Really. You could spend a lifetime, very well indeed, on Matthew 24. Each verse has a theology in it. Way too late for me to do it, but I hope somebody does.
I love this great prophecy, not given to the masses, but to the disciples, privately. It brings a whole bunch of prophecies together through the words of Jesus Himself.
So why don't churches and commentators talk about it a lot? They do. So why am I not satisfied? I never am. Because Jesus warned people not to let anyone deceive them, and they do!
Hours ago I heard a very popular man tell folks that we are in the last days described in this chapter. Totally false of course.
Let us look at the setting--Jerusalem's temple mount. The disciples were concerned about the mount and its buildings. Jesus said there would not be one stone left upon another.
Go to Jerusalem today, and you will find multitudes worshiping at a high wall of giant stones and calling it the remnants of the temple. If people fall for false messiahs, should we be surprised if they also believe in a false temple wall? The wall is what is left of the Roman fort of Antonia. There are plenty of stones piled up here.
Matthew 24 is not about the church at all. It is about the last days of Israel. The church has no temple mount and will not be on the earth when these prophesied events take place (Revelation 3:10). So the misguided man on the radio was totally off base by applying this chapter to the wrong people and the wrong times.
Jesus warned about deception, and we are surrounded by it. His warning is part of His prophecy. We are deceived.
I like to watch a program on a team that studies the causes of airplane disasters. Some of the troubles do not end in fatalities, and always the team helps these things not to happen again. Kind of like untangling mistaken ideas about Matthew 24, isn't it?
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