Matthew 24
And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
|
Matthew 24:15-16:
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by David the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains |
Christ was a faithful student, a consistent user, and a perfect expounder of the Scriptures. He met temptation with scripture, He taught from the Scriptures, and he told His disciples to look to the scriptures as their counselor and guide for the future. |
|
Matthew 24:28:
"For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together." |
The eagle is not as the vulture or other scavenger birds for it will not touch a dead animal. The word "carcass" translates in the Greek original as "ptoma"; 1)a fall, downfall 1a) metaph, a defeat, calamity, 1b) an error, lapse into sin, 2) that which has fallen 2a) the fallen body of one dead or slain, a corpse, a carcase. In the wild, when an eagle becomes wounded and falls to the earth, other eagles will gather around it. One eagle will go get water and bring it to the fallen eagle. The other eagles that have gathered will stand guard and fight any predator that would come to take advantage of the fallen eagle. Only vultures kill and eat their own! Are you an eagle or a vulture? Do you protect and help strengthen and restore a wounded brother? Or do you seek to take advantage of his downfall and destroy him? Paul wrote in Galatians Chapter 6 vs 1: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." |
|
Matthew 24:29-31:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send forth his angels with a trumpet and a great sound; and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the end to end of the heavens. |
This is important to note. Jesus did not say there would be many signs, but rather He said "THE" sign of the Son of Man will appear. There will be many signs and signals, but there would be only one ("THE") sign signifying THE Son of Man. It would be such a sign, so powerful, and unique that all the tribes of the earth will mourn. Not some of the tribes...but ALL of them.
One could make the case that it would mean all believers and non-believers. So why would the believers mourn? Because of the realization that the time has come and so many people did not enter into salvation. They will see the Son of Man coming from the clouds of the sky with power and great glory and though they may be joyful in Christ's returning, they will be aware of too many folks who were not ready. |
Those who understand these words according to the sense of the letter have no other belief than that during that latest period, which is called the final judgment, all these things are to come to pass just as they are described in the literal sense, that is, that the sun and moon will be darkened and the stars will fall from the sky, that the sign of the Lord will appear in the sky, and he himself will be seen in the clouds, attended by angels with trumpets; and furthermore, as is foretold elsewhere, that the whole visible universe will be destroyed, and afterwards a new heaven with a new earth will come into being. Such is the opinion of most men in the church at the present day. But those who so believe are ignorant of the arcana that lie hidden in every particular of the Word. For in every particular of the Word there is an internal sense which treats of things spiritual and heavenly, not of things natural and worldly, such as are treated of in the sense of the letter. And this is true not only of the meaning of groups of words, it is true of each particular word. For the Word is written solely by correspondences, to the end that there may be an internal sense in every least particular of it. What that sense is can be seen from all that has been said and shown about it in Arcana Coelestia [published 1749–1756]; also from quotations gathered from that work in the explanation of the White Horse [of the Apocalypse, published 1758] spoken of in Revelation.
It is according to that sense that what the Lord says in the passage quoted above respecting his coming in the clouds of heaven is to be understood. The “sun” there that is to be darkened signifies the Lord in respect to love; the “moon” the Lord in respect to faith; “stars” knowledges of good and truth, or of love and faith;7 “the sign of the Son of man in heaven” the manifestation of Divine truth; “the tribes of the earth” that shall mourn, all things relating to truth and good or to faith and love;8 “the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and glory” his presence in the Word, and revelation,9 “clouds” signifying the sense of the letter of the Word,10 and “glory” the internal sense of the Word;11 “the angels with a trumpet and great voice” signify heaven as a source of Divine truth.12 All this makes clear that these words of the Lord mean that at the end of the church, when there is no longer any love, and consequently no faith, the Lord will open the internal meaning of the Word and reveal arcana of heaven. The arcana revealed in the following pages relate to heaven and hell, and also to the life of man after death. The man of the church at this date knows scarcely anything about heaven and hell or about his life after death, although all these matters are set forth and described in the Word; and yet many of those born within the church refuse to believe in them, saying in their hearts, “Who has come from that world and told us?” Lest, therefore, such a spirit of denial, which especially prevails with those who have much worldly wisdom, should also infect and corrupt the simple in heart and the simple in faith, it has been granted me to associate with angels and to talk with them as man with man, also to see what is in the heavens and what is in the hells, and this for thirteen years; so now from what I have seen and heard it has been granted me to describe these, in the hope that ignorance may thus be enlightened and unbelief dissipated. Such immediate revelation is granted at this day because this is what is meant by the coming of the Lord. -Emanuel Swedenborg; Heaven and It's Wonders & Hell; published by Swedenborg in London in 1758
It is according to that sense that what the Lord says in the passage quoted above respecting his coming in the clouds of heaven is to be understood. The “sun” there that is to be darkened signifies the Lord in respect to love; the “moon” the Lord in respect to faith; “stars” knowledges of good and truth, or of love and faith;7 “the sign of the Son of man in heaven” the manifestation of Divine truth; “the tribes of the earth” that shall mourn, all things relating to truth and good or to faith and love;8 “the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and glory” his presence in the Word, and revelation,9 “clouds” signifying the sense of the letter of the Word,10 and “glory” the internal sense of the Word;11 “the angels with a trumpet and great voice” signify heaven as a source of Divine truth.12 All this makes clear that these words of the Lord mean that at the end of the church, when there is no longer any love, and consequently no faith, the Lord will open the internal meaning of the Word and reveal arcana of heaven. The arcana revealed in the following pages relate to heaven and hell, and also to the life of man after death. The man of the church at this date knows scarcely anything about heaven and hell or about his life after death, although all these matters are set forth and described in the Word; and yet many of those born within the church refuse to believe in them, saying in their hearts, “Who has come from that world and told us?” Lest, therefore, such a spirit of denial, which especially prevails with those who have much worldly wisdom, should also infect and corrupt the simple in heart and the simple in faith, it has been granted me to associate with angels and to talk with them as man with man, also to see what is in the heavens and what is in the hells, and this for thirteen years; so now from what I have seen and heard it has been granted me to describe these, in the hope that ignorance may thus be enlightened and unbelief dissipated. Such immediate revelation is granted at this day because this is what is meant by the coming of the Lord. -Emanuel Swedenborg; Heaven and It's Wonders & Hell; published by Swedenborg in London in 1758
|
Matthew 24:35:
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. |
Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. 36No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.…
Berean Study Bible |
In a sense, God’s Word is an infinitely more concrete reality than the material universe that surrounds us, for the present heavens and earth will soon be destroyed, but God’s Word will endure forever (2 Peter 3:1-13, Revelation 20:11, 1 Peter 1:23-25).“The Son [Jesus] is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:3)
This collage features the heavens and the earth being ripped apart as the Word of God stands firm forever. The words written across it are excerpts from two passages of Scripture. The first is from Matthew 24, where Jesus prophetically speaks about the End Times, including the destruction of the heavens and earth. The second is from Revelation 21 and 22, the detailed prophetic account of the first heaven and earth passing away and the new heaven and new earth being made manifest.
The following is written on the artwork:
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars…such things must happen, but the end is still to come…there will be famines and earthquakes…See, I have told you ahead of time…Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away… (Matthew 24)“Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them…books were opened…the dead were judged…Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…” (Excerpts from Revelation 21 and 22) -John The Baptist Artworks
This collage features the heavens and the earth being ripped apart as the Word of God stands firm forever. The words written across it are excerpts from two passages of Scripture. The first is from Matthew 24, where Jesus prophetically speaks about the End Times, including the destruction of the heavens and earth. The second is from Revelation 21 and 22, the detailed prophetic account of the first heaven and earth passing away and the new heaven and new earth being made manifest.
The following is written on the artwork:
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars…such things must happen, but the end is still to come…there will be famines and earthquakes…See, I have told you ahead of time…Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away… (Matthew 24)“Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them…books were opened…the dead were judged…Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…” (Excerpts from Revelation 21 and 22) -John The Baptist Artworks
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Steve Jobs
"Who hasn't wondered, 'What happens after death?' It would be both unreasonable and foolish to live your entire life never considering and being unprepared for an event that we all know is inevitable. The mortality rate on earth is 100 percent." Rick Warren
"Life after death is the elephant in the living room, the one that we are not supposed to notice. Our culture, which prides itself on its open-mindedness and candor, shows an intense antipathy to facing the greatest of all human questions."
- Dinesh D'Souza, Life After Death
- Dinesh D'Souza, Life After Death
"God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:4
So many words of wisdom turns of phrases, and colloquial sayings become a key element of culture. Some come from Shakespeare, some from Benjamin Franklin, others from the Bible. Many are so ubiquitous their origins are vague, hard to identify, or entirely unknown. “This too shall pass” is such a phrase.
According to Christianity.com, "According to Rabbi Lisa Rubin, “King Solomon was trying to humble his wisest servant, so he asked him to perform a seemingly impossible task: to find something that did not exist. He requested a magic ring — one that, if a sad man wore it, he would become happy and if a happy man wore it, he would become sad.” The story suggests that the servant could not find anything of such nature. So, King Solomon decided upon himself to go to a jeweler and design a ring with the inscription in Hebrew saying, “Gam ze ya’avor,” which means, “This, too, shall pass.” Over the years, this phrase has been widely used, even by Abraham Lincoln himself. This phrase has apparently been made famous because he used it in his speeches. “It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: "And this, too, shall pass away” (Roy P. Basler et al.)." -Bethany Verrett; Crosswalk |
‘Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened’ (Matthew 24:34).
This isn’t just a difficult saying; C. S. Lewis called it ‘the most embarrassing verse in the Bible’. It completely undermines the use made – every day during the pandemic it seems! – of ‘end times prophets’ telling us we are ‘in the last days’. And it has led generations of scholars over the last 200 years to believe that Jesus was a deluded apocalyptic prophet whose predictions failed to come true, so that he died a failure. But we usually fail to notice what Jesus is actually speaking of here. The ‘tribulation’ he refers to in Matthew 24:9, 21 and 29 happened with the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70. The ‘powers of heaven’ that are shaken (verse 29) refers to the radical shift brought about by the exile of the Jewish people and the preaching of the gospel (Peter says exactly the same about Pentecost in Acts 2:20). And ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ indicates Jesus coming to the throne of God from the earth, not the other way around, as we can see from its source in Daniel 7:13. This section is all about Jesus’ exaltation and the gospel being preached – not Jesus’ return! -licc.org |
|
Matthew 24:36:
“But concerning that day and hour gno one knows, not even the angels of heaven, honor the Son, but the Father only. |
 Jim Denison Files
Regarding the timing of his return, Jesus was blunt: “Concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36). He added that he would come “at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44).
............If we knew when Jesus would come back, wouldn’t that knowledge impact every dimension of our lives? If his return is not in our lifetime, would we presume a future that is actually guaranteed to none of us? (Even if Jesus doesn’t come back for a thousand years, you and I could die tomorrow.) Alternately, if it is imminent, would we fall into idleness while awaiting his return, which was apparently a problem for some in the early church (2 Thessalonians 3:6–12)? As with explanations for suffering, God does not want us to know when Christ will return, so we will prepare every day for his coming. Why? Because the best way to live every day is to live as if it were that day. --Jim Denison; God's Response to Humanity's Impossible Quest to Understand All Things 11/15/23 |