The End Time Bible Commentary

Context and the significance of Daniel's prophecy of '70 weeks'
Jesus is now pictured walking away from the temple. His disciples draw his attention to the temple buildings, because they are so impressive (v1). Jesus responds by prophesying that not one stone will be left upon another. All will be torn down (v2).

It should be noted here that the destruction Jesus prophesies had already been prophesied in Daniel 9:26. So he is adding detail to an existing prophecy. In attempting to understand this chapter, it is important to recognise just how much significance Jesus attributed to Daniel's prophecy of '70 weeks'. He specifically references it in verse 15 and stresses the importance of understanding what Daniel meant by the 'abomination of desolation' in that prophecy. But there is more to it than that. At the start of his ministry, Jesus said, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!" (Mark 1:15). What did he mean by 'the time is fulfilled"? To answer that question, you have to understand Daniel's timeline. Daniel 9:25 prophesied that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, there would be a total of 69 'weeks' (literally 'sevens' which can be understood as units of 'seven years') until an anointed prince (i.e. the Messiah) arrived. Because there were several such decrees after the Jewish exile in Babylon (see my Daniel 9 commentary), until the start of Jesus' ministry there was some definite ambiguity as to which decree was the correct starting point. Jesus began his ministry in approximately 27/28 AD, the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1). 69 x 7 equals 483, and counting 483 years back from 27/28 AD takes you to 457/456 BC. (Note: Because the Jewish calendar starts in the fall, a Jewish year straddles two years in the Gregorian calendar). 457/456 BC was the year that King Artaxerxes I issued a decree that made provisions for the temple and sacrificial worship (Ezra 7:12-26), and for the rebuilding of the ruins and walls of Jerusalem (Ezra 9:9). Daniel 9:26 prophesied that some time after the 69 weeks, the anointed prince would be 'cut off and have nothing' (i.e. be killed), and both Jerusalem and its temple would be destroyed. By the time we arrive here at chapter 24 of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has already predicted his death three times (Matthew 16:21-23, 17:22-23, and 20:17-19). He has also just predicted the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-39). And now, after his disciples draw his attention to the temple, he predicts its total destruction.

Christ's death by crucifixion was just about to be fulfilled, most likely on Friday April 3, 33 AD, approximately 5 years after the completion of Daniel's 69th week. And the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in 70 AD when Roman legions under the command of General Titus crushed the Jewish rebellion that began in 66 AD, and destroyed the city. So that's a fulfilment about 42 years after Daniel's 69th week. But this tragedy foreshadows the siege and fall of Jerusalem at the end of the age (Ezekiel 38:1-17, Zechariah 14:2), its occupation by the Antichrist (Daniel 9:27, 2 Thessalonians 2:4), and its subsequent deliverance by Jesus (Ezekiel 38:18-39:8, Zephaniah 3:8, Zechariah 12, Joel 3:2, 12, Revelation 19:11-21).


The Olivet Discourse
Having left the temple, the Mount of Olives was a short walk away on the east side of Jerusalem. Sitting there, the disciples are still thinking about what Jesus said about the temple. In verse 3, they ask him two questions:- 1) "Tell us, when will these things happen?", and 2) "what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" In other words, their questions relate to:- 1) Timing, and 2) Signs. Their question about timing relates to three things:- a) the destruction of the temple, b) Christ's return, and c) the end of the age.

Being a private discussion with just his disciples, Jesus gives a long and detailed response. This response is known as the Olivet Discourse and is also recorded in less detail in Mark 13, and in Luke 17 and 21. Let me first list all the signs that Jesus describes, and then analyse them to try to understand where they all fit in terms of timing. Matthew gives us 26 signs, which I will list in the order that they appear, and I will also include 7 that Luke gives us and try to fit these appropriately within Matthew's list:

The Signs
1) False Messiahs deceiving people (Matthew 24:4-5)
2) Wars and rumours of war (Matthew 24:6-7)
3) Famines (Matthew 24:7)
4) Earthquakes (Matthew 24:7)
5) Plagues (Luke 21:11)
6) Terrifying sights and great signs in the sky (Luke 21:11)
7) Hatred, persecution and martyrdom of Christians (Matthew 24:9)
8) Many Christians falling away from faith, and people betraying and hating each other (Matthew 24:10)
9) False prophets deceiving people (Matthew 24:11)
10) Increased lawlessness and the love of many growing cold (Matthew 24:12)
11) World-wide proclamation of the Gospel to every ethnic group (Matthew 24:14)
12) Some kind of restoration of the temple and sacrificial system (implied by Matthew 24:15)
13) The 'abomination of desolation' (Matthew 24:15)
14) Residents of Judea must flee to the mountains without delaying to collect possessions (Matthew 24:16-18)
15) Suffering (KJV: tribulation) greater than anything in history or that will ever occur again in the future (Matthew 24:21)
16) Jerusalem surrounded by armies (Luke 21:20)
17) Jews killed or led away as captives among all nations (Luke 21:24)
18) Mankind at risk of total annihilation (Matthew 24:22)
19) False Messiahs and false prophets deceive people with great signs and miracles (Matthew 24:23-26)
20) the sun will be darkened (Matthew 24:29)
21) the moon will not give its light (Matthew 24:29)
22) the stars will fall from the sky (Matthew 24:29)
23) the powers of heaven will be shaken (Matthew 24:29)
24) Tsunamis (Luke 21:25)
25) Worldwide fear of what is about to happen to the world (Luke 21:25)
26) His coming is visible from east to west like lightning (Matthew 24:27)
27) Vultures gather over the corpses (Matthew 24:28)
28) The sign of the Son of Man in the sky (Matthew 24:30)
29) The nations mourn (Matthew 24:30)
30) The nations see Jesus coming on the clouds with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30)
31) Angels blowing a trumpet (Matthew 24:31)
32) The elect are gathered from around the world (Matthew 24:31)
33) Fig tree sprouts leaves, a metaphor for Israel being restored as a nation (Matthew 24:32)

Before we analyse each of these, there is much to process in this chapter that relates to the disciples' first question about timing.

The birth metaphor
In verse 8, Jesus describes signs 1-4 as 'the beginning of birth pains'. Understanding his use of this metaphor, which likens the end time period to a kind of pregnancy, is crucial. In medical terms, during the third trimester of pregnancy and sometimes even earlier, some women experience 'practice contractions', known technically as 'Braxton Hicks Contractions', or as 'false labour'. And nearer full term (usually after 37 weeks), some women experience contractions that are more intense and regular, known as 'prodromal labour', but which do not lead to 'true labour'. Jesus' use of this metaphor alludes back to Micah 4 and 5. Micah 5:2 prophesies Jesus' literal birth in Bethlehem. But the prophecy is cloaked within the context of end-time Jerusalem falling to enemy armies and subsequently being delivered by Israel's Messiah. When she falls in Micah 4:9-10, Jerusalem is pictured metaphorically as a woman screaming in the agonies of labour (i.e. true labour, metaphorically-speaking). In Micah 5:3, the end-time arrival of Messiah is portrayed as Jerusalem giving birth and being delivered of her agonies. In other words, in Micah 5 Jesus has a literal birth (v2), but also a metaphorical rebirth when he returns to deliver Jerusalem (v3). Jerusalem, or Israel, metaphorically giving birth to Jesus at the second coming is also portrayed in Revelation 12:5. According to this 'birth metaphor', Jerusalem is in true labour at the point when she falls to Antichrist's armies. The birth is when Jesus arrives on the Mount of Olives in fulfilment of Zechariah 14:4 to relieve the suffering of Jerusalem's Jews and facilitate their escape to a place of safety (Revelation 12:6). So the four birth-pain signs are like practice contractions, indicating that labor and the birth are drawing near. That still leaves the question, "How near?" In verse 6, after speaking of 'wars and rumours of wars', Jesus says, "Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come". In other words, the second coming is still some way off after the wars and rumours of war. Similarly in Luke's account, Jesus says about wars and rebellions, "these things must happen first, but the end will not come at once" (Luke 21:9). So the first four signs are early indicators. But it is still not entirely clear whether they are like Braxton Hicks contractions that can occur quite early on in the second half of the pregnancy, or rather like Prodormal labour that occurs nearer to full term.

Thinking about his use of pregnancy and birth-pains as metaphors in relation to his coming, it is surely worth also pointing out that pregnancy normally lasts for a defined time period (approximately 9 month or 40 weeks), and has a starting point. So does Jesus give us any indication as to when this end-time pregnancy starts, so-to-speak? To answer that, we need to look at what he says about the fig tree.

The Fig Tree metaphor
In verses 32 to 34, Jesus says, "Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place".

The fig tree and its figs are used as symbols of Israel in the bible. Fig trees are native to Israel, and in several scriptures are used as a picture of prosperity and security, for example Micah 4:4 says "Each will sit under his own grapevine or under his own fig tree without any fear". In Jeremiah 24, some time after the deportation of Jews to Babylon in 597 BC, Jeremiah likened the Jews to good figs and bad figs. To understand his comparison, it is helpful to know that the figs from the early crop are the sweetest and tastiest ones. The figs from the late summer crop tend to be more bitter and if they are not good enough to eat they are thrown out or used as animal feed. Jeremiah likened those Jews who were part of the early deportation to good figs. Those who remained until the later deportation of 586 BC, he likened to bad figs. In Hosea 9:10 God says, "When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the wilderness. I viewed your ancestors like an early fig on a fig tree in its first season". In Luke 13:6-9, Jesus told another parable of a fig tree, in which the fig tree represented Israel, and Jesus warned the Jews that they had only one more year to produce the fruit of repentance, or they would be 'cut down'. Finally, Matthew 21:18-19 says, "Now early in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. After noticing a fig tree by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “Never again will there be fruit from you!” And the fig tree withered at once". It's not as though Jesus was simply hungry or having a bad day and decided to take out his frustration on this poor fig tree. Rather, he was making a prophetic statement. He was looking for the nation to produce the fruit of repentance and faith, but because it was like the fig tree that produced leaves but no fruit, it was about to come under God's covenant curses (Deuteronomy 28). As such, it was likely to experience another military conquest and exile.

But in verse 32, when Jesus talks about the fig tree becoming tender and putting out its leaves, he is talking about Israel having a new beginning. And from verses 33 and 34 it seems like this new beginning for the nation of Israel marks the beginning of a future generation that would see 'all these things', in other words, all the signs he has just described that lead up to his arrival in glory upon the clouds.

It seems reasonable that we should recognise the creation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948 as this new beginning, and also as the fulfilment of Isaiah 66:8 which says, "…Can a country be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!" Notice also Isaiah's use of the birth metaphor in relation to Israel's restoration as a nation.

Right at the Door
In verse 33, Jesus then says, "So also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the door".

'All these things' would seem to include the signs that I have numbered as 1 to 26 above, since these precede his coming. Those numbered 27 to 33 seem to describe what his coming will look like when it actually happens.

The Generation Timeline
In verse 34 Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place".

But which generation is he referring to?
So it seems that whatever the fig tree putting out its leaves signifies (probably the restoration of Israel in 1948), this marks the beginning of a generation that will see 'all these things' and his coming is then 'right at the door'. And next we need to ask, "How long is a biblical generation?" However, before I try to answer that, I need to acknowledge that not everyone interprets the generation timeline as starting with the fig tree, or that the fig tree represents Israel's new beginning in 1948.

Some Christians assume that Jesus was referring to the generation he lived amongst in 33 AD, and they use this verse to support what is known as the 'preterist' view. Preterist comes from the grammatical word 'preterite' which is a kind of past tense of a verb. 'Preterists' believe that the time of great suffering prophesied in this chapter was completed in the past, between 66 and 70 AD. This was the time when the Jews rebelled against Rome, and Jerusalem was placed under siege by Vespasian and Titus. The city eventually fell to the tenth Roman legion under the command of General Titus in 70 AD. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and about a million Jews died in the process. The events of that time were recorded in detail by the Jewish Roman historian, Flavius Josephus. You can read about 'The Siege of Jerusalem' on Wikipedia. Certainly some of the above signs were fulfilled during this period, with the city being surrounded by armies, and there being a time of great suffering. But not all were fulfilled. Jesus did not come back in glory in the first century AD. So if by 'this generation' Jesus was pointing to his own, history has surely shown him to be a false prophet, and it is pointless studying the New Testament at all! Another problem with the preterist view is that in Matthew 12:38-41, when Jesus was asked by the Jews for a sign, Jesus answered, "An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them – and now, something greater than Jonah is here!". In saying this, Jesus implied that his death, burial and resurrection would be the only sign that his own generation would receive. So even if some of the signs in the Olivet Discourse were seemingly fulfilled, or at least partially fulfilled in 66-70 AD, this was not the ultimate fulfilment that Jesus was pointing to.

Another popular explanation of this verse is to interpret the Greek word 'genea' not as 'generation' (its normal meaning), but as 'race'. According to this theory, Jesus was prophesying the survival of the Jewish race up until the time of his return. But as the NET bible notes point out, it is very questionable that the word 'genea' can have this meaning.

So let's assume that Jesus is talking about a future generation, and that the new beginning portrayed by the fig tree is the restoration of Israel in 1948.

And how long is a generation?
It is important to read what Jesus says exactly, "this generation will not pass away until all these things take place". This suggests that all the signs Jesus describes with occur in less time than it takes for a whole generation to die out. So it is not referring to the typical age difference between parents and their children. According to Wikipedia, the oldest women alive today are about 115 years old, and the oldest living men are about 113 years old. In that case, a generation could potentially stretch to as much as 115 years.

Similarly, in Genesis 12:12-16, God told Abraham that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign country for 400 years, but in the fourth generation he would restore them to Canaan. So a generation was seen to be about 100 years, the longest time a person could normally live in those days. In actual fact, the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years (Exodus 12:40), so each of those four generations averaged 107.5 years.

On the other hand, Psalm 90:10 says, "The days of our lives add up to seventy years, or eighty, if one is especially strong". So if we equate a biblical generation with this maximum life expectancy, then eighty years is a reasonable answer.

I remember in 1988, soon after I had come to faith in Christ, some Christians wondered if Jesus was about to come back. It was forty years after 1948, and they reasoned that since the Exodus generation wandered the desert for forty years until the whole adult generation had died (Joshua 5:6), then a biblical generation should be taken as forty years.

It seems to me that 80 years is the most reasonable answer. But in that case, if it is also correct that the fig tree put out its leaves in 1948, then we should expect Jesus to come back by 2028. So it won't be much longer before we find out, one way or another.

The Abomination of Desolation in context
In verses 15 to16, Jesus says, "So when you see the abomination of desolation – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains…"

Note that Jesus points us directly to the Book of Daniel, and stresses the importance of understanding this event, which is clearly extremely pivotal. The Book of Daniel mentions 'the abomination of desolation' in three places. Given the context of Matthew 24 (see above), Jesus is pointing us primarily to Daniel 9:27 which says, "He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. On the wing of abominations will come one who destroys, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys". In its context, this 'one week' is the '70th week' of Daniel's prophecy, in other words a final seven year period of time.

Also, Daniel 11:31 says, "His forces will rise up and profane the fortified sanctuary, stopping the daily sacrifice. In its place they will set up the abomination that causes desolation". This verse is set in a different context, and is a prophecy that was fulfilled in 168 BC by the Greek king of Syria, Antiochus Epiphanes. So by Jesus referring to the abomination of desolation as a future event, he is saying it will happen again. As such, it is reasonable to assume that its future fulfilment will be similar to its historic fulfilment. This fulfilment actually occurred in two stages and contained three elements. First of all Antiochus committed a massacre of about 20,000 Jews in Jerusalem. Secondly, some time later he set up a statue of Zeus in the temple, and commanded the Jewish priests to sacrifice pigs to it on the temple altar. And thirdly, he claimed to be the human incarnation of Zeus. When it happens in the future, Jesus tells us to expect to see something standing in the holy place (i.e. temple), implying some kind of statue or idol, and that those in Judea must flee to the mountains, etc (v16-20) implying that the Jews may need to flee or be massacred. Based on Daniel 9:27, the Apostle Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, "Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God’s temple, displaying himself as God".

The abomination of desolation is also mentioned in Daniel 12:11-12 which says, "From the time that the daily sacrifice is removed and the abomination that causes desolation is set in place, there are 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits and attains to the 1,335 days". In context, Daniel has just been told that the Jewish people will experience a time of great distress that will last for 'a time, times and half a time', generally interpreted to mean three and a half years (a time equals a year). So here in Matthew 24, after describing the abomination of desolation and the need for those in Judea to flee, he says in verse 21, "For then there will be great suffering unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen", which is a direct reference to Daniel 12:1. And in verse 22 he continues, "And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short". This implies that God intervenes, otherwise there would be a complete massacre, with no survivors, of God's chosen people in Judea.

The Great Tribulation
So we have seen in verse 15 that Jesus points us to a pivotal event, the abomination of desolation, that occurs in the middle of 'Daniel's 70th week' and is associated with a time of great suffering (v21) that lasts for three and a half years according to Daniel. The King James translates this as a time of 'Great Tribulation', so it has come to be known as 'the Great Tribulation'.


Dispensationalist Expectations
The common Dispensationalist framework for understanding Daniel's '70th week' involves the 'gap theory'. According to this theory, there is an unspecified time gap between Daniel's 69th week, which was completed during Christ' first coming, and the start of a yet-future 70th week when Antichrist confirms a seven-year covenant with many (Daniel 9:27). So both Jesus' death in 33 AD and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD both occurred during that gap, at different times after the 69th seven (as prophesied in Daniel 9:26). And we need to look out for an international peace treaty with Israel as the starting point for the 70th week, during which Antichrist will be present on the world-stage. It is as though God's time clock has been put indefinitely on pause, but at some point it will restart for the beginning of the final 70th week. The seven-year period of the 70th week is often referred to as the 'Tribulation'. It is assumed that the first half of this will be relatively peaceful while Antichrist honours the peace treaty. But the second half, after Antichrist breaks his treaty and sets up the abomination of desolation is the 'Great Tribulation' . This Great Tribulation is equated with Jeremiah's prophecy of a 'time of trouble for Jacob' (Jeremiah 30:7), and also with the day of wrath from which Jesus is said to deliver us (1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9). Consequently, it is assumed to be a time of trouble for the Jews, but not for Christians as we will escape it. The theory goes that a secret rapture of the Church occurs at the beginning of the seven-year tribulation (a pre-trib position), or at the midpoint before the Great Tribulation (a mid-trib position). So Jesus has a secret coming for the Church, and the assumption is that at the end of the Great Tribulation, he comes back on the clouds riding his white horse, with the Church (Revelation 19:11-14). He fights the battle of Armageddon, delivers Jerusalem, and establishes his 1,000 year earthly kingdom. Another key aspect of Dispensationalism is the belief that God works differently through different dispensations (periods) of history. So we are currently in 'the dispensation of the Church', with the church at the centre of God's purposes for the world, but in the Millennial dispensation, Israel will once again be at the centre. However, there are various potential problems with this framework:-

1) The gap theory is not necessarily correct. In his book 'Witnessing the End', published in 2023, Christian Widener brings the startling revelation that everyone seems to have missed. Not only did King Artaxerxes I issue a decree to rebuild Jerusalem in about 458/457 BC. But in 1537 AD the Ottoman Ruler of Palestine, Suleiman the Magnificent, issued another decree for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. According to Daniel 9:25, as a result of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, "…It will again be built, with plaza and moat, but in distressing times". Suleiman restored the Temple Mount (the plaza), and the walls of Old Jerusalem, including the moat around the Tower of David. Not only that, but his decree is written on stone on both the Temple Mount and on the moat of the Tower of David. And the 'distressing times' could be a reference to the fact that the Holy Land was under Islamic Ottoman Rule with Jews and Christians being treated as subjugated second-class 'dhimmis' and forced to pay the 'jizya' tax. So just as Jesus reveals that the abomination of desolation has two fulfillments, one ancient and one in the end times, so it is possible that the whole of Daniel's 70 weeks has a second fulfilment in the end times. In that case, if the decree was made in 1537 AD, 2020 marked the end of the 69th week and the beginning of the 70th. It so happens that during 2020, Israel signed the Abraham Accords, normalising relations with several Muslim countries. So now in 2024, it is possible that we are already well into the 'Tribulation' and that we should expect the second coming by 2027.

2) In my opinion it is incorrect to equate Christ's second coming in glory (the 'parousia') with his arrival on a white horse at the battle of Armageddon in Revelation 19. The description Jesus gives of his second coming in Matthew 24:29-31 corresponds much more closely with the description of what happens in Revelation 6 at the sixth seal. Matthew 24:29 says, "Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken". Compare this with the sixth seal. Firstly, note that it follows the fifth seal during which many Christians are martyred, corresponding to a time of great suffering. Revelation 6:12-13 says, "Then I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red; and the stars in the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when shaken by a fierce wind". There is a clear correlation in terms of what happens to the sun, moon and stars in both passages. Then Matthew 24:30 says, "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory". Compare this to Revelation 6:14-17, "The sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the very important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”". Firstly, the sign of the Son of Man corresponds with the sky being split apart like a scroll. Secondly, from that point on, everyone on earth who looks up at the sky is able to see God the Father sitting on his throne, together with the Lamb (i.e. Jesus). This is how they react to Christ's second coming, and they are aware that God's Day of Wrath has arrived. So to conclude my second point, according to Revelation Jesus comes back during the Great Tribulation, not at the end of it, and his coming marks the beginning of the day of wrath. At his first coming, Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:2a and announced the 'Year of the Lord's Favour' (Luke 4:19). But he stopped in the middle of the verse, because Isaiah 61:2b says, "…and the Day of Vengeance of our God". He stopped where he did because his first coming ushered in a time of favour (which we are still in today). But his second coming will usher in the day of God's wrath against sinners. In Revelation, we see this day of wrath worked out in the trumpet and bowl judgments which follow after the seven seals, and finally in the battle of Armageddon.

3) In Matthew 24:31 Jesus says, "And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other". Comparing this with Paul's description in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Jesus is clearly describing the rapture here in verse 31. But note that according to Christ's order of events, the rapture comes after his second coming in glory, not before it. So if Christ's return happens at the sixth seal, we should also expect to see the rapture. And that is exactly what we see in Revelation 7:9-15, "After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands….These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night..." These Christians are before the throne of God, which Revelation 6:14-17 tells us is visible to everyone on earth at that point as they look up at the sky. This is because they have been caught up to the sky as Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

4) By the time Jesus comes back at the sixth seal, the Great Tribulation is already under way, so Christians must endure at least part of it. We see this in what Jesus says here in Matthew 24, in verses 9-13, "Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. But the person who endures to the end will be saved". We also see this persecution and martyrdom of Christians at the fifth seal in Revelation 6:9-11, "Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” Each of them was given a long white robe and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been". So before Christ's return at the sixth seal, there is a period of great suffering which Christians have to faithfully endure. In Revelation 7:9-17 when we see the raptured Church before the throne of God and the Lamb (which is visible in the sky at that point), we are told in verse 14, "These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation". So their time of endurance is described as 'the great tribulation'.

5) While for a period of time Christians must endure the wrath of Satan and the World, it is true that we are spared the time of God's wrath (in accordance with 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9). But this is because the time of wrath starts after the second coming, not because we are raptured before the start of the Tribulation, or Great Tribulation. In Revelation, we see the time of wrath worked out in the trumpet judgments which start in chapter 8, in the bowl judgments that happen in chapter 16, and finally at the battle of Armageddon in chapter 19.

6) Although it is true that the Great Tribulation is 'a time of trouble for Jacob' (Jeremiah 30:7), we see that God makes provision to protect the people of Israel, or at least a remnant of them, during this time. At the sixth seal, between the second coming and the rapture of the Church, we see that 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel receive an angelic seal of protection (Revelation 7:1-8). At a later point in Revelation 14:1-5, we see that they have been gathered together and Jesus is standing with them on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Also, if we understand Jesus' use of the birth pains metaphor, then the implication is that his second coming is like a kind of metaphorical birth for Israel. We see it portrayed in this way in the two great astronomical signs of Revelation 12:1-6. As soon as Jesus is metaphorically 'reborn', he is caught up to God and his throne in the sky, and the woman (i.e. Israel) flees into the wilderness to a place prepared by God where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days. To understand this, we need to first reference Zechariah 14:1-5, where we see that Jesus comes back at a time when Jerusalem has just fallen to Antichrist's armies. He sets his feet on the Mount of Olives and splits it apart to create a great valley that provides an escape route for the Jewish refugees who are fleeing Jerusalem. But it seems he is then caught up to the sky after this brief appearance on the ground. If we then equate the place of safety with 'Bozrah' (literally the 'sheepfold') in Micah 2:12-13, we understand that at the end of the 1,260 days, Jesus breaks them out and advances ahead of them as their king. So Jesus has a definite plan for protecting the people of Israel during the Great Tribulation. Having said that, it is clear from Zechariah 13, and from 14:2, that the fall of Jerusalem will involve the death of many Jews and the rape of many Jewish women. It will indeed be a time of great tribulation for the Jews, but it will also be part of God's refining process for restoring them and cleansing them from sin and impurity. It seems that as many as two-thirds of Jerusalem's Jews may perish, but as the remaining third pass through the fire, God will refine them like silver and test them like gold (Revelation 13:8-9).

7) The relationship between Israel and the Church during the Millennium is somewhat off-topic for a commentary on Matthew 24. But since it is one of the defining characteristics of Dispensationalism, let me deal with it briefly here. In Romans 11, the Apostle Paul uses the metaphor of Israel as an olive tree, with some of the unbelieving branches (those who rejected Jesus) being broken off, and Gentile branches being grafted into the root in their place. So in the present age, this metaphorical olive tree still has an Israelite root, but some branches represent Jewish Christians, and some branches represent Gentile Christians. In Ephesians 2:15, Paul describes this same reality in terms of God breaking down the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile, making 'one new man out of the two, thus making peace'. Paul also makes it very clear that at some point in the future, God will 'remove ungodliness from Jacob' (Romans 11:26) and graft natural Jewish branches back into their original root. He also cautions Gentile Christians not to become conceited towards the Jews, lest God may remove some of the Gentile branches, just as he did with unbelieving Jewish branches (Romans 11:17-24). Consequently, if we think about what the 'olive tree' will look like in the Millennium after Jesus comes back, we should expect it to have both Israelite and Gentile branches, and the Israelite branches will have a much more prominent place and role than they currently have. It is not as though Israel is going to be grafted back into the Gentile Church. Rather, they will be granted back into the same root that Gentiles have been grafted into. As Paul says, "But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you". Given that the Church has evolved in many different ways over the last two thousand years, and often forgotten that Israel supports the Church, not the other way round, I imagine that God's idea of what this 'one new man' should look like may take some getting used to!

Only the Father Knows
In verse 36, Jesus says, "But as for that day and hour no one knows it - not even the angels in heaven - except the Father alone". Zechariah 14:7 similarly describes it as 'a day known to the Lord'. In various ways, Jesus talked about the surprise element of his coming.

Like the days of Noah (v37-41)
In verses 37 to 41 of Matthew 24, Jesus likens the days before his coming to the days before the flood. Before the flood, people were carrying on their lives as normal (v38), totally oblivious to the judgment and disaster that was about to befall them (v39). Such a comparison raises a significant question. At the end of the age, will God honour the Noahic covenant, as expressed in Genesis 8:21-9:17? God promised never again to wipe out all living things with a flood. The flood was an indiscriminate act of judgment that destroyed all life on earth, except eight human beings and two of each kind of animal that entered the ark. Here in verses 40 to 41, Jesus describes end-time judgements that will target specific individuals and spare others, "Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one left. There will be two women grinding grain with a mill; one will be taken and one left". These individuals are not enemy combatants at the battle of Armageddon, but are pictured as people engaged in civilian workplaces. 'Being taken' in these verses is a euphemism for being killed. 'Being left' describes those who are spared. This is not a description of the rapture in which being taken would be a good thing. Jesus is warning that if people are not prepared for his coming, their lack of preparedness may cost them their very lives!

Like a Thief in the Night (v42-44)
In verses 42 to 44, Jesus likens his coming to a thief in the night. He says that if the house owner knew what time the thief was coming, he would stay alert and not let his house be broken into. The 'thief in the night' metaphor has four implications:
1) His coming will be a surprise to most
2) Those who are taken by surprise will suffer loss
3) There are things we can do to prevent ourselves suffering loss
4) We must stay alert (to the signs of the times) and be ready (living in faith and righteousness) 'because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him' (v44)

But who does the 'you' refer to in verse 44? Is this analogy directed at believers, unbelievers, or everyone? The Apostle Paul gives us additional insight in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. In verse 2, he says, "For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night". Notice that he identifies the 'thief in the night' metaphor not just with the literal 24-hour day in which Jesus first appears, but more generally with the 'day of the Lord'. The day of the Lord is 'the day of vengeance of our God' in Isaiah 61:2b, and is the time period within which Great Tribulation takes place, including the trumpet and bowl judgments, and the battle of Armageddon. If people are not living in faith and in Christ's righteousness when he comes, they will not be raptured. Consequently, they will have to go through the day of wrath, and many of them will die. In verse 3, Paul says, "Now when they are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape". Notice Paul's use of the birth and labour metaphor. And notice that the Great Tribulation starts, and Christ returns, shortly after a time of relative peace that turns out to be a false hope because Antichrist breaks his peace treaty (Daniel 9:27). In verses 4 to 10, Paul says, "But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness for the day to overtake you like a thief would. For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we are of the day, we must stay sober by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet our hope for salvation. For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him". In other words, the warning that the day of the Lord will come like a thief is a warning to non-Christians, since it is they who will suffer loss when he comes. For Christians, although there may still be an element of surprise, Christ's coming is something to get excited about, whether we are 'alert' (i.e. still alive) or 'asleep' (i.e. have already died). Why? Because at Christ's coming, Christians who have died will be resurrected, and those who are still alive will be raptured.

Be Ready
In Luke's parallel account, Jesus says in Luke 21:34-36, "But be on your guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day close down upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will overtake all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that must happen, and to stand before the Son of Man".

The Subtlety of End-Time Signs
Another important implication of the surprise element of Christ's coming is that it means the signs that precede it must be quite subtle or nuanced. Many people, probably including many Christians, will fail to recognise them as genuine fulfilments of biblical prophecy. We need to remember this when we analyse the signs (which I have numbered 1 to 26 above). Also in Revelation, if Jesus comes back at the sixth seal, it means that the first five seals which precede it must also be quite subtle or nuanced. This was also true at Christ's first coming. Matthew 16:1-3 says, "Now when the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He said, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, because the sky is red,' and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.' You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times". Even though the Pharisees and Sadducees knew the bible well, and had clear expectations of a coming Messiah, Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies differently to how they were expecting him to. Their end-time framework was wrong. Even John the Baptist, who at first recognised Jesus as the promised Messiah, later became confused when things didn't work out as he had expected them to. Matthew 11:2-6 says, "Now when John heard in prison about the deeds Christ had done, he sent his disciples to ask a question: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go tell John what you hear and see: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them. Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me". As Jesus points out, he was fulfilling Messianic prophecies. But the fact that John was in prison and about to lose his head made things seem really quite confusing. Likewise when Christians face the kind of persecution and martyrdom that Jesus describes here in Matthew 24:9-13, and that we also see in the fifth seal (Revelation 6:9-11), I am sure many Christians will end up quite disillusioned and confused.

Parable of the Wise and Wicked Slaves
In verses 45 to 51, Jesus says, "Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work when he comes. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that evil slave should say to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,' 49 and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with drunkards, 50 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, 51 and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth".

This parable further illustrates the point Jesus made in verse 43, that people who are taken by surprise when Jesus comes may suffer loss, like when a thief breaks into their house. In this parable, the master represents Jesus. The slave who is left in charge of his master's household represents not just a Christian, but one who is a leader in the Church. He is aware of Jesus and knows that he is due to come back at some point. In verses 45 to 47, Jesus envisages the slave being wise. When the master returns, he finds this slave working hard and fulfilling his duties in an honest and worthy manner. When Jesus returns, he will reward this person with a promotion of responsibility for the age to come. In verses 48 to 51, Jesus then envisages the slave being wicked. He represents a church leader who is not a true believer. When Jesus returns, he finds this person to have failed in his responsibilities and to have acted dishonourably. This church leader is assigned a place with the hypocrites and sent to hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. A hypocrite is someone who acts the part, but is not genuine. So this is another parable about the state of the end-time Church. Like the parables in Matthew 13, it paints a picture of the Church as a mixed bag that Jesus must sort out at his coming. Jesus' point is this - Christian leaders should not be complacent about the second coming, thinking it will all work out fine for the Church. The second coming will reveal shocking realities for many in the Church. And if this is what Jesus has to say about church leaders, what about those in the pews? And what about those outside the Church? As Peter says in 1 Peter 4:18, "And if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinners?"

Analysis of the 'birth pains'
Taking into account all of the above, we are now in a position to analyse each of the signs that Jesus gives.

In verses 4 to 8, Jesus lists the following, which he describes as 'the beginning of birth pains'.
1) False Messiahs deceiving people (Matthew 24:4-5)
2) Wars and rumours of war (Matthew 24:6-7)
3) Famines (Matthew 24:7)
4) Earthquakes (Matthew 24:7)
In Luke's parallel account, Jesus' description of these signs also includes:
5) Plagues (Luke 21:11)
6) Terrifying sights and great signs in the sky (Luke 21:11)

I have suggested that the metaphorical pregnancy starts with the fig tree spouting leaves (v32), which we might interpret to be Israel's new beginning in 1948. The pregnancy ends with Christ's return in glory (v30). If all this happens within a generation of 1948, then we should expect the second coming by 2028. If by 'birth-pains' Jesus has in mind what are known today as Braxton-Hicks contractions, these normally start in the third trimester, but sometimes earlier. In that case, events like 9/11 and the resulting 'war on terror' could fit into the category of 'wars and rumours of war''.

Notice that the first of the birth pains, according to Matthew's account, is false messiahs deceiving people. Jesus says, in verses 4-5, "Watch out that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and they will mislead many". These are not necessarily people claiming to be Jesus. The words 'Christ' (from Greek) and its equivalent 'Messiah' (from Hebrew) both mean an 'anointed one', and by implication (taking biblical messianic expectations into account) an anointed saviour sent from God. These false messiahs are a precursor to the coming Antichrist, who is almost certainly a Muslim (see for example my commentary on Gog in Ezekiel 38). And it is likely that the Antichrist will be recognised as the awaited Mahdi of Islam and accepted as the new Caliph. So these false messiahs at the beginning of the birth pains could be Muslim leaders, people like Osama Bin Laden, the late leader of Al-Qaeda, or Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the late leader of ISIS, who claimed to be the new Caliph.

On the other hand, if by 'birth-pains' Jesus is thinking about what is known today as prodromal labour, these normally start at about 36 or 37 weeks. In that case, comparing a 40 week pregnancy with an 80 year generation, the last four weeks of pregnancy would be equivalent to about the last eight years of the generation. So we should expect the birth pains to have started by about 2020. Also, if Christian Widener is correct that Daniel's prophecy of '70 weeks' has a second fulfilment starting in 1537, then 2020 marks the beginning of the 70th week. If Christ comes back at the sixth seal, then we should expect the first five seals to be completed before his coming. That means that in 2024, some of them may have already been opened.

Comparing the 'birth pains' with the 'seals'
In Revelation 6, the first four seals release four riders on different coloured horses, the so-called 'Four horses of the Apocalypse'. These release conquest, war, famine and disease, which correlates well with the birth pains. In the following video, Widener presents a compelling case that they have already started opening:

The first seal releases a white horse whose rider wears a crown and carries a bow, and who rides forth as a conqueror bent on conquest. Traditionally it has been common to interpret this as a portrayal of the Antichrist and the start of his conquests. However, Widener points out that the Greek word for a crown is 'corona'. He suggests that the bow represents an airborne threat, and that this seal was fulfilled by the corona-virus (covid) pandemic. Perhaps the colour white is symbolic of it being a medical threat.

The second seal releases a red horse whose rider is given permission to take peace from the earth so that people butcher each other. Red is the colour of blood and represents war. Widener suggests this could have been fulfilled by Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Potentially, this could also fulfil the 'wars and rumours of war' of the birth pains in verse 6-7.

The third seal releases a rider on a black horse, carrying a scale. As he rides forth a voice says, "A quart of wheat will cost a day's pay and three quarts of barley will cost a day's pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine!" This is traditionally taken as a portrayal of famine. But more accurately, it portrays inflation which affects basic food prices, and could potentially lead to famine. The concern expressed about the oil and the wine suggests that luxuries will still be available for the rich who can afford them. So it is a picture of inflation that most affects the poor. As Widener points out, the combined effect of the covid pandemic, followed by consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war, led to a worldwide 'cost of living crisis' that is still being felt today (in 2024) and could still lead to famine in various parts of the developing world. According to Wikipedia's 'List of Famines' there are currently famines in Gaza, Sudan, Madagascar and Ethiopia.

In the birth pains in verse 7, famines are closely associated with earthquakes. Whilst an earthquake happens almost every day somewhere in the world (See 'Latest Earthquakes Worldwide'), in 2023 there were three major earthquakes that caused significant loss of life, (see Wikipedia's list of 21st century earthquakes).

In Revelation 6:7-8, the fourth seal releases a pale green horse. This colour represents sickness and disease. Its rider is Death, and Hades follows right behind. Like famine, disease often follows as a consequence of war. At the end of World War I, so-called Spanish flu killed seventy-five million people worldwide, many times more than those who died in conflict. Since the outbreak of war in Yemen in 2015, international aid organisations have been battling to contain outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria, which are indirect consequences of war. The rider's identification as Death, with Hades following right behind, represents the large number of people who will die of sickness and disease. Jesus listed plagues as one of the end-time signs in Luke 21:11. Verse 8 tells us that they (the four horsemen) will be given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill its population by sword, famine, disease, and by wild animals. This could be understood in at least two different ways:-

-either that a quarter of the earth's global population will perish. Currently that would equate to about 2 billion people out of a global population of about 8 billion, leaving about 6 billion survivors. We certainly haven't seen that yet!

-or that the events associated with the four horsemen will affect approximately one quarter of the earth's geographical area, and that within that limited area, many people will die. This interpretation would imply a much more limited total death toll. However, even with the recent death toll in war zones like Ukraine and Gaza, it is still hard to see this fourth seal as having been fulfilled yet. But as I write this in November 2024, Israel is simultaneously battling enemies on seven fronts, and a major escalation could easily be just round the corner.


Terrifying Sights and Great Signs from heaven
Luke 21:11 says, "There will be great earthquakes, and famines and plagues in various places, and there will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven". So according to Luke's account, 'terrifying sights' and 'great signs from heaven' appear to fit together with those signs that are described as 'birth pains' here in Matthew 24. If the birth pains are like Braxton-Hicks contractions that happen earlier in the pregnancy, terrifying sights might include 9/11 and the attack on the Twin Towers. Certainly the sight of the second aircraft striking the South Tower was a terrifying sight that was witnessed not only by the people of New York, but also by millions around the world as they watched live coverage on their TV's. During 2014-2017 while ISIS controlled swathes of northern Iraq and eastern Syria, there were many videos circulating online of the most horrific and terrifying public executions and massacres. If the birth pains are like Prodorma labor and denote more recent events, the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023 would certainly fit the description of 'terrifying sights', which again were available online to anyone who chose to watch them.

Great signs from heaven likely includes the great astronomical sign of Revelation 12:1-2 which I believe was fulfilled on September 23, 2017 (see my commentary on Revelation 12). Like a road sign on a motorway that indicates you are approaching an exit, the fulfilment of this great sign indicates that the second coming is just up ahead.

Persecution and Martyrdom
Jesus says in verses 9 to 14, "Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. 10 Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved".

This seems to occur after the events that he describes as the beginning of birth pains in verse 8. This also fits with the sequence of the seals. Revelation 6:9-11 says, "Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Each of them was given a long white robe and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been".

In both cases we see that Christians have to endure a period of persecution and martyrdom, and we see here in Matthew that it causes many to turn away from their faith and even to betray each other. Jesus talks about false prophets deceiving many. These could well be Christian leaders and prophecy scholars giving Christians false expectations about end times. For example, many Christians refuse to recognise that the founding of the modern State of Israel, and many other other recent world events are fulfilments of biblical end time prophecies. Others, of a Dispensationalist persuasion, teach that we are all going to be raptured before the trouble starts. Consequently, when the trouble really does start, and being faithful to Christ might cost you your life, you can just imagine how confusing that might be for many, and how they might become disillusioned and turn away.

A little later during the sixth seal, when we see the raptured Church in Revelation 7:9-17, we are told in verse 14, "These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation". In other words, the great tribulation is seen to have already been under way when they were raptured. So presumably that means that the persecutions and martyrdoms that happen during the fifth seal are part of the great tribulation. If that is true, then the great tribulation starts before the day of wrath begins.

However, it should also be noted that in Luke's account, the time of intense persecution seems to come earlier. In Luke 21:10-11 he describes the equivalent of the birth pains (without labelling them as such). Then in verses 12 to 19 he says, "But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13This will be a time for you to serve as witnesses. 14 Therefore be resolved not to rehearse ahead of time how to make your defence. 15 For I will give you the words along with the wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will have some of you put to death. 17 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. 18 Yet not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives".

According to Open Doors, about 360 million, or 1 in 7 of the World's Christians, currently face persecution. In 2023 approximately 5,000 Christians were martyred for their faith. As well as in North Korea, Christians are increasingly being squeezed out of the Middle East and North Africa, and exploited and attacked by Islamists in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Sudan.

The Great Commission
In verse 14, Jesus says, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come". In other words, the Church must finish its great commission, as Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age".

How close we are to that being fulfilled depends on how you define 'all nations' and what it means exactly for them to have been reached with the message of the gospel. According to the United Nations, there are currently 195 nations. And if you include the availability of the gospel via technology, such as satellite TV, radio, and internet, etc, then the gospel has arguably already been preached in all of them to some extent. On the other hand, if you define it like the mission organisation, 'Global Frontier Missions', they say there are currently over 17,000 unique people groups in the world, and about 42% of them are still unreached. They define an 'unreached people group' as "an identifiable group of people distinguished by a distinct culture, language, or social class who lack a community of Christians able to evangelize the rest of the people group without outside help. The only opportunity for the people group to hear about salvation is through an “external witness.” Most missiologists consider 2% of the population becoming Christ followers as the “tipping point” at which the group is generally considered “reached” with the Gospel."

So how close we are to verse 14 being fulfilled seems somewhat arbitrary.

The Great Tribulation begins
In verses 15 to 21, Jesus says, "So when you see the abomination of desolation – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 The one on the roof must not come down to take anything out of his house, 18 and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great suffering unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen".

As discussed above, this great pivotal event is seen as the starting point of the Great Tribulation. We also saw that in its historic fulfilment in 168 BC, there were two stages to it. First Antiochus Epiphanes committed a massacre of Jews, and later he set up a statue of Zeus in the temple, forced the priests to sacrifice pigs to it, and claimed that he was the human incarnation of Zeus.

In the following video, Christian Widener explains how the massacre of Jews by Hamas on October 7, 2023, may be the fulfilment of the first stage of this end-time abomination of desolation:

There is a lot of detail in this video, so although I will offer a brief summary, do watch it! In my opinion, Widener presents a compelling case that the first stage of the abomination of desolation has already happened. On October 7, Jews in Judea did have to flee to the mountains. They did not have time to collect their belongings, but just had to flee, and many did not make it. It happened on the sabbath, and Hamas targeted many pregnant women and nursing mothers. Hamas called their attack 'The Al-Aqsa Flood', so they saw it as a defence of the Temple Mount, and it seemingly fulfilled what is said in Daniel 9:26, "…the end will come like a flood". According to Hamas, one of the reasons they launched this attack when they did was to prevent the Jewish Temple Institute from performing their planned red heifer sacrifice. So it did put a stop to 'sacrifice and offering' as per Daniel 9:27, meaning we need to rethink the common assumption that the temple would have to rebuilt first. And the atrocities committed by Hamas do fit the definition of an 'abomination' in Proverbs 6:16-19 which says, "There are six things that the Lord hates, even seven things that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift to run to evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who spreads discord among family members." So even though the second stage of the abomination of desolation, the setting up of some kind of statue on the Temple Mount, has not happened yet, there is good reason to believe that the Great Tribulation has already started. Of course, that also means that the common assumption of a pre-trib rapture needs to be reconsidered.

Jerusalem surrounded by armies
Whereas Matthew's account identifies 'the abomination of desolation…standing in the holy place' as the point at which the Jews in Judea have to flee to the mountains, etc, and as the starting point of the Great Tribulation, in Luke's parallel account it is Jerusalem being surrounded by armies.

Jesus says, in Luke 21:20-24, "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Those who are inside the city must depart. Those who are out in the country must not enter it, 22 because these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away as captives among all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled".

First of all, it is important to note that these verses were fulfilled historically with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the second temple in 70 AD. At that time, approximately one million Jews perished, and many of the survivors were led away as slaves to be sold in the slave markets of the Roman Empire.

However, just as the abomination of desolation was fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 BC, and yet Jesus spoke of it as a yet-future end-time event, so also it is clear that this prophecy of Jerusalem's fall and desolation has both a historic and a future fulfilment. That said, there may be parts of the prophecy that only have one fulfilment. For example, will the Jews will be led away as captives among all nations in the end-time fulfilment?

Luke 21:20 tells us that when Jerusalem is surrounded by armies, we should know that its desolation is near (Luke 21:20). But it is not immediate. There is time for those inside the city to leave, presumably before it is completely surrounded. And those in Judea should flee to the mountains. It is during the time remaining, between the invasion and the fall of the city, that there is great suffering in Israel, and a worldwide surge in antisemitism, since verse 23 says, "…there will be great distress on earth and wrath against this people". In the historic fulfilment of this prophecy, Jerusalem was besieged for three years between 66 and 70 AD before it fell. We are not told how long it will be besieged before the second coming, but clearly it is long enough for there to be a time of great suffering. Zechariah 12:2 describes this end-time siege, "I am about to make Jerusalem a cup that brings dizziness to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged".

Matthew 24:22 says, "And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short". You can just imagine the potential for nuclear war to break out when Antichrist's coalition invades Israel and besieges Jerusalem. Mankind will be on the brink of self-annihilation. For the sake of the elect (who are still present on earth at this point), God will not let this happen. But it will certainly look like it might!

During this same period, Matthew 24:24-25 tells us, "For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Remember, I have told you ahead of time". The Apostle Paul also warned us of this in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11, "The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan's working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved. Consequently God sends on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false". These false messiahs are people claiming to be anointed and sent by God. But notice they are associated with the arrival of the Antichrist, who is almost certainly a Muslim. Likewise, these false messiahs may well be Islamic clerics, claiming to be sent by Allah. In Matthew 24:26, Jesus specifically warns us that they may come out of the wilderness, perhaps from the deserts of Arabia. He warns us not to be deceived by the false miracles that they perform. And he explains that it is pointless to go out looking for them, as he says in verse 29, "For just like the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather". In other words, when Jesus, the true Messiah, appears, it will be as obvious as lightning and everyone will see it. His statement about the vultures is somewhat ominous. It suggests a battlefield scene, with so many slain that the vultures gathering over their corpses will be visible from far and wide.


The fall of Jerusalem
The end-time fall of Jerusalem is clearly prophesied in Zechariah 14:1-5. It is not obvious that Jerusalem holds out under siege for a period of time. Zechariah seems to skip over that and jump straight to Jerusalem's fall which is portrayed as the trigger for the coming of Messiah. At that point, the Lord (i.e. Jesus as God-incarnate) personally intervenes and sets his feet on the Mount of Olives, splitting it in two. This creates a great valley through which Jerusalem's refugees can flee. Similarly, in Ezekiel 38-39, the Antichrist, who is given the name 'Gog', forms an international invasion force that unites to invade Israel and conquer Jerusalem. Ezekiel 38:18-20 says, "On that day, when Gog invades the land of Israel, declares the sovereign LORD, my rage will mount up in my anger. 19 In my zeal, in the fire of my fury, I declare that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild beasts, all the things that creep on the ground, and all people who live on the face of the earth will shake at my presence. The mountains will topple, the cliffs will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground". Again we see that this invasion of Jerusalem is the trigger point for God personally intervening, such that "all people who live on the face of the earth will shake at my presence". There is also a great earthquake which correlates with the Mount of Olives being split in two in Zechariah's prophecy. The earth shaking at God's presence is the second coming.

The Second Coming
Matthew 24:29-30 says, "Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory". It seems that the 'suffering of those days' lasts as long as Jerusalem holds out under siege. But when it falls, the events that follow do so immediately. There is no more delay. The sun and moon are darkened, the stars appear to fall from the sky, and Jesus arrives on the clouds with power and great glory. It seems as though these astronomical events coincide with his coming. They probably all happen on the same day. Similarly, on the same day that Jesus died, the sun was darkened for three hours between noon and 3pm (Luke 23:44). And as the full moon rose that evening (April 3, 33 AD), it was a blood moon (the gospels don't record this, but Peter alludes to it in Acts 2:20, and it can verified using astronomy software). Notice that as well as people seeing Jesus himself coming on the clouds, all the tribes of the earth are said to mourn when they see the sign of the Son on Man in heaven (i.e. in the sky). Although Jesus is God, in the incarnation he became forever human, and in his humanity he surely cannot be visible to all the tribes of the earth at one moment. So people in Jerusalem will see Jesus with their own eyes as he descends in glory and sets his feet on the Mount of Olives. But the sign of the Son of Man seems to be visible globally in an instant, such that all the tribes of the earth mourn. Comparing Jesus' description of these events with the same in Revelation 6:12-16, the sign of the Son of Man seems to equate in some way to the sky splitting apart and being rolled up, at the same time as a massive earthquake shakes the globe. The sky rolling up like a scroll may resemble the pillar of cloud that led the Jews during the Exodus, and so be a recognisable sign to the Jews. The sky splitting apart seems to tear back the veil and reveal the heavenly dimension, such that from that moment onwards, people looking up at the sky can see God sitting on his heavenly throne. At the same time they become aware that the day of God's wrath has come, and so they mourn.

In Luke 21:25, Jesus also seems to describe tsunamis at the same time as the heavenly phenomena that occur at Christ's coming. If the earth is shaken by a massive earthquake, it makes sense that there will also be tsunamis.

Revelation 1:7 says, "Look! He is returning with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes on the earth will mourn because of him". The second half of this verse points to Zechariah 12:10, "I will pour out on the kingship of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me, the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn". So Jesus reveals himself to the Jews, and they repent and mourn. But in Matthew 24, this mourning is extended globally to all the tribes of the earth.

The heavenly phenomena that Jesus describes in verse 29 are also prophesied in Isaiah 34:1-4, "Come near, you nations, and listen! Pay attention, you people! The earth and everything it contains must listen, the world and everything that lives in it. 2 For the LORD is angry at all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will annihilate them and slaughter them. 3 Their slain will be left unburied, their corpses will stink; the hills will soak up their blood. 4 All the stars in the sky will fade away, the sky will roll up like a scroll; all its stars will wither, like a leaf withers and falls from a vine or a fig withers and falls from a tree. 5 He says, “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. Look, it now descends on Edom, on the people I will annihilate in judgment". The phenomenon of the stars appearing to fall from the sky seems to relate to Satan's principalities and powers being cast out of the heavenly realm, down to the earth. This war in heaven, with Satan being cast down to the earth, is described in more detail in Revelation 12:7-12.

Notice also that Isaiah associates these heavenly phenomena with a time of great slaughter, which explains why Jesus says in Matthew 24:28, "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather". However, I do not believe this is the battle of Armageddon - that comes later.

The Rapture
Jesus says in Matthew 24:30-31, "…They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other".

Verse 31 is Christ's description of the rapture. I realise this might come as a shock to many of you reading this, but notice that the rapture happens after the second coming, not before it!

The rapture is described in most detail by the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord". The words 'caught up' are the English translation of the Greek word 'harpazo', which in the latin translation of the New Testament (the Vulgate) was translated using the latin word 'rapturo'. So the 'rapture' is the time when the Church is 'caught up'. Notice that according to Paul, Jesus comes down first, and then the rapture happens. And this is no 'secret rapture' where Christians mysteriously vanish into thin air in the way that has been dramatically portrayed in some movies! Rather, it happens after Jesus descends in glory with a shout of command, the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God. I am quite sure that all three of these will be loud! There is no 'secret' here!

Also in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, Paul writes, "Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not arrive until the rebellion comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, and as a result he takes his seat in God's temple, displaying himself as God". Notice that once again, the order is first the arrival of Jesus, and second 'our being gathered to be with him'. And both of these come after the Antichrist is revealed. The rebellion which Paul mentions is presumably Antichrist's invasion of Israel as revealed in Ezekiel 38 and Zechariah 14, after which he takes his seat in God's temple, displaying himself as God. By this time the Great Tribulation is already well under way. So there is no 'pre-trib' rapture. (Sorry if that upsets you!)

Also, we have seen that the second coming as described in Matthew 24:29-30 is also described in Revelation 6:12-17, during the sixth seal. After that, but still during the sixth seal, we see the raptured Church in Revelation 7:9-17. As verse 9 says, "After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands". So once again, notice that the second coming happens first, and then the rapture.

Paul also describes the rapture in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, "Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 52 in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed". Here Paul makes no mention of Christ's return exactly. But the trumpet blast, that he mentioned earlier in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, he now refers to as 'the last trumpet'. For a long time, I equated the last trumpet with the last of the seven trumpets, as described in Revelation 11:15. However, reading Christian Widener's book, 'Witnessing the End' recently forced me to re-examine this point, and to see that it makes much more sense that the rapture happens at the sixth seal. As a result, I have recently rewritten my commentaries on Revelation, and now this commentary on Matthew 24. I still need to update many of my other commentaries, so in the meantime I do apologise in advance that you are likely to find some inconsistencies between my various commentaries. It is possible that the 'last trumpet' refers to the last trumpet at the Feast of Trumpets, at Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. In 2025, this ends on September 24. In 2026 it will be on September 21.

Beyond the Rapture
In Matthew 24, Jesus only takes us as far as his coming in glory (the 'parousia') and the rapture, which in Revelation come at the sixth seal (in Revelation 6:12-17 and 7:9-17 respectively). His coming marks the beginning of the day of wrath (Revelation 6:17). Revelation reveals a whole lot more that happens after these two great events, including the trumpet and bowl judgments, the fall of Mystery Babylon, the battle of Armageddon, the Millennium, and ultimately the new heaven and new earth. For Christians, the rapture effectively marks the 'end of the age' and so Jesus only takes us up to that point in the Olivet Discourse. But for the rest of the world who are left behind, the end of the age is still a little way off. Revelation gives us additional detail as to what will happen in that intervening period between the rapture and Antichrist's final defeat at Armageddon. It also gives us a glimpse into the Millennium which is the 'age to come', during which Satan is bound and no longer able to deceive the nations (Revelation 20:1-10).

It is clear from Zechariah 14:5 that Jesus' arrival on the Mount of Olives facilitates the escape of Jerusalem's refugees. We see the same in Revelation 12:6, that after Christ's arrival (which is portrayed metaphorically as a kind of birth), the Jews flee into the wilderness for 1,260 days. We see that at Christ's coming, the stars appear to fall from the sky, which is the visible manifestation of Satan and his principalities and powers being cast down to earth. Revelation 12:13-14 says, "Now when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out into the wilderness, to the place God prepared for her, where she is taken care of – away from the presence of the serpent – for a time, times, and half a time". In other words, when the second coming happens, there are still three and a half years before we get to the battle of Armageddon and the end of the age for the non-Christian world.

The Olivet Discourse is Christ's response to the disciples' questions in Matthew 24:3, "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Their question about timing relates to three things:- 1) the destruction of the temple, 2) Christ's return, and 3) the end of the age. Jesus gave no further details about exactly when the destruction of the temple would happen. It sufficed that Daniel 9:27 had said it would be some time after the '69th week'. As it turned out, it happened about 42 years after that. Jesus focusses on the timing and signs related to his coming, and the rapture of the Church. Several decades later, after sitting on the Mount of Olives and answering their questions, he appears again to the Apostle John on the Island of Patmos. And on that occasion he reveals significantly more about the end of the age.

If I have understood Matthew 24:32 correctly, then all the signs that Jesus describes in this chapter, up to and including the second coming and the rapture, will happen within a generation of the fig tree sprouting leaves. If that is indeed a portrayal of Israel's new beginning in 1948, and if a generation is to be taken as 80 years, then we should expect the second coming to take place before the State of Israel's 80th anniversary on May 14, 2028. And if Widener is correct that Daniel's timeline of '70 weeks' has a second fulfilment starting with the decree by Suleiman in 1537 AD, then we should expect the second coming before the end of the 70th week in 2027. Yes, there are several 'ifs' here, so only time will tell. The most important question is, "Are you ready?"