Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MATTHEW #39 - 24:1-31)
XX. 24:1-25:46 SECOND COMING OF CHRIST AND JUDGMENT
A. 24:1-2 PROPHECY OF TEMPLE DESTRUCTION
a. 24:1 THE PRIDE OF JESUS' DISCIPLES IN THEIR TEMPLE
Kai e-xelTHON ho IeSOUS aPO tou hi-eROU, e-poREUe-to;
And :Jesus went out from the temple, andwas going on;
kai proSELthon hoi ma-theTAI auTOU e-piDEIxai [1925]auTO tas oi-ko-doMAS [3619]tou hi-eROU [2411].
and his :disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple.
b. 24:2a But he answered and said to them, Do you not see all these things?
ho de a-pokriTHEIS EIpen auTOIS, Ou BLEpe-te TAUta PANta?
c. 24:2b A STARTLING PROPHECY
aMEN LEgohuMIN, ou mea-pheTHEHOde LIthos ePI LIthon [3037],
Amen I say unto you, In no wise shall one stone be left here upon another,
hos ou ka-ta-luTHEse-tai [2647].
that shall not be thrown down.
B. 24:3-25:46 CERTAINTY OF THE END NECESSITATES READINESS
1. 24:3-31 SIGNS AND DETAILS OF JUDGMENT AND END OF AGE
a. 24:3 DISCIPLES SEEK TIMING OF THIS FROM JESUS
kaTHEme-nou de auTOU ePI tou Orous ton E-laiON [1636],
And as he was sitting on the mount of :Olives,
ProSELthon auTO hoi ma-theTAI kat' iDIan, LEgon-tes,
the disciples came to him privately, saying,
EiPON heMIN POte TAUta EStai? kai ti to seMEIon
Tell us when these thingsshall be? and what the sign
tes ses pa-rouSIas [3952]kai sun-teLEIas [4930]tou aiOnos [165]?
of your :presence and consummation of the age?
b. 24:4 And :Jesus answered andsaid to them, Take heed that no one lead you astray.
kai a-po-kriTHEIS ho IeSOUS EIpen auTOIS, BLEpe-te MEtis huMAS plaNEse[4105].
c. 24:5 FALSE DECEIVERS OF CHRIST
polLOI gar eLEUson-tai ePI tooNOmaTI mou, LEgon-tes,
For many shall come in my :name, saying,
E-GOei-mi ho ChrisTOS; kai polLOUS plaNEsou-sin.
I am the Christ; and shall deceive many.
d. 24:6 WAR ALONE - NOT THE SIGN OF THE END
melLEse-te de aKOUein poLEmous [4171]kai a-koAS [189]poLEmon;
And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars;
hoRAte methroEISthe [2360]: dei gar geNESthai; all' OUpo esTIN to TElos.
see you are not troubled: for it must come to pass; but the end is not yet.
e. 24:7 UPHEAVALS THAT MUST FIRST PRECEDE
e-gerTHEse-tai gar ETHnos ePI ETHnos, kai ba-siLEIa ePI ba-siLEIan;
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
kai Eson-tai liMOI [3042] kai seisMOI [4578] kaTA TOpous.
and famines shall be and earthquakes in many places.
f. 24:8 But all these are the beginning of travails.
PANta de TAUta arCHEoDInon [5604].
g. 24:9 CERTAIN COMING TRIBULATION FOR DISCIPLES
TOte pa-raDOsou-sin [3860] huMAS eis THLIpsin [2347], kai a-pok-teNOUsin [615] huMAS:
Then shall they deliver you up unto tribulation, and shall kill you:
kai Eses-the miSOUme-noi [3404] huPO PANton ton ethNON diA to OnoMA mou.
and you shall be hated of all the nations for my :name's sake.
h. 24:10 And then shall many stumble and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another.
kai TOte skan-da-lisTHEson-tai [4624] polLOI kai alLElous pa-raDOsou-sin [3860], kai miSEsou-sin alLElous.
i. 24:11 And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many.
kai polLOI pseu-do-proPHEtai [5578]e-gerTHEson-tai [1453], kai plaNEsou-sin [4105]polLOUS.
j. 24:12 And because the lawlessness shall be multiplied, the love of the many shall grow cold.
kai diA to ple-thunTHEnai [4129] ten a-noMIan [458], psuGEse-tai [5594] he aGApe ton polLON.
k. 24:13 But who endures unto theend, the same shall be saved.
ho de hu-poMEInas [5278]eis TElos [5056], HOUtos soTHEse-tai [4982].
l. 24:14 AN AMAZING PROPHECY
kai ke-ruchTHEse-tai [2784] TOUto to eu-agGEli-on tes ba-siLEIas
And this :gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
en HOle te oi-kouMEne [3625] eis marTUri-on PAsin tois ETHne-sin; kai TOte HExei [2240] to TElos.
in the whole inhabited earthfor a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
m. 24:15-18 A CERTAIN SIGN - AS AN ALERT TO FLEE
HOtan oun Ide-te to BDElug-ma [946]tes e-reMOse-os [2050],
When therefore you see the abomination of :desolation,
to 'reTHEN diA Da-niEL tou proPHEtou,
which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet,
heSTOS en TOpo haGIo (ho a-na-giNOskon [314] noEIto [3539]),
standing in a holy place (let him that reads understand),
TOte hoi en te IouDAIa pheuGEto-san [5343] eis ta Ore: ho ePI tou DOma-tos [1430]
16then let them in :Judea flee unto the mountains: 17let the oneon the housetop
me ka-taBAto [2497] Arai ta ek tes oiKIas auTOU:
not go down to take out the thingsin his :house:
kai ho en to aGRO me e-pi-strePSAto [1994] oPIso Arai to hiMAti-on auTOU.
18and let the onein the field not return back to take his :cloak.
n. 24:19 But woe to those with child and to those giving suck in those :days!
ouAI [3759] de tais en gaSTRI [1064] eCHOUsais kai tais the-laZOUsais [2337] en eKEInais tais heMErais!
o. 24:20-21 TRIBULATION ABOVE ALL PAST TIMES
proSEUches-the [4336] de HIna me GEne-tai he phuGE [5437] huMON cheiMOnos [5494], meDE sabBAto:
And pray that your :flight be not in winter, neither on a sabbath:
EStai gar TOte THLIpsis [2347] meGAle, HOIa ou GEgo-nen
21for then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been
ap' arCHES KOSmou [2889] HEos tou nun, oud', ou me GEne-tai.
from theworld's beginning until :now, no, nor ever shall be.
p. 24:22 GOD'S MERCY
kai ei me e-ko-loBOthe-san [2856] hai heMErai eKEInai, ouk an eSOthe PAsa sarx [4561]:
And except those :days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved:
diA de tous e-klekTOUS [1588] ko-lo-boTHEson-tai [2856] hai heMErai eKEInai.
but for the elect's sake those :days shall be shortened.
q. 24:23 Then if any one say to you, Lo, here is the Christ, or, Here; believe not.
TOte eAN tis huMIN EIpe, I-DOU, HOde ho ChrisTOS, e, HOde; me piSTEUse-te.
r. 24:24 A GREAT CAUSE OF LAST DAY DECEPTION
e-gerTHEson-tai [1483] gar pseuDOchris-toi [5580] kai pseu-do-proPHEtai [5578],
For false Christs shall arise and false prophets,
kai DOsou-sin seMEIa meGAla kai TEra-ta [5059];
and shall show great signs and wonders;
HOste plaNASthai [1487], ei du-naTON, kai tous e-klekTOUS [1588].
so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
s. 24:25 Lo, I have told you before. I-DOU, proEIre-ka [4280] huMIN.
t. 24:26 TWO PLACES FROM WHICH TO BEWARE
eAN oun EIpo-sin huMIN, I-DOU, en te eREmo esTIN;
If therefore they shall say to you, Lo, he is in the wilderness;
me eXELthe-te: I-DOU, en tois taMEIois [5009]; me piSTEUse-te.
go not forth: lo, in the inner chambers; believe not.
u. 24:27 THE TRUE SIGN OF JESUS' RETURN
HOsper gar he a-straPE [796] eXERche-tai aPO a-na-toLON [395],
For just as the lightning comes forth from the east,
kai PHAIne-tai HEos dusMON [1424]; HOUtos EStai he pa-rouSIa [3952] tou huiOU tou anTHROpou.
and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the presence of the Son of :man.
v. 24:28 Wherever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered.
HOpou eAN e to PTOma [4430], eKEI su-nachTHEson-tai [4863] hoi a-eTOI [105].
w. 24:29-30 THE SURE SIGNS TO FOLLOW THE GREAT TRIBULAION
EuTHEos de meTA ten THLIpsin [2347] ton he-meRON eKEInon
But straightway after the tribulation of those :days
ho HEli-os [2246] sko-tisTHEse-tai [4654], kai he seLEne [4582] ou DOsei to PHEGgos [5338] auTES,
the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her :light,
kai hoi aSTEres peSOUNtai aPO tou ou-raNOU, kai hai duNAmeis ton ou-raNON sa-leuTHEson-tai [4531]:
and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
kai TOte phaNEse-tai [5316] to seMEIon tou huiOU tou anTHROpou en ou-raNO:
30and then shall appear the sign of the Son of :man in heaven:
kai TOte KOpson-tai [2875] PAsai hai phuLAI tes ges, kai Opson-tai ton huiON tou anTHROpou erCHOme-non
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and shall see the Son of :man coming
ePI ton ne-pheLON [3507] tou ou-raNOU meTA duNAme-os kai DOxes polLES.
on the clouds of the heaven with power and great glory.
x. 24:31 THE ROLE OF ANGELS IN SAVING THE ELECT
kai a-po-steLEI [649] tous agGElous [32] auTOU meTA SALpig-gos [4536] meGAles,
And he shall send forth his :angels with a great trumpet,
kai e-pi-suNAxou-sin [1996] tous e-klekTOUS [1588] auTOU ek ton tesSAron aNEmon [417],
and they shall gather together his :elect from the four winds,
ap' Akron [206] ou-raNON HEos ton Akron auTON.
from the heavens' ends unto their :ends.
NOTE: Link this passage with 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Great divergences exist between various commentators concerning these passages, and 1 Corinthians 15. Samuel P. Tregelles and George Muller consistently stood against the “new” doctrine of eschatology (teaching of last things) that arose in their day. Though it has become the majority view held in the church today, there are still manythat continue to stand with Muller and Tregelles.
In this Matthew passage, Jesus consistently forewarned that much deception would exist in the last days. That in itself should cause us to be careful. Perhaps a key verse in this area is 24:14 - “And this :gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole inhabited earthfor a witness unto all the nations; and thenshall the end come.” The new doctrine that came in the 1800's arose from prophetic words from both London and Greenock, Scotland, from the “Edward Irving” group. This scarcely seems to be a good basis on which to form a new doctrine.
In 1972 a group of 100 or so met in Seattle, and read the Bible through in a year, based somewhat on the plan outlined by Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Each week we chose a key verse from that week's reading, and someone in the congregation set it to music. The children then memorized it, and taught it to the congregation. 24:14 was one of these 52 verses. At the end of the year, the church children could sing through all 52 verses. It is a wonderful thing to “sing” the Word of God. The Scottish Psalter - book of Psalms - was entirely set to music. I have sung it through many a year. What a blessing! Following the 1948 Canadian Latter Rain Visitation, many verses of Scripture were set to music, and sung with great blessing.
H.A. Baker in his various books, especially “Visions Beyond the Veil”, shows what Jesus, angels, and saints gone on ahead, taught little Chinese Orphan children in the '20's concerning prophetic scriptures on heaven, hell, and the order of events prior to the return of Jesus. These visions tend to return us to the understanding of Scripture held by Tregelles and George Muller. Brother Yun of China, The Heavenly Man - himself memorized and sang great portions of the Scripture - and led his followers to do likewise. J.A.W.