A laymans commentary on Matthew 24. Chapter Four, verses 11- 15. “Because iniquity shall abound.”

 Chapter Four

“Because iniquity shall abound.”

Matthew 24:11 NASB "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.”

Matthew is not the only one to make this statement.

“Many will come in [appropriating to themselves] the name [of Messiah] which belongs to Me [basing their claims on the use of My name], saying, I am [He]! And they will mislead many.”
Mark 13:6 AMP

And we find something similar in Luke's account.

“And He said, Be on your guard and be careful that you are not led astray; for many will come in My name [appropriating to themselves the name Messiah which belongs to Me], saying, I am He! and, The time is at hand! Do not go out after them.”
Luke 21:8 AMP

“Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold.”
Matthew 24:12 TLV

You would have had to be born numb to NOT understand that the love of many is growing cold on a daily basis. Perhaps all these wars are having this effect.

The Amplified Bible conveys verse 12 in this manner.

“the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity.”

Here in America, where the moron lawmakers raised the monetary amount to around $900+ dollars before stores can get a police officer to respond, they have motivated the bad guys to form up in mobs and attack high-end stores. Each individual steals less than $900, so they can't be touched, supposedly. But more than just a few of us have had enough. Perhaps our love has grown cold.

The word iniquity is the Greek word anomia and means illegality or violation of law.

• A CNN article by Terry Frieden, CNN Justice Producer, updated 10:01 AM EDT, Wed October 17, 2012, and pulled from the internet, states that - U.S. violent crime is up for the first time in years.

• Data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in telephone surveys showed a 22 percent increase in assaults, pushing up the overall rate of violent crime for the first time since 1993.

Seriously, who has not noticed this?

Matthew 24:13 NASB: "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

If you are paying attention to the context and you are enduring, then you are neck deep in the time of wrath – the seven years of tribulation, specifically the last three-and-one-half years known as the great tribulation.

Endure is the Greek word hupomeno, which means to stay under or bear as in a trial.

End is the Greek word telos. It means to set out for a definite point or goal.

I believe this makes it clear that some, not necessarily Jews, will survive the horrors of this time.

“And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.”
Matthew 24:14 NLT

I have already pointed out that God uses an angel as an instrument to proclaim the gospel around the globe. (Revelation 14:6-10.)

“It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.”
Isaiah 6:1-2 NLT

“The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!)
Matthew 24:15 NLT

Parallel verse

“For warships from western coastlands will scare him off, and he will withdraw and return home. But he will vent his anger against the people of the holy covenant and reward those who forsake the covenant. “His army will take over the Temple fortress, pollute the sanctuary, put a stop to the daily sacrifices, and set up the sacrilegious object that causes desecration. He will flatter and win over those who have violated the covenant. But the people who know their God will be strong and will resist him.”
Daniel 11:30-32 NLT

Here it is, January 20, 2024, and suddenly, the idea that warships from western coastlands scaring “him” off and making “him” withdraw is becoming more understandable and more of a reality. Why, because the Mediterranean Ocean and the Red Sea are currently filled with Western warships due to Israel's war with Hamas.

“And from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.”
[Dan. 11:31.] Daniel 12:11 AMP

1290 days divided by 360 days, the length of a year on the Jewish calendar, equals three-and-one-half years. From the time that the antichrist adds his confirmation to “the covenant,” until the time that they take away the daily sacrifice will be 1290 days. This assumes that the third temple is built, but it is NOT necessary as it seems that this “covenant” has a mandatory role in eschatology.

If the rapture comes today (1/22/2024), there is still no temple; the Jews have plans already laid out, and I would guess that the tilt-up cement panels that will be used to make the temple are probably already made and awaiting the crews to assemble them. I point out these things because there are so many things that must still happen, all of which will trigger the destruction of the mosque and an abundance of warfare, of which Israel will take a horrific beating and only a third of their population will survive. 

Daniel 9:27, in the NASB, uses the Hebrew word gāḇar twice, "And he will make^H1396 a firm^H1396 covenant with the many.” Using a word repetitiously, and in short order, conveys the idea that something is very important. 

The passage itself tells us that the antichrist will establish, confirm, and cause a covenant to prevail or make an existing covenant firm. I could easily retell this passage by reading that he will make this covenant and cause it to be established.

Covenant is the Hebrew word b^erı̂yth and can also mean confederacy.

Let's put the situation in these terms. Hamas, nor any other Middle Easterner, is going to make a treaty with Israel, as the Islamic nations have but one goal, the total annihilation of Israel and the Jews.

The explanation that Daniel received went on to say.

“Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.”
Daniel 12:12 NKJV

That exceeded the seven years by 45 days.

"Then, after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.”
Daniel 9:26 NASB

One might assume that Jesus was coming back precisely at the end of the seven-year mark, but that does not appear to be the case. Is it possible that the incessant warring will extend the time?

Daniel 9:27 AMP “... until the full determined end is poured out on the desolator.”

Speculation seems pointless as I know that the world's system of doing things will come to a crashing halt, and then peace will reign for those who walk into the thousand years of Jesus' sovereignty on earth.

Do we know who this antichrist character is?

We have NO clue who will fill the role of the antichrist, and no one else will until the bride of Christ is lifted from the earth.

You want substantiation?

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 NKJV.

• “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work;”

  Do you realize that He is talking about the beast that empowers the antichrist? The beast is both a spiritual entity, a demon, and a man that will be possessed by, at minimum, one powerful demon/fallen angel.

• “He” is those who are filled with the Holy Spirit and stand against the destruction and demise of the world around us with our words of prayer and our actions.

• “ He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.”

  The only way we are going to be taken out of the way is by the catching away of the church, with us in it, prior to God's wrath being poured out upon the earth.

A laymans commentary on Matthew 24. Chapter Three, verses 7- 10. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Isn't that what we are seeing?

 Chapter three.

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:”

Matthew 24:7 “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”

We have been talking about this very thing. The subject of verse 7 was a post I made over the course of six weeks sometime ago. I went on to say, "Now, here we are in mid-June of 2019, and a violent group of Muslims is effectively overrunning Iraq. Iran has declared that they are sending troops to Iraq to stop them, and apparently, that has happened." 

Fast forward to February of 2024, and what has changed? 

• Pestilence –

Think bugs, flies, frogs, and generally, pests; plagues fall under this category. As of last year, the world is seeing a rise in the Bubonic plague, and it is coming from multiple fronts, such as Asia, Mexico, and Madagascar. In March of 2013, Egypt was swarmed with over 30 million locusts. Moreover, Guinea is currently suffering from a deadly outbreak of Ebola. To make matters worse, a major French biomedical research body, the Pasteur Institute, has investigated the disappearance of some 2,300 test tubes containing samples of the SARS virus.

• How about famine?

UN calls for $2 billion to help combat hunger in Sahel.

North Korea: fears of food shortages outside Pyongyang as distribution fails;

Pakistan’s Impending Famine

This list could go on forever.

• Let us look at earthquakes for a moment.

Note the date on the screenshot. 01/22/2024 from The USGS reports. 

Does the ring of fire mean anything to you?

Matthew 24:8 “All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

The Complete Jewish Bible calls it birth pains. If a woman goes into labor, she will be experiencing birth pains; that only means one thing, the baby is on the way.

Matthew 24:9 NASB "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.”

Luke 21:12,13 "But before all these they will lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony.”

 Matthew 24:10 NASB "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.”

A parallel verse comes from:

Luke 21:16 WBS "And ye will be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsmen, and friends; and some of you will they cause to be put to death.”

Mark's gospel says something that is repeated by neither of the other two.

Mark 13:10 NASB "The gospel must first be preached to all the

In trying to convey how imminent the Lord's return is, an acquaintance angrily threw this back at me, Jesus cannot come back, for the gospel has not been preached to all nations. He quickly started giving out a large number of people groups that had not received a printed copy of the gospel. As of 2007, it was said that there are 100 million unchurched people in the United States alone. (Unchurched is defined as those who have not been in a church in the last 6 months.) I attempted to appease his argument by pointing out that the angel broadcasts the gospel around the globe. He responded with, I have never read that. So, I give it to you.

• Genesis 3:5-7 NASB:  "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (6) When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

This act of treason, “sin,” brought the knowledge of good and evil to every man, and that lousy gift was passed on through their genetics; therefore, no man can use the lack of understanding as an excuse.

• Romans 1:20 NASB:  “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

• Revelation 14:6-10 NASB:  (6) “And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; (7) and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters." (8) And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality." (9) Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, (10) he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb."

This makes it clear to me that nothing is holding God back from his action plan.

A laymans commentary on Matthew 24. Chapter Two, verses 3 - 6. When shall these things be - a common question these days.

 Chapter two.

Tell us when these things shall be, or evidence of the end of the age.

Matthew 24:3 “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?”

Anyone who has spent time looking at the disciples' lives knows that they had a very Jewish mindset, so it is necessary for your understanding to consider this when trying to grasp Jesus's response to them. Jesus had a direct connection to the Father (and so do we as believers) therefore what He is saying is clear and concise.

“And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”

The question may well be two questions. In conversation and observation, the Christian community seems to confuse Christ's return for His bride with His final return to the earth.

• “On the day of His return, He will touch down on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, and on that day, He will come prepared for war.”
  Zechariah 14:3-4

• “When He comes for His bride, He will meet them in the air and does not touch down.”
  1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

An aspect of Jesus's response to their question can be seen in Matthew 24:4,5.

Matthew 24:4,5 “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”

Why would he say that?

Just a partial list off Wikipedia gives the names of 32 people that have taken that role. Some I recognize. Think about the ridiculousness of something like this. An example would be David Koresh. His teachings included his self-proclaimed authority to propagate children with the wives of men involved in the cult. That would not happen!

• This idea of someone coming in the name of Jesus becomes enormously important if you realize that Islam has it’s own version of Jesus.

Allah has some similar properties. The following is from Wikipedia about the Islamic Jesus.

• The belief that Jesus is a prophet is required in Islam.

• He is the son of Mary, not God (Allah).

• According to the Qur’an, Jesus, although appearing to have been crucified, was not killed by crucifixion or by any other means; instead, "Allah raised him unto Himself."

• Jesus is considered a Muslim (i.e., one who submits to the will of Allah), as he preached that his followers should adopt the "straight path" as commanded by Allah. (In other words, all must become Islamic and follow Sharia.)

• To aid in his ministry to the Jewish people, the Muslim Jesus was given the ability to perform miracles (such as healing the blind, bringing dead people back to life, calling fire down from the heavens, and causing it to rain where there has been none), all by the permission of Allah rather than of his own power.

• Muslims believe that 'Jesus' will return to earth near the Day of Judgment to restore justice and to defeat al-Masih ad-Dajjal ("the false messiah", known to the church as the Antichrist but to them it is our Jesus.) It's odd how they, too, have an understanding of the end-times pattern. The “false messiah” Islam looks for, is in direct opposition to Jesus Christ. They believe that the Antichrist is our Jesus. If you use the perspective that they serve the father of lies, then you might be able to comprehend why they are in opposition.)

• The Jesus of Islam will be a Jew. A priest of the lineage of Aaron, and therefore have access to the temple.

• He will defer to the Mahdi. (The Mahdi is their awaited savior. He is the 12^th or hidden imam, and several have already declared that the Mahdi is speaking through them. It is said that he will return on a white horse. This is the same white horse that we see in Revelation 19, and it is the only passage in our Christian bible that they believe is true.)

• He will be the enforcer of Sharia (the brutal set of rules that Islam uses to not only condemn outsiders but manipulate and control women within their religion.)

If all this is true, and there is someone who will take this role, then this makes all the sense in the world, and the ones that will be the primary targets of this deception will be the knowledgeable Jews. We happen to think of these as the religious of Israel.

Matthew 24:6 “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

The immediate context is: what will be the signs indicating your immediate return to the earth to rule as the Messiah we anticipated.

• Wars, we are surrounded by them.

Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan are active war zones, but all those be-headings have become commonplace and boring, beside that, somebody powerful wants all this destruction, or it would not be happening. Syrian President Bashar even threatened Israel with a missile attack recently, to which Israel replied that they would flatten Damascus. The oddity here is that the prophecy tells us that Damascus will be utterly destroyed and uninhabitable; that can only happen if a nuclear weapon is used. The other news we are painfully aware of is the Ukraine. (The land of Gog)

Ezekiel 38:9-12 NASB: "You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you." (10) 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan, (11) and you will say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, (12) to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.'

Isaiah 17:1 LITV: “The burden of Damascus: Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruined heap.”

In case you haven't noticed Israel has been proactive in assassinations and bombings in and near Damascus and the airport there. If this were a baseball game we are in the last inning of the game. The end will be come soon.

A laymans commentary on Matthew 24. Chapter one, verses 1,2. Signs of the end of the age.

Chapter one.

Signs of the End of the Age.

Matthew 24:1  “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.”

The disciples, proud of their heritage and the temple, were shaken by Jesus's interaction with the scribes and Pharisees and nervously pointed out the temple construction to Jesus. I am sure Jesus was aware of the grandeur of Herod's temple, but it represented something entirely different for him. He also knew what would soon happen to the temple. 

Jesus responded to them.

Matthew 24:2 NASB: “And He (Jesus) said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down."

An alternate version.

Luke 21:6 NASB: "As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down."

His reply directly addresses the disciples' observation of the immense cut stones making up the temple, but it also alludes to something more. This was literally fulfilled a short time later in 70 A.D., but it is to be fulfilled again.

Luke 21:6 is integrated into end times prophecy through the words of Daniel. 

"And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.” Daniel 9:26 NKJV

Historically, Jerusalem was under the rule of the Roman emperor Titus; and most ascribe the temple's destruction directly to Rome, but that was not the case. 

While it is true that troops were operating under the Roman standard, it is documented by both Josephus and Tacitus that the overwhelming majority of these troops were conscripts from conquered Assyrian nations. All had an open and vile hatred of the Jews. This will come into play later as we define other aspects of the end-time prophecies.

From: The Wars of the Jews, by Josephus. Book 4, Chapter 6

5. "So Titus retired into the tower of Antonia and resolved to storm the temple the next day, early in the morning, with his whole army, and to encamp round about the holy house. But as for that house, God had, for certain, long ago doomed it to the fire; and now that fatal day was come, according to the revolution of ages; it was the tenth day of the month Lous, [Ab,] upon which it was formerly burnt by the king of Babylon; although these flames took their rise from the Jews themselves, and were occasioned by them; for upon Titus's retiring, the seditious lay still for a little while, and then attacked the Romans again, when those that guarded the holy house fought with those that quenched the fire that was burning the inner [court of the] temple; but these Romans put the Jews to flight, and proceeded as far as the holy house itself. At which time one of the soldiers, without staying for any orders, and without any concern or dread upon him at so great an undertaking, and being hurried on by a certain divine fury, snatched somewhat out of the materials that were on fire, and being lifted up by another soldier, he set fire to a golden window, through which there was a passage to the rooms that were round about the holy house, on the north side of it. As the flames went upward, the Jews made a great clamor, such as so mighty an affliction required, and ran together to prevent it; and now they spared not their lives any longer, nor suffered any thing to restrain their force, since that holy house was perishing, for whose sake it was that they kept such a guard about it."

6. "And now a certain person came running to Titus, and told him of this fire, as he was resting himself in his tent after the last battle; whereupon he rose up in great haste, and, as he was, ran to the holy house, in order to have a stop put to the fire; after him followed all his commanders, and after them followed the several legions, in great astonishment; so there was a great clamor and tumult raised, as was natural upon the disorderly motion of so great an army. Then did Caesar, both by calling to the soldiers that were fighting, with a loud voice, and by giving a signal to them with his right hand, order them to quench the fire. But they did not hear what he said, though he spake so loud, having their ears already dimmed by a greater noise another way; nor did they attend to the signal he made with his hand neither, as still some of them were distracted with fighting, and others with passion. But as for the legions that came running thither, neither any persuasions nor any threatenings could restrain their violence, but each one's own passion was his commander at this time;."

The Histories by Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Book 5 - (A.D. 70)

 [5.1] "EARLY in this year, Titus Caesar, who had been selected by his father to complete the subjugation of Judaea, and who had gained distinction as a soldier while both were still subjects, began to rise in power and reputation, as armies and provinces emulated each other in their attachment to him. The young man himself, anxious to be thought superior to his station, was ever displaying his gracefulness and his energy in war. By his courtesy and affability, he called forth a willing obedience, and he often mixed with the common soldiers while working or marching without impairing his dignity as general. He found in Judaea three legions, the 5th, the 10th, and the 15th, all old troops of Vespasian's. To these he added the 12th from Syria, and some men belonging to the 18th and 3rd, whom he had withdrawn from Alexandria. This force was accompanied by twenty cohorts of allied troops and eight squadrons of cavalry, by the two kings Agrippa and Sohemus, by the auxiliary forces of King Antiochus, by a strong contingent of Arabs, who hated the Jews with the usual hatred of neighbors, and, lastly, by many persons brought from the capital and from Italy by private hopes of securing the yet unengaged affections of the Prince. With this force Titus entered the enemy's territory, preserving strict order on his march, reconnoitering every spot, and always ready to give battle. At last, he encamped near Jerusalem." 

1 Kings chapter 9 recorded that long before Daniel's prophecies, Israel would be cut off from the land, and the temple would be rejected and reduced to a heap of rubble.

1 Kings 9:7-9 NIV “then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. (8) This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?' (9) People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them--that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.'"

“ After the sixty-two weeks [of years] shall the Anointed One be cut off or killed.”

“Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem until [the coming of] the Anointed One, a Prince, shall be seven weeks [of years] and sixty-two weeks [of years]; it shall be built again with [city] square and moat but in troublous times. And after the sixty-two weeks [of years] shall the Anointed One be cut off or killed and shall have nothing [and no one] belonging to [and defending] Him. And the people of the [other] prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and even to the end, there shall be war, and desolations are decreed.” [Isa. 53:7-9; Nah. 1:8; Matt. 24:6-14.] Daniel 9:25-26 AMP

Jesus rode into town on a very precise day, and He was killed on the very day that Daniel describes ending the 69th week of the year.