Study of Matthew |
||
Matthew Chapter 24
Disclaimer: When it comes to bible prophecy or any other part of scripture, I recommend one never takes the word of the teacher or preacher blindly. I include myself here. Some are afraid of teaching bible prophecy because there are so many interpretations that they are afraid to offend. God, however, gave us the whole bible to read and seek Him for understanding. We can listen to others, respect those we disagree with, and consider what others have to say but at the same time we, as those believers from Berea mentioned in the book of Acts, must search out everything. Never demonize and bad mouth those that believe differently but pray that all of us will come to the understanding God wants us to have.
Jesus was foretelling of the time when the Roman armies would come and destroy the temple in 70 AD. This literally happened and there has been no temple rebuilt since that time. The Jews were driven from their land and it remained that way until 1948 when they returned after the Nazi German holocaust. There is something else to see here though. Jesus was showing us that there was something greater than the temple. The temple represented the place of worship and communication with God. A change was about to be made in the religious systems of the whole world to those that believe and receive it. Now every person will be able to reach God through the one that takes the place of any temple and that is Jesus Christ Himself. Now every person no matter whether they are Jew or Gentile, male or female, child or adult can reach God and be reconciled back to God, our Father and the one which we've been separated from since the fall of Adam. The literal temple will be rebuilt during the reign of Christ literally on the earth, and some believe that a another temple will be built just before the coming of Christ that the man of sin, or the antichrist will attempt to sit on the throne of that temple claiming to be God. That, however will not change the way of salvation that is available to every individual by simply believing in Jesus Christ as the one that will take away their sins and grant them eternal life. To all who receive is given the gift of the Holy Spirit which will abide within each and every one of us.
This means the end of the world as we know it. This world's systems are coming to an end and Jesus will return to set up His own kingdom. Until then though there will be a lot of deception. The reason is that when people reject God and reject Christ who came to save us from sin, it opens us up to being deceived and believing the lies of Satan. Jesus said once that if we do not believe in Him who came in His Father's name, we would believe in one who comes in his own name. That will be the antichrist, the wicked one, the man of sin.
They come with another way of salvation other than trusting in Christ to save from sin and bring eternal life. They will either claim to be Christ, represent Christ or take the place of Christ. Some will claim to represent God. Some will come claiming Christ as savior but teaching false gospels that do not save. Some examples might be:
There have been a few people who have claimed to actually be Christ. That may increase as we get closer to the literal coming of Jesus Christ. To really believe in Jesus Christ is to accept Him in one's life by turning away from sin, changing one's mindset from trusting in self, manmade religion, or their own good works but instead trust only in Christ alone for salvation. To put it simply, turn to Christ and turn away from sin. The devils also believe in Jesus but they do not live for Jesus or live in obedience to God. Salvation is more than mentally believing that a man called Jesus died, was buried and rose again. The devil believes that. We must repent of sin and allow Him to fill us with His spirit. When we really believe in Jesus, we will be filled with the Holy Spirit. Our life is changed. We are made free from sin and become new creatures in Christ. Old things are passed away and all things become new.
These things have been happening since Jesus went back to heaven but they are increasing as we come close to His return. We also have wars and rumors of wars. The biggest wars were world war 1 and 2 that took place in the 1900s. There will be more in the future.
Whether He means the believers in Christ here or the Jewish people, this came true in both cases. The Jewish people have been the most hated group of people ever to exist and they still are hated. The holocaust showed the whole world the horrible hatred of those people in these latter times. My Dad remembers this. He was alive during the holocaust although he lived in the United States and didn't really see it. It was in the news papers at that time, He had a brother though that was in that war. He survived and is still alive today. (In proofreading this study in October 6,2025, Uncle Jennings Paul Hill passed away in December 2020.) True believers in Christ have always be persecuted first by the Jewish religious leaders that rejected Christ, then by the Roman government, and later by the Roman Catholic Church, and then by some Protestant Churches which combined church and state instead of having freedom of religion. Notice that the same groups that persecute believers also hate Jews. We are seeing now in 2025; an increasing hatred of Jews and true Christians. Some are already being persecuted and killed because they do not deny Christ. Even in the United States it is rapidly changing. They are no longer respectful of bible believing Christians and they have already started turning their backs on Israel.
People will fear the government and loss of jobs, money and their standing in society so much so that they will betray even their own loved ones to keep from suffering persecution and loss of either material possessions or their lives. This also happened during the holocaust. Some risked their lives and businesses to help the Jews but most people went along with Hitler's government and the hatred of the Jews to protect themselves. I believe God will reward the people who stood by the Jews. I will speak of this more when I get to chapter 25 but here is what Jesus said about helping His people:
So we see that our treatment of God's people whether it is the natural brothers of Christ (the Jews) or Gentiles believers in of God (true believers in Christ, not just those that claim Christ and deny Him by their works) is important to God. To mistreat God's elect is dangerous to one's soul.
Today we have many who deceive with false religion, false Christian religions, cults, promises of riches, those that use the grace of God to teach lasciviousness (license to sin by using the teaching of grace) and adding to the simple gospel by making doctrines, rituals and commandments of men that God didn't make. Examples of these are confessing to a priest, worship of Mary, keeping the Jewish feasts as a requirement for salvation, requiring circumcision, requiring the joining of a certain church or following a certain person that claims to be the only way to God either in place of Christ or along with Christ. We must remember too that all false teachers and false religions will contain some truth. There are some cults that will tell the absolute truth about the origins of Christmas and Easter yet also add a false way of salvation other than coming to Christ to be saved. Many of these will deny the baptism of the Holy Spirit and trust in manmade works to save. Without the spirit of God present, no one can respond to the gospel much less be saved from sin.
We see this happening today. We must not allow hatred against any group of people to enter our hearts. This is the biggest reason why I avoid too much politics. Being in one political group that opposes the other side can cause us to hate. Hating one type of race or religion also is dangerous. In saying that though, it is not hate to warn people that they are deceived and to tell them about true salvation through Jesus Christ and Him alone. Love does not mean that we do not share the gospel that saves the soul or that we do not warn against sin.
The faithful are the ones that will inherit eternal life not just those that claim Jesus as savior. The proof of our conversion to Christ will be if we endure and keep our faith in Him until the end of our earthly lives.
God will make sure that all nations hear the gospel and then He will send Jesus back to receive His own people out of the world, judgment and tribulation follow and then Christ will set up His kingdom.
During the tribulation there will be a false Christ or what we call the man of sin or antichrist that will come and deceive the whole world if possible. He will come to the Jewish people and attempt to deceive them first. Many who have rejected Christ will believe this man. Jesus warned of this:
We see here the danger of rejecting Christ because it opens our heart up to believe wrong teachers and wrong teachings.
From John 8
To believe in Jesus is to believe in the words He spoke. If we continue in His word, that makes us true disciples. If we say we believe and do not what He says, we do not really believe.
When fleeing the armies of the antichrist there will be no time to worry about material possessions. During the holocaust some escaped because they fled in time to other countries.
Pregnant women and those that have young babies would have a harder time fleeing.
Orthodox Jews would not travel on the Sabbath day. This is the part here than makes me think that Matthew 24 applies mostly to Jews that are here during the tribulation period rather than the church. The believers in Christ would have no trouble fleeing on the Sabbath day if they thought their lives were in danger.
The Jewish elect may be what is meant here or the believers who found Christ after the tribulation started and after the true believers were taken by way of rapture before the tribulation started.
Whether or not Jesus Himself will appear to anyone I don't know but we are not to go about looking for Him on this earth in the physical. He will come from Heaven when He comes and every eye will see Him. If someone says He is at such and such a place in person, we are not to believe it. These latter day visions of Mary are also unscriptural. We are not to go about seeking those things.
We are not to follow signs and wonders, visions and so called miracles. Miracles that give glory to God will follow true believers in Christ but we are not to follow the signs and wonders. All miracles are to bring people to Christ and bring glory to God. True miracles will cause us to turn away from sin and believe in the Lord. Our lives will change. It will not cause use to give glory to some person or organization.
I'm looking forward to this time. I'm so tired of the hurt, hatred, divorce, lust, greed, selfishness and the things we see both in the world and in the church. I really pray for His return.
Every true faithful believe in Christ will be gathered from all over the world to be with Him. The ones who went in the rapture before the tribulation starts will already be with Christ when He comes to set up His kingdom and save Israel from their oppressors. Some may suffer now but at that time, judgment comes upon all those that have rejected Christ and the faithful will enter into the kingdom of God and His Christ. Something I failed to notice in verse 31 before is the fact that whoever is gathered here, is not just from the earth but from one end of heaven to the other. Those that have died in the Lord previously and those that went by way of rapture before His visible second coming will be gathered and come with Jesus when He returns to set up His kingdom. Some may understand this differently than I do but this is the way I see it. I hope no one gets offended at other believers who see these things differently. We will all find out one day when He does come and He will return as He said He would no matter what we believe.
This may mean the generation that is alive when theses signs start or the generation meaning the Jewish people will not pass away. The devil has tried to wipe them out many times but he will never succeed.
Date setting is pointless. We cannot know the date. If we knew the date, many would put off their salvation until it got close to that time. Of course no one who did that would be really saved in the first place. If we can't be faithful to Christ now, how can we be faithful to the Lord when times are bad? If we have the attitude that we will wait until we are old or wait until just before He comes to get right with Him, then we don't really know Him.
In other words, business as usual. Things will be going on like they always are when the Lord comes. There is also an increase in ungodliness, lack of respect for God and His word, and hatred of those that do not go along with their evil works. It will be sudden and without warning. It is better to be ready always.
During the Middle Ages there were times when they thought the Lord delayed His coming and begun to think they were the ones God chose to set up the kingdom on earth. They began to persecute and kill those that disagreed with their creeds and doctrines of that day. The true church is to spread the gospel, not persecute anyone who does not believe. Some believe the scriptures in Matthew 24:40 to 41 refer to the rapture, but since the rapture should have taken place before the time period described here, it could refer to judgment. We can study this further and seek God for further understanding of all these passages. If there is more than one catching away during the tribulation or after the tribulation, this may be referring to it also. Again I state clearly, that we must not fall out with our brothers and sisters in the Lord over rapture timing or some that do not believe in any rapture. I personally lean toward the pre-tribulation rapture because of other scriptures. We don't know the day or hour so we stay ready and keep searching rather than try to figure out exactly when the rapture occurs.
A sign of His coming just might be that the so-called in name only church will be persecuting the true believers in Christ. A return of persecution against the Jews may also be what is meant here. We as Christians need to be careful not to persecute anyone who does not agree with us, especially the Jews. We are to love those that hate us and be good to those that despitefully use us and persecute us. We are never to be the ones that do the persecuting. If we are cruel and persecute other believers or non believers, it is a sign that we are not the ones that are the elect of God. The parable of the tares and the wheat in Matthew chapter 13 is a good one to study along with this chapter because it warns of trying to remove tares before the coming of the Lord because it may harm the wheat also. DC
|
||
|
HOME |
SITE MAP |
BIBLE STUDY INDEX
|
||