Signs of the End

So to what was Jesus pointing when he began to talk about the "End of the Age?"

Matthew 24 recounts Jesus' words concerning the consummation of all things, and each generation of Christians has seen signs exhibited here in their time...and of course we all believe it will conclude in OUR generation. This brings about the frustration of each generation in wondering why it did not come about. The obvious question is, "Why were the signs so clear, and yet Jesus did not make His return?" Some answer that He did come back - in 70 A.D. They see Jesus' predictions as specific only to the Roman destruction of the temple and the ensuing Church age as a sort of "millenial reign." However, let's look at Matthew 24 and see how this doesn't completely hold up, based on the signs Jesus says will accompany the end of the age:

Jesus says in 24:2, "Do you see all these things? (refering to the temple buildings) I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." Okay, I can see this being fulfilled, if only in part, in 70 A.D.

Then the disciples ask a convoluted question - one that many assume is answered as if the question did not have two parts: (v.3) "Tell us when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Clearly, they want to know when "this" (the destruction of the temple) will happen. But they don't realize, in their asking, that the other part of their question may not have an answer that fits with the first part of their question. They ask about "the sign of (His) coming and of the end of the age." I believe that Jesus' answer takes into account both questions, but gives cryptic justice to them, answering the first in full, but then giving a view to a future beyond the destruction of the temple. Many of his answers just simply do not fit the destruction scenario and those of the preterist and historicist views have a duty to answer the same "why then" questions they pose to futurists.

1)  vv. 4-6: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come."
     So as we read this saying of Jesus, it is possible to see this as something that could be fulfilled by 70 A.D. Many did begin to come in Jesus' name, claiming some level of prophetic understanding of Him, as in the Docetists and the Gnostics. However, they weren't really claiming to be the "Messiah." For me, the "wars and rumors of wars" does not quite fit with the time preceding 70 A.D. Nothing changed from Jesus' time in the Roman world situation from His death to the seige of Jerusalem. On this set of verses, I will leave it at "undetermined."

2) vv. 7-8 "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains."
     This is where the Preterists start to fall apart. Did all of these things happen as "beginnings" of the events of 70 A.D. Here I start to become a Futurist.

3) vv. 9-11 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people."
     Okay, the disciples were certainly persecuted and put to death. Hated by all nations? Is this a global prediction, or just a local "all nations?" I am again doubting preterism. Many did turn from the faith (and still do) and many false prophets did arise, and still do.

4) vv. 12-14 "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
     Much of this one can be said to any believer, in any age... Until we get to verse 14. The "and then the end will come." is the give-away. The Gospel had clearly not been preached to the whole world or in the whole world at that time. Thus, the "end" could not have come. For the preterist, this prophecy of Jesus was spoken before and precedent to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. I am further departing from this being an immediate prophecy.

5) vv. 15-21 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again."
     Here the futurist gains ground. The abomination that causes desolation is spoken of in Daniel 9, 11 and 12, as well as here in Matthew. The reference in Matthew clearly does not fit with the past (partial) fulfillment of Daniel's abomination that was seen in Antiochus (IV) Ephiphanes in 167 B.C. Antiochus, believing himself to be the incarnation (Epiphanes - "manifestation") of Zeus, slaughtered pigs on the altar of the temple in Jerusalem and set up an image of Zeus (himself) for worship. Again, the Romans defiled the temple in 70 A.D. after the slaughter of about half a million Jews in Jerusalem. The soldiers entered the temple and, prior to tearing to pieces (not one stone left on another) they offered worship to Caesar in the Holy of Holies. Allegedly, the object of worship was the standards they bore, which may have carried images of Caesar. Other attempts at naming the abomination include the entry of the Muslim Caliph Umar into Jerusalem in 637 A.D, and of the building of the Dome of the Rock on the temple site in 688 A.D.
     The key is the phrase "let the reader understand." Understanding requires that we take the whole picture, as given by Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Jesus and John (among others), and capture all of the signs that lead to "the end." Clearly, the Roman siege of 70 A.D. has not led to an "end" that we can discern, at least not without great gesticulations about this "Church Age" being the Millenial Reign of Christ. There is simply no fulfillment of prophecy concerning the battle of Armageddon, the battle of Gog and Magog, or any of the rest of the prophecies, yet unfulfilled, found in accounts of the end times scenarios. While the 70 A.D. events answer the first question of the disciples, "When will this happen?" they do not approach answering the questions about the signs of the end or of Jesus' return. I believe there will be a greater Desolation standing in the Holy of Holies, and that will be Satan Himself, in the guise of the Antichrist, declaring himself to be God when he breaks his treaty with Israel half-way through the Tribulation period.

6) vv.22-25 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time."
     If we are in the Tribulation now, then the days have clearly not been "cut short." If the days leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem had been "cut short," then how was this "for the sake of the elect?" The elect are Christians (and I believe them to be the Great Tribulation Christians), who were not in peril in 70 A.D., having left Jerusalem according to Jesus' warnings. And when have "false messiahs and false prophets" appeared and performed great signs and wonders? I have read no record of such occurring prior to 70 A.D. I do see prophecies in Revelation predicting a future such leader, the false witness, doing this.

7) vv. 26-29 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
“Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
     I will say here, simply, that it is pretty clear that this introduction to the Second Advent and the cosmological events to follow did not happen prior to 70 A.D. Either Jesus was incorrect in his prophecy, or He was speaking to a later time. I think the line about carcasses and vultures refers to the media (lol).

8) vv.30-31 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."
     Jesus, in His own words, on the Second Advent. Again, clearly not already fulfilled, awaiting later fulfillment. Pray tell: When has this already occurred? Jesus just told us not to listen to those who said He has come (vv. 22-25, above in segment 6). Upon Jesus' return, there will be mourning all over the Earth for those who are not taken up with Him. Those who were previously raptured will come with Him on the clouds. Those who are in Christ during the Tribulation will be brought to Him as He completes His conquest of the Antichrist and the ungodly.

9) vv. 32-33 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door."
     What is the lesson of the fig tree for the Preterist? Is Jesus telling His disciples that the 70 A.D. destruction will happen in springtime? (The actual siege started in winter and continued until the destruction of the temple in August.) But Jesus says, "when you see all these things." I am not convinced that, since "all these things" were not in place to be seen, the fig tree is a generic reference to the Roman conquest. In fact, since the fig tree is used in Jesus' prophetic reference to the Jews' destruction (in Matthew 21, in particular, where He withers the fig tree that has produced no fruit), it is fairly certain that He means to use it so here. My personal studies have led me to believe that the budding of the fig tree represents the reformation of the Jewish nation, which happened in 1948, when the UN declared Israel a sovereign nation for the first time since Rome destroyed her. Israel, the nation, has budded, and thus we must expect that "summer is near...right at the door."

10) "Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

     Problematic for the futurist AND the preterist is this statement that "this generation will certainly not pass away" before the things of which Jesus has spoken have occurred. If the preterist is right, and Jesus was speaking of the disciples' generation, then all of the things above that I have pointed out did NOT happen, somehow DID happen. On the other hand, if Jesus was speaking about a future generation, then all of those things will occur during that generation's lifespan. We are nearing the end of a "generation" since the formation of Israel - approximately 70 years (the human lifespan, approximately), which would lead us up to about 2018. I am not predicting a date. I am not settling Scripture or faith on that year. I am simply saying that AN interpretation of events COULD indicate that we are in the times about which Jesus spoke. WE might be that generation!

Look at the world events surrounding us. Yes, former generations have thought that it was in THEIR time that Jesus would return. Paul had to address his congregations about the "delayed parousia" (the delay of Christ's return with power). But has any generation seen the re-birth of a nation 2,000 years dead, with the return of an entire people to a land they had not occupied for 2,000 years, maintaining the very language and religious practice that should've died out after their country's destruction? NO other nation in the world today exists under such circumstances. It is a modern miracle. I believe it is a fulfillment of prophecy. God has done it once before, after the Babylonian exile, a period of about 70 years. But 2,000 years?

And what of the events of late, with the deep turmoil in the Arab nations surrounding Israel - a situation that sets up perfectly the predicted battle of Gog and Magog? Well, that is another blog post, my friends...

1 Peter 1:13: "Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."