Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, Luke 21
« While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately, saying: “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things? » »
(Matthew 24:3)
In the question of Matthew 24:3, there are three important words that allow us to understand its meaning and the answer of Christ: The « sign » (σημαίνω (sēmeion) (Strong’s Concordance (G4591)), which has the sense of indication by « things that will take place ». The « sign » refers to two groups of events, stated by Christ: events which show that Christ is present and that he has begun to reign in the heavens (since 1914) (Matthew 24:4-14 and 24:23- 28). The « sign » of the nearness of the end and the end itself (Matthew 24: 15-22 (« sign » focused on the city of Jerusalem) and Matthew 24:29 at 25:46).
“In answer Jesus said to them: “Look out that nobody misleads you, 5 for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6 You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for these things must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. 8 All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress” (Matthew 24:4-8).
In his introduction, Christ indicates that there would be false Christ, that there would be a false presence of a self-proclaimed « Christ » who would lead many astray. He then describes the beginning of dramatic events. When he says, « but the end is not yet », he implies that the historical period in which these events would unfold would have a certain (indefinite) duration. This idea of »all these things are a beginning of pangs of distress », is repeated in the last verse (8).
“Then people will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name. 10 Then, too, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and mislead many; 12 and because of the increasing of lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold. 13 But the one who has endured to the end will be saved. 14 And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:9-14).
Jesus Christ describes the extremely difficult living conditions of Christ’s disciples, marked by persecution with hatred, betrayal, and the presence of false prophets and teachers who spread religious lies. Within the context of this description, Jesus Christ states that the disciples who persevere to the end will be saved (13).
The Good News would be preached as a witness to all nations, implying that the spread of this message would occur on a national scale, and not just on the scale of an individual (or groups of individuals). This means that the end of this proclamation campaign (decided by God) would not be when the last person would be contacted, but rather when all nations would be sufficiently informed of the Good News, from the perspective of the Heavenly Father; then the end would come (14).
“Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader use discernment), 16 then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains. 17 Let the man on the housetop not come down to take the goods out of his house, 18 and let the man in the field not return to pick up his outer garment. 19 Woe to the pregnant women and those nursing a baby in those days! 20 Keep praying that your flight may not occur in wintertime nor on the Sabbath day; 21 for then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. 22 In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short” (Matthew 24:15-22).
This part of the description of Christ is not easy to understand, as the parenthetical phrase demonstrates: let the reader use discernment. To understand these explanations, in addition to God’s help through prayer, one must have read and understood the prophecy of Daniel, specifically the part in chapter nine, about « the disgusting thing that causes desolation » and the « great tribulation, » mentioned in chapter twelve of Daniel’s prophecy. There would be two fulfillments: one in the time of Christ’s contemporaries, and the other in our time, when we are experiencing the signs announcing the end of this system of things.
This first fulfillment is based on the prophecy of the 70 weeks (of years), in Daniel chapter 9:24-27, which foretold both the coming of Christ to earth and the end of God’s special covenant with earthly Israel (verse 27a). The last week of years (7 years) would begin with the anointing of Christ in the autumn of 29 CE, and his cutting off (his death) in the middle of the week (3 and a half years later), the spring of 33 CE (Daniel 9:26a and 27a): “And after the 62 weeks, Messiah will be cut off, with nothing for himself. (…) And he will keep the covenant in force for the many for one week; and at the half of the week, he will cause sacrifice and gift offering to cease” (Daniel 9:26a and 27a).
The second part of this last week of years, this period of 70 weeks of years, ended in the year 36 CE, with the baptism of the Roman officer Cornelius, at the moment when God turned his attention to all the nations. From then on, God’s special relationship with the earthly nation of Israel had definitively ceased (Acts 10).
The prophecy (of Daniel) of the 70 weeks of years foretold the first presence of Christ on earth and the imminent end of the special relationship with the former nation of Israel, culminating in its destruction, particularly its administrative structure, in the year 70 CE, through the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies. This description of Jesus Christ in Matthew (24:15-20) is its first fulfillment.
“Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader use discernment)” (Matthew 24:15): This prophecy mentioned by Christ is in the book of Daniel 9:27b: « And on the wing of disgusting things there will be the one causing desolation; and until an extermination, what was decided on will be poured out also on the one lying desolate » (Daniel 9:27b).
The « the disgusting thing that causes desolation » represents the Roman armies, which carried out the execution of Christ (Matthew 27) and later, the destruction of Jerusalem. Thus, the « the disgusting thing that causes desolation » represents military forces causing great devastation. It represents a world power (in the time, Rome), primarily in its military power (and not only its political power).
The first fulfillment (not mentioned in the Bible), happened in the year 66 CE. The Roman general Cestius Gallus, during the first siege of Jerusalem, partially came into the city by destroying part of the outer wall of the great temple. However, for unexplained reasons Cestus Gallus left without completing this siege. This unprecedented situation allowed the Christians of Jerusalem (the chosen ones), to flee the city, before its destruction in the year 70 CE, by the Roman general Titus.
In Matthew 24:21, Jesus Christ mentions a great tribulation: “For then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again” (Matthew 24:21). This prophecy has not been fully fulfilled in 70 CE, with the destruction of Jerusalem, but it will be in our time.
Indeed, by this statement, Jesus Christ mentions a destruction (a tribulation), which is written in Daniel 9:27b, but its full fulfillment will be in our time (as the great tribulation). It is mentioned in Daniel 12:1: « During that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of your people. And there will occur a time of distress such as has not occurred since there came to be a nation until that time » (Daniel 12:1).
The second fulfillment of Christ’s signs
concerning the end of this system of things
What biblical evidence proves that the description in Matthew 24:4-20 would have a second fulfillment centuries later? It is the biblical book of Apocalypse (Revelation), written a little less than thirty years after the first fulfillment of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. In Matthew 24:7-8, it is written that there would be wars, food shortages, and great suffering. We can read similar information in Apocalypse (6:1-8), which precedes by a few years the great tribulation mentioned in Apocalypse 7:14, but also detailed in a terrifying description in Apocalypse 14:15-20 and 19:11-21.
Currently, the city of the former Jerusalem has been rebuilt, but it no longer biblically holds the status of the world capital of God’s worship (see Matthew 23:38, « Look! Your house is abandoned to you »). This former Jerusalem will be replaced by a heavenly « new Jerusalem » that will rule from heaven over the whole earth (Apocalypse 21:1-4).
The future destruction of present-day Jerusalem during the great tribulation, announced prophetically by Jesus Christ, is also confirmed in the prophecy of Zechariah: « Jehovah will go out and war against those nations as when he fights in the day of a battle. In that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in half, from east to west, forming a very great valley; and half of the mountain will move to the north, and half of it to the south. You will flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains will extend all the way to Azel. You will have to flee, just as you fled because of the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. And Jehovah my God will come, and all the holy ones will be with him » (Zechariah 14:3-5).
In the same way that this prophecy mentions that the holy ones would flee from Jerusalem to save their lives, so Jesus Christ has advised them, in our time, to flee the city before the coming the great tribulation (Matthew 24:15-21).
The second fulfillment of Daniel 9:27b and Matthew 24:15 (concerning the disgusting thing that causes desolation), takes place in our days, shortly before the future great tribulation, mentioned in Daniel 12:1 and Matthew 24:21.
An important reminder: The « the disgusting thing that causes desolation » represents the Roman armies, which carried out the execution of Christ (Matthew 27) and later, the destruction of Jerusalem. Thus, the « the disgusting thing that causes desolation » represents military forces causing great devastation. It represents a world power (in the time, Rome), primarily in its military power (and not only its political power).
Today, « the disgusting thing that causes desolation », represents an extension of the Roman power in our time (see Late Roman Antiquity). This extension of Late Roman Antiquity represents the United States of America (through its founding nations with Latin origin, primarily Spain, France, Portugal, and England (also occupied by Roman armies)), representing the current world power with its army possessing formidable destructive power.
In the prophecy of Daniel of the King of the North and the King of the South, it is written that the King of the South, the current American world power and its ally Israel (in the Middle East), would set up his « royal tents » in Jerusalem, a holy place, shortly before the great tribulation: « And he will plant his royal tents between the grand sea and the holy mountain of Decoration » (Daniel 11:45) (The following information is presented in the conditional tense, out of caution and as possibilities or probabilities, open to any necessary readjustments).
The fulfillment of this biblical prophecy took place on May 14, 2018, during the inauguration of the « royal tents » of the king of the south, the American embassy in Israel, located very exactly at the foot of the « holy mountain of Decoration » and between the « grand sea » ((South/south west of Mount Zion (Old City (East Jerusalem)), between the Karyat Moriah neighborhood (See Genesis 22:2 (Moriah), 14 (Jehovah Yireh)), to the east and the Arnona neighborhood to the west (direction « grand sea »)). It is in West Jerusalem (which did not exist when Daniel’s prophecy was written). Therefore, being slightly outside the Old City, the « Royal Tents » are between the « Old City » of Jerusalem (East Jerusalem) and the « Grand Sea », the Mediterranean Sea)).
The fulfillment of this prophecy is to be connected with the second fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus Christ, regarding the proximity of the destruction of Jerusalem, in the future great tribulation: « Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader use discernment), then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains » (Matthew 24:15,16).
This would be an indication that we are very close to the great tribulation, according to the end of the prophecy of Daniel, of the two kings, and also the converging end of the prophecy of Jesus Christ:
“During that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of your people. And there will occur a time of distress such as has not occurred since there came to be a nation until that time” (Daniel 12:1).
“For then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. 22 In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short” (Matthew 24:21,22).
The very fact that Jesus Christ mentions the great tribulation from the geographical location of present-day Jerusalem shows that the day and hour of the beginning of this dramatic global event will be determined by his time zone (UTC+2) (Matthew 24:2, 21; Zechariah 14:3-5). Jerusalem is expected to be the epicenter of this future world-changing event.
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