Matthew 24:4-14

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Question #2-What is the sign of the end of the age?

4 And Jesus answered and said to them, ``See to it that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, `I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. 6 You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. It's not so much the fact of famines and earthquakes, but the frequency and intensity like the birth pangs of pregnancy. 9 Then they will deliver you to tribulation and will kill you and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10 At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."

Some believe that the "nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom" was the 1st world war, then the increase in frequency and intensity of the famines and earthquakes, great persecution, false prophets rising up and deceiving many, lawlessness increased, love for one another will be more and more scarce, THEN, the gospel of the kingdom will be presented in the whole world as a testimony of God and THEN THE END WILL COME.

So, the end of the age will come after several, cataclysmic events and the ugly atmosphere of a loveless world will prevail. What do you think? Is it near?

I used to believe I had the prophetic end-times all worked out. I could draw the charts and come very close to nailing down the time of Jesus' return and the end of the world as we know it. The more I've learned about simply and really following Jesus, I've come to realize that maybe I didn't know as much as I thought I did.

What fascinates me the most out of this passage is verse 14: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come." Now that we are working with the many cultures of the world where people are becoming followers of Jesus without abandoning their cultures, WHEN Jesus comes back is not nearly as important as focusing on the WHO of Jesus Himself. He is already showing up within the many cultures of the world. Now, that is thrilling to me!

Matthew 24:1-3

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1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He said to them, ``Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.'' 3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ``Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?''

This is a fascinating interaction between Jesus and His disciples. Jesus, standing outside the magnificent Temple, says that this Temple will be utterly destroyed. The disciples come back at Him with 3 questions: 1. When will the Temple be destroyed? 2. What will be the sign of Your coming again in glory? 3. What will be the sign of the end of the age?

Let's begin by rehearsing Jesus' answer: 20 ``But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. 21 ``Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; 22 because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. 23 ``Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Luke 21:20-24

Jesus' answer is: the Temple will be destroyed WHEN you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. This happened around 66 A.D. The Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem and when the capture of the city proved to be more difficult than expected, they sent out for more supplies. It was during this time that those who heeded Jesus' warning, actually fled the city to save their lives. There is a well-founded Jewish tradition that the followers of Jesus did flee the city during the time of re-supplying the troops and not one Messianic believer in Jesus died in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Roman General, Titus.

This prophecy was fulfilled in a close enough time period where people could actually see its fulfillment. The other two questions have a long-term nature to them and very difficult to understand for sure.

Matthew 23:37-39

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37 ``Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 ``Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! 39 ``For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, `BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' ''

I love the Old City of Jerusalem. When we share Israel with people, we always begin in the Galilee area and then move south and up to Jerusalem. Entering that city is one of the most dramatic experiences to me. I have entered Jerusalem well over 100 times and I never have lost the thrill of it.

Yet in the 1st Century, Jerusalem was even more magnificent! Herod's Temple must have been a most amazing site to behold with all of its gold and splendor!

I can imagine Jesus looking over the city with His heart filled with grief and compassion and saying those words above. He had presented Himself as God's Messiah, yet was rejected like so many of God's prophets who were sent before. His heart is broken and He knows the coming destruction of this grand city and its people is drawing near (70 A.D.).

Then Jesus makes a curious statement , "you will not see Me until you say, BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD." Or, you will not see Me again until you welcome Me as God's Messiah for you. There is an interesting progression of passages throughout the prophets that all speak of the Jewish people (following their leadership) committing one primary sin and that sin is the rejection of God's Messiah. Then the Prophet Hosea presents the words of God saying, "I will go away (from earth) and return to My place (heaven). Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face. In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me." And then Jesus makes this statement in Matthew that they will not see Him again until they are ready to welcome Him to return. Whatever this all means in the days ahead, you can be assured that it is our responsibility as followers of Jesus to be ready and willing to welcome Him back as God's Messiah, His Deliverer, for us.

In other words, the emphasis of our lives must be to pay attention to the present-the nasty now and now-and not hyperventilate or speculate on the future of when Jesus will return. He is coming back, but that's his business. Our business is to be ready by being faithful to him.

Matthew 23:29-36

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29 ``Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, `If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 ``So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 ``Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 ``You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell ? ``Therefore,, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 ``Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."

Jesus points out how the Scribes and Pharisees take care of the tombs of the martyrs and beautify their memorials and make the claim that, if they had lived in the old days, they would not have killed the prophets and the men of God. But that is exactly what they would have done, and what they are going to do shortly.

Jesus is quite clear that the murder taint is still there. He knows that now he must die, and that in the days to come his messengers will be persecuted and ill-treated, rejected and killed.

He says that this blight of murder among the leadership of the Jewish people has occurred from the beginning! He says from Cain to Zacharias. In the Hebrew bible the first book is Genesis (the first murder involving Cain) and the last book is II Chronicles (the last murder in the biblical story was Zacharias). Jesus is saying that "rejection" even to the point of murdering God's chosen men, has been the nature of the Jewish leadership throughout their history. What a tragedy! God's chosen people, greatly loved, has continually turned against God and there will be a day of reckoning.

We must evaluate our own lives today. We are the only message of the love of God that most people have today. They will either see the love of God in and through us or they won't. So, are you a clear light that attracts others or do you stand as a hindrance?

Matthew 23:27-28

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27 ``Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28 ``So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Any Jew of that time would have instantly understood Jesus' reference to the tombs. First, making their way to Jerusalem, they would have come across many tombs along their way. Remember, anyone who touched a dead body became unclean (Num 19:16), therefore anyone who came into contact with a tomb automatically became unclean. With so many tombs and such great crowds traveling to Jerusalem for the Feasts, they used to whitewash the tombs in order to alert the traveler of its presence.

Second, when walking outside the Temple, one could easily see the massive tombs on the hillside of the Mount of Olives. Both of these sites were very evident to the Jew of that time.

So, these tombs glistened white on the outside, but within they were full of bones and bodies whose touch would defile a man. This was the picture Jesus presented of the Pharisees. Spiritually glistening on the outside, yet spiritually dead on the inside! This continued the theme that Jesus was driving home, internal over the external.

God looks upon the heart; man is attracted to the outward appearance. So, let your life be a focus on the inside and the outside will take care of itself.