The disciples had
asked Jesus, What will be the sign of
Your coming, and of the end of the age?
Jesus now speaks of His coming, thus indicating that the events of the great tribulation are what will
indicated His coming is near.
Note that Jesus is not
teaching about the rapture, the
catching away of the Church (1 Thess. 4:13-18).
The Olivet Discourse concerns Israel and the fulfillment of the
prophecies of Daniel as well as those of Moses in Deut. 28. The rapture is a mystery that involves the Church, not Israel (1 Cor. 15:51-52).
Luke indicates that
the return of Christ will be preceded by a time when Jerusalem is trodden under
foot until the times of the Gentiles
is fulfilled (Lk. 21:24). Paul spoke of
the time when the fullness of the
Gentiles has come in (Rom. 11:25), the time when God’s dealings with the
Church comes to an end on earth and He then returns to bring about the
salvation of Israel (Rom. 11:26f). Revelation
11:2 seems to indicate the trampling of Jerusalem by the Gentiles comes to an
end after the great tribulation, when Messiah returns.
Jesus makes amazing,
unusual events in the heavens as the indication that the end of the great tribulation
has come and He is now ready to return.
This is the teaching of many Scriptures (e.g. Isa. 13:9-10; Ezek.
32:7-8; Joel 2:1-2,10-11,30-31; Amos 8:9; Zeph. 1:14-16). Recently emphasis has been placed on blood moons as possible fulfillment of
these passages. But blood moons are not as unusual as the events Jesus speaks of. And they are predictable, something that
defies what Jesus is saying here.
Tomorrow we will begin at Mt. 24:33 and His words of that day and hour no one knows.
Several days ago (Day
2 in this study) we spoke of the three situations when Jesus used the fig tree to define Israel’s failure to
produce the fruit God called for as well as the promise of Israel’s future
restoration. Today’s passage brings us
to that last parable. The times Jesus
has been speaking of are very difficult, times of great tribulation. But there is still great hope for Israel and
a reason to look up and lift up your
heads, because your redemption draws near (Lk. 21:28). God is and will be faithful to keep His
covenant with Abraham. The day will come
when all Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:26f) and redeemed Israel will sing the
song of Moses and the song of the Lamb (Rev. 15:3-4). Heaven and earth may pass away but God’s word
will never pass away!
The fact that Jesus
included very specific statements of the coming days and the nature of those
days when He will return is an encouragement to every believer. The ancient promises have not been forgotten
by God. Christ will return on the clouds
and when He does people will see and mourn the fact that they were in their sin
and not prepared for His coming (Mt. 24:30; Zech. 12:12). His return will be accompanied with judgment
(Mt. 24:31). How we pray that you will
not be among those who are not ready for His return!
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