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No, Jesus didn’t make a mistake. The Jewish leaders did. They twisted and skewed the meaning of one of the Old Testament prophets so badly they rejected their nation’s probation and failed to welcome the Messiah when He arrived. Jesus (that Messiah) would later remind the disciples of what those leaders missed. That Old Testament writer did predict when the Savior of the world would make His début!  Then he gave stunning details, in a timing formula, of how to know the “when” regarding His next coming – the second Messianic arrival! The day and hour? No. But periods so close it comes to the “eve of the consummation.” We’re going to listen in on that profound discourse with those disciples. But before we do that, let’s take a look at the background event that immediately preceded that session.

Denouncing Apostasy

Like an unflinching warrior, Jesus had just boldly pronounced doom upon the Jewish leaders (Matthew 23:2-39). Never before had He given those priests and Pharisees such a signal warning that their corruption would be followed by unrestrained woes on themselves and the nation. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” – He repeated over and over.

The curses included:

1.     Guilt of all the seed blood of the righteous from Abel to Zechariah (Matthew 23:35).

2.     “Damnation to hell” [implied]
(Matthew 23:33)

3.     The “house” of Israel, the Jewish nation, where God had dwelt, would be left desolate (Matthew 23:38).

4.     The temple would be totally destroyed (Matthew 24:2) (private notice given to the disciples).

5.     Then, as with all prophecy, a timing statement: All these things would happen within one generation (Matthew 23:36).

Solomon’s temple had stood there on Mount Moriah for over 350 years when it was destroyed by Babylonian armies in 586 B.C. With that fearful loss, the glory of God’s presence left forever. The Shekinah had bid farewell. Later, Cyrus gave permission to rebuild the temple; this was accomplished by Zerubbabel. That stood for nearly 500 years when Herod the Great came to power as king of Judea. He lavishly rebuilt and refurbished the edifice, starting in approximately 19 B.C. The work was still progressing during Christ’s life, extending right up to the onset of His ministry (John 2:16, 19-21). But there was no ark of the covenant.

Some of the stones Herod used were over 600 tons. The Most Holy Place was 30 x 30 ft. and veneered with 22 tons of gold. The structure was supported with massive beams of cyprus and cedar.¹ The outer walls were made of white marble.² As Jesus left the temple on that fateful day of woes, it was the last time His sacred form would grace its precincts. He announced to the disciples its fate. Its destruction seemed mystifying and almost impossible. It was a fearful prediction. They would later see that His departure and prophecy symbolically represented heaven’s abandonment of the Jewish nation as His chosen people.

The fate of Israel and its glory – the temple – was now on the disciples’ minds. Undoubtedly, they were stunned at Christ’s words. The great symbol of the Jewish nation, the world center of its seven annual feasts, the administrative hub of all Semitic peoples, was at that temple. Four of the disciples finally had a chance to query Jesus about the anticipated catastrophe. The questions they posed seem so simple, but that’s all Jesus needed to begin an awesome story. We can be quite certain that it wasn’t long until every ear would be riveted on what He would convey.

Timing Issues

With unquestioned intensity they asked, “When shall these things be?” “What shall be the sign of thy coming?” “What shall be the sign of the end of the world?” They associated these questions with those fearful curses. Jesus was immediately responsive to their concerns. But He also had far deeper issues to share. Two of their queries related to events; the other to timing. All prophecy has timing markers. It is also event-driven. It would be meaningless if predictive history didn’t have that time association. Time brings motivation and urgency to a message. It sets truth in a proper context. Jesus wouldn’t disappoint their request. He answered all three questions.

The Savior unfolded a critical truth that ties to Biblical prophecy: There are two ends of time! Both relate to when God has two distinct groups of people: one, the Jewish nation; the other, the 144,000. Each relates to their terminal history!

His event-driven answers show us two fascinating sequences. Amazing – both can be joined through information from that wonderful Old Testament prophet the Jewish leaders abandoned: Yes, it was Daniel.

Time of Sorrows ® Persecution ® False Prophet ® Hatred among Men ® End (Matthew 24:7-13)

Abomination ® Tribulation  ® False Christ  ® Celestial Signs ® Second Coming (Mathew 24:15-30)

What about the “timing” of those two ends, these two sequences? For the Jews, one would occur in their generation, of which Jesus was a part. For the other end of time, Jesus had other clues associated with His second coming. They too, when started, would occur within one generation! He did say, “of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Could that mean He dismissed a timing answer related to His second coming? Jesus cautioned us to “watch!” several times. He said that we could know when it was “even at the doors” (vs 33). That means we will know what to watch for! Just how far can we go in “knowing” that second timing? So close we can see confirmatory events and, when associated with Daniel’s time periods which go to the eve of His coming, we can know He is at the door.

Years ago expositor E. G. White thought so much about what another author wrote that she quoted him. This is what Joseph Wolff, Jewish writer and missionary said: “Did our Lord say that that day and hour should never be known? Did He not give us signs of the times, in order that we may know at least the approach of His coming, as one knows the approach of the summer by the fig tree putting forth its leaves? [Matthew 24:32]. Are we never to know that period, whilst He Himself exhorteth us not only to read Daniel the prophet, but to understand it? and in that very Daniel, where it is said that the words were shut up to the time of the end [which was the case in his time], and that ‘many shall run to and fro’ [a Hebrew expression for observing and thinking upon the time], 'and knowledge' [regarding that time] ‘shall be increased.’ Daniel 12:4. Besides this, our Lord does not intend to say by this, that the approach of the time shall not be known, but that the exact ‘day and hour knoweth no man.’ Enough, He does say, shall be known by the signs of the times, to induce us to prepare for His coming, as Noah prepared the ark.’–Wolff, Researches and Missionary Labors, pages 404, 405.”³

It was a time of great religious awakening when she penned the above. White was telling that awakening story when she quoted Wolff, who was expecting Jesus to come then. He didn’t. But Wolff enumerated an important principle – the extreme nearness of the second advent can be known with precision. Wolff misinterpreted one verse, Daniel 8:14, which led to his (and thousands of others’) misapplication of “when” to 1844. Our understanding today of Jesus’ answers to the disciples and the book of Daniel helps us know. How? They are filled with additional end-time timing clues that we now understand.

Here is one interesting example: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (I Thessalonians 5:3). As labor pains progress, they become more frequent and more intense. That can be plotted on a graph and is called an exponential curve. The sudden destruction that occurs just before Jesus comes is just like that. Jesus really warned that the time of sorrows would be like an exponential curve. Luke 21 (a companion chapter to Matthew 24 along with Mark 13) says: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28). Why? It will follow a predictable path modeled after that curve!

The events Jesus outlined as part of the “time of sorrows” collectively include:

1.     Wars

2.     Earthquakes

3.     Famines

4.     Pestilences

5.     Celestial signs

When these destructive elements begin to occur together, in an exponential fashion, “look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21: 28).

Jesus also said that when these things begin to come to pass, they would occur within one generation (Matthew 24:34; Mark 13:30, Luke 21:32). Have we moved into a period when these five issues have begun to occur in an exponential curve?

It’s amazing – that gives us another “timing clue.” The “chosen people” will soon be faced with terrible strife. When an exponential curve is moving almost straight up, a crisis or some dramatic event occurs. Painful woes, in turn, with eternal consequences are about to come to those in rebellion. Matthew 24 outlines the issues that Jesus wanted to highlight to the disciples and for us today. Only by heeding a special call in which Jesus warned when to “flee” (Matthew 24:16, Mark 13:14, Luke 21:21) will a remnant be saved. Yes, the details are given by that misunderstood prophet Daniel. What was his message?

A Message Related to the “When” Factor

Jesus gave another incredible “timing clue!” One that Christians today seem to take lightly. Stunning as it may seem, He began by saying “when” – that’s a timing word – a significant event is unveiled, the signal to “flee” comes. Here it is:

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation” then “flee” (Matthew 24:15). That’s a divine order. It must be very significant! The Greek word for “abomination” is bdelygma. It refers to something God hates. It is a gender-neutral word. In Mark 13:14 He notes that the abomination is “standing where it ought not.” That participle is masculine. Thus, many scholars have concluded that it must relate to a person. The antichrist or something associated with him is often portrayed as a person who steps into a place reserved for God (cf. II Thessalonians 2:4).⁴ Yet, the word bdelygma insinuates a detestable idol or some false standard. Could some person symbolize that terrible wrong? Luke clarifies even more this timing issue by describing it as when “Jerusalem [is] surrounded by armies” (Luke 21:20). Jerusalem is to be encompassed by powerful forces, an anti-Jerusalem contingency carrying a false standard. There will be an individual who leads or is a great symbolic head. With the word “armies” being used, that force will be out to demand submission (surrender) or be destroyed.

How do we tie all this together? Is it literal or figurative? Will it be a middle-eastern issue? What does “Jerusalem” mean? What about those two sequences? What exactly is that false standard or abomination? Who could that “head” be? We will begin to address these questions next.

References:

1 biblia.com/biblekings15.htm

2 en:wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod’stemple

3 White, Ellen G.; The Great Controversy (Pacific Press Publishing Association, Mt. View, CA), p. 359.

4 Brown, Colin; General Editor; New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI), vol. 1, p. 75.