When will these things be? Matthew 24:3

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Short Summary
The discourse explains that Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24 encompasses multiple timelines, simultaneously foretelling the destruction of the temple, the parousia, and the end of the age, often using overlapping language and symbolism. It highlights how Jesus warned against deception, emphasized the significance of signs preceding these events, and drew on historical references such as the abomination of desolation, ultimately encouraging faithful living in anticipation of these fulfillments.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse on Matthew 24 Prophecy

Context and Setting:
– Jesus leaves the temple courts; disciples point out the temple buildings.
– Jesus predicts the complete destruction of the temple: “not one stone will be left on another stone that will not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2).
– Seated on the Mount of Olives, disciples privately ask Jesus three key questions (Matthew 24:3):
1. When will these temple destruction events happen?
2. What will be the sign of His coming (parousia)?
3. What will be the sign of the end of the age?

Use of History, Prophecy, and Symbolism:
– Jesus interweaves history, prophecy, and symbolic imagery to encourage believers, instruct how to live, and foretell future events.
– The prophecy contains dual or multiple fulfillments—referring both to the near-term destruction of the temple (~AD 70) and the far-term end of the age/parousia.
– Analogy: The prophecy is like a long road with two hills visible—one near (temple destruction) and one far (end of age)—which appear similar but differ in timing and scale.

Fig Tree Symbolism and National Judgment:
– Prior to this discourse, Jesus cursed the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-19), symbolizing the nation of Israel’s spiritual barrenness and impending judgment.
– Jesus also cleansed the temple and pronounced woes on Israel’s religious leaders.
– Israel had rejected Jesus as Messiah, expecting an earthly warrior to overthrow Roman rule.
– They misunderstood salvation, relying on military or political means rather than submission and faithfulness.

Preliminary Signs (Matthew 24:4-14):
– Jesus warns about false messiahs, deception, wars, famines, pestilences, and persecutions.
– These are “beginnings of sorrows” but not the end itself.
– He admonishes believers: “Take heed that no one may lead you astray” (v.4).
– Such signs occurred both before the temple’s destruction and continue throughout history, so they alone do not mark the end.
– The disciples are urged to discern the true signs specific to each prophetic event.

The Abomination of Desolation (Matthew 24:15-25):
– Jesus refers to Daniel’s prophecy about the “abomination of desolation” standing in the holy place.
– Daniel 11:31 and 12:11 mention this desecration involving cessation of sacrifices and defilement of the sanctuary.
– Historically, the Jewish people associated this with Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ sacrilegious acts in 167 BC (offering pigs on the altar, burning the Law, provoking the Maccabean revolt).
– Jesus warns a future, similar desecration would occur, fulfilled in AD 70 by Roman armies led by Titus:
– They destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, offered false sacrifices, looted treasures, and tore down the temple stones to recover gold—fulfilling Jesus’ prediction.
– Jesus also commands immediate flight upon seeing these signs (Matthew 24:16-20).
– Christians heeded this warning and fled Jerusalem before the destruction.

Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-22):
– Jesus describes a time of unprecedented tribulation, unparalleled in history.
– These days were “shortened for the sake of the elect,” allowing some to survive.
– The destruction of Judea was catastrophic: massive casualties, mass crucifixions, enslavement, and renaming Judea to Palestine (a name derived from Israel’s ancient enemies, the Philistines), showing God’s judgment on the nation.
– Despite judgment, God preserves a remnant, as affirmed in Romans 11:28-29:
> “They are enemies for your sake, but beloved for the sake of the fathers.”

Cosmic Signs and the Parousia (Matthew 24:29-31):
– Jesus quotes Isaiah 13:10 regarding celestial disturbances: sun darkened, moon not giving light, stars falling, heavenly powers shaken.
– This imagery parallels the destruction of Babylon and symbolizes the end of the old covenant temple system.
– Verse 30 announces “the sign of the Son of Man” and His coming.
– Debate exists whether this refers to a literal immediate return or a prophetic sign within the timeline after the temple’s destruction.
– The parousia (second coming) is linked with a future stage after the partial hardening of Israel (Romans 11:25), when the full number of Gentiles has come in.

The Fig Tree and Generation (Matthew 24:32-34):
– Jesus uses the fig tree putting forth leaves as a sign that summer (the arrival of the kingdom or fulfillment) is near.
– The statement “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” is understood by some as referring primarily to the generation alive during the temple’s destruction, a secondary fulfillment.
– This confirms the near-term fulfillment of the prophecy.

Two Timelines in One Prophecy:
– The discourse emphasizes Jesus’ prophetic brilliance, combining:
– Near-term fulfillment: destruction of the temple (AD 70).
– Long-term fulfillment: parousia and end of the age.
– The prophecy’s overlapping imagery requires careful interpretation to avoid confusion and deception.
– Jesus’ warning in verse 4 to “let no one deceive you” underscores the need for vigilance.

Practical Application and Encouragement:
– Jesus’ prophecy is given to prepare believers spiritually, to strengthen faith, and to guide conduct during difficult times.
– Encouragement to remain faithful, discerning, and watchful.
– The prophecy calls for repentance and trust in God’s sovereign plan.

Closing Remarks and Prayer:
– The discourse ends with thanks to God for the opportunity to understand His Word more deeply.
– A prayer for faithfulness and blessing on the class and future discussions.

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Key Bible Verses Referenced:

– Matthew 24:1-3, 4-14, 15-25, 29-34
– Daniel 11:31; 12:11
– Isaiah 13:10
– Romans 11:25-29
– 1 Maccabees 1:54 (historical reference to Antiochus’ desecration)

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Summary:

This discourse on Matthew 24 explains how Jesus uses prophecy, history, and symbolic imagery to reveal both the imminent destruction of the Jerusalem temple and the distant future events of His return and the end of the age. The prophecy contains overlapping signs and warnings about deception, tribulation, cosmic disturbances, and God’s judgment and preservation of His people. By understanding the dual fulfillment and discerning true signs, believers are encouraged to remain vigilant, faithful, and hopeful in God’s redemptive plan.

Transcript

Jesus uses history, prophecy, symbolism, foretelling events to give us encouragement, to show us how to behave and to prophesy about the destruction of the temple and the parousia and the end of the age all in one set of verses.

So let’s start by reading Matthew 24:1 3 just to get the context here, and Jesus went out of the temple courts. He was going along and his disciples came up to the point, came up to point out to him the buildings of the temple. He answered and said to them, do you see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one of these stones will be left on another stone that will not be thrown down.

And he was sitting on the Mount of Olives. The disciples came up to him privately saying tell us when will these things happen? What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? So Jesus, the disciples come and they ask Jesus three pointing questions. When will these things happen?

The destruction of the temple, what will be the sign of your par?

And what will be the end of the age?

Over the last few days Jesus had been had given a parable of the withered fig tree, the cutting off of the nation. As he led up towards this final point in his life. We start to see him now showing the cutting off of the nation of Israel, and it started with the withered fig tree which represented the nation of Israel. The fruitage had not been there so he cursed the tree and it dried up.

He then cleansed the temple. He pronounced woes upon the spiritual leadership of Israel.

And now he was going to predict the destruction of the temple, the symbol of God’s presence with the nation.

The nation of Israel had rejected Jesus. They were looking for a warrior. They were looking for someone who could conquer the Roman empire, bring about their earthly salvation as a nation. They chose to believe that they could gain this by earthly means. They were so short sighted they could not see past their subjection to the Roman power.

They thought they could win or gain salvation by sword or earthly diplomacy.

They didn’t want to see what Jesus was teaching. He was teaching them the only way you would win is if you laid down your life in the service of God. To them that sounded like foolishness.

So as we’re going to go through this prophecy we have to remember Jesus here is not just talking a linear prophecy. He’s showing aspects in this prophet prophecy that refer to the destruction of the temple, parts that refer to the end of the age and parts that refer to his parousia, and many parts have double meaning.

We can look at this prophecy like a very long road. Imagine there is a. On this long road there is a hill that’s probably five, 10 miles away, and then off in the distance there is a big mountain 100 miles away. From our perspective, we can’t tell the distance between them.

They both look similar in size, yet one is much further away than the other. But yet as we look at them, they look like they’re much of the same, in the same area, same size and so forth. Think of this prophecy in that manner.

One indication about when Jesus is talking about the destruction of the temple, he uses the words these things as we see Jesus did in verse 2. Do you not see these things? Now, that being said, as just mentioned before, the two prophecies of the destruction of the temple, the Parisian, the end of the age, all kind of use similar expressions and talk about things that will predict both the prophecy of the destruction of the temple and the end of the age.

So let’s get into this discussion here.

In verses 4, 1 through verses 4 through 14 in the 24th chapter, we see that Jesus is giving us a lead up to the prophecies, kind of showing what’s going to happen in the. In the time before we get to the prophecy, and he says, just going to quote my scripture here, just hold one second.

He says that there’s going to be rumors of wars, there’s going to be much persecution, there’s going to be deceivers, many are going to be deceived, many are going to lose their first love, their kingdoms will rise and fall, pestilences and famines, there’ll be beginnings of travail. But this is not the end, he says, this is just the preamble to when these prophecies are going to take place, and in that prophecy, the very first thing he starts off, he says, I’m giving you this prophecy in verse 4. Take heed that no one may lead you astray. Jesus is so concerned about us, so that we are not led astray, that we are not deceived, that we do not lose this first love, that this is the reason why he gives this prophecy so that we can have the right sense of mind, that we are always looking forward to what he wants us to do, to live in a manner that is pleasing to him.

So as Jesus is going through this preamble of what is going to happen before the prophecies take place, we can look at these scriptures. Is he talking about the Clothes Hill, the destruction of the temple, or is he talking about the far Hill the end of the age, and in these verses we can see both. We can see that before the destruction of the Temple, there was wars and rumors of wars. The Roman Empire was fighting many various places.

The Seleucian armies were attacking from the side, and they were trying to free Jerusalem and so forth. In Judea the people were uprising and so forth, and there was always a threat of war that was to come about on them, and in acts we see that there were many false teachers or there were false teachers that came about and they were this was all happening before the destruction of the temple. So we see that these weren’t the things that were going to prove whether the the temple was going to be destroyed, nor were they the things that are going to prove whether the end of the age in the Parousia is going to come. But these are things that happen at all times.

So don’t be misled by them, but make sure you understand what are the true signs of the each event.

As we continue on, we’re going to in verses 15 through 25, we get our first direct prophecy about the Temple. The destruction of the Temple.

And as we’ll see it, all this prophecy also has fulfillment as it gets reused and reinterpreted to answer the second and third question also. But remember, as we said before, the pathway that leads out to those mountains and hills start along the same path and have many of the similar ideas that get us both to both prophecies. There are a few scriptures. Let’s just start by reading that in verse 15. There it says 15.

Whenever, therefore, you may see the abomination of desolation that was spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, whoever is reading, let them observe.

We see this prophecy here that Jesus is talking about.

Quoting back to Daniel, and if we go back to Daniel, we find a few different prophecies about the abomination of desolation, and I think there are two that are relevant to this prophecy. One is found in Daniel 12:11, which says and from that time the regular burnt offering is removed and the abomination that causes desolation is set up. There will be 1,290 days.

And I think this abomination scripture does apply to this prophecy, but I think it’s in reference to the second and third questions. Whereas the one in Daniel 11:31 seems to fit this particular discussion better, and Daniel 11:31 it says the military forces will forces from him will occupy and will profane the sanctuary stronghold, and they will abolish the regular burnt offering, and they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.

Now when Jesus quoted this, if you were a Jewish person at that point in time, hearing that, your mind would have gone and said, well, that’s already happened, and that this prophecy was referring to when the Seleucid and King Antonio Antiochus, Antiochus IV desecrated the temple in 167 BC. The Seleucian kingdom was one of the four kingdoms that came about when Alexander the Great died, and they were of Greek origin, Greek mindset, and they were trying to reconquer much of the land that Alexander had, and Antiochus was probably one of their most important kings.

He, he spread the empire the furthest, and at that point they had entered into Jerusalem and they had sacked the city, and he actually entered into the temple and offered sacrifices, including pork, which would have been terrible for the Jewish people, and we read in first Maccabees, verse 54 and a couple more. We’ll just read a couple here just to get the gist.

But it does continue on where it says now, on the 15th day of Chislev in the 145th year, they erected a desolating sacrifice upon the altar of burnt offering. They also built altars in the surrounding cities of Judea and burnt incense at the door of the house and in the street. The book of the law which they had found, they tore to pieces and burned with fire. So we have this historical event that Jesus is also referring back to when Antiochus entered the temple, desecrated it and caused a huge upcry from the people because of his abomination that he had done there, and in respect to that, that’s when the Maccabean revolt started.

And actually the Jewish people gained independence for 77 years until they became under the Roman control.

So here we see that Jesus is taking Daniel’s prophecy along with how the Jewish people would interpret the events of Antiochus at that time of offering false sacrifices on the Temple, and now he’s saying another abomination is going to come and that someone again will enter into the temple in a similar way which we will see does happen.

The Roman armies led by Titus came to Judea, destroying town after town on their way to Jerusalem in AD in the year, in the years leading up to AD 70, when they finally got to Jerusalem, and after a long battle they finally entered the city, they offered false sacrifices on the temple, in the temple, on the altar, very similar to Antiochus, and they sought to claim all the riches from the temple, they sacked it, they took all this stuff out, and it is said that as they were doing it, as they were burning the temple, they. The gold ran between the cracks of the stones and they actually ripped apart all the stones so that they could recover the gold, fulfilling Jesus prophecy, that not a single stone would remain upon stone, and Jesus said to them in the prophecy in Matthew 24:16, 20, when you see these things, you know, if you’re on the housetop, if you’re, you know, flee to the mountains, if you’re on the housetop, don’t come down if you’re gonna, if you’re in the field, do not turn back and so forth, you know, get out of town, and it is actually said that when Jerusalem was sacked, there were no Christians left in the city.

They had heeded Jesus prophecy.

So let’s, as we continue on, Jesus then comes to Matthew 21:22, and I’m sorry for we’re kind of going here real quickly through these just because the sake of time, there isn’t a lot of time to go into of these. But hopefully this gives you a nice feel for how this prophecy works. Jesus comes 24, 21 22, and for at that time there will be great tribulation such as had not happened from the beginning of the world unto now, nor ever will happen. Unless those days had been shortened, no human would have been saved.

But for the sake of the elect, those days have been shortened. I know we tend to always apply this to the end of the age, but I think it very much applies to the destruction of the temple. This was the greatest destruction that the Jewish people had ever happened in the nation of Israel until this day.

The Jewish province of Judea had been a real pain for the Romans. The Jews did not want to submit, and when the Romans came in, it is said that they killed close to a million Jews. Historians said that the roads around Jerusalem for miles were filled with cross after cross after cross of crucified Judeans. Over a hundred thousand people were taken as slaves back to Rome.

And to add insult to injury, after these wars, they renamed the name of Judea to Palestine. Because Palestine was the Romanized version of Philistine, of the Philistines, the greatest enemy of the Israelites.

You know, Jesus predicted that it would be cut short before all the nation was destroyed because of the elect, this destruction.

And as we can see not, you know, there is a remnant of Jews that remained. Some were taken as slaves, some remained in that town, but a huge proportion of the population had been destroyed, and if they wouldn’t have, if the Father, if our heavenly Father wouldn’t have stopped in, who knows, they might have just been a nation that was relegated to the books of history. But God did step in, and we read in Romans 11:28, with respect to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake.

But with respect to the election dearly. They are dearly loved for the sake of their Father. So we see that Jesus, I mean that the nation of Israel was protected by the heavenly father just because of their fathers. Let me see the next few verses continue on talking about the parousia. So we’ll skip over them.

23, 28 and in verse 29 it says immediately after that, after the tribulation of those days and again we’re going to apply to the destruction of the temple. The sun and the moon will be darkened and not give light, and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of heaven will shake. This is a quote from Isaiah 13:10 and for the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light. The sun will keep back when it comes out.

The moon will not caused to light to shine, it’s light to shine. Jesus is quoting from Isaiah about a prophecy describing the destruction of Babylon. Jesus is saying just like Babylon ceased to exist, so the temple and all its offerings would cease to exist. No more would there be any light. No longer would God have its approval in this religious system.

It was going to be shaken and crumbled by there would from that time on there was no more temple, there were no more sacrifices, the priesthood was gone. They were not God’s chosen people in a sense. Now that had moved over to those who have been called to follow Jesus.

Verse 30 says that after this the sign of the Son of Man’s parousia will come. The question arises, does that mean Jesus return was after the time of tribulation destruction of the temple? I don’t believe so, though there are Christians who do believe this and they were called preterists. But I think what this is referring to is that this removal of the Jewish religious system, this darkness of time that has come upon the Jewish nation, that at some point during this period, however long it needs to be, Jesus parouse would take place, and we see that in harmony with Romans 11:25 where it says I do not want you to be ignorant brothers of this mystery so that you will not be wise in your own sight, that partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of gentiles has come in.

And finally we’ll get to verses 33 through 34 and we have this picture of the fig tree putting forth Luther putting forth leaves, summer is nigh, and we, we kind of bring this one in because this is the last place where it says these things and it talks about those. That’s.

The verse says. So also you, when you see that all these things, know that he is near at the door. Truly I say to you that this generation will not pass away until these things take place, and again I think this is just a secondary quote in here. I don’t think it’s the primary focus of these verses, but here again it was a reference to those that were hearing this prophecy that that generation that heard this prophecy would not pass away.

And I think that again was why there was no Christians in Jerusalem at the time when they said they could see that Jesus prophecy had come true and it was just another fulfillment of what Jesus had said.

So in conclusion, I believe that Jesus is giving us two prophetic timelines in one prophecy. This shows Jesus brilliance as a prophet and yet it can make it hard to understand if we do not understand how he is teaching. As you have seen, many parts of this prophecy can be interpreted to talk about the destruction of the temple, and as we continue on throughout the further discussions today, you’ll see that Brother Rick and Brother Jim I’m sure will be taking many of those same points and interpreting them to describe the Lord’s parresia and the end of the age. I’ll turn it back over to you there, Brother Michael.

Thank you Brother Ben, appreciate your thoughts there. I picked out a few things but there are two timelines in one prophecy and especially on verse four of Matthew chapter 24, that we should let no man say that no one misleads us. So this is just pointing us to the relevance of us paying attention to the Lord’s prophecy. Thank you. To close this section of we’ll ask brother to please say word prayer.

Thank you.

Our dear most gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity of coming here to understand your word and to come to know it a little bit more deeper to, to take the relevance of it and apply it in our lives so that we can always be faithful to you, and we ask a special blessing on the Toronto class and all those that are here to gather together, and on the further discussions we are about to have, we ask this in Jesus loving name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you. Repentance.

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