Chapter 24 – One God Translation

Matthew

   24 As Jesus was leaving the Temple his disciples came to him, pointing out the Temple buildings. 2 He said to them, “Do you not see all these buildings? I am telling you the truth: there will not be one stone left on another. All will be torn down.”
    3 As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him in private and asked, “Please explain to us when this will happen, and what will be the sign of your coming[186] and end of the age?”[187]
    4 “Be careful no one misleads you,” Jesus replied. 5 “Many will come claiming to speak on my authority,[188] saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many people. 6 You will be hearing about wars and rumors of wars, but do not be afraid. These things have to happen, but that is not yet the end. [189] 7 Nations will rise up to fight against other nations, and kingdoms will fight against kingdoms; there will be famines and earthquakes in various places, 8 but all these things are just the first of the coming birth pains.[190]
    9 “Then they will arrest you, persecute you, and kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10 At that time many believers will fall away, betray one another, and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will come and deceive many people. 12 The increasing evil will make the love of many grow cold, 13 but whoever holds out to the end will be saved.
    14 “This Gospel of the Kingdom[191] will be preached around the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. 15 So when you see standing in the holy place the ‘Abomination of Desolation’ predicted by the prophet Daniel[192] (whoever reads this should think about it carefully), 16 then those living in Judea should run away to the mountains. 17 Whoever is on the housetop should not go down and get what is in the house. 18 Whoever is out in the fields should not go back to get their coat. 19 How hard for those who are pregnant, and those who are nursing babies at that time! 20 Pray that you do not have to run away in winter, or on the Sabbath day.[193] 21 For then there will be a great tribulation[194] such as never was before, from the beginning of the world up till now, and will never be again. 22 Unless those days are cut short, nobody would be saved, but for the sake of the chosen[195] those days will be cut short. 23 If anyone says to you at that time, ‘Look, the Messiah is here — or there,’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will come along, and they will perform amazing signs and miracles in order to deceive even the chosen, if possible. 25 “Look, I have told you this before it happens. 26 So if they tell you, ‘Look, he is in the desert,’ do not go looking; or ‘Look, he is here inside,’ do not believe it. 27 For the coming of the Son of Man will be like lightning flashing brightly from east to west. 28 ‘Vultures gather where the carcass is.’
    29 “Immediately[196] after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not shine, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and brilliant majesty.[197] 31 With a trumpet blast he will send out his angels, and they will gather together his chosen from every direction, from one end of heaven and earth to the other.
    32 “Learn a parable from the fig tree. When its branches become tender and leaves sprout, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way when you see all these things happening, know that his coming is near, right at the door. 34 I am telling you the truth: this present evil society [198] will not pass away until all these things happen. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.     36 “Yet no one knows the day or hour when this will be, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son.[199] Only the Father knows. 37 The coming of the Son of Man will be just as in the time of Noah. 38 Just as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, right up until the day that Noah went into the Ark, 39 and they did not realize until the flood came and swept them all away — so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 40 Two men will be in the fields. One will be taken; the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding grain at the mill. One will be taken; the other left.
    42 “So stay alert, because you do not know which day your lord is coming. 43 But think about this: if a homeowner knew what time a thief was coming, he would keep watch, and would not allow his house to be broken into. 44 You too need to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming when you do not expect him.
    45 “Who then is the faithful and thoughtful servant — the one his lord puts in charge of his household, to provide them with food at the right time? 46 Blessed is that servant to be found doing just that when his lord returns. 47 I am telling you the truth: he will put that servant in charge over everything he has. 48 But if he was evil, that servant would say to himself, ‘My lord is taking a long time,’ 49 and would start to beat his fellow servants, to feast and drink with the drunks. 50 Then the lord of that servant will return when he is not expecting, and at a time he does not know. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”

Matthew

[186]

The Greek Parousia means the one splendid and visible arrival of the Messiah, certainly not an invisible coming which has already happened, or will happen prior to the Parousia. The notion that the Kingdom of God came in 1878 or 1914 or 1918 is entirely false to Scripture.

[187]

The Second Coming and the end of the age are synonymous and they lie in the future. AD 70 was absolutely not the second coming of Jesus, nor was 1914! The end of the age appears in 13:39, 40, 49; 24:3; 28:20 and refers always to the return of Jesus in the future. The end of the age was definitely not AD 70.

[188]

Or represent me, if not actually claiming to be the Messiah.

[189]

That is, “the end of the age,” the subject of the question to be answered in v. 3.

[190]

Birth pains precede the final rebirth of the world which will happen when Jesus comes back to set up his Kingdom (see Mt. 19:28). At present the world has become degenerate.

[191]

The one and only saving Christian Gospel preached by Jesus first and then by all the Apostles. This one Gospel is to be preached until the end of the age, the return of Jesus.

[192]

Jesus is citing the verses from Daniel 9:27, 11:31 and 12:11, where the Abomination is predicted to appear at the very close of this age, 1290 days before the resurrection in Dan. 12:2.

[193]

Because the sabbath day would continue to be observed by non-Christian Jews. Mark and Luke do not mention this. Paul was against any obligation for New Covenant Christians to observe the Jewish calendar, which he described as a shadow replaced by the substance, the reality which is Christ (Col. 2:16-17).

[194]

“The great tribulation” which is a still future time of terrible suffering and distress. It certainly is not a reference to AD 70 because Jesus did not return “immediately after” (v. 29) that time of tribulation in AD 70. Tribulation in general is to be expected by all believers (Acts 14:22), but “the Great Tribulation” is a final short, agonizing time (cp. Zech. 13:8; 14:2), based on Dan. 12:1 and thus just before the resurrection of the faithful in Dan. 12:2. This is what the NT calls the first resurrection (Rev. 20:5-6) and is described too in 1 Cor. 15:23.

[195]

The elect or chosen are the true believers of all nations.

[196]

The word “immediately” here is crucially important for an understanding of the Olivet Discourse, since it proves that Jesus’ prophecy was not fulfilled in AD 70. The Second Coming evidently did not occur immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70! The Great Tribulation is a brief time of intense distress (3 ½ years from the midpoint of the final “week” of Dan. 9:24-27), as Jesus said, and it makes nonsense of Jesus’ description of the Great Tribulation to claim that it refers to a period which began in AD 70 and has now lasted for nearly two millennia! For the Great Tribulation see Dan. 12:1-3, the key to Bible prophecy.

[197]

The totally false idea that the Second Coming of Jesus was in 1914 has been rejected by all intelligent Bible study.

[198]

The word genea here refers to society in all its forms characteristic of the period right up to the future Second Coming. It certainly does not mean a period of 40 years. If it did Jesus would have been a false prophet! Much less could it refer to a period centuries later than Jesus. In that case “this genea” would be quite inappropriate. Acts 1:7 proves that Jesus had never set a chronological date, and so genea in this passage refers to evil society as constituted by the world systems which will continue to exist in that form until the Kingdom of God at the future Second Coming replaces them all with sound government under the Messiah and the saints.

[199]

Proving beyond all argument that the Son of God cannot be GOD.