A layman's commentary on Matthew 24 verses 44 through 51. Be alert because you do not know the hour.

 Let's end this dive into Matthew 24.

Our last look into Matthew 24 gave us this:

“Therefore, be alert, because you don’t know on what day your Lord will return. You realize that if a homeowner had known at what time of the night a thief was coming, he would have stayed awake. He would not have let the thief break into his house. Therefore, you, too, must be ready because the Son of Man will return when you least expect him.”
Matthew 24:42-44 GW

In addition to not being deceived, Jesus asks us to be alert and stay awake – not literally. Still, it certainly conveys the idea that those of us who trust in Jesus' word are to pay attention to the signs we are NOW experiencing.

"Who is the faithful and sensible servant whose master puts him in charge of the household staff, to give them their food at the proper time?”
Matthew 24:45 CJB

Referring to you as a servant would almost be insulting, but Jesus did. I have a question.

Do servants have an option to question the master's commands?

Not unless they have an extraordinary relationship with the master, but even then, they probably know that there is a line that should never be crossed. Well, if Jesus is calling us servants, then perhaps we should pay attention and be alert.

Who is Jesus referring to when He speaks of servants who have been put in charge of the household staff to give them their food at the proper time?

Since the subject matter is the Jewish people and their culture, then would it surprise you if I told you that He is talking about the religious leadership of Israel.

Can I apply this to myself?

I am and you would be wise to quickly do the same.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary indicates that this is a test and implies that even the care of the earth has been under our influence. I would say that our corporate leaders have failed miserably as we sought the almighty dollar to excesses. It sounds like we are under the law, and to a degree, we are, for the law was the only reasonable substitute since the earth, through Adam, fell under the curse.

The response to the question, “who is the faithful and sensible servant,” comes in verse 46.

“It will go well with that servant if he is found doing his job when his master comes.” Matthew 24:46 CJB

This speaks about God's judgment, the seven years of wrath that will be poured out upon:

1. The nations – this includes all who reject Jesus, the Messiah.

2. The Jewish leadership: for teaching others to reject Yeshua, for rejecting the Messiah, who is spelled out explicitly in the Torah, and all while tormenting those who would accept Jesus as the Messiah.

3. And He is going to pour out His wrath upon those who have killed the people and destroyed the earth in their quest for wealth.

What is our job?

Preach the good news whenever possible and wait eagerly for His return.

A parable, titled by the modern translators, reads like this.

“You Must Be Ready”

Luke 12:35 CJB "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit,”

Verse 35 should have a familiar ring to it.

It sounds like our Lord pulled aspects from “The Parable of the Ten Virgins,” which we find in Matthew 25:1-13. All of them took oil lamps, while half took additional oil in case the night went longer than expected. Those who did not bring extra oil became arrogant and demanding when their lamps ran out. (Keep in mind that they had the same opportunity to prepare.) Sounds like half of them just weren't all that interested.

If you are stumbling because of the parable of the ten virgins, then you should know I was accosted by a brother at church, who publicly challenged me as to why I was advocating for Jesus' soon return. He said, we have been looking for Jesus for over two thousand years, and He hasn't come back; He is NOT coming back any time soon, so stop already.

Luke 12:36 CJB “like people waiting for their master's return after a wedding feast; so that when he comes and knocks, they will open the door for him without delay.

Matthew 22 speaks of those gathered from the Gentiles.

"Then he *said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 'Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.' "Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.”
Matthew 22:8-10 NASB

Let's look at this portion of the paragraph for a moment.

“ but those who were invited were not worthy.”

Initially, who were the invited?

Israel, or better stated, the descendants of Abraham.

The word “worthy” is the Hebrew word áxios. According to Mounce's dictionary, it means worthy of or deserving, either good or evil. Initially, God declared Abraham and his descendants áxios, or worthy of good (or evil, which we see in Deuteronomy 28 – the blessings and cursings if you do not follow after God).

Interesting how the slaves, doing what the master said, found in the streets both evil and good, and with these people, they filled the wedding hall with dinner guests. In general. Here is a touch of sarcasm. It does not take long to notice that this group included worthy people like Caleb (he was not a descendant of Jacob and, therefore, a Gentile.)

Aren't you glad God found us.

But Matthew 22:11 gives us a piece of perplexing information.

"But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he *said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless.”
Matthew 22:11-12 NASB

Seeing as we have an overabundance of homeless living on our streets, you would be hard-pressed to find any with “wedding clothes.”

Finis Jennings Dake conveys this. 

“The poorer classes would not have festive apparel, and they were therefore provided for by the king from his own extensive wardrobe. This is one of the most interesting details of the parable. It was a special mark of honor to receive a garment which had been used by royalty, and kings sometimes showed their liberality by giving freely to others whom they sought to honor.”

Dr. J Vernon McGee states.

That wedding garment is the righteousness of Christ, which is absolutely essential for salvation, and it is supplied to all who believe.

We see the believers clothed in white.

“He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”
Revelation 3:5 NASB

Once we reach chapter four of Revelation, the church is not discussed, yet there is this peculiar reference.

“Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.”
Revelation 4:4 NASB

Could it also be that these, clothed in white garments, represent the church?

The logical answer is yes because there are many other references to the white garments and the bride, which is us, the church.

And we can know what being ready looks like.

“The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!” Luke 12:37 NLT

Ready and waiting anxiously for his return.

What happens to those who are doing their job?

"Truly I say to you that He (Jesus) will put him(the servant that does what He asks) in charge of all his possessions.”
Matthew 24:47 NASB

Paul's letter to the church in Corinth speaks to this very thing.

“Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
2 Corinthians 5:9-10 NASB

Here, we will be rewarded by Christ. Jesus ended this portion of His talk like this.

''But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,' and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 24:48-51 NASB

Consider this excerpt.

“the master of that slave will come on a day when he (the evil slave) does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites.”

I always hear this; no man knows the day or the hour. I suppose the implication is that you should wait anxiously for Him, but that is not the end of the story.

Paul said we are not in the darkness that we should not know, and Paul states that it is for us to know.

Paul, having taught the Church body in Thessaloniki that Christ is going to come back for His bride, the Church, but somebody came afterward and frightened them into believing that they had missed the rapture, the catching away of the church. (The Greek word for rapture is harpazo, and the Latin is rapio. Nonetheless, he is coming back. Since the collective signs are happening around us rapidly, it behooves us to look for Jesus.)

So, “that slave” who does not expect Him will be in the dark about the timing and return of our Lord.

A few paragraphs earlier, I talked about the brother in Christ who berated me for encouraging people to look longingly for Jesus. I know this brother, and he leans toward legalism, but I think it is necessary for him to keep his life in order. I lived my life under a constrained religious legalism, and no, thank you, that is not for me. It was for freedom that Christ has set me free, and I will not allow anyone to try to put me back into that bondage.

Does living in freedom condemn me to hell?

One brother in Christ likes to think so, and he creates rules in his head that those outside of his head have to live by. He will tell you that everyone who does not accept Jesus NOW will have NO chance to accept Him after the Church leaves this earth.

Is that true?

The answer is an emphatic NO, as the Holy Spirit will still be on earth, drawing as many to Jesus as will come.

Is it true that grace will indeed be gone? What that means to those who come to Christ during the seven years of wrath is that you will have to prove your allegiance to Christ by losing your life for your testimony, but not to worry, Jesus will be there to escort you into eternity.

Did you know that I learned how to sin as a Christian?

Yes, thinking too long on that thought will get my head spinning. All I know and now lean on is I am so glad that God found me and sought me out.

The Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Matthew 24:43-44.

 Here is where we left off in our study of Matthew 24.

“But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.  44 “For this reason, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
Matthew 24:43-44 NAS95

The context has everything to do with Israel and the Jews, with a special focus on the seven years of God's wrath.

Can it also apply to us now?

Certainly. In the broader picture, the head of the household - called the Jews, are the rabbis, Pharisees, and scribes.

In the narrow view, it is one in which the Gentile church body exists in the form of individual believers, the heads of our own households, a situation where we are anxiously looking for the Son of Man (Jesus). For some, Jesus will be coming as a thief in the night.

I have sat with religious people who have scoffed at my statement and ranted that they are ready and don't need me to lecture them on what it is to be ready, all the while denying that such a theme exists for them. Well, Paul, Peter, and the Apostle John also referred to this very thing.

The Apostle Paul wrote.

1 Thessalonians 5:1 NASB Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.

Paul could not say this unless he had clearly developed this teaching within this church body and left no room for argument.

Consider the words, times, and epochs.

Time, according to the Word Study Dictionary, is the Greek word chrónos. “This word perceives time quantitatively as a period measured by the succession of objects and events and denotes the passing of moments.”

Quantitatively, is something that is expressible in terms of quantity.

So Paul was comfortable telling them that this time that was coming was something expressible.

Epochs according to the WSD is the Greek word kairós. It is a season or an opportune time. It is not merely as a succession of minutes, which is chrónos (G5550), but a period of opportunity.

If you are paying attention to the events which are centered on Israel, then you would know that many of us are watching intently for Jesus' return for His bride.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 NASB For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

Note the usage of the word “like”. It has similarities to the thief, but for the believer, He is not coming as a thief. Another scripture that speaks in similitude is Revelation 13:3, where it says.

Revelation 13:3 NASB I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;

Typically, when people read or hear this, they don't pay attention to fact that it is one of it's many heads that sustains the wound, nor do they realize that it is NOT dead, it just seems to be for the moment. The Ottoman Empire easily fulfills our understanding of this head.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 NASB While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.

The United Nations and the World Economic Forum both repeatedly made calls for peace and security or safety, and, blame the lack of such on “antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry, persecution of Christian minorities and white supremacist ideology.”¹ All of this is evidence that the globe needs to live on social contracts like China already does.

Today is August 12, 2024. This is important for several reasons. 1. It is a day of mourning in Israel as so many bad things have happened on this day. Such as the expulsion from Spain and then England. The Destruction of both temples, and now the threat of Iranian missiles be shot as Israel in retaliation of several assassinations attributed to Israel. Iran has the intent of removing Israel from the map. So, Watchman River Tom, a YouTube channel I watch, spoke about the possibility that Iran could hold off on these launches and feign peace by holding hostage talks with Israel on Thursday. This could play into the common thread where either the Jewish people or the antichrist character says peace peace.

Look at the terminology that the Amplified Bible uses.

“When people are saying, All is well and secure, and, there is peace and safety, then in a moment unforeseen destruction (ruin and death) will come upon them as suddenly as labor pains come upon a woman with child; and they shall by no means escape, for there will be no escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3 AMP

1 Thessalonians 5:4 NASB But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;

Why will it NOT overtake us?

2 Timothy 4:8 NASB In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 NASB for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;

Paul explains verse four above by telling this church and us, that we are not of night or or darkness; and, therefore, not subject to the fears of the night.

Again I turn to the Amplified Bible as it defines 1 Thessalonians 5:4 so well.

“But you are not in [given up to the power of] darkness, brethren, for that day to overtake you by surprise like a thief.” 1 Thessalonians 5:4 AMP

1 Thessalonians 5:6 NASB so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.

The challenge, if you will, is to be alert and sober.

Sobriety has little to do with alcohol. According to Webster's it also means to be “Cautious; prudent; watchful on all sides; examining carefully all the circumstances that may affect a determination.

The Weymouth translation states,

“So then let us not sleep, like the rest of the world, but let us keep awake and be sober.” 1 Thessalonians 5:6 Weymouth

So then, let us not sleep like the rest of the world.

Can I spread a broad blanket and say that the majority of those who claim they are Christians are nothing more than asleep?

I recently saw a clip where Joy Behar, a commentator on the television show, The View, said, in talking about Donald Trump, after he said that it was God's grace that spared his life in this assassination attempt, that she, too, was a Christian because she was brought up in the Catholic church, and that Donald Trump's comments about God moving in his life were narcissistic. Growing up in a Catholic church does not make you Christian. Putting your life and faith into the hands of Jesus Christ by asking Him to come into your life, does. Joy Behar could never speak so corruptly about people who choose to uphold conservative values and standards and be deemed a Christian by anyone.

Matthew 24:44 Weymouth  “Therefore you also must be ready; for it is at a time when you do not expect Him that the Son of Man will come.”

Last night we went to hear a good band that was playing as part of the summer concerts in the parks. There were easily about three hundred people there. We often see people that we know from church. In a way, having a picnic in the park and listening to music makes the world seem normal, especially as the city picked up the bill for the band to be there and we just come and enjoy. The problem, that most will refuse to see, is that few of those people have any clue that we are on the cusp of Jesus' return and the start of the seven years of God's wrath.

The scriptures tell us that they were not looking for Him, nor were they aware.

Having said all that, Matthew 24:43-44 is implying that we, as the heads of our households, can know what time the thief is coming (He only appears to be a thief because they are not looking for Him.) Those of us who are alert and ready are so because we have given our hearts to Jesus as the Redeemer. Those who merely attach themselves to the name Christian will not be taken up in the rapture of the church, as they are not looking for Him, and neither are they ready for Him. For them, Jesus will come at an hour when they are NOT looking for Him.

1https://press.un.org/en/2024/ga12582.doc.htm

“We are to know” what is going on around us. A different way to think about Eschatology. Matthew 24.

Thanks to a change in the atmosphere, I am jumping out of our study on Matthew once again.

If I did not say it before, let me say it now. I have been struggling with mild depression. Some would say it is a demonic attack, and I don't doubt it, as Satan would love to stop anyone who has a sincere heart and wants to share the Word and Love of God with others. I feel as if my primary purpose in life is to do just that: share the Word, so it does not take a genius to imagine where this attack has hit me; yep, I lost interest in doing Bible studies, but I will add that there has been a tremendous amount of family-oriented activities taking place and I frequently stop what I am doing and take care of my wife, Doctor appointments, and grandparent duties. Well, sometimes you just have to dig yourself out of the pit, and that is what I am doing now.

Is it merely a strange circumstance that Israel would be attacked in the midst of my spiritual battle on the Sabbath (October 7, 2023), filling the nation of Israel with death, confusion, and war?

I don't think so. What I do believe is that Satan, who knows his time is short, has released his demon hordes upon the earth, and we, who are followers of Jesus Christ, will experience attacks on many levels.

Oh, by the way, though I cannot legitimately claim that I am a Jew, even though I did have a Jewish grandfather who died when I was around 12, because of this, I have progressively turned my heart toward Jerusalem. This attitude makes me feel a bit aggressive when someone attacks my nation.

With our eyes on the Holy Land, we should be hearing messages from Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and 1 Thessalonians, to say the least. I know I can't get enough of intelligent messages about Eschatology – end times events.

With that said, I want to talk about the idea that “we are to know” what is going on around us.

A common verse used to berate those who are excited about the return of Jesus Christ for His bride is this.

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
Matthew 24:36 NKJV

First off, there is a context to this verse, and it has everything to do with Jesus talking exclusively to a Jewish audience.

What importance does that knowledge play in such a bold and rather blatant statement by Jesus?

They were not Christians as yet, for Jesus had not gone back to the Father; therefore, Jesus would not have spoken to them about things that pertained to anyone but Jews. So, everything we see in Matthew's account was directed to Jewish ears and understanding alone.

As for understanding the idea of being the bride, many were Galileans, and Jesus first recorded “miracle” was at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Several of the newly chosen disciples were in attendance there. If anyone could understand the depth and meaning of being the bride, it would be a Galilean. If you are having trouble grasping what I mean by the depth of the Galilean wedding, it was bathed in tradition and Jewish understanding and held together by a contractual agreement, which the bride had every right to reject.

Another translation of Matthew 24:36 may give you more understanding.

“But of that [exact] day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Matthew 24:36 AMP

The Amplified Bible added words that provide us with alternative understandings, while other [italicized] words provide “synonyms and explanations in brackets and parentheses within the text […] The strength of this version is that it acknowledges that no single English word or phrase can capture precisely the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek.” The quotation is from Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplified_Bible#:~:text=is%20unique%20among%20Bible%20versions,of%20the%20Hebrew%20or%20Greek.

So, if you must be one that holds to tradition because this is the way we have always been taught, and, therefore, agree that NO ONE can know the day or the hour, then knowing that we can't know the precise timing, we may easily be able to place ourselves within the season and what we are living in is the Baseball World Series, which we, in America, just experienced.

Let's talk about this phenomenon called the World Series for a moment.

• Do we have an idea when this series of games will take place?

  Yes, it happens on a yearly basis, in September, after a prescribed number of games have been played by every team. That is not the case with Christ's return, as He is first coming to collect His bride. Evidence, in every way, shape, and form, is pointing to Jesus's soon return. We like to refer to this evidence as signs.

• Once the World Series begins, are there things that we can absolutely know about the event?

  The series will be controlled by rules.

  In baseball, three outs bring about changes in the inning and the side as the home team now gets their opportunity at bat and a chance to score.

  There will be a prescribed number of games played within the series to determine the winner. It is not mandatory, however, that the series includes the entirety of the seven games as it is a best-of-seven series, meaning that one team could win the first four games and, therefore, win the series.

  And though each game has nine innings, there can be no tie games, and some games have gone on for well over 12 hours. Typically, the games last about two hours.

  So, as in Jesus coming for His church, there are variables that affect the length of the period we are looking for and at.

The point of this was not to have a discussion of baseball, which may mean little depending on where you live and the restrictions you live under, but to make a point that we can know the timing of the rapture just as we can talk with understanding about the World Series. Since we have established that Baseball has variables, then we must surely know that the rapture or snatching away of the church is filled with variables. Consider this: the game belongs to God, and the rules, though set in scripture, are His as well.

Most translations entitle this next section of the Bible

“Signs of the End of the Age.”

This is how it played out. Having ridden the young colt into Jerusalem, the crowd welcomed Him with wild enthusiasm.

“And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!"
Matthew 21:8-9 NKJV

Where do we find the Jewish context of what Matthew conveys?

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.”
Psalms 118:26 NKJV

Leviticus elaborates on the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths.

“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.”
Leviticus 23:34 JPS

And there are specific instructions associated with the Feast of Tabernacles.

“And on the first day you shall take the fruit of pleasing trees [and make booths of them], branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick (leafy) trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.”
Leviticus 23:40 AMPC+

The excited crowd anticipated the warring Messiah because all the signs pointed to Yeshua as being that Messiah.

But what did Jesus do?

“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.”
Matthew 21:12-14 KJV

This verbal onslaught went on for days.

“And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.”
Matthew 21:17 KJV

The next day, He went back to the temple.

“Now, when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?" But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?" And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'”
Matthew 21:23-25 NKJV

We have records that indicate that He delivered the parable of the two sons, the tenants (which was directed at the Jewish leadership); the wedding feast, and more. He cursed the fig tree because it had no fruit on it; He spoke about paying taxes to Caesar as a rebuttal against those who tried to trap Him; the Sadducees asked Him about the resurrection; and He berated the leadership over the demands that they placed on the people but would not follow themselves.

I imagine that the disciples imagined that they would be killed during this process. After two long days, they left the temple and headed to the Mount of Olives, and this was the best they could come up with.

“Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
And Jesus said to them,
"Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
Matthew 24:1-2 NKJV

Jesus, finally seated on the Mount of Olives, begins to answer the question below.

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us,
when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”
Matthew 24:3 KJV

While the answer to the questions has great depth, Jesus's first response was this.

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.”
Matthew 24:4 KJV

How many different ways can you be deceived?

Look up the Greek word for deceived, and you get planaō. It means don't let anyone (cause you to) roam (from safety, truth, or virtue): - [don't let anyone make you] go astray, deceive, [don't allow yourself to be] seduce[d], to wander, or be [taken] out of the way.

“For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.”
Matthew 24:5 NKJV

This doesn't even make sense to me. Since I know that Jesus will first come in the clouds and gather His church, it doesn't make sense that people would try to portray themselves as the Messiah.

“My name” is the Greek word onoma; it means authority or character. The Word Study Dictionary tells us they will come using the name, title, character, reputation, or the person of Jesus.

An example can be seen in Jeremiah.

“Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility, and the deception of their own minds”
Jeremiah 14:14 NASB

Deceive? We already covered this. It is the Greek word planaō. It means don't let anyone (cause you to) be [taken] out of the way.

I can remember Jim Jones and David Koresh. The latter managed to tell these fools that he was entitled to have other men's wives. Try that line on me, and you are probably going to get hurt.

So, fools will cause you to go astray from God's truth, which is His Word, and to be taken out of the way – the way is God's way and not what Allah or some guru says. But wait, there is a context, and it is Jesus responding to their Jewish-oriented questions in a manner that they would understand.

So, even if you think you can stay committed to “the truth,” why can't we understand what Jesus or the scripture is saying?

We can, but most will choose not to perceive that the Bible is a Jewish book written to a Jewish audience that somehow applies to us now because we were adopted into the family.

So, how many questions did the disciples ask Jesus?

Their questions covered three distinct events.

• When will these things be?

  This had more to do with the destruction of the temple, which was a relatively short few years away. The immediate destruction happened in 70AD. The future sign and destruction have a specific timing once the antichrist comes into power, and that only happens after the church is removed from the earth.

• “What will be the sign of Your coming?

  The NLT translates this portion in this manner: “What sign will signal your return.” As Jews, they were NOT asking about the church, as the church did not exist yet, and to be honest, filled with Gentiles, they would not have considered those attending to be worthy of the kingdom of God.

  • The first thing to take note of, although since sin made time notable, there have been wars.

    “And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...”
    Matthew 24:6-7a NLT

  • Secondly,

    “...There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.”
    Matthew 24:7-8b NLT

    I cannot remember a time when some third world nation wasn't suffering famine. Now it is a common conversation pertaining to hunger and our streets here in America. And earthquakes, though common, are now incessantly in excess of 6 and 7s in terms of magnitude.

  • Thirdly,

    “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.”
    Matthew 24:9 NLT

    While we were able to sit unrestrained, in many of our churches, the Spirit of the Lord – the Holy Spirit, had spoken through me, saying, the time is coming when you, too, shall experience persecution, and you will NOT be able to handle it.

    With the war in Israel and heated conversations about abortions, the hatred toward Jews and Christ-followers is growing more each day.

  • Fourth,

    “...Many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.”
    Matthew 24:10 NLT

    I have watched this happen, and if you were paying attention, you would agree.

  • Fifth

    “Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe things that are wrong.”
    Matthew 24:11 ERV

    Who is doing this?

    I honestly cannot imagine such a thing, but there are plenty of highly driven people, like those in the Faith movement, who are trying to act and speak in the authority of the name of Jesus. Consider that Jesus emphasized that deception would be great.

    Who was he talking to?

    Jews, and so our focus is on a Jewish impact.

    Did you know that a Rabbi was picked to be the high priest in the new Jewish temple once it gets built?

    It was reported by Israel 365 News, several years ago that his name is Rabbi Baruch Kahane. Although he did not feel it was the right time for such a declaration to be made, however, in 2022, he was front and center when a preparation to sacrifice on the temple mount was performed. When I showed this man to some friends of mine, they made comments like, he looks like a fine young man; why would you think that he might be the one to cause such a deception? That's my point; such a trusted man would cause such an uproar.