\n<\/p>
INTRODUCTION <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jesus has condemned the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites, and warns that <\/span> Jerusalem <\/span> \u2019s house is going to be left desolate (Matthew <\/span> 23:37 <\/span> -39). <\/span> Just as Yahweh destroyed the abominable sanctuary at <\/span> Shiloh <\/span> (1 Samuel 4-6) and Solomon\u2019s temple in <\/span> Jerusalem <\/span> (2 Kings 24-25), so Jesus will return to take vengeance against Herod\u2019s temple (Matthew 24:1-3). <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE TEXT <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cO Jerusalem, <\/span> <\/span> Jerusalem <\/span> <\/span> , the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under <\/span> <\/span> <\/span> <\/span> her <\/span> <\/span> <\/span> <\/span> wings, but you were not willing! <\/span> <\/span> <\/span> <\/span> See! Your house is left to you desolate . . . .\u201d (Matthew <\/span> <\/span> 23:37-24:14 <\/span> <\/span> ). <\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n THIS GENERATION <\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Matthew 24 has been widely misinterpreted over the centuries, largely because Jesus\u2019 predictions have been detached from their context in Matthew and in His ministry. <\/span> Jesus the Great High Priest has just finished inspecting the temple, and condemns it (Matthew 21-23; cf. Leviticus 14). <\/span> He says that the blood of the prophets will be charged to \u201cthis generation\u201d ( <\/span> 23:36 <\/span> ), the generation that has misused the temple and rejected its Lord. <\/span> All the things He predicts happen within that very same generation (24:34). <\/span> This chapter is not about the end of the universe; it\u2019s the climax of the prophecies of judgment that have been accumulating throughout Matthew\u2019s gospel (cf. 3:7-10; <\/span> 11:16 <\/span> -24; <\/span> 16:27 <\/span> -28; <\/span> 21:33 <\/span> -46). <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n BEGINNING OF BIRTH PANGS <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jesus\u2019 disciples ask him to describe the signs that will help them know when He is coming to take vengeance against the house (v. 3). <\/span> Jesus eventually answers that question (v. 15), but first he describes events that are not signs of His coming but only the \u201cbeginning of birth pangs\u201d (v. 8). <\/span> False prophets appeared during the last days of <\/span> Judah <\/span> , before Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Solomon\u2019s temple (cf. Jeremiah), and they will be back to mislead the people (Matthew 24:4-5, 11-12). <\/span> Wars, especially conflicts among Christians and between Jews and Romans, will occur before Jesus returns, but these are not signs of the end (v. 6). <\/span> Nor are famines and earthquakes (v. 7). <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n GREAT TRIBULATION <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The period between Jesus\u2019 departure and the destruction of the temple will also be a time of tribulation. <\/span> This does not refer to the sufferings of the Jews at the hands of Romans, but rather to the sufferings of Christians (\u201cyou,\u201d v. 9; v. 21 speaks of the same tribulation). Christians will be under great pressure to renounce Christ, and many will fall away \u2013 there will be a great apostasy during the first century, many who play Judas and betray other Christians (v. 10). <\/span> <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n GOSPEL PREACHED <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the gospel is proclaimed throughout the \u201c oikoumene <\/em> ,\u201d it is a sign that the end has come (v. 14). <\/span> In the New Testament, oikoumene <\/em> does not mean \u201cinhabited earth,\u201d which would include <\/span> China <\/span> , <\/span> India <\/span> , and <\/span> Chile <\/span> ; it refers to the imperial system that Yahweh set up during <\/span> Israel <\/span> \u2019s Babylonian exile (cf. Daniel 2, 7). <\/span> Before the end comes, Jesus\u2019 kingdom will be preached from one end of the <\/span> Mediterranean <\/span> to another. <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" INTRODUCTION Jesus has condemned the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites, and warns that Jerusalem \u2019s house is going to be left desolate (Matthew 23:37 -39). Just as Yahweh destroyed the abominable sanctuary at Shiloh (1 Samuel 4-6) and Solomon\u2019s temple in Jerusalem (2 Kings 24-25), so Jesus will return to take vengeance against Herod\u2019s temple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-matthew"],"yoast_head":"\n