Signs of the End

Matthew 24:3-14

Immanuel – 3/30/25

          Last week I said we came to one of the most climactic moments in the Gospel of Matthew: when Jesus prophesies the destruction of both Jerusalem and the temple. These came like two prophetic thunderclaps in last week’s passage. Remember them?

          From 23:35-36. “On you may come all the righteous blood shed on the [land]…Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”

          Judgment was coming for that generation. Jesus was speaking to the people who would experience it, who would be held accountable for shedding the righteous blood of God’s messengers.

          Then, as Jesus left the temple, and His disciples marveled at its magnificence, Jesus prophesied its destruction.

          Read vs 1-2

          I hope you can see how clear it is. Jesus was prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, and it would be a judgment in the days of that generation.

          After these prophesies, Jesus and the disciples leave the temple through the east gate and ascend the Mount of Olives. At some point He turns and sits down. From the heights of the Mount of Olives Jesus could see all of Jerusalem and look down upon the Temple Mount. It’s still Tuesday, the final week before the cross. It’s likely evening by this point. The sun was surely low on the western horizon; perhaps casting Jerusalem in a fiery orange hue, golden objects of the temple glinting like flames.

And I imagine Him taking in the sight with heavy heart as He surveys the forlorn city. The disciples too are troubled – deeply troubled. They ask Jesus a question that reveals so much to us today.

          Read vs 3

          It is critical to understand the associations the disciples were making. Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple. The disciples associated this with two separate things:

1.      Judgment for the temple would arrive at Jesus’ coming.

2.      The destruction of the temple was the end of the age.

Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question is the final discourse in Matthew: The Olivet Discourse – Matthew 24 and 25. It appears that Jerusalem’s crowds are no longer following Jesus, because The Olivet Discourse is delivered exclusively and privately to the disciples. The whole discourse is an answer to the disciples’ question. Their question is effectively this: “When will these judgments happen, and how will we know?”

Again, the disciples understood that the destruction of the temple meant two things: it was the signal of Jesus’ coming and it was the end of the age. Also remember that Jesus had said all of these things – the judgment for spilling righteous blood – would come upon that generation. This means the disciples were asking about something Jesus prophesied would happen within their potential lifespan.

This is further punctuated later in the Olivet Discourse when Jesus says,

“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”                                                                       -Matthew 24:34

I’ll unpack that verse when we get to it. But for today, I think it is clear the disciples were expecting to see the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophesies. I labor the point because I take a particular view on the Olivet Discourse. I believe Jesus’ prophesies from 24:4 through 24:45 were fulfilled in 70 AD and the years leading up to it. For in 70 AD the Romans destroyed both Jerusalem and the temple, some 40 years – or within one generation – of Jesus’ prophesies.

If you have never heard these things before, it can be shocking. I grew up in a Christian tradition that did not teach these things. The majority of modern Christian traditions don’t. Like most everyone else, I firmly believed the events of Matthew 24 were coming in the future. A certain excitement would grip me when wars and earthquakes and spiritual rebellions made headlines; because it meant Jesus was coming. But it was also a fearful thing. I was sure that the end was near, and terrible persecutions were coming, and disasters would claim the lives of countless people – loved ones included.

Ultimately, I fell into the trap of using news headlines to interpret the Bible. Even still, I was aware of certain passages that slowly eroded my thoughts about a future tribulation, and a rapture, and a host of other things. The foremost of those passages I have already quoted today: this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. My mind swirled with questions about that verse, and a few others like it. After years of careful reading, and seeking to understand the apocalyptic genre, I entirely changed my view.

So even if this sermon is shocking for you today, I ask you to give me a chance. See for yourself if I am using the Bible faithfully, or not. It took me years, I do not expect anyone to change their mind in a morning.

And here is why I believe it is so important: Jesus was the greatest prophet. He is the Messiah, He is the Son of God, and He is the Prophet. The Olivet Discourse is a prophetic discourse. It is Jesus’ longest, most complex series of prophesies. Were Jesus’ prophecies true or not? Did He get it wrong? And if you believe that the Olivet Discourse was for a future generation, did the disciples misunderstand Jesus? Because they clearly thought they were living in the Last Days.

·        1 John 2:18 - This is the last hour.

·        1 Peter 4:7- The end of all things is at hand.

·        Hebrews 10:25- The day was drawing near.

Did Jesus get it wrong? Did the disciples? Or is something else going on?

Additionally, for any who doubt Jesus, thinking He was just a good teacher and nothing more; for any who think He got some things wrong, then today is for you. The Olivet Discourse is a proof that Jesus is who He claimed to be. These are not the vague fortunetellings of Nostradamus. This is prophetic precision, fulfilled with exactitude, proving that Jesus is the Beginning and the End, with dominion over time, Lord over all.

And for we who believe, what an encouragement these things are to us, affirming that Jesus is indeed The Prophet, the one Moses said would come. The man sitting on the Mount of Olives, watching the sun set over Jerusalem, is our Alpha and Omega, who holds our beginning and our end, the Lord over all!

(Parenthesis)

You should know that there are two interpretive lenses which greatly inform my perspective.

First is Covenant Theology. I do not believe that God has one plan for the Jews and another plan for the Gentiles (Dispensationalism). I believe God’s eternal plan of redemption is progressively revealed through covenants, finding its fulfillment and culmination in Christ.

Second, I take a partial preterist view of much of the Olivet Discourse and Revelation and “end times” things. Simply meaning, I believe many eschatological events have already been fulfilled. “Preterist” comes from the Latin word for “past.” Contrast this with those who interpret these things from a futurist perspective, meaning we still await their fulfillment – they haven’t happened yet.

A note of clarity, there is something called full preterism, which says that the resurrection of the dead, and the new heavens and the new earth, and everything the Bible prophesies is completely fulfilled. That is a heresy which has been denounced by the church throughout her history and I thoroughly oppose.

Both the foundations for covenant theology and partial preterism were laid by many of the early church fathers in the earliest centuries of the church. These interpretive lenses are nothing new, embraced by true Christian orthodoxy.

(Close Parenthesis)

          Back to the disciples’ assumptions in verse 3. They understood the destruction of the temple meant Jesus’ coming; and they understood the destruction of the temple meant the end of the age. I will deal with Jesus’ coming in two weeks, when we look at 24:29-35. But let me talk about why the disciples thought the destruction of the temple meant the end of the age.

          For the entirety of this Holy Tuesday, the disciples have been observing fiery confrontation between Jesus and Jerusalem’s religious leaders. They have maligned and rejected Jesus openly and publicly.

And Jesus told the religious leaders that they disobey God, that the kingdom would be taken from them, it would be given to a different people, and that they were not sons of God, but sons of hell. Overlay all of this with the prophesied destruction of the temple, and the disciples know exactly what Jesus is talking about: the end of the age.

          The most popular narrative in Western Christianity is that the end of the age is the end of history, the end of the world. In the context of the disciples’ understanding, and Jesus’ response, I believe that is wrong (though you are perfectly free to disagree). I believe the end of the age refers to the end of the Mosaic age; or, the age that was bound to the Mosaic covenant and the Mosaic law.

          I could spend a series of sermons unpacking that statement, but I have already laid so much groundwork in this series on Matthew, that I lean on previous words and trust the Spirit will enliven your memories. But simply put, a new covenantal age was initiated in Jesus. In Jesus the Mosaic Law was not abolished, it was fulfilled. Remember what Jesus said?

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”                                  -Matthew 5:17

          Jesus did not throw away the Mosaic Covenant, He completed it. The things completed are therefore obsolete. The Book of Hebrews is almost entirely written so we could understand the beginning of a new redemptive age and the ending of the Mosaic age. These are just a few examples from Hebrews.

Jesus is the fulfillment of sacrifice, the once for all sacrifice (Hebrews 7:27). No longer are animal sacrifices needed.

          Jesus is the fulfilment of the priesthood, the perfect and eternal High Priest (Hebrews 7:28). No longer do we need human priests to mediate between God and man.

          Jesus is the fulfillment of the temple; He gives us access to the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 10:19). No longer do we need a temple, but by the blood of Christ we can draw need to God with full assurance of faith.

Jesus is greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:3), to which the Mosaic Law was always pointing. The glory Christ offers far exceeds anything offered through the Mosaic covenant.

In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. -Hebrews 8:13

          The writer of Hebrews wanted us to see the end of the Mosaic age, and the dawning new age of Jesus which makes all things new. In Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, the new age began. The old age decisively ended with the destruction of the temple – for no longer could the temple system operate. It passed away. It was the end of its time.

But hear that the old age, the Mosaic age, was passing away. It wasn’t gone yet. Meanwhile, the new age was present and growing, pushing the old age into obsolescence.

When you realize that Hebrews was written in the 60s AD, then it becomes clear that there was a 40-year overlap of ages. The entirety of the New Testament was written within this 40 year period, and so much of it comes into focus when you understand the overlap of ages. The disciples commonly refer to this overlap of ages as “The Last Days.”

The majority of Jesus’ prophesies in the Olivet Discourse were fulfilled in this 40-year overlap. For they found their fulfillment when the temple was destroyed. Let us transition now into Jesus’ prophesies: the signs of the end of the age.

          If you have never heard how precisely Jesus predicted the events which unfolded between His ascension and 70 AD, then may the Spirit move you to be astonished. And not merely astonished at Jesus’ accuracy, but astonished at Jesus. Only God could prophesy like this!

          Jesus makes 7 distinct prophesies in this first section of the Olivet Discourse, each a sign that the end of the age approaches. Again, these prophesies primarily related to the Jews and the Jewish Promised Land, unless otherwise specified.

1.      Vs 4-5 – False Christs leading many astray

2.      Vs 6-7 – Wars and rumors of wars

3.      Vs 7 – Famines (various places – beyond “the land”)

4.      Vs 7 – Earthquakes (various places – beyond “the land”)

5.      Vs 9 – Persecution, hatred, martyrdom

6.      Vs 10-12 – False prophets, lawlessness, lovelessness, betrayal

7.      Vs 14 – Gospel proclaimed in the whole world

Most modern Christians do not realize how thoroughly these prophesies were fulfilled in the first century. Let me breeze through these fulfilments as recorded by the New Testament and history. It might seem like a deluge of information, but you will be able to find these in my manuscript available at the Welcome Center and on Tuesday it should be online. Let’s take the prophecies one at a time.

False Christs

·        34 AD: Dositheus the Samaritan claimed to be the Messiah and led many astray. Peter confronted his prominent disciple, Simon Magus, in Acts 8.

·        37 AD: A Samaritan false-messiah assembled a small army. Pilate killed them all.

·        45 AD: Theudas persuaded a great multitude of people to leave everything and follow him across the Jordan River, which would part upon their arrival, and they would cross on dry ground. Cuspius Fadus, procurator of Judea pursued them, killed many, and brought Theudas’ severed head back to Jerusalem.

·        55 AD: Felix the Egyptian led 30,000 Jews to the Mt of Olives where they would watch Jerusalem’s walls miraculously crumble, after which they would defeat the Romans. The Roman governor (also Felix) feared a revolt, killed 400, and dispersed the rest. Felix the Egyptian disappeared.

·        60 AD: A false-messiah promised to throw off the Romans if people followed him into the desert. There they would see great signs from Heaven. Governor Porcius Festus killed the imposter and all his followers.

Not only was Jesus warning His followers not to be led astray for the sake of their faith, but He was also warning them not to be led astray because many who followed after false-messiahs were slaughtered. Jesus’ warning was a double mercy.

Wars and Rumors of War

·        37 AD: there was war between Herod Antipas and Aretas, King of Arabia Petra. Herod was defeated and upset so he wrote Caesar Tiberius. Tiberius sent his Roman legions stationed in Syria to destroy Aretas, but armies stopped in Jerusalem and nothing came of it.

·        40 AD: Caesar Caligula ordered that his statue be erected in the Temple. This was such an abomination that the Jews prepared for war to such a degree that farmers stopped plowing their fields. Nothing happened.

·        46 AD: Jews from Perea and Jews from Philadelphia went to war with each other over the city of Mia. Many Jews were killed.

·        50 AD: Roman governor Cumanus sent the military into Jerusalem to quell a growing riot. In the ensuing chaos, Josephus records that between 20 and 30 thousand Jews perished.

·        54 AD: There was a war between Jews and Samaritans.

·        66 AD: In Alexandria, Egypt, riots broke out as the Jews rebelled against Roman oppression. Roman legions descended on them and Josephus writes, “[The Romans] slew that nation of 50 thousand persons, sparing neither infants nor the aged.” This rebellion spread into Jopata, where 40 thousand more were killed.

·        66 AD: At the same time, an unrelated Jewish revolt broke out against Rome in Caesarea, Palestine. This revolt spread to Damascus, Tyre, Ascalon, Gadara, Scythopolis. Tens of thousands were killed. This touched off a 3.5-year war where the Romans, Syrians, and their many allies fought against the Jews, culminating in the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD.

Famines in Various Places

·        41 AD: Famine afflicted the region of Italy surrounding Rome.

·        Began in 45 AD and lasted years: Extended from Italy to Judea and was most prominently felt in Jerusalem. Many died of starvation. Josephus records that “an assaron of corn was sold for 5 drachmae” – or, one day of food cost a week’s wages. We read about this famine in Acts 11 and 1 Corinthians 16.

·        50 AD: Greece

·        52 AD: Rome

·        57 AD: Severe shortages of wheat and grains that lead to famine in Rome.

·        67 AD: Roman armies making war against Jews burned everything from Galilee to Jerusalem. This caused severe famine in all of Syria and Judea.

·        69 AD: Famine was so severe during siege of Jerusalem that all living creatures, including rats, were eaten. There are even very troubling reports from Josephus of starving Jews eating their own children.

Earthquakes in Various Places

·        At Jesus’ death (Matt 27:51-52) and resurrection (Matt 28:2).

·        When Paul and Silas are freed from prison in Philippi, Greece (Acts 16:26)

·        46 AD: an earthquake so big it affected Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, and Samos (all along the coast in Turkey).

·        51 AD: In Rome when Nero ascended to political power.

·        53 AD: In Apameia-Phrygia was so severe that Claudius made them tax free for 5 years afterwards. (South-Central Turkey)

·        61 AD: Laodicea completely destroyed, Colossae and Hierapolis greatly damaged. (central Turkey)

·        63 AD: Pompeii was nearly leveled 7 years before the volcano. Caused a title wave that severely damaged the port of Rome (near modern day Naples, Italy)

·        64 AD: In Neapolis: destroyed the theatre and surrounding buildings after Nero gave a performance. (Greece)

·        69 AD: In Rome when Emperor Galba entered the city.

·        Seneca, famous Roman philosopher and mentor to Nero wrote, “How often have cities in Asia, how often in Achaia, been laid low by a single shock of earthquake! How many towns in Syria, how many in Macedonia, have been swallowed up! How often this kind of devastation laid Cyprus in ruins! How often has Paphos collapsed! Not infrequently are tiding brought to us of utter destruction of entire cities.”

·        69 AD just before the Roman siege on Jerusalem began, as Jewish factions warred with each other inside the walls of the city, Josephus wrote, “For there broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, with continued lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth, that was in an earthquake. These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder; and anyone would guess that these wonders foreshowed some grand calamities that were coming.”

Persecutions

There are 20 distinct incidents of persecutions, threats of persecution, and martyrs recorded in the Book of Acts.

5:17,18

12:1-4

19:23

6:12

13:50

20:3

7:59-60

14:5

21:27-36

8:1-3

14:19

22:25

9:23

16:22-23

23:12

9:29

17:13

24:27

11:19

28:16

·        64 AD Nero instigated a great persecution of Christians throughout his whole empire. Tacitus, the Roman historian, writes, “Nero [falsely accused] as the culprits and punished with the utmost refinement of cruelty a class hated for their abominations, who are commonly called Christians. Christus, from whom their name is derived, was executed at the hands of the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. Checked for a moment, this pernicious superstition again broke out, not only in Judea, the source of the evil, but even in Rome.... Accordingly, arrest was first made of those who confessed [to being Christians]; then, on their evidence, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much on the charge of arson as because of [their] hatred for the human race. Besides being put to death they were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clothed in the hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed. Nero had thrown open his grounds for the display, and was putting on a show in the circus, where he mingled with the people in the dress of charioteer or drove about in his chariot. All this gave rise to a feeling of pity, even towards men whose guilt merited the most exemplary punishment; for it was felt that they were being destroyed not for the public good but to gratify the cruelty of an individual.”

·        Tertullian (an early second century Church father) said, “It was a war against the very name; to be a Christian was of itself crime enough.”

·        Church history also records every apostle, except for John, was martyred for spreading the gospel.

False Prophets, Lawlessness, Lovelessness, Betrayal

·        2 Tim 3:12-13 – Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

·        Of Nero’s persecutions Tacitus records. “Several [Christians] were seized, who confessed, and by their discovery a great multitude of others were convicted and barbarously executed.”

·        Every single epistle deals in some way with heresies/false teachings/false prophets: Judaizes (Galatians), Gnostics (Colossians), the spirit of antichrist (1 Jn 4:3), teaching of demons (1 Tim 4:1), lawless licentiousness (2 Pet 2:1-3)

·        Paul mentions people falling away: Phil 3:18-19; 1 Tim 6:20-21, 2 Tim 4:14-16

·        2 Corinthians 11 is devoted to exposing and rebuking false apostles.

·        Paul tells Timothy to avoid godless people and deceivers in the last days (2 Tim 3:1-9).

·        John mentions people falling away and as a sign of the “last hour:” 1 Jn 2:18-19

·        David Chilton writes: “We generally think of the apostolic period as a time of tremendously explosive evangelism and Church growth, a ‘golden age’ when astounding miracles took place every day. This common image is substantially correct, but it is flawed by one glaring omission. We tend to neglect the fact that the early church was the scene of the most dramatic out-break of heresy in world history.”

Gospel Proclamation in Whole World

“All nations” refers to all nations of the known world. Not Argentina and New Zealand and Korea. In a span of about 35-40 years, the Gospel went to all the nations of the Roman Empire, and you will see, even beyond that. The New Testament confirms Jesus’ prophecy was conclusively fulfilled.

·        Acts 2:5 (Pentecost) – Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

·        Acts 17:6 – Jews form a mob against Paul and Silas in Thessalonica and say, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.”

·        Romans 1:8 – First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

·        Colossians 1:5-6 – Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing – as it also does among you.  

·        Colossians 1:23 – If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Interpreting Scripture with Scripture, the New Testament looks at the Roman Empire and calls it the “world.” For its writers, the Roman world was the known, or civilized, world.

Beyond the New Testament, church history records the following men carried the gospel to distant lands:

o   Peter – Judea, Syria, Turkey (Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia), and Italy

o   Paul – Judea, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Italy

o   John – Southwest Turkey (Asia)

o   Bartholomew – Western Turkey (Asia and Pontus)

o   Matthew – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (Parthia)

o   Phillip & Andrew – Ukraine, Southwest Russia, Romania, Moldova, Hungry, Slovakia (Scythia)

o   Simon the Zealot & Jude – Northern Iraq and Iran (Persia)

o   Jude – Jordan, Saudi Arabia (Idumea), Iraq, Iran, Kuwait (Mesopotamia)

o   Mark & Simon – Egypt; Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco (Africa and Mauritania)

o   Candice’s Eunuch and Matthias – Sudan, Ethiopia

o   Thomas – Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (Media and Carmania)

o   Other Christians in the same time frame are recorded throughout Europe, including Spain, France and Belgium (Gaul), and even the British Isles.

All of this occurs within a span of 40 years, one generation, before 70 AD. The whole Roman world, and much further, received the good news about a carpenter from nowhere Nazareth. When Jesus prophesied gospel expansion across the known world, He had about 120 loyal followers and none of them were traveling outside of Palestine. Truly, who could have foretold such a thing unless He were divine?

          Some might say Jesus was a lunatic. Others call Him a liar. But the evidence shows the overwhelming veracity of His prophecies prove that Jesus is the Lord of lords.

          “I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am He.”                                               -John 13:19

          “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” -Isaiah 46:9-10

          Jesus is God, who knows the end from the beginning. He was preparing His disciples for the tribulations soon to break upon Jerusalem. He was proving His divine foreknowledge. And in this new covenant age, bought in His blood, Jesus is our once-for-all sacrifice, our undying High Priest, our fulfillment for righteousness, God who dwells among us.

What have we to do but bow before Him in worship and obedience?!