Matthew Chapter 24

There are two considerations of all scripture. Th eone that I am going to disclose here is the antural one. I will reserve the Spiritual manifestation for another day. Contrary to popular opinion today, Jesus's quotation recorded in Matthew, Chapter 24 is NOT tied to John the Revelator in Revelations. John saw one "Like unto the Son of man." John knew Jesus well. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved and who leaned against his breast at the last supper prior to his betrayal and crucifixion. John did not say he saw Jesus, but instead recorded that he saw one like unto the Son of man. You have got your mind so embedded in carnal thinking and understanding that you cannot understand the truth of what it really says. And yes, that already happened. Literally thousands upon thousands of times every single day.

Look, everyone wrote books and called them cannon right after Jesus spoke those words. But most of them were false. Jesus was warning ""HIS DISCIPLES"" who were about to become the great Apostles of the ages of things that were going to happen during their lifetime as they struggled to establish the new Church of the First-Born, Jesus Christ. Who was Jesus talking to when he said, "See I have told you ahead of time...?" He was talking to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the rest.

I use the Revised King James Version of the Bible which resides completely in the public domain.

I see this scripture used out of context every single day on both Facebook and Linked-in posts. It is used to describe something that is misunderstood, and I want to take the time to make a case for the truth. In Matthew Chapter 24, Jesus is making statements tied directly to observations, beliefs, and questions about the temple at Jerusalem that his disciples held.

Verse 1: And Jesus went out and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple.

Verse 2: And Jesus said unto them, See all of you 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. Of course, he is talking here about the destruction of the temple that had been rebuilt by Ezra and It was expanded by Herod. and the Children of Israel during his time. So, we have set the stage for the topic of this discussion as being tied to the Temple.

Verse 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 your coming, and of the end of the world? When he spoke of the end of the world, he was talking about was the end of the Jewish Dynasty. The Mount of Olives was adjacent to the temple and as they gathered there, the questions that the disciples had carried for quite a while began to naturally come out as Jesus had broached the subject. Even though these men were commoners and unlearned in the eyes of the Pharisees, they still knew the Old Testament, and must all have obeyed the law to the point that they adhered to the dictates of temple worship and the law of Moses. They had a basic understanding of scripture. They also knew what that said about messiah.

Verse 4-14: And Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceives you.

24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 24:6 And all of you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that all of you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers’ places. During this period there was great distress in Judea. Jewish zealots were constantly rising, and Rome would knock it down. The last straw was when Jerusalem revolted. 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you: and all of you shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love (o. agape) of many shall wax cold. 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 24:14 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.

Now, first let us look at the setting for his response. Here are his disciples. Seated before him. He knows what is going to come upon them in the future. They do not have a clue on the other hand. He knows that after he has died, resurrected, and ascended into Heaven, that these men seated here would be the ones on whom would fall the responsibility to build a church from ground zero. He also knew the many things that would rise in opposition to them in their task. He wanted to warn them specifically about what was to come. To prepare their minds and their hearts for this humongous task. He never deviated from this in this discourse.

He did not veer off to talk about something that did not affect them immediately because that would have been pointless during this direct time of instruction and revelation of the purpose of the Father. “Do not let anyone deceive you because I am telling you the only truth right now.” Jesus said. “Many will come claiming to be me.” “They will deceive many people.” You shall hear about wars and even rumors about them. But do not worry, for these things must happen. But this is NOT the end. Nation will rise against nation. Kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in different places. ALL OF THESE ARE THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS.”

Next, he changes the direction of his discourse and talks to them directly. “Next, they will deliver YOU (talking to his disciples again) up to be afflicted. They shall kill YOU! And all of YOU shall be hated by everyone for my name’s sake.” THEN, “many shall be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive lots of people, and because of the iniquity that shall be everywhere, the love of many of you seated here before me will wax cold.” “But to you seated here who endure unto the end, you shall be saved.”

THEN, “The Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached unto all nations, (and here is his farthest leap out into the future and he states), “And then shall come the end”. But how far did he reach in that statement? And what did he mean by the end?

Many have taught all my adult life that the Gospel would be preached to all nations and then Jesus would return, and it will all be over, after the rapture. But that is not what Matthew says here. It says that this Gospel of the KINGDOM must be preached unto all nations. But what is the Gospel of the Kingdom?

I am going to answer these questions here shortly. I just pray that your heart will be open to the word of God and that you will have ears to hear, because what I am going to tell you has been hidden from ages past but is being revealed in this hour. I am blowing a trumpet across the land to move God’s people into position to fulfill our destiny. Our purpose for being created. Let us proceed in much prayer.

I am not a historian and I have a bad memory because of three strokes that I have had. I do not have the ability to quote chapter and verse most of the time. But I have been diligently studying scripture for over 30 years. The Word is in me and it comes out just like it is written. I just cannot tell you where to find it without great difficulty.

However, let us just say for argument that Matthew, who is the supposed author of the Book that bears his name was written circa AD 45-55, give or take. It was circa AD 30 when Jesus was speaking these words. John supposedly wrote Revelations circa AD 66, or as late as AD 92 on the isle of Patmos, where he had been banished because of the Gospel.

The time between 30 AD when Jesus ascended back into heaven and when John was on Patmos was a period of about 62 years. During that time, the Church had endured intense persecution, not only from the Jews, but from Rome as well.

By AD 67, Jerusalem was the only outpost of the Jews left except for Masada and had become an enemy of the Romans because of their constant rebellion against Roman authority over them as a prefect of Rome.

In the Spring of AD 70 Titus Vespasian, slated to be the next emperor of Rome marched upon Jerusalem with the distinct purpose of destroying the city. He and his 4 legions of soldiers encamped around the city for a period of many months, blockading the city from receiving supplies, damned up their supply of water into the city and crucifying anyone caught smuggling supplies into the city. They also built siege works against the walls of the city.

During the time of AD 31 and AD 68, the church had been established throughout most of the known world of the time. As early as AD 63 Paul had made a statement that the Gospel had been preached in all the creation under Heaven. The church was in Jerusalem, but Paul in his missionary journeys throughout Asia had established churches all over. Despite severe persecution, the word had spread quickly and established itself quite well.

This was the scenario that Jesus saw and knew was coming and why he wanted to warn his then disciples about it. But, with this backdrop, I now want to continue with Matthew Chapter 24.

Verse 15-21: When all of you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso reads, let him understand:)

24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: 24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return to take his clothes. 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 24:20 But pray all of you that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

In AD 70, the Romans broke through the walls of Jerusalem and set fire to the entire city. Stories had circulated during the blockade of women sacrificing their own children for food to eat, so was the desperation of the people.

When the city was set afire, Titus had originally ordered the temple to be left intact. But a neighboring blaze got onto the Temple and it burned with intense heat. But before that happened, Titus himself tore down the curtain that was between the Holy place and the Holy of Holies entered the chamber and declared before all that he was now God of the earth.

That is why Jesus said, when you see the abomination that causes desolation, that Daniel spoke of in the Old testament. When you who are seated here before me tonight, when you see this and the man standing in the Holy place, then FLEE!!! Flee unto the mountains. Get out of Jerusalem. Do not take anything with you, do not go back into your house. During those days, it will be so bad that if you are with child it will be worse and pray that it does not happen on the Sabbath, for then shall be the great tribulation such as never has been and will NEVER BE AGAIN!

Verse 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Remember, when the soldiers entered the city, there were both Christians Jews and Orthodox mixed together in the city. I am sure that absolutely no one wanted to leave their home once again. They had withstood Rome for years and here suddenly, the Romans were killing them in droves. Up to 1,000,000 men, women and children were slaughtered by the bloodlust soldiers.

Now he starts stretching out again, saying to them that between today and that day, these things will happen:

Verse 23-31: Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 24:25 Behold, I have told you before. 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

24:27 For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so, shall also the coming of the Son of man be. In the lightening of the sky, the sun rises in the east in the morning ever gradually. It gets lighter and lighter until it is broad daylight. Then the sun moves across the face of the planet as it rotates on its axis.

Bringing that light ever westward until finally it sets in the west before the night. This is the day of the Lord. It lasts 24 hours from beginning to end. It begins every single day on this earth. This is also how the coming, or the dawning of understanding comes pertaining to the knowledge of Christ. He comes unto us by his Spirit and we understand who he is. Jesus told Peter, “upon this rock I shall build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” That rock that Jesus was talking about was the revelation of who he is. Peter said, “thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

When he comes to us, we understand who he is and then we either receive him, or we reject him. But nonetheless, he still comes upon the morning of our lives. He does this every day. As the body of Christ grows within the brightness of these days, our understanding of who he is begins to change, to mature, we see clearer and clearer during the brightness of a full day. Jesus is telling his disciples the way that he comes unto a man. He is never out in the earth; he is always within us. We are the place where Jesus dwells by his Holy Spirit. You cannot see him outside of a believer because that is NOT where he lives. Most people believe that Jesus dwells in Heaven and in a way, he does, but he moves and breathes in the hearts of true believers in him. And because that is where he lives, if you look at an outward appearance you will only see the worldly realm, which is described as this:

24:28 For wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered. Wherever dead things are, there shall also be gathered those who feed on dead things. The Levitical priesthood, the non-believers and the religious spirits operating today and every day since Jesus’s day. I live in Alaska and we have thousands of eagles here. They are gross birds who will eat anything dead. They especially like fish guts.

24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days (The days after the destruction of Jerusalem) shall the sun 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: In a natural vein, in AD 79, Vesuvius erupted destroying Pompeii and could have been a natural event that Jesus was referring to, however, just like it is within the Book of Revelations, there are both natural and Spiritual connotations of each scripture. Think about this for a minute. Jerusalem has just been destroyed. The only Apostle remaining is possibly John on Patmos. Rome, who is against the church, has just wiped out the Jews, both Christian and non-Christians alike. All members of the church in Jerusalem have been scattered to the wind. Titus has declared open warfare against every Jew on the planet. The knowledge of Jesus Christ has been forced out of the light and into the shadows of hiding in obscurity. Just trying to survive.

The sun is the understanding of who Christ is, the reflection of that knowledge is the moon. Or those of us who teach and preach the Word. All the stars that fall from heaven are all the leaders of the church and of the Jews. After these events, there was not a place for all of them to be seen. If they even survived, they had to hide to survive. All that had existed previously was shaken to its core.

Also, we must realize what took place here. This was the second ending of the known world, or what God had originally instituted. For the next generation to take over their role, the previous generation MUST die. Judaism was destroyed in that day and the day of a natural Jew being God is chosen ended. In favor of the continuation and growth of the first century church of Jesus Christ.

Additionally, it was the ending of the Apostolic age and the direct management of the Church by the Apostles. It was time for the next generation of the Church to come forth and this time it was the local Church assembly that managed their own affairs including doctrine. However, the New testament had been completed prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and became the “standard” for all churches to follow.

I have taken a lot of flak over this recently, but I promise you that God will NEVER again raise up natural Israel in favor of, or over the Church of the First-Born. We who are the believers in Jesus are now God’s heritage in the earth. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, but we have become one in Christ and there is no other way to God.

24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: What is the “sign” of the Son of man? The sign is the realization that no one can come unto God unless they accept Jesus Christ. And that is what makes the tribes of the earth mourn (The Jews) because they do not want to and even will not accept him as Messiah and be saved. 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.

24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they s hall gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. But then they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of many witnesses who bear in their bodies the mark of Christ Jesus and who proclaim salvation to a lost and dying world. Displaying signs and wonders for all to see. No longer were the Apostles doing the signs and wonders, it had spread out among all the believers.

Verse 32: Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and puts forth leaves, all of you know that summer is nigh: 24:33 So likewise all of you, when all of you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Once again, Jesus is talking to those gathered around him on the Mount of Olives.

Verse 33: Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. And here in black and white is probably the most important verse to fully understand its impact and implications to us. From the time that Jesus spoke these words until “This Generation” was fulfilled was approximately 40 years and is “this generation”.

It is impossible to put any other explanation to these words, yet preacher after preacher will tie these words to AD 2021. Matthew 24 and Revelations are NOT connected. The great tribulation was completed in AD 70. It will NEVER be that bad again.

I have written a complete 300-page, paperback book about what Revelations means. It is called, “God’s Perfect Plan.” God wants everyone to understand the days in which we live. That is why he instructed me to write the book. I have been giving it away for free to anyone who wants it. It is that important. Everyone who writes a book wants to make money from it. They sell it on Amazon, or elsewhere, even Christian authors. But God told me to give mine away for free and I obeyed him. I obey God no matter what it costs me. I have not been able to get it published because it costs $5,000 and then I will have to pay for the books. Maybe then I might have to charge to distribute it properly. I do not know.

I have needs just like everyone and I live on an exceedingly small, fixed income. Everywhere I go, people make excuses to me how poor they are, and they will not pay me for my labors, but I live and breathe in God. He is my provider. I trust in him and believe that one day he will move upon the hearts of generous people. But even if he does not, I will not stop proclaiming the truth and because of that I offer this article to you, free of charge that you might know the truth that will set you free. God bless you in Christ Jesus.