The Olivet Discourse

 In Matthew 23, Jesus had just concluded his woes to the scribes and the Pharisees.  It was a stark condemnation against their teachings and a call for repentance.  While Jesus preached with authority and the firmness of a just king, this still took a toll on the Savior’s heart.  In Matthew 23:37-39, Jesus cries out in heartbreak saying how He wants to save those of Jerusalem.  These same vultures who killed the prophets and elevated themselves above God.  Again, our Savior’s heart is indeed that none should perish but that all come to repentance.

We begin chapter 24 with Jesus leaving the temple with the disciples and going up to the Mount of Olives which overlooks the city.  The disciples, being Jewish was in awe of the architecture of the city and the beauty of the temple.  Christ shocks the disciples by prophesying that the temple would be destroyed and not one stone would be left upon another.  This prophecy became true in 70 A.D. when Titus and his legions would destroy the temple.  Some try to say that the prophecy did not come completely true due the existence of the wailing wall in Jerusalem, however that is false.  What many fail to reiterate is that the wailing wall itself was rebuilt as it was a retaining wall and it in itself is not complete as it was significantly longer when the temple was in existence.  In fact, what many fail to realize is that it is considered that Titus may have transported many of the stones of the temple and used them in the completion of the Roman Colosseum.  There is actually an inscription upon the Colosseum that states that it was completed in 79 A.D. with “war spoils”.  While of course we don’t have definite confirmation that some of the stone came from the temple, it is very likely.

After the disciples ask Christ to teach them about signs of His coming and the end times, Jesus begins His teaching.  We must remember the context given here as we begin reading the Olivet Discourse.  Christ here is talking to the disciples with a primarily Jewish background.  We also understand that Matthew writes his gospel to all people, but with a Jewish emphasis.  We will see an outline of future events that is sequential and given in stages.  There is sometimes confusion with this passage because many will try to combine it into just one big major event, but if you read the text properly, you can see the progression.

First, Christ tells the apostles what they are going to experience after His ascension. He gives us a very familiar warning.  One that is echoed by the apostle John in his letters as we read.  He tells us to be aware that there will be false teachers in the future claiming to be the Messiah and the Savior.  Of course we see that ring true in history from Mohammed, Jim Jones, Charles Manson, David Koresh, etc.   We must take false teachers seriously.  There is a serious issue in today’s church with not taking false teaching seriously.  There is this erroneous idea that you can just “filter out” the bad and only take the good.  Isn’t that Satan’s tactic though?  Both at the temptation of Eve and the temptation of Christ we see such a tactic.  A sprinkling of the truth mixed in with a lie.  Jesus Christ Himself warned us of even taking a little bit of a false teachers teaching to heart.  We must always test teaching to the truth of Scripture and call out false teachers in hope of their repentance unto Christ.  

Christ then continues to advise them that they will hear of wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes.  We then read in verse 8 that these are the beginning of sorrows.

When we read other passages, we learn that the term “sorrows” used during a time period is a reference to the tribulation period.  So, Christ is telling the apostles what they will experience and what others will experience until the beginning of the seven year tribulation period.   This distinction is important and will follow in verse 9. 

Verse 9 begins to tell the Jewish nation what will be experienced by them during the Tribulation.  This is not written to the Gentile believers but to those who still hold to the Jewish belief and the ones who have rejected the Messiah.  We know this again because of the reference in Matthew 23:37 where Jesus mentions the Jewish nation that has rejected Him.  While the tribulation period is God’s wrath being poured out onto the Earth it is also God’s last plea and judgement to His nation, Israel.  God even in His wrath will be giving a final plea to the Jewish nation to come to Him for salvation.  We see where the beginning of the tribulation will be a very tough period and a period where people will be desensitized to the things of God.  There will be lawlessness, false prophets, killing, and much more.  We read how those who do come to faith in Jesus Christ during the tribulation will be martyred and killed.  However, we read that if they will endure they will be saved. Many Christians don’t realize that during the Tribulation period, even with the restrainer gone, the gospel will still be preached. In fact we see here that they will hear the gospel of the kingdom as it will be preached unto all nations.  When we read the Book of Revelation, we read about the two witnesses that God will send to preach salvation to the world.  These witnesses will be seen by the world.  At one point in history, it would be hard to understand how that can happen but now with the advent of television and even online streaming, we can now see how this can easily be accomplished.  Through the preaching of the gospel by these two witnesses, we read of 144,000 Jewish converts who will then go around the world preaching the truth of the gospel during this horrendous time.  Due to their faithfulness, we are told by Scripture that not just 144,000 will be saved but a number of Gentiles will come to faith that is innumerable.  This will happen in the first 3 ½ years of the seven year tribulation.  Christ marks the separation by two statements.  In verse 14 Christ tells us that when all the gospel is preached that this will be the end and then He begins verse 15 by stating that the Antichrist (the abomination of desolation) will stand in the holy place (the rebuilt temple).  At the 3 ½ year mark, the Antichrist will enter the new temple and declare himself as God and demand that the whole world worship him.  We read about this in Daniel 9 (where it references the desecration done by Antiochus Ephiphanes which will be repeated by the Antichrist, and we read about it in Revelation 11 and 12.   When the Antichrist does this, he will be breaking the peace treaty and beginning The Great Tribulation where the remainder of the judgements of God will be poured out on the earth.  We see this in Christ telling us in these verses that it would be best for those of the house of Israel to flee into the mountains and hide because of the persecution that will be done by the Antichrist and for those who do not believe, the wrath of the Almighty God.  Despite what preterists may preach, this has not happened.  Look at verse 21.  Christ states, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”  How can someone state that these events we read about in the Olivet Discourse have already taken place in 70 A.D.  How can they rectify it with the events of the Holocaust in the 1940’s?   There was a much larger slaughter of the Jewish nation during the time of Hitler than even what Titus accomplished.  Sadly, this event has not happened yet, but will during the Great Tribulation and the carnage will be larger and greater than even Hitler could imagine.   

There is hope though because Christ mentions in verse 22 about the days being shortened for the elect.  We know that this period will only last 3 ½ years (much shorter than if they experienced the full 7 or even a 40 year period of judgement.   Who are the elect?  The elect are those who came to a saving faith during the Tribulation period.  This is important to understand.  Christ’s church has already been raptured.  Now, there are new believers on the earth.  God in His mercy will gather them as well and we will read about this later on.  Many Christians mistake these verses as being verses about the Rapture, but they are not.  They are verses about the gathering of the elect that have been saved during the tribulation period.  

In verse 29-31 Jesus says,

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

What we see in verse 29 is echoed to us in Revelation 16 as the bowl judgements of God.  What Jesus says in verse 30 is echoed in Revelation 19:11-21.  Verse 31 will be accomplished at that time when Christ comes “with his army” as presented in Revelation 19.  That army will consist of angels who’s job will be to gather the elect in their own Rapture.  The ones we read about dressed in white linen are the believers who were raptured into heaven coming back not as an army that needs to attack, but is there glorifying the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords….the Bride of Christ cheering on her warrior husband.

In verses 32-35 we read about the Parable of the Fig Tree.  In these verses, the fig tree is not symbolic of the nation of Israel as was the case in chapter 21.  Instead, it is an example of how quickly all these final events will come to pass once they have begun.  There will be no lengthy gaps of time to delay the consummation of Christ’s coming.  As the budding of the fig tree is a sign that summer is near, so the appearance of “all these things” is a clear sign that the end is near. 

A lot of people have a hard time with verse 34.  Some take it out of context thinking that it meant the generation of Jesus’ time.  However, we must remember that this statement was in a parable.  A parable that was looking towards future events and future characteristics that needed to be met.  This is a reference to the future generation that will live to see all the signs listed in the previous verses fulfilled in their lifetime.

Verses 35-38 warn us that no one should try to declare the time of the Second Coming.  Christ emphatically states that only the Father knows.  We should not heed to so-called “prophets” that state that they can give us a time or year.  Instead, when that happens we should heed the warning that Christ gave us at the beginning of the chapter and not to pay attention to them.

Many Christians can sometimes confuse verses 39-42 where it says that one will be taken and one left behind as reference to the Rapture.  However, again, in context, this is not a Rapture reference.  This is in reference to the final gathering and separation of the saved from the lost.  This is the separation of the wheat and the tares.  This is the separation of the sheep and goats.  They both populate the same field, but only the good is harvested unto redemption.

So, what can we gather from the Olivet Discourse?  We can gather that Christ was serious about the end times.  We can gather that God is a God of order and in His mercy and grace, He has given us a timeline and things to look for to understand His coming just like we understand the changing of seasons. It gives us a cry for urgency.  We are to be prepared for His coming and we must be about the Lord’s work because we know the Master is coming back.  Again, this prophecy is a message of hope.  While there are dire warnings within it’s words, it’s warnings to make us come to a decision.  Christ is calling to His own even today for salvation.  Will you heed that call?  Will you be gathered underneath His wing?