down on them anguish and terror. The mother of seven will grow faint and breath her last. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated" (Jer. 15:8-9), which is exactly the same thing that is said of the sun and moon as representatives of Israel's leaders in Isaiah 24:23: "The moon will be abashed [or disgraced], the sun ashamed." The literal sun and moon do not evoke such emotions, only people do. Clearly, the Lord has leaders and their people in mind. On the other hand, concerning the righteous it is said of them: "Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end" (Isa. 60:20). And, finally, in Pro. 13:9 Solomon writes: "The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out." Can it be any more plainer for us than this? Can you see now how God uses these kinds of words in a figurative manner, and not to be taken “literally”? If such expressions as the sun, moon and stars were used by God in the Old Testament to depict either the glory or the waning and darkening of such powers, dignitaries and luminaries of the world, don’t you think He (or Christ) would still use them in the New Testament to depict the snuffing out of the lamp and glory of the wicked? He’s the same God yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He never changes. And the words He used back then are the same words that Christ used in the synoptics, and even in the book of Revelation. And immediately after the tribulation of those destructive days upon Jerusalem in 70 AD, the sun would set for her prophets, their dignitaries would no longer shine as bright lights, and their pomp and splendor would be cast to the ground like stars falling from the sky; just like Antiochus Epiphanes did in throwing “some of the starry host down to the ground and trampled on them” (Dan. 8:10).

In light of all this, let us now read one of the passages first quoted above out of Isaiah 13:9-10. There we talked about the prophecy concerning the fall of Babylon in 539 B.C. God says in verse 9, “The day of the Lord is coming—a cruel day with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; I will punish the world [or land] for its evil, the wicked for their sins.” God was going to do to the wicked as Bildad describes it in Job 18:5, where “the lamp of the wicked (or the Babylonians in this case) is snuffed out.” And the same is said of Pharaoh of Egypt and all those under him: "When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you; I will bring darkness over your land" (Ezk. 32:7-8). Notice how in many of these verses above that the Lord says He will bring darkness with "clouds." This too is often used by the Lord in a figurative sense for the clouds of armies He uses to bring darkness and desolation to a land. And we will discuss this some more later in part two under, Coming On Clouds.

So here in the synoptics, Jesus is clearly and indisputably using the same figurative language used throughout the writings of the law and the prophets that He himself used back then. It is the removing of the glory, pomp, and splendor of the Israelites (or any nation for that matter) in the destruction of their city and temple as foretold by the prophet Joel in chapter two, verses 30-31, and of which Peter reiterates for us in Acts 2:19-20. Joel, Jesus, and Peter, are all on the same page and in agreement with one another.

Was Israel to experience only a passing tribulation after which things would return back to "business as usual" someday? The answer is unequivocally, No! In transferring the expressions about the sun being darkened, the moon not giving its light, and the stars falling from the sky, it was to go from symbolism to fact. And using the Scriptures as our guide (instead of speculation and guesswork!), we can now envision how these things spoke of a complete overthrow of the polity and the theocratic state of Israel; with it’s accuracy being seen right down to the very last details of even one stone not being left upon another at the temple mount. All of that served God’s purpose for the time then being. But behold! God is doing a new thing; and even now it springs forth. The old typological wineskins are no longer to be filled, only to be cast aside for the new wineskins in which Christ's Spirit now dwells.

So, when Jesus adds here in Matthew that, “the heavenly bodies will be shaken,” this is exactly what He is referring to as described above. It isn’t a physical, cataclysmic removal or shaking of the literal universe, but the language that God uses to graphically portray the overthrowing of leaders, dignitaries, governments, kingdoms, nations and peoples. Theirs is a kingdom which can be "shaken," while ours will not be (cf. Heb. 12:28).

In Heb. 12:28, God says we have “received a kingdom [unlike other kingdoms] that cannot be shaken.” Unlike other carnal, worldly, earthly kingdoms the spiritual and eternal kingdom of God that is within men’s hearts cannot be removed. That is one reason why Christ will not set up an “earthly” kingdom—they are not “everlasting” in nature. Christ's kingdom isn’t about real estate, it's about an heavenly estate; wherein we have a “heavenly citizenship” (Php. 3:20) and aspire to a “heavenly country or land” (Heb. 11:16), “seated together with [Christ] in heavenly places” (Eph. 2:6). There will be no physical earthly thrones for Christ and His people. We all reign from heaven: "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear..." (Rev. 3:21-22). Are YOU hearing?

Oftentimes in Scripture, God likens the removing of kings, kingdoms, and evil men to the “shaking” of trees, or fruit trees where their fruit is cast to the ground, only to rot and decay, as Isaiah writes:

“When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it. Now the house of David was told, ‘Aram has allied itself with Ephraim’; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind" (7:1-2).

Again Isaiah declares:

“The city is left in ruins, its gate is battered to pieces. So will it be on the earth among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten [or shaken]” (24:12-13).

Job 15:32-33 likewise says of the wicked,

“Before his time, he will be paid in full, and his branches will not flourish. He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.”

Rev. 6:13 expresses these same ideas with a reference to the people in the world being cast down with the use of similar imagery: “As late figs dropped from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.”

Elihu discerningly writes that God “shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands. They die in an instant, in the middle of the night; the people are shaken and they pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand” (Job 34:19-20).

Similarly, God through Isaiah said, “day of the glory Jacob will fade” (17:4), and that “all men are like grass…their glory is like the flowers of the field…the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them” (40:7). And it is Isaiah who again writes: “The Lord planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned in the earth” (23:9). Concerning Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel says, “…his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped from his glory” (5:20). And again: “Woe to that wreath of Ephraim…the fading flower, his glorious beauty….See, the Lord…will throw it forcefully to the ground…that fading flower, his glorious beauty…will be like a fig before harvest,…someone…swallows it” (Isa. 28:1). And finally, “Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird” (Hos. 9:11).

Israel's former glory and splendor of latter times has seen its day. They will never rise to become what they were before. There house is left unto them desolate, abandoned and left ruined forever. Today is the day of salvation, not later during some other time or era. "He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him" (Heb. 9:28). "When He comes, those who belong to Him" will come as well; "then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power" (1Cor. 15:23, 24). The question remains: Are we "waiting for Him" now, or expecting Him to come at some later time? Who then is that faithful and wise servant? It will be good for that servant whose Master finds him doing so when He returns, not later. To hold out a future for natural Israel is unwarranted and unbiblical. Like the Bible says, Today is the day of salvation, not later after the Lord has already come back for us a second time. Once we are in the ark, the door is shut; the judgment will be set.

The Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven

In getting back to our analysis of Matthew, Jesus now says in Mat. 24:30,

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (ASV).

This was now a direct answer to the disciples question: What will be the “sign” when these things are fulfilled and are the manifest token of your coming? This “sign,” like all signs in the Bible, was a literal, physical sign, like a billboard posted along the freeway. And it would point to the fact that the Son of Man was indeed ruling and reigning "in heaven," the very thing Christ said they were to “see” or witness back in Mat. 10, Mat. 16, and eventually later said to the Sanhedrin as well in Mat. 26:64. It was to be the ultimate “sign” that He was who He said He was, the Messiah ruling and reigning in heaven and coming with power, to be made manifest ("seen" or "revealed," Lke. 17:30), as He said He would be to His disciples and to the Sanhedrin in the overthrowing of the city of Jerusalem by the rod of His mouth, wherein He had said, “not one stone was to be left upon another.” All the earthquakes, famines, and wars. etc.—and even the spread of the gospel throughout the land of Palestine and into all the nations—were all “signs” that He was sovereignly in control and in power, and all leading up to the ultimate “sign,” the destruction of natural Israel and Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Jewish “tribes” (Gk., phulai, “tribes or clans”) of “the earth” (or “land,” Gk. ghays, as note earlier) would “mourn” on that day when they would “see” exactly what Jesus had predicted to the Sanhedrin in Mat. 24:64, but would not really “recognize the time of God’s coming” to them. Having “eyes,” they really would not “see,” and having “ears,” they could not “hear.”

The Trumpet Call to the Elect

In Mat. 24:31 here, Jesus takes up a new thought that is to be understood differently than what He had said earlier in v. 14. Here in verse 31, He says, “He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call to gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other,” answering to Paul’s statements referred to earlier in Rom. 1:8; 10:18 and Col. 1:6, 23, that the gospel was preached all over the then known world before the destruction of Jerusalem would occur. In verse 14, however, the gospel being referred to there was to the Jews first in the land of Palestine, answering to Mat. 10:23; whereas, in verse 31, the gospel goes “from one end of the heavens to the other.” All this began to occur for the Jew first, before, during, and after His ascension. For the Gentiles, it began after the day of Pentecost.

Ezekiel 9 gives a graphic portrayal of this kind of activity of God’s "messengers" where they go forward throughout the land and "mark" God's people ("His elect") on their “foreheads” (v. 4) to preserve them from judgment, not only in this life, but also in the life to come. In Job 15:2, it says of the wicked that “he is marked out for the sword.” In Gen. 4:15, the Lord “put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him,” meaning, God would see to it that no one would harm Cain. In opposition to those who bear the “mark” of the beast, in Rev. 22:4 Christians are said to have God’s name similarly marked on our “foreheads,” clearly denoting that action whereby “having believed [in Christ], you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…” (Eph. 1:13, NIV). Such individuals are not “literally” marked, but is only to be understood as a figurative expression used throughout the Scriptures which denotes a setting apart of people from other individuals, for some particular reason or purpose.

Some more verses depicting this non-literal manner of “marking” are in: 2Sam. 13:28, where Absalom tells his servants, “Mark ye now when Annons heart is merry with wine,” in order to kill him. Jer. 2:23 says, “thine iniquity is marked before Me…” (KJV). Job 10:14 says, “If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity” (KJV). Job 21:5 also says, “Mark me, and be astonished…” (KJV), ie., pay attention and notice the truth of what I am about to say; “mark” what proceeds out of my mouth, as opposed to those who are “marked” for the lies and mistruths which proceed out of their mouths. Psm. 130:3 says, “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand” (KJV). Lam. 3:12 says, “He has bent His bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow” (KJV), ie., “marked” for destruction. And in Rom. 16:17, Paul says, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (KJV).

In the case of those with the mark of the beast, or, with the mark of the Lord, these “marks” denote who all of us belong to. We are “marked” by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13, NIV), whereas the world is “marked” by the spirit of this world. We are “marked” for salvation, they are “marked” for destruction. These are not numbers or computer chips tattooed or impregnated into the back of our hands or on our foreheads. Such a notion is foreign to a proper bible-based interpretation.

In Rev. 13, it also talks about being “marked” on the “right hand.” Again, the “right hand” denotes the idea that we are in league with someone, being put in a place or position that is not necessarily true for everyone else. In Gal. 2:9, Paul and Barnabas are given “the right hand of fellowship” from the apostles. Notice the emphasis on “fellowship.” In Mat. 25:33, Jesus in essence gives this “right hand of fellowship” so-to-speak, by placing His sheep on His “right” hand, the goats on His “left.” In Lev. 6:2, it says: “If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie to his neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or has deceived his neighbor…”, the idea here meaning by the word “fellowship” is, literally, “in giving the hand.” By “giving the hand” meant that you were entrusted to that individual. In other words, you are in “fellowship” with each other regarding a pact or agreement. Such a concept is foreign to most of us today, but in ancient antiquity it denoted a pledge of friendship and allegiance to someone, especially among “the Parthians, Persians, Hebrews, and Greeks” (see W. Hendriksen. Galatians, p. 85, footnote).

Paul said it all this way, “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as you have us for an example…for many walk, of whom I have told you even weeping, that they are the enemies…of Christ” (Php. 3:17-18, KJV). Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them.”

As far as the analogy of a “trumpet” is concerned here in Matthew 24, in the time of Moses “two silver trumpets” were used with distinct sounds and for distinct purposes (Num. 10:1-10), such as for gathering, rallying, or calling the people together. And the same Lord who instituted these in Moses’ time is using them again here in the synoptics, figuratively speaking, to describe the gathering or rallying of His people by the trumpet call of the gospel. Isaiah describes just such an action by God when he writes:

In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one. And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem (27:12-13).

I personally believe this is referring to the beginnings of the Church age when God would begin to gather His elect from the north and south, and correlates with Mat. 8:12, Lke. 13:29, Isa. 11:15-16 et al. Regardless, the point being here is that this idea of a “trumpet” is used here in Isaiah for not a literal trumpet, but a “distinct” sound or voice wherein the people would rally themselves unto the Lord. Interestingly, the Lord mentions here in Isaiah that it is God’s “holy mountain” that they would gather to, the same expression used repeatedly elsewhere throughout the prophets concerning those who would rally around Christ and His heavenly city (or New Jerusalem) and upon the heavenly Mt. Zion in His current administration and Messianic rule and reign. Isaiah 11:9 ff, is a classic example of this. (see also my article on Isaiah 11, entitled: Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!). It is Isaiah who also declares of our times:

The days are coming,” declares the Lord, when I will raise up to David a Righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness. So then, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land (23:7-8).

Finally, in Isaiah 58:1, God tells Isaiah to “shout aloud, raise you voice like a trumpet.” None of these ideas above regarding a “trumpet” have to do with the Second Coming of Christ, although there will be a voice like the sound of a trumpet on that day as well. The problem with many Christians today is that they get one idea or concept about God in their natural thinking and reasoning minds, and then run with it, blinding them to the reality that God uses many literal concepts or ideas for a variety of different reasons that are not to be understood literally at all. Such is the case with many of the things that Christ says in His Olivet discourse, but not said in a vacuum. Many of these things were said long ago in the words of His prophets, as we have already plainly seen.

Even the concept of Christ coming with His angels isn’t always necessarily to be understood of His Second Coming. For instance, in Deut. 33:2, it says that the Lord came down on Mt. Sinai with a myriad of His angels. Wherever God is working, whether in evangelism or on the last day judgment, so are His angels ever-present and working with Him. Thousands upon thousands are coming and going all around us every day. This is what Elisha prayed to God to reveal to his servant Gehazi, and He did (2Ki. 6:17). They are fighting all the Lord’s battles behind the scenes, and they were behind the scenes in the battle over Jerusalem in 70 A.D., allowing, as well as preventing, the forces that be. And Scripture seems to plainly state that they are actively involved in the salvation of souls, rejoicing even over one sinner that gets saved; and even accompanying them off into heaven when the time comes.

Parable of the Fig Tree, and All the Trees

In Mat. 24:32-33, Jesus uses a parable about a fig tree to tell His disciples that similar to a tree putting forth its branches and leaves, so too when they "see all these things" previously spoken about begin to happen, then they will know that Israel’s judgment is about to happen. Luke mentions “all the trees,” not just a fig tree, so there was nothing particularly important about a fig tree here, or any fruit-bearing tree for that matter. So we can rule out the fig tree being representative of Israel. “All the trees” budding were used to tell the story of all the things that were to lead up to Israel’s impending desolation, not their restoration; their destruction, not construction. Then Jesus makes this following statement which has become the source of much controversy: “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (vv. 34-35). See my article: The Grammar Behind “This” in “This Generation” or even, A Short and Concise Analysis of This Generation in Mat. 24, which put an end to any and all arguments that would attempt to make “this generation” mean any other generation than those who were Jesus’ contemporaries, for that is whom Jesus is referring to here. His disciples were to "see" all these things. It was to be witnessed in their generation before that generation would pass away, not one of another time. The problem is with us in not understanding what Christ meant by what He said, putting a natural and carnal bent or interpretation on the meaning His words that is unfounded and with no biblical support. God's scripture will interpret His scripture for us, if we will only allow Him to do so; otherwise, all else is nothing more than just "private interpretation" and human speculation.

The Day of the Son of Man

In Mat. 24:36-44, Jesus continues explaining that the coming of the Son of Man in judgment upon Jerusalem will be as unexpected as the Flood was is in the days of Noah. Jesus then tells the parables of the good and evil servants, the wise and unwise virgins, and the wise and unwise stewardship of the talents given to His people (24:45-25:30). In each of these parables, the main focal point is that all of Jesus’ disciples must not lose heart, but remain faithful while He is away; because He would come unexpectedly, and at any moment, and that day could overtake them unawares, bringing upon them the same demise as the unbelieving Jews would receive, which was also to give evidence that some of those among them were never even saved to begin with.

Also, in verse 44, Jesus likens His coming being referred to here, as to a “thief.” Again, Jesus is not talking about coming as a thief in the night in the “rapture” of God’s saints, that is for another time and day at His Second Coming. But what Christ is talking about, here in Matthew, is His coming through the marauding Roman armies upon Israel. God uses similar language in Ezk. 7:21-24 (see esp. v. 22), when He pronounces judgment upon Israel, their temple, and their city even back then:

I will hand it all over as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth, and they will defile it. I will turn my face away from them, and they will desecrate my treasured place; robbers will enter it and desecrate it. Prepare chains, because the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of violence. I will bring the most wicked of the nations to take possession of their houses; I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated.

Need we say anymore? Again, if we would only let Scripture interpret Scripture for us, we would not venture down the paths that we are so accustom to doing without His clear word to us on the matter.

(click here for part 2).


Footnotes:

[1] The following is just a brief review, and not exhaustive by any means, of how the things mentioned by Christ in these passages did indeed occur before the destruction of Jerusalem:

(1) False Christ’s: What the Jews expected was a Messiah who would come to set up a political kingdom like those of the rest of the world and deliver them from under their grievous bondage to Rome. The power of any political leader would be enhanced by the claim of being the promised Messiah. For that reason Christ gives them warning.

History records a few of the names of those who claimed to be the Messiah between the ascension of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem. As early as Acts 8:9-10, one by the name of Simon Magus arrives on the scene: “A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great. Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as 'the Great One--the Power of God'” (NLT). The early church father, Justin, relates how that in the time of Claudius Caesar, Simon was worshipped as a god at Rome on account of his magical powers, and Jerome quotes Simon Magus as saying, “I am the Word of God, I am the Comforter, I am the Almighty, I am all there is of God” (Mansel, The Gnostic Heresies, p. 82). Irenaeus tells us how Simon Magus claimed to be the Son of God and the creator of angels.

Gamaliel, in Acts 5:35-37 makes mention of Theudas, and Judas a Galilean, who both led revolts and were both killed. It is Origen who informs us of one called Dositheus who claimed that he was the Christ foretold by Moses. And the historian Josephus tells us how in the time of Felix mentioned in Acts: “Now as far as the affairs of the Jews, they grew worse and worse continually, for the country was again filled with robbers and imposters, who deluded the multitude. Yet did Felix catch and put to death many of those imposters every day, together with the robbers.” Jesus was warning His disciples in advance not to be deceived by their claims.

(2) Wars: All these things too occurred before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Not long after the Olivet Discourse, strife, insurrections, and wars were occurring in both Palestine and in other parts of the Roman empire. Jesus said, “Nations will rise against nation, kingdoms against kingdom” (v. 7a). The Roman “nation” and “kingdom” would indeed rise against the Jewish “nation”; and even within the nation of Israel itself arose national insurrections between the Jews and foreigners from other nations. “Nations” and “kingdoms” were rising against the “nation” and “kingdom” of the Jews. History records how there were “wars” all over Palestine, Galilee, and Samaria. There were even insurrections and wars upon the Jews in adjoining regions to the land of Palestine. The Roman historian, Tacitus, records for us how this period “was full of calamities, horrible with battles, rent with seditions, savage in peace itself.”

Marcellus Kik notes how that, in the space of 18 months, four emperors of Rome came to a violent death. He writes with regards to his studies of these times: “Were one to give an account of all the disturbances that actually occurred within the empire after Jesus’ death, he would be constrained to write a separate book” (An Eschatology of Victory, p. 92), which is exactly what the historian Josephus did. Kik goes on to say, “To the Jews it was a highly turbulent time. There was an uprising against them in Alexandria. In Seleucia 50,000 were slain. In Caesarea, a battle between Syrians and Jews brought death to about 20,000 Jews. The fight between Syrians and Jews divided many villages and towns into armed camps [sounds like the land of Palestine even today]. Constant rumors of wars kept Jewish people in an unsettled state. Josephus mentions how Caligula, the Roman Emperor, made orders that his statue be placed in the Temple of Jerusalem. Because the Jews refused to allow this, they lived in constant fear that the Emperor might send an army into Palestine. Some Jews lived in such fear that they dared not even plow and seed the ground” (ibid, p. 93). All this sounds almost similar as well to the days of the Syrian, Antiochus Epiphanes.

(3) Famines and Pestilences: Acts 11:28 makes mention of a famine that occurred in the days of Claudius Caesar. It spread not only in Judea, but to other parts of the world; and like all famines, it spread pestilences and diseases that caused the death of thousands.

(4) Earthquakes: Again, Kik writes: “Many [earthquakes] are mentioned by writers during a period just previous to 70 A.D. There were earthquakes in Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos, Laodicea, Hierapolis, Colosse, Campania, Rome, and Judea [with the first one that we know of, having occurred at the cross]. It is interesting to know that the city of Pompeii was much damaged by an earthquake occurring on February 5, 63 A.D.” Christ told His disciples that they were not to be troubled by these things, due to the fact that all of these calamities did not indicate the end. He tells them that the besieging of the city by armies would be the telltale sign that the end was near; and that when they began to see that, they were to flee to the hills, the very thing that the Church historian Eusebius (325 A.D.) records for us that they did:

The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city, and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella. Here those that believed in Christ, having removed from Jerusalem, as if holy men had entirely abandoned the royal city itself, and the whole land of Judea; the divine justice, for their crimes against Christ and his apostles finally overtook them, totally destroying the whole generation of these evildoers from the earth (Eusebius, 3:5.)

(5) Persecutions: One need go no further than the book of Acts to realize the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy concerning persecutions. Almost immediately after the preaching of the gospel, the apostles were brought before “rulers” and “counsels,” “testified,” and put into prisons and beaten (Acts 4-5). Stephen was killed. James was killed by Herod. And Luke tells us the there was great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem and even more imprisonments (Acts. 8:1-3). In Acts 16, Paul and Silas were beaten and cast into prison. Yet it turned out as an opportunity to testify to a Philippian jailer whose entire household got saved. Again, in Acts 21, Paul is “beaten,” brought before “rulers” to which he testified. In Acts 22:19, we read of Christians being “imprisoned and beat in every synagogue.” Wherever the apostles went, they were hated and persecuted by men, jailed, and killed. Jesus said they would be afflicted, beaten, and imprisoned—and they were! He said they would be brought before rulers and counsels—and they were! He said they would be given mouths that would speak with wisdom—and they were! He said they would be “hated” by all men for His name’s sake—and they were. Roman historians record this same hatred. In verse 10, Jesus had also said: “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.” Paul had first-hand experiences with regards to this, even stating: “You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes” (2Tim. 1:15). “Demas…has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me…at my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them” (4:10, 16). During the persecutions instigated by Nero, it was common for so-called “Christians” to betray other Christians. Tacitus, the Roman historian, writes: “That several Christians at first were apprehended, and then, by their discovery, a multitude of others were convicted, and cruelly put to death, with derision and insult.” By the phrase, “by their discovery” is understood, by their making known where other Christians were at. Similar to the Jews who betrayed other Jews to the Nazis during World War II.

Jesus had also indicated that the love of many would wax cold due to the prevalence of iniquity. This didn’t necessarily mean apostasy, though it could very well be, but rather to a spiritual deterioration. The epistles give abundant evidence to this fact. But Christ had said, “he that stands firm to the end [through all of these trials] will be saved” (Mat. 24:13), or as Luke records for us: “By standing firm, you will gain life” (21:19). They were to be of those who “loved not their lives unto death” (Rev. 12:11), and with some even “refusing to be released” from their tortures, “so that they might gain a better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35). Paul expressed it this way: “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom” (2Tim. 4:18). This verse in Mat. 24:13, along with its companion verses in the synoptics (Mk. 13:13; Lke. 21:19), is not to be understood any differently than in Lke. 21:28, which says: “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” The “redemption” that Christ is referring to here is not some supposed future "rapture" of the Church, but the disciple's deliverance from their Jewish persecutors and idealists. With the Jews killed, and led away into captivity (v. 24), which, by the way, did occur, the Christians would be “delivered” (or "redeemed") from these evil persecutors; but only to face a new ones later: the Roman leaders, and eventually even the Roman Papacy.

[2] I honestly believe that Rev. 1:7 refers to this very same event as one those things that was “near” or “at hand” (v. 3), and which from John’s vantage point, was to be one of those things “hereafter,” or literally “from this time forward” (v. 19). Rev. 1:7 repeats almost verbatim the words of Christ in the Olivet discourse. And since many see Christ’s words in the Olivet discourse saying practically the same thing as here in Rev. 1:7, it stands to reason that they are both to be understood as the one and selfsame event. Future, or fulfilled? A proper exegesis of Mat. 24, Mk. 13, Lke. 17 and 21, show it to be fulfilled. Of course, this is assuming the book of Revelation was written before Jerusalem fell, which I believe it was (get a copy of Kenneth Gentry’s Before Jerusalem Fell for an outstanding critique on all of this). This does not mean, however, that everything in the book of Revelation is fulfilled, but neither does it preclude Christ’s prophecy here regarding the destruction of the Jewish polity.

All that is really required for determining the chronology of when Revelation was written is, Rev. 17:10. What we find is a series of seven kings mentioned in succession. “Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, he must remain for a little while.” The 6th king is still ruling in John’s day, and the reign of the one to follow will be brief. Simply put, once we discover who this 6th king is and the dates of his reign, it will serve as the terminus dates within which Revelation must have been composed. That the kings ruling at this time were those of the Roman empire no one doubts; and the “ten horns” that John also sees (v. 12) coming out of or from this beast (or empire) corresponds to Daniel’s vision of there eventually coming out of the fourth beast (the Roman empire) also “ten horns” (Dan. 7:7, 23-24). John is told that “they have not received a kingdom” until a later time. And since they come out of what remains of the Roman empire, it stands to reason that these seven kings are seven individuals (not a conglomerate of past and future empires as some suppose), whom once removed, pave the way for these 10 horns to arise in the future in our day. So, we have five Roman kings (or emperors) who have fallen, one is, and the one yet to come will rule only for a little while. It is an indisputable fact that the Caesars were ruling at the time of John’s writing.

So who is the first king in succession? Contemporary historians of that time period name Julius Caesar as the first. Without going through all of them, one noted historian who names Julius as the first in succession, is Josephus. In his Antiquities he calls Caesar Augustus the “second” and Tiberius the “third” emperor (18.2.2; 16.6.2). Later Gaius is called the “fourth” (18.6.10). And in a later chapter he calls Julius Caesar the “first who transferred the power of the people to himself” (19.1.11). Additionally, one of the church fathers, Theophilus of Antioch, who lived between 115 to 181 A.D., writes: “Afterwards those who are called emperors began in this order: first, Caius Julius…, then Augustus” (Anti-Nicene Fathers 2:87). Clement (150–215 A.D.) also makes the following statement supporting an early dating of Revelation: “For the teaching of our Lord at His advent, beginning with Augustus and Tiberius, was completed in the middle of the times of Tiberius. And that of the apostles, embracing the ministry of Paul, end with Nero” (Miscellanies 7:17). Clement seems to indicate that he believes that the Scriptures were completed by the end of Nero’s reign which ended in AD 68. Some later sources concur with these church fathers. So, from the above antiquities we are justified in establishing a list of kings, starting with Julius Caesar: (1) Julius Caesar, 49-44 B.C.; (2) Caesar Augustus, 31 B.C.-14 A.D.; (3) Tiberius Caesar, 12-37 A.D. (began as a co-regent with Augustus in 11-12 A.D., and in his 15th yr. Christ was baptized, Lke. 3:1); (4) Gaius (or Caligula), 37-41 A.D.; (5) Claudius Caesar, 41-54 A.D.; (6) Nero Caesar, 54-68 A.D.; (7) Galba, 68-69 A.D. (a short time); (8) Otho, 69 A.D.; (9) Vitellius, 69 A.D.; (10) Vespasian, 69-79 A.D.

Rev. 17:10 refers to only seven of these kings. Five have fallen (Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius), one is (Nero), and the other (Galba) has not yet come. Indisputably Revelation was written sometime during the reign of Nero, between 54-68 A.D., and before Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D. And that these “emperors” were also called “kings” is another indisputable fact in Jhn. 19:15, where the Jews said before Pilate, “we have no king but Caesar.” For some to omit the brief reigns of Galba, Oho, and Vetellius from the list, this would leave only Vespasian as the 7th, whom cannot be considered as a “short reign” when compared with the reigns of these others.

As alluded to earlier, some commentators have attempted to say that the first king that John mentions is the king or kingdom of Egypt, followed by Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome (the one in John’s day), and then a future kingdom set up by a future Antichrist, assuming that this is speaking of a future kingdom which is to come some 2,000 yeas later in our day and age. But nowhere, either in Daniel, or here in Revelation, is a first beast, or king, ever mentioned as beginning with Egypt—in Daniel's visions the first beast (or kingdom) was Babylon. So it seems more probable to me to understand the seven kings in Revelation, as those who are contemporaneous around John’s time and coming out of the fourth beast in Daniel’s vision, which is the Roman kingdom. And to further substantiate this is the fact that both Daniel and John mention ten kings or kingdoms that were to arise out of the Roman empire in the latter days after these several other kings are no longer around. And then, from among these ten, Daniel had mentioned that there was to arise yet another “little horn” from out of the midst of this empire, that was to take over three of the ten (Dan. 7:7-8, 23-25).

All Roman historians are in agreement that the Roman empire was divided into “ten” kingdoms, though all do not necessarily agree as to which ten they were. The common consensus seems to be: The Vandals, Alans, Suevis, Herulis, Franks, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Lombards, and Britons. And historians afford us also the fact that three of these kingdoms (the Herulis, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths) were handed over to the Roman Papacy, who indeed “wore out the saints of the most high” (Dan. 7:25), killing over 50 million Christians in the course of their tyrannical reign throughout the middle (or dark) ages spanning several hundred years. This seems to be “the Antichrist” that Paul says was to set himself up in God’s temple, the Church, and who hadn’t risen yet in the apostles’ days, and of which Paul says “the Lord Jesus shall overthrow with the breath [the Word] of His mouth, and destroy by the splendor of His coming” (2Ths. 2:8). The Papacy was not only overthrown, at least for now, in this life, but those who acted in such a manner as they did in the past with Christians will also see a final judgment and retribution for the dastardly deeds that they did, at the Second Coming and Judgment of Christ. Whether this is what Paul has in mind here by the word “coming,” or something similarly to be understood as in Christ’s coming in judgment upon Jerusalem, is open for speculation. Could the Papacy’s deadly wound be healed someday? Time will only tell, as they continue to exercise a powerful influence still today in Rome. For an excellent commentary on the history of all of this, please read Albert Barnes in his Barnes Notes on Daniel, it can be read online. I would also highly recommend reading Ralph Woodrow’s Great Prophecies of the Bible which can be purchased online at Amazon.com.

The only other real argument left for a 95 A.D. date, is that concerning a statement made by Irenaeus around 180-190 A.D., who claims to have known Polycarp, who may have known John. There is no extant Greek manuscripts of Irenaeus’ History of Heresies, only a Latin translation. But there is a Greek quotation of Iranaeus noted by the church historian Eusebius which is relied heavily upon for a 95 A.D. date.

As I mentioned, no original statement exists by Irenaeus today, only copies of what people think he said. The English translations of Eusebius quotation of Irenaeus supply an English word in the place of an ellipsis in the Greek text in order to try and help the readers to better understand who or what Irenaeus is referring to. The English translation reads:

In this persecution, it is handed down by tradition, that the apostle John, who was yet living, in consequence of his testimony to the divine word, was condemned to dwell on the island of Patmos. Irenaeus, indeed, in his fifth book against the heresies, where he speaks of the calculation formed on the epithet of Antichrist, in the abovementioned revelation of John, speaks in the following manner respecting him. “If, however, it were necessary to proclaim his name [i.e. Antichrist] openly at the present time, it would have been declared by him who saw the revelation, for it is not long since it [or ‘he’] was seen, but almost in our own generation, at the close of Domitian’s reign.” (Ecclesiastical History, pp. 101-102; words in brackets added).

The question here is: What “was seen”? Was it the revelation of the apocalypse, or John himself that was seen? Kenneth Gentry asks the question: “What is the subject of this verb? Is it ‘him who saw the apocalypse’ (i.e. John) or ‘the Apocalypse’”? (ibid, p. 48). In the Greek, the verb can go either way. In context though, the text seems to really say that if it were necessary to proclaim who the Antichrist was, that "John" would have done so towards the beginning of our (or their) generation, during the close of Domitian’s reign. Understood this way, the text says nothing about the revelation being seen at that time, but only that John was seen, and that if anything were to have been revealed as to who the Antichrist was, John would have said it towards the close of Domitian’s reign, which he never did.

H. Wayne House and Thomas Ice, in their book, Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?, make a serious error when critiquing David Chilton’s Days of Vengeance and his dating the book of Revelation before Jerusalem fell. After citing a particular English translation of Irenaeus, House and Ice comment: “Chilton questions whether [Irenaeus’] ‘that [or ‘it’ in some translations] was seen’ refers to ‘the apocalyptic vision’ or to John himself. Since the impersonal pronoun ‘that’ [or ‘it’] is used we can assume that it refers to John’s ‘apocalyptic vision.’” (p. 251). Kenneth Gentry remarks on their comments: “This is a serious blunder. It is obvious that they are not even aware that in the original Greek of Against Heresies [as cited by Eusebius], there is no ‘impersonal pronoun that’! The “that” which forms the basis of their argument is an English translator’s interpolation! To argue as they have is equivalent to stating that an italicized word in the Bible indicates God has emphasized the point, when actually it is the translator’s cue to the reader that the English [word] has been supplied despite the lack of any term in the original language” (ibid, pp. 345-346; bracketed word mine).

Often many Bible translations supply an English word for an ellipsis in the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts to help the readers get a better understanding of what they think the verse is saying, often failing in their attempt, as we are all too readily aware of, doing more harm than good. The Latin translation helps us none the better, for by a simple stroke of the pen, visus est can be changed to visum est, changing the meaning from a person, to an object or thing. Again, according to Gentry, these Latin words “if they seemed difficult, would easily be corrupted to visum est” (ibid, p.56).

In addition, when Irenaeus wrote Against Heresies around A.D. 185, he stated that there were “ancient copies” of Revelation in circulation. Some of the copies had 666 as the number of the beast while others calculated the number as 616 (Rev. 13:18). Irenaeus makes the following comments in defense of 666 in his Against Heresies:

“Such, then, being the state of the case, and this number being found in all the most approved and ancient copies [of the Apocalypse] and those men who saw John face-to-face bearing their testimony [to it]; while reason also leads us to conclude that the number of the name of the beast, [if reckoned] according to the Greek emotive calculation by the [value of] the letters contained in it, will amount to six hundred and sixty and six [666]; that is, the number of tens shall be equal to that of the hundreds, and the number of the hundreds equal to that of the units (for that number which [expresses] the digit six being adhered to throughout, indicates the recapitulations of that apostasy, taken in its full extent, which occurred at the beginning, during the intermediate periods, and which shall take place at the end),—I do not know how it is that some have erred following the ordinary mode of speech, and have vitiated the middle number in the name, deducting the amount of 50 from it, so that instead of six decades (tens) they will have it that there is about one [resulting in 616 instead of 666]” (Book
5.30.1).

If there were “ancient copies” of Revelation circulating in the latter half of the second century, and some of them had 666 and others 616, then it stands to reason that if a person could see the original Revelation book, all would be made clear. And if the Revelation was seen by John around 64-68 A.D., and “copies” immediately made thereafter to send to the seven churches, such manuscripts by the time Irenaeus wrote Against Heresies would have surely been “ancient.”

So, the entire argument for a 95 A.D. dating of the book of Revelation is based upon an ambiguous quotation of Irenaeus by Eusebius which has an ellipsis in the original Greek copy made by Eusebius. And the church fathers who claim that John’s revelation was written during the time of Domitian’s reign are all referring to this sole statement made not necessarily by Irenaeus himself, but by Eusebius’ supposed quotation of Irenaeus. It is quite remarkable, don't you think, that one would base their entire “end times” prophecy doctrine on just the hearsay of another?

[3] Lke. 2:1: This verse says a “census” was to be taken of the “world,” i.e., of those living within the Roman empire. This “world” did not include America, Russia, China (and its provinces), Japan, India, South America, etc. The Roman Empire included most of what would now be considered Western Europe. The main countries conquered were England/Wales (then known as Britannia), Spain (Hispania), France (Gaul or Gallia), Greece (Achaea), the Middle East (Judea) and the North African coastal region.