The Olivet Discourse - A Serious Look At Matthew 24 And Revelation 6 In Parallel – Part 1 Series

THE OLIVET DISCOURSE - A SERIOUS LOOK AT MATTHEW 24 AND REVELATION 6 IN PARALLEL – PART 1

[A]. IMPORTANT INTRODUCTION:

Now in 1Cor 15 ? {{1Corinthians 15 v 51 “Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed . . . }} Paul sets out the revelation from God of the Rapture, developed further in maybe 10 years time in 1Thessalonians 4. He calls it here a “mystery” which is a Greek work meaning the revelation of a new truth that has been hidden and not previously known. Up until this time the Rapture had not been known. This was something altogether new.

Therefore the whole concept of the Rapture was unknown to the disciples when Jesus was here. The only slight hint of the Rapture in anything Jesus said may have been in John 14 v 1 - 6. It is important to realise these points, because it will determine how we are to look at prophecy passages, especially Matthew 24. There is one passage I’d like you to consider. It is this one here:-

{{Acts 1 v 6 “And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Acts 1 v 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;”}}

This was on the Ascension Day, some 40 days after the Resurrection and Jesus had been teaching them during those 40 days. Do you see where their focus was still centred? It was on the Messianic Kingdom (Millennium) that was the expectation of every righteous Jew. That was what was in their minds. It was that kingdom that is set out in the Old Testament by almost every prophet. It was Israel's glorious hope. In other words, the concept of a Rapture was as foreign to them as the kangaroo or a kiwi. It was the expectation of those disciples on the Lord’s departure that the kingdom would be set up, but they wanted to know just when. The Rapture was an absolutely foreign concept for the disciples at that time and had not been covered by the teaching in the 40 day period.

Not only that, but consider this verse also:- {{Acts 1 v 3 “To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.”}} Do you see those words “Kingdom of God”? I have no doubt that His Kingdom (the 1000 year reign) was included in that, and is what prompted the disciples’ question in verse 6. Jesus would also have included the gospel (of grace) in His teaching.

I hope you don’t think I have extended this out too much but the purpose is to show beyond doubt, that the Rapture was a Pauline revelation (mystery) and was not what was taught by the Lord while He was here. Therefore the contents of Matthew 24 and 25 can not relate to the Rapture but to the events that concern Israel. You know also that Matthew is the Gospel of the Jews/Messiah/King; whereas Mark is the Servant; Luke, the perfect Man; and John, the God Man, the Word in His divinity. The events that relate to Israel and the kingdom are the matters covered in all the Old Testament prophets and are all included in what is called “The Day of the Lord”. The Day of the Lord covers the wrath of God poured out; the coming Gentile domination under the World Leader/Antichrist; the time of Jacob’s sorrow (Tribulation); the judgment of the Gentile nations and Babylon the great; and the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom.

I can give all the Old Testament references for those. However Jesus keeps a lot to Daniel as he is one of the key prophet as to the unfolding of events. Now all the matters I outlined in the previous paragraph are the content of Matthew 24 and 25. Knowing that helps immensely in understanding those two chapters. For example we can see (I hope) that the Rapture is not part of those 2 chapters. I think what I have already said covers that. Therefore the crucial question asked of the Lord is partially answered. This question asked, and which formed the basis of these 2 chapters was this one:- {{Matthew 24 v 3 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”}}

To the Jewish mind the end of the age was fundamentally interlinked with the Old Testament prophetic events concerning Israel and this is what the Lord knew they were referring to, and answered them specifically. For several reasons already stated, the Rapture was not Jewish, and had not yet been revealed - still a “mystery” - and was foreign to the disciples listening to the Olivet discourse here. “The sign of Your coming” is specifically the coming in glory as we have in Revelation 19:1-11 - or what we call “The Second Coming”. Jesus directs His answer exactly to this Second Coming.