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.
I trust that what has been said by way of introduction is enough to show that these events of Matthew 24 and 25 are not in any way speaking about the Rapture and are only connected in as far as the Rapture has to happen before the focus again returns to Israel once the Church has been removed. The Rapture is unknown in the Old Testament and rightly so, because the Church is the Bride called from a far country (type of Isaac taking his bride). The Coming is the coming in glory, the Second Advent.
Just expanding this thought on the mystery, we might look at it from another angle – {{Ephesians 3 v 4-6 “and by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit - to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel . . .”}}
You see, Jesus did not teach the facts of the Church apart from one reference to it (Matt 16 v 18) or the facts of the Rapture apart from a passing suggestion in John 14 v 1-6. This “revealing” was left to the Apostle Paul. From memory, there are 7 mysteries in the New Testament, but only two of them are termed “great mysteries” and here is one of those:- {{Ephesians 5 v 32 “This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.”}}
What I am attempting to show is that Jesus did not teach about the Rapture or the Church, but His reference to His coming in Matthew 24 is rightly in line with the disciples understanding of His coming in glory as taught throughout the O.T. Therefore when questioned about the signs of His coming and the end of the age there can be no possible allusion to the Rapture or the Church because neither is in view. Those who want to include these signs from Matthew 24 in the Rapture are doing injustice to the background and interpretation of the chapter.
[B]. INTRODUCING MATTHEW CHAPTER 24:
In my opinion this chapter is one of the most misunderstood and misapplied chapters in the whole bible. The chapter breaks into two parts. The first relates to history and the second to the future. The first two verses form the first part. {{Matthew 24 v 1-2 “Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him and He answered and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another which will not be torn down.”}} This was fulfilled in 70 AD with the destruction by Roman Titus of Jerusalem and Herod’s Temple.
The remainder of the chapter has not been fulfilled; neither does it contain any prophecy relating to the Church age or to the Rapture. I know people quote it all the time trying to make it fit into our age but that is a square peg in a round hole. It simply does not apply. If you think that is wrong then reread the Introduction above. In fact the events described by Jesus here slot into the book of Revelation like a glove as will be shown.
[C]. THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIBULATION: Matt 24 Verses 4 – 33:
We must note this Matthew 24 verse 3 again: {{“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”}} The “coming” is the coming the disciples knew, that is, the Second Coming referred to over and over again in the Old Testament, and “the age” is the ending of the age of world powers and domination, and their kingdoms passing into God’s earthly kingdom. It is most important to realise that, as the Lord answers the question. However these signs in the chapter light the pathway to His Second Coming, which we have established, is the only one that could have been meant. Second Coming, not Rapture coming.
The disciples asked for signs and the Lord now proceeds to give them the signs for His Second Coming to earth. It is safe to assume that the Lord begins at the beginning with these signs, that is, what will emerge right after the Rapture. Indeed that is what He does and this is in perfect harmony with Revelation.
We must realise that the structure of Revelation is paramount to the understanding of that book. Chapter 1 is the introduction followed by chapters 2 and 3 which set out the picture and whole progress of the whole Church age until the time of Laodicea which is right now. Then chapter 4 begins this way:- {{Revelation 4 v 1 “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “COME UP HERE, and I will show you what must take place AFTER these things.”}} That is the Rapture call, and it is stated that John is about to see what is going to happen right AFTER the “Rapture” (his calling to heaven through the opened door). Well chapters 4 and 5 feature the Church in heaven, all the saints of God from Adam until the Rapture; then from chapter 6, until the end of the Book, are described all that will happen beginning with the Tribulation that commences with the breaking of the first seal. We would therefore expect Matthew 24 v 4 - 14 and Revelation chapter 6 to parallel each other, and guess what? They do!
Jesus’ answer throughout chapter 24 can be seen to be a progressive one, that is, he reveals the information step by step beginning at verse {{Matthew 24 v 4, “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you.’”}} From there He moves to the series of events that will unfold, which are leading up to the time of His coming mentioned in the Old Testament which we call the Second Coming, or His Coming in Glory. In doing this He reveals the “signs” that the disciples asked Him of, the indicators of that event.
SIGN NUMBER 1:-
This verse begins the signs – {{Matthew 24 v 5 “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.”}} The greatest of these misleading evil pretenders will be THE Pretender, the Ruler, the Political leader who will want to reign in the place of Christ. He goes under many descriptions - Political leader; the head of the new Roman Empire; World Leader; the first Beast of Revelation 13; The Man of Sin/Lawlessness. Many refer to him as the Antichrist, and he, and the False Prophet will be wholly possessed by Satan. Thus you have a trilogy of evil - the Ruler, the False Prophet and Satan. This is the counterfeit Trinity. Do not be too hung up on terms and get distracted by them.
This is the opening of the revelation Jesus is giving, and therefore corresponds with the first seal of Revelation 6 that will begin all that happens on earth after the Rapture. The verses:- {{Revelation 6 v 1 - 2 “And I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come,” and I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer.:}}
How sad it is that some commentators still want to say this is Jesus. This is the coming evil Ruler who will take control of the earth, the false Christ, who will be received even as Jesus Himself. So confused and deluded the world will be after the results of the Rapture, that this one will come with absolutely no opposition (white = no blood; no warfare) and almost immediately will assume control of the whole political system.
[This is such an important section of the bible and I don’t want to rush it with too much too quickly as it is new to some people. We will take a break and come back for PART 2.]
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
