APPEAL TO THE CHRISTADELPHIAN COMMUNITY

Is Matthew 24 history or prophecy? It is a crucial prophetic question. Has this terrible period of tribulation already occurred or is it yet to occur? Is it past or future? History or prophecy?

Let’s not be too hasty in reaching that conclusion. 

It is recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, and in order to grasp it properly, it is necessary to synchronize all three accounts.

The majority of Christadelphians taught that Matthew 24 (the Olivet discourse) should be divided at verse 29. So they contend that through verse 28 Jesus was speaking of the end of the Mosaic age and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, and then in verse 29 and afterward, Jesus spoke about His second coming at the end of time. At first, this argument may seem reasonable.

Christadelphians who maintain that the events described have application to both modern times and to the apostolic period but there is an inconsistency in exactly which events have a dual application. This seems to mean simply that anyone pick and choose what parts of the prophecy will be placed in the AD 70 period and what parts will be given a latter day application, and those who adopt this approach pick and choose differently. Unfortunately, in attempting to interpret this prophecy, many take verses out of their context, or fail to synchronize them with the other accounts, and thus fail to comprehend its true significance.

One of the mistakes Christadelphians make in reading the Bible is caused by our tendency to look at everything through “colored glasses.”  By that I mean we read it as if Matthew Chapter 24 applies directly to us without regard for the context or historical background.  I know Paul said everything that was written in the past was written to teach us (Romans 15:4) but that doesn’t mean it was all written to us or about us.  It means we’re supposed to learn from the experiences of those who came before us. 

The truth is the whole context of Matthew 24 spoke of the events prior to the overthrow of Judah’s Commonwealth in AD 70, NOT TODAY!!

My friend, will you please let me explain what it means and why?

Today, a majority of Christadelphians taught that Matthew 24:29–51 spoke of the second coming.

There are 11 evidences that demonstrate that this is relevant to AD 70, not the second coming of Christ:

*Evidence #1: Verse 29 – The great tribulation*

verse 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.”

@ “Immediately after the tribulation of those days” –

The word “immediately” is from the Greek word eutheos that occurred 80 times in NT. It means “at once, or soon, as soon as, forthwith, shortly, straight way.” If you investigate the same Greek word used in different books in the New Testament, you will discover that it cannot be applied to 2000 years later.

There can be no question about the tribulation of verse 29 being the same “great tribulation” to which Jesus referred in verse 21. In verse 21 He said, “For THEN shall be great tribulation.” It was THEN, not later. That great tribulation occurred in connection with the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple as Jesus plainly said would take place.

What Jesus said was to happen next (“IMMEDIATELY”) had to have happened at that time! The most tragic time in the history of the nation of Israel was in A.D. 70, during the siege and destruction of the city of Jerusalem by the Roman armies. Jesus also said it would be a time of great tribulation such as never had been before, nor ever would be again.

Therefore, this period of great tribulation is not an event which the entire world is yet awaiting, but a past historic event of unparalleled concentrated severity specifically afflicting the Jewish nation in 70 A.D.

It is pointless to separate this tribulation mentioned here from its contemporary setting and move it out of place to a time either just before or just after a future second coming of Christ, as many do. This great tribulation is an actual historical fact, and we need not try to make anything else out of it. The Great Tribulation is not a period of time in our future. It already happened years ago. “FOR then shall be great tribulation.” The word “for” gives the reason for the flight of the disciples. This was a local matter with them, in Jerusalem and Judea, and not something that applies to people in our future.

@ “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven“

Jesus said that “immediately after the tribulation of those days” there would be tremendous celestial happenings. This is in connection with that great tribulation of A.D. 70, but immediately following it. Jesus was speaking of the coming destruction of Judea and Jerusalem and the Temple and all the rituals and ceremonies involved in their existence an practices.

This word “immediately” indicates to us that He could not be talking about some far-off distant event some 2,000 years away. These celestial events happened at the close of the great tribulation period in AD 70.

The sun and the moon were darkened, the stars fell from heaven, and the powers of the heavens were shaken. It is this kind of language which Jesus used to which we shall now give our attention.

John Thomas from Contending for the Faith, “This was his style of address to the 12 tribes and their constituted authorities. Israel was an ecclesiastical and civil kosmos, in whose heaven were the sun, moon, stars and constellations, of the system. It was from this heaven the Little Horn of the Goat (Roman armies) cast of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.” When the Horn (Roman armies) abolished the system, its “Sun was darkened, its moon gave no light, and its stars fell from the heaven;” and the days of mourning were established. It was a total eclipse of the Jewish power in church and state.”

John Thomas from Eureka Vol. 2, “This use of the sun, moon, and stars as representative of persons constituting a domestic circle, and differing from each other in social position, came afterwards to symbolize gradations of powers in the same circle, when it had become sufficiently enlarged to enclose a nation of twelve tribes. Hence, the Spirit in addressing the Zion of the Holy One of Israel now in the days of her mourning, saith in Isa. 60:20, “Thy Sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw herself.” Here the sun and moon represent the civil and ecclesiastical authority in Zion before they were abolished. And speaking of her destruction by the Chaldeans, the Spirit in Jer. 15:9, says, “Her sun is gone down while it is yet day.” Her royalty was suppressed; yet her moon and stars continued to shine under the Persian administration. But, a greater calamity was predicted in Joel 2:10, when the earth should quake, and the heavens tremble; in other words, when “the sun and the moon should be dark, and the stars withdraw their shining.” This would be a total eclipse of Israel’s Commonwealth by “the host given to the Little Horn of the Goat;” as foretold in Dan. 8:9-12: “It waxed great to the host of heaven; and it cast down of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them;” which in the interpretation given in verse 24, is explained to signify, “He shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and practice, and shall destroy great ones (the stars) and the people of the Holy Ones” or the host. Powers on earth do not literally pluck the stars from their spheres and stamp upon them; but they sometimes make sad havoc among the sun, moon, and stars of a political organization.”

This is highly symbolical language, given in the style of the Old Testament prophets, to describe the shakeup of things at the judgment of Christ in the destruction of the land of Judah’s commonwealth, Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70. This imagery is taken from the Old Testament and pictures the final dissolution and destruction of the Jewish nation. It is a picturesque portrayal of the greatness and majesty of God in times of judgment.

@ the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

It was in A.D. 64 that Nero began his persecution of Christians from Rome. Vespasian and Titus also took other cities. There were disorders and civil wars in every city: and all those that were at quiet from the Romans turned their hands one against another. There was also a bitter contest between those that were fond of war, and those that were desirous of peace. At the first this quarrelsome temper caught hold of private families, who could not agree among themselves. After which those people that were the dearest to one another, brake through all restraints with regard to each other; and everyone associated with those of his own opinion, and began already to stand in opposition one to another. So that seditions arose everywhere; while those that were for innovations, and were desirous of war, by their youth and boldness were too hard for the aged and the prudent men. And in the first place all the people of every place betook themselves to rapine. After which they got together in bodies, in order to rob the people of the country. Insomuch that for barbarity and iniquity, those of the same nation did no way differ from the Romans. Nay it seemed to be a much lighter thing to be ruined by the Romans, than by themselves. (Josephus, Of the War, Book IV).

We need to realize the scope of the great tribulation upon the people of Judea. It was not just those in Jerusalem that suffered and died, but also those all over Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. The whole country felt the judgment of God. 

Not only did destruction fall on the cities of Judea, but even in other countries the Jews found themselves under terrible tribulation. Josephus says that at that time a terrible commotion was stirred up throughout all Syria in consequence of the revolt of the Jews, and that everywhere the latter were destroyed without mercy, like enemies, by the inhabitants of the cities, “so that one could see cities filled with unburied corpses, and the dead bodies of the aged scattered about with the bodies of infants, and women without even a covering for their nakedness, and the whole province full of indescribable calamities, while the dread of those things that were threatened was greater than the sufferings themselves which they anywhere endured.” Such is the account of Josephus; and such was the condition of the Jews at that time. (Josephus, The Wars of the Jews)

In the year 68-69 AD was one of the most turbulent years in Rome’s history. After Nero’s death and the collapse of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, triggered a chain reaction of political upheaval and political instability. Rome was in turmoil as Nero had no natural heir or appointed successor to the throne,meaning it was up for grabs. Due to Nero dying without leaving an heir, a power vacuum formed, which acted as the catalyst ushering in the turbulent year from 68 CE to 69 CE, known as the Year of the Four Emperors. The “Year of the Four Emperors” was a period of immense upheaval and civil war in the Roman Empire following the death of Nero, during which four emperors, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian, ruled in rapid succession, leading to widespread chaos and instability. In the year 69 CE, four different men declared themselves emperor, each with their own army of loyal supporters, leading to a year of constant conflict and shifting allegiances. The Year of the Four Emperors was a period of intense civil war, several rebellions and claimants, with shifting alliances and widespread turmoil in Rome and the provinces. A quick succession of emperors all take the throne before being assassinated. In ancient Rome, there was no transitioning to a new dynasty peacefully; the only way to leave the throne was through a natural death or an expedited one. First, it was Galba, who ruled for six months until 69 AD. His rule ended with his assassination. Then, the man who had orchestrated the assassination, Otho, sat on the throne. His rule lasted only three months; he, too, was  assassinated. Vitellius was the third man on the throne and he managed a whole eight months before – in a shocking turn of events – he was also killed. That left Vespasian as the last man standing. Vespasian’s victory marked the end of the year and the beginning of the Flavian dynasty, bringing a period of relative stability to the Roman Empire. The Flavian dynasty ended the Year of the Four Emperors and ruled from 69 CE to 96 CE. It saw a period of building projects, successful war campaigns, and unfortunate catastrophes.

The years leading up to AD 70 constituted a time of great unrest and upheaval for the whole of the Roman Empire. Nations clashed, kingdoms clashed, and there were major wars and upheavals that occurred among the people Jesus spoke to in his time! These international events would strike terror unto the hearts of all the inhabitants of Judea, to such an extent that men’s hearts would fail them for fear, with the sure knowledge that before long their nation also would be overtaken by the calamities of the time.

*Evidence #2: Verse 30 – Son of Man with power and glory*

Verse 30 –

@ “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven” and “they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

The Lord brought judgment against the Jews who rejected Jesus. Many might then remember the words of the Lord Jesus to the Sanhedrin – “Ye shall see the Son of man …coming in the clouds of heaven”. This result led the Jews to a bitter end and ultimately perished in their sins.

Proof: Matthew 24:59,64 –

Verse 59 – “the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death.”

Verse 64 – Jesus said to the Jewish council, “I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand.” He is telling them that they were going to see it! They, the Sanhedrin, would see Jesus exalted to God’s right hand; they, the Sanhedrin, would see Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven. It is clear that this “coming” cannot refer to the Lord’s second coming for which we wait, for, even if we allow that these Jews of the Sanhedrin will be raised from the dead, they will not see him in the act of coming. Jesus comes before the dead are raised. In what sense, then, did they see Jesus exalted to the right hand of power? In what sense did they see him coming?

The Greek word “coming” is Parousia. Moulton and Milligan, in The Vocabulary Of The Greek Testament, claim that it was used in the sense of being presence as royal majesty, authority, arrival, or official visit of a royal or king. They state: “with the NT usage of parousia is the quasi-technical force of the word from Ptolemaic times onwards to denote the “visit” of a King, Emperor, or other person in authority, the official character of the “visit” being further emphasized by the taxes or payments that were exacted to make preparations for it.” Evidence from papyrus documents is cited to show that the word was frequently used to denote the presence of a ruler in his official capacity, and that the early Jews understood and used the word in that way.

John Thomas from Eureka Vol. 2, “The Lord Jesus reproduced Daniel’s prophecy in his discourse on the destruction of the city that killed the prophets, in saying: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven (symbolized by these orbs) shall be shaken” (Matt. 24:29). These were the lights in which there were to be “great signs and fearful sights,” indicative of the parousia, or presence, though INVISIBLE, of the Son of Man when the Greco-Roman army should be sent by him to destroy the city of his murderers (Matt. 22:7). In the same style, Peter speaks of the rapidly approaching fulfilment of the prediction, when the heavens being on fire should be dissolved and should pass away with a great noise, and their elements melt with fervent heat (2 Peter 3).””

Furthermore, this is the actual correct translation on Matthew 24:3: As He sat on the Mount of Olives, When the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And What will be the sign of thy presence as King? And the end of the Aion (the age of Judah’s Commonwealth)?”

The disciples were asking three questions. First, they wanted to know when the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem would take place. Second, they wanted to know when Christ’s presence in royal visitation would come against the wicked nation of Judah’s Commonwealth. Third, they also wanted to know the sign of the end of the Aion (the end of Judah’s Commonwealth) would occur.

It is important to know why the disciples are asking these questions in the first place. They have not been thinking about global events that will transpire at the end of the world or cataclysmic phenomena that would usher in the end of history. These men were thinking about the things that were in front of them, such as the abandonment and destruction of their beloved temple and when Jesus would return to make sure that event happened. They were not expected to wait for the second coming of Christ in 2000 years later. Jesus corrects their understanding with the events that will occur immediately within the lifetime of these disciples and “this generation”.  

The abomination of desolation was accomplished in the destruction of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem predicted in Matthew 24. Because Matthew 23 says, “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place,” Jesus foretold the predictions of Matthew 24 regarding famines, earthquakes, false messiahs, wars, and so forth, which were all fulfilled in the days before AD 70. Since “coming” is from parousia often used in contemporary Greek to denote the arrival of King. The coming (parousia) of Christ was accomplished by His coming in judgment on Jerusalem.

This is what Jesus is talking about in the Olivet Prophecy. The Jews did not literally see Jesus sitting on the right hand of power. What they saw was the sign that Jesus had been thus exalted. The destruction of Jerusalem, the passing away of Israel’s heavens and earth, was the sign that Jesus had been exalted to heaven.

Then shall the Son of man give a proof of himself, whom they would not before acknowledge: as proof, indeed, not in any visible figure, but in vengeance and judgment so visible, that all the tribes of the earth shall be forced to acknowledge him the avenger. The Jews would not know him: now they shall now him, whether they will or no, Isaiah 26:11. Many times they asked of him a sign: now a sign shall appear, that he is the true Messiah, whom they despised, derided, and crucified, namely, his signal vengeance and fury, such as never any nation felt from the first foundations of the world.

The Lord’s invisible presence during a royal visitation would come against the wicked nation of Judah’s Commonwealth in AD 70 to judge the nation, not to his second coming. The Roman armies were the Lord’s armies to abolish the Mosaic kingdom on the same principle that the Medes and Persians were Yahweh’s “sanctified ones” for the subversion of the Chaldean Dynasty (Isa. 13:3).

Thus, the Lord was to bring this fierce power of the west against Jerusalem. The Son of Man, though invisible, sent the Roman army to destroy the city of his murderers (Matt. 22:7).

@ all the tribes of the earth will mourn

The ominous words of these prophecies must be seen as directly connected to the fearful crisis soon to face the Jewish nation and capital city, with its temple dedicated to the service of YHWH, the God of Israel. Jesus knew that his being rejected by them as the promised and long-expected Messiah could bring only disaster, the destruction of their city and temple, to be followed by age-long exile of the Jewish people unto the ends of the earth! This knowledge caused him to weep in sorrow over what he knew was coming upon his beloved people, for whom he would die, unappreciated and hated without cause.

History confirms that these were precisely the horrendous results of that rejection. A rejection foretold centuries earlier by the prophets Isaiah (53:3) and Daniel (9:25, 26)! The writer of Hebrews, analyzing the chronological significance of Christ’s sacrifice, the result of that rejection, described it as having taken place “once for all at the consummation of the ages” (Daniel 9:26) – a time notation that deserves greater scrutiny than it often gets!

The celebrated prophecy of the seventy weeks, in Daniel 9, had shown that the Messiah was scheduled to appear at a specific time and that he would subsequently be “cut off” (v. 26). Jesus appeared at the designated time and carried out his miraculous ministry to the nation of Israel — its crisis then manifested in his solemn testimony to the highest Jewish authorities that he was, in fact, the Messiah (Mark 14:61, 62). Their possession of Daniel’s prophecy, and that of Isaiah 53, could only ensure that Israel would be left “without excuse” for their rejection of Messiah. As a nation, they would have to bear the responsibility for the disasters that would inexorably come upon them for rejecting him! Because they dared to “smite the Judge of Israel [Messiah] with a rod upon the cheek” they were going to be “given up” until a time in the far distant future (Micah 5:1-4).

The heaven was the aggregate of Judah’s “high” or official “places”; the the wonders, the “casting down of the host and of the stars to the ground,” and “taking away of the daily” and so forth, by the little horn of the goat; the signs upon the land, those already enumerated by Jesus in Matt. 24; blood, slaughter by the sword; fire, the burning of the towns, villages, home-steads, mansions of Judah, with its metropolis and temple; and vapor of smoke, the symbol of utter and complete destruction; the sun turned into darkness was the putting out of the supreme power of the state in the abolition of its principalities and its powers and the turning of the moon into blood, expressed by the words of Amos, saying, “the songs of the temple shall be howling in that day, saith Yahweh Elohim; there shall be many dead bodies in every place, and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentations, and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head, and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end there of as a bitter day”

The terrible judgments that happened upon them have caused all tribes of the earth to mourn.

*Evidence #3: Verse 31 – Gather Elect*

Verse 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.”

On a number of occasions in the prophets, side by side with the prediction of the judgement of the nation of Judea, there is reference made to the bringing in of the Gentiles into God’s redemptive plan. Although there was some overlap, and Gentiles began to be called before Jerusalem was destroyed, the destruction of Jerusalem marked the end of the Mosaic dispensation and the beginning of the age of Gentile opportunity.

It is this same teaching that lies behind the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:31. Having described, in the language of the prophets which was so familiar to the disciples, the destruction of Judea under the Mosaic system, Jesus proceeds to say, “He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the fours winds, from one end of heaven to the other”. Placed in the context which we have carefully elaborated from the Scriptures, Since A.D. 70, when the lights of the Israelites heavens were extinguished and its earth was burned up, it has been mainly the Gentiles, those of the four winds, who have responded to the gospel sound which has been trumpeted forth calling Gentiles and gathering them into the Ecclesia of Jesus Christ.

The mention of the “great sound” of a trumpet appears to be a reference to Numbers 10:3 where we read of the way in which various notes were blown on the two silver trumpets in order to communicate with the people. When the two trumpets were blown together, thus giving a “great sound”, it was a signal for the people to gather together. So here, in the Olivet Prophecy, the sound of the trumpet “gathers together” the elect.

The elect are the saints, having been twice mentioned already in Matthew 24:22,24. In these previous passages “the elect referred to are the faithful saints out of Judea.”

But for the most part Jesus, during his ministry, had appealed to this nation in vain. He had, therefore, rebuked them, saying, “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” He proceeded to speak of the fact that the Gentiles would respond”. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:28,29). As a response to the trumpet call, the Gentiles as the elect are taken from the four winds, namely north, south, east, and west, in other words, from the land of the Gentiles. This gathering together is mentioned in John 11:52, where we read that Jesus died “not for that nation (Israel) only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad”

Six days before he was crucified, Jesus stood upon the Mount of Olives and looked down upon the city of Jerusalem, and wept. And he said unto it:

For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:43,44)

“When the king heard thereof, he was furious and he sent forth his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (Matthew 22:7).

Thus, the Jewish commonwealth was overthrown and their city destroyed by the Romans who were used as God’s sword then Jesus said in parable:

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’” (Matthew 22:8-9).

Here is the extension of the invitation to the Gentiles.

Furthermore, at the Jerusalem Conference in Acts 15, James, speaking in support of the proposition that uncircumcised Gentiles could be saved, quoted from Amos 9:11-12 as follows:

“And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things” Acts 15:15-17.

His focus was on Amos 9:12 where Gentiles could seek after the Lord, and he had no difficulty applying the prophecy to his current day. It was the clinching argument and provided essential Old Testament evidence to validate the logical arguments put forward by Peter, Barnabas and Paul that there were to be Gentiles upon whom God’s Name could be called. Apostle Paul – “I am clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles” – Though distressed at the Jews’ rejection of Christ, Paul’s statement does not spring from human antagonistic feeling, but is firmly rooted in the numerous O.T. scriptures which foretold the inevitability of the Gentiles’ inclusion in Yahweh’s plan of salvation. Thus the apostle confirms that he has carried his divine commission to preach the gospel of salvation to his people. Since they, however, rejected his message, he would now gladly and joyfully preach to the Gentiles in fulfilment of God’s declared purpose (Acts 9:15; 13:46; 14:27; 28:28; cp. ch. 17:2; 19:8) (See John 10:16, John 12:32, Matthew 21:33-46, Matthew 22:1-14, Mark 12:1-9, Luke 14:15-24, and Luke 20:9-16)

While it is true that Amos 9:11-12 is primarily a prophecy concerning the ultimate rebuilding of the house and kingdom of David, it could rightly include a preparatory stage.

It was necessary to develop the Gentiles so that they could, as saints, along with a restored Israel, possess the kingdom under the whole heaven (Dan 7:27). The prophecy therefore covers both events, and provides for the preliminary and the ultimate.

James’ citation also adds an extra dimension to the prophecy. The prophecy, as presented by Amos, is limited to “possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name.” In that context it related to the territory that Israel was destined to possess. Their specific inheritance did not go beyond the boundaries outlined to Abraham in Genesis 15:18-21, yet James used it to cover Gentiles.

Again, this is not an unprincipled manipulation of the text. If God called these nations (all of them uncircumcised and removed from the Law of Moses) by His Name, why would it be considered improper that this could not apply to all Gentile nations? God could not be limited in this way.

Is there more to it than that? Our attention is drawn to the fact that the “tabernacle of David” was a temporary arrangement.

When we peruse the history of David we are struck by the actuality of the impermanent abiding place for the Ark of the Covenant. This piece of furniture was the most important of all that had been created in accordance with Divine specifications yet, during the reign of David, it had no permanent home in Jerusalem.

When David first brought it up from Shiloh, the Ark, after the sudden and unexpected death of Uzzah, was placed in the home of Obed-Edom the Gittite for a period of three months.

As a result, Yahweh blessed this Gentile and all that he had (2Sam 6:11). After that, the Ark was relocated to Zion but, until Solomon built the temple, was housed in a tent (2Sam 7:2 ESV).

When we examine the records of the transportation of the Ark we can observe how that it was a Gentile who was blessed by God.

The statement of 1 Chronicles 26:5 that God blessed Obed-Edom indicates that this Levite was formerly the Philistine of 2 Samuel 6:11. Obed-Edom (possibly the same one) is also listed as a doorkeeper (1 Chronicles 15:24-25) and a minister before the Ark (1 Chronicles 16:38). Obed-Edom, a Gentile, was mightily blessed and eventually, it would seem, accepted as a Levite.

James’ use of Amos 9 and its reference to the tabernacle of David has special significance in that a Gentile was blessed by Yahweh and accepted by the spiritual and civil leadership of the nation of Israel. Almighty God can and does work with Gentiles. Jews did and should work side-by-side with Gentiles in the things of God. It is little wonder that James’ citation of Amos ended the conference with the only valid conclusion, “Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God” (Acts 15:19).

Thus, James indicates that Yahweh’s faithful saints were awaiting the restoration of all twelve tribes to the throne of David, as well as the ingathering of Gentiles into the way of salvation, before the return of Christ to restore the kingdom!

In summary: Matthew 24:31 speaks of a future gathering of God’s elect, both Jewish and Gentile, from all corners of the earth, at the time of Jesus’ return. This gathering signifies the fulfillment of God’s promises and the ultimate establishment of his kingdom, amidst a context of present Jewish rejection and the ongoing proclamation of the Gospel to all nations. 

*Evidence #4: Verse 32,33 – Fig Tree*

““Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near at the doors!” Matthew 24:32-33

According to the Thayer’s Greek Lexicon- the word “near” means concerning things imminent and soon to come to pass.

Imminent means likely to occur at any moment.

The fig tree is a symbol of the Judean nation, which seemed to be thriving — with an abundance of leaves — but spiritually it was producing no fruit. Jesus often rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for this lack of spiritual fruit, and in the same chapter of Matthew He concludes (in the parable of the vineyard) by saying, “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (verse 43). Verse 45 continues, “And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that He spoke of them.” The cursing of the fig tree represented a curse on the nation of Judea.

It is interesting to note that John uses the plural word “trees”. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel is described as a vine (Psalm 80:8), a fig tree (Joel 1:12), an olive tree (Jeremiah 11:16), and a cedar (Ezekiel 17:22,23). Jesus also uses the plural word “trees” in his Mount Olivet Prophecy when describing the barrenness of the nation of Judea immediately prior to the judgements of AD 70:

“Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.” (Luke 21:29,30)

Comparison with the parallel verse in Matthew 24:32 reveals that the point of Jesus’ parable was that “the fig tree and all the trees” were productive of only leaves.

Good fruit was conspicuous by its absence:

“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” (Matthew 24:32,33)

The commandment of John the Baptist to bring forth “fruits meet for repentance” had been disregarded by the nation as a whole. There is no scriptural justification for taking Jesus’ reference to “all the trees” as relating to the resurgence of Israel in 1948.

The destruction was also prophesied in another parable in Luke 13:6-9: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why should it render the ground unproductive? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.”

The three years of seeking fruit in the parable refer to the three years of Jesus’ ministry. For these three years Jesus sought but found no fruit among the Judeans, and so God was minded to cut the tree down. But the dresser of the vineyard said to give it one more year, and he would fertilize it to see if any fruit would be produced. In fact, God gave them an extra 40 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus in AD 30 until it was clear that the tree was fruitless, so it was only left with the choice of being cut down. This prophecy was literally fulfilled in AD 70 when the city of Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Roman armies as a foreshadowing of what is yet to come.

Christadelphians believe that this passage refers to 1948. Ridiculous. Jesus was stating that these things would take place during the lifetime of that particular generation in the first century.

*Evidence #5: Verse 34 – this generation*

Verse 34 – “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”

We must see the context of what is happening. The first verse of Matthew 24 tells us that Jesus left the temple. This scene reaches all the way back to Matthew 21 when Jesus went into the temple in Jerusalem and cleansed it. This provoked the religious leaders to challenge Jesus and to challenge his authority. Jesus then spends the rest of chapter 21, all of chapter 22, and all of chapter 23 in the temple complex teaching about the coming destruction of Jerusalem. 

Matthew 23 is full of condemnations and woes upon the religious leaders who have brought Jerusalem to this point. Look at how Matthew 23 ends in verses 37-39. Jesus says that Jerusalem is the city that kills the prophets and messengers of God that have been sent to it. Jesus even proclaims that his effort has been to bring his people to God. But they have refused. They have rejected Jesus. They have rejected his signs. They have rejected his authority. They have rejected his teachings.

Then Jesus says something stunning. Look at Matthew 23:38. “See, your house is left to you desolate.” 

Now initially we can miss what is so dramatic about these words.

Before this Jesus made a bold prophetic judgment on the temple, stating “Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

The question is, why would the Temple have to be destroyed? Because Jesus was to be rejected as a prophet, just like the prophets of old, whose murderous opponents filled up their own judgment and condemnation to the brim (Matthew 23:32-36). The Scribes and Pharisees are “blind hypocrites,” and “vipers.” Jesus does the name-calling towards his opponents. Jesus’ harsh words are no different than the prophets of old who prosecuted Israel for their wayward sins. And yet the blood of all the righteous has come to them (23:35). The religious leaders of Jesus’ time were identified as having a strong sense of accountability and judgment.

To whom? “Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Matt. 23:36). Jesus says that this prophetic scenario applies to “this generation” (Matthew 23:36; Matthew 24:34; Luke 11:51).

The prophecy is restricted in time to that generation. In general, the historical interpretation of prophecy is fairly settled. We must not miss the clear references to the contemporary expectation. Enclosing the relevant portion of the discourse, we have Christ’s own time-element designation. In Matthew 23:36, he dogmatically asserts “all these things shall come upon this generation.”

After explaining all of the signs that would happen prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, Jesus closes the relevant portion of the prophecy by repetition of the time frame: Matthew 24:34 says, “Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Contextually the “this generation” of Matthew 24:34 must speak of the same idea as that of Matthew 23:36. The phrase Jesus used is a powerful statement! Jesus warned His followers that Jerusalem would be destroyed within their own generation.

The word “generation” is used elsewhere in Matthew (and the other gospels) of those living in the days of Christ’s first advent. 

The context of Matthew 24 and the Olivet Discourse is clear: Jesus has come to inspect the Temple, has found it wanting, and pronounces its desolation (23:38).

We note that Jesus “cleansed” the temple not once, but twice. The first time is recorded at the beginning of His public ministry in John 2 and the second is recorded at the end of His public ministry (Mark 11, Matthew 21, and Luke 19). There were two indeed two cleansings at the different timing. We see that Jesus is following the procedure laid out in Leviticus 14 for cleansing a house, His Father’s house.

This would follow the process of the High Priest visiting an unclean house (Leviticus 4:33-53). First, the owner of the house alerts a priest to the presence of corruption in the home (in the case of the temple, this is the “Father’s house”). The priest empties the house and examines it, and if corruption is found, shuts the house up for a week (Leviticus 14:35–38). The priest then returns, and if the corruption has spread, the offending stones and plaster are replaced (Leviticus 14:40–43). When the priest returns for a third inspection, if the house remains unclean, it is torn apart and destroyed (Leviticus 14:43–45). So we see Jesus, the great High Priest, declaring His Father’s house unclean for a second time in Matthew 21 then leaving an anticipated third and final visit if the temple remains unclean. 

The temple was certainly corrupted. Just as leprosy represents sin, sin has crept into the house of God. Ezekiel 8 speaks of God’s house being defiled by the abominations of sinful practices. In Ezekiel 34 we read of God’s displeasure towards the leaders who were supposed to shepherd the flock of God but were instead gratifying themselves. This aptly describes the Pharisees’ self-satisfying and irresponsible mismanagement of the stewardship God had entrusted to them.

Jesus declares this explicitly in a lengthy series of teachings that run from Matthew 21-25. In a key point in the narrative, Jesus pronounces woes on the Pharisees that culminates with “See, your house is left to you desolate.” (Matthew 23:38) In Matthew 24:2 Jesus establishes His final verdict on the corrupted house: “But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

It’s amazing that Leviticus 14:33-45 foreshadows Christ’s cleansing of the house of God. Jesus’ prophetic woes came to pass. The temple in Jerusalem was torn down completely in 70 A.D. by the Romans.

(It is also worth noting that these words of Jesus were uttered between His leaving the temple and ascending the Mount of Olives. The glory of the Lord departs from the temple in Ezekiel 10 in exactly the same direction.)

The disciples have questions about it (Matthew 24:2) and Jesus gives them the outline. There are things that will characterize this time period of 40 years and, of course, Jesus was right, 40 years from his death, the desolation of the Temple was laid to ruin by the Romans Armies that surround Jerusalem (Luke 21:20). 

It makes no sense for anyone today to leave their flat roofs (we don’t have any) and “not go down to take out things that are in his house” (Matthew. 24:17). There is no need for anyone today to “flee to the mountains,” because not all of us live in Judea (Matthew 24:16). The context of the passage is simple: Jesus was talking about events that would take place in the first century while the listeners were living in his time, but not about events that are occurring today in the twenty-first century. When the second coming of Christ returns, no man can escape!

When God sent the Roman army to destroy Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70, he indeed shortened the days to protect the believers in Jerusalem and Judea. In a siege against the city lasting nearly a year, Cestius Gallius, the Roman general, withdrew to Caesarea and brought back a larger army. This break in the battle allowed the believers who understood Jesus’s prophecy to flee the city, and Josephus, the Jewish historian and eyewitness to the event, says that many did, leaving behind the Jews in the city who were determined to fight to the death (which they did).

It was the contemporary people of Jesus’ day who would see these things happen. Jesus said, “So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors” (vs. 33). He said, “YOU” THEY (Generation at the days of Jesus) would see these things.

It is clear that He is speaking of His contemporaries. Look at how some of the translations deal with Matthew 24:34;

1. New English Bible: “I tell you this: the present generation will live to see it all.”
2. Moffatt’s Translation: “I tell you truly, the present generation will not pass away, till all this happens.”
3. Weymouth’s Translation: “I tell you in solemn truth that the present generation will certainly not pass away until all this has taken place.”

These translations make it quite clear and hit the nail on the head.  

These religious leaders of Israel, to whom Jesus was speaking directly, were members of that specific generation, and it was that generation which would bear the brunt of God’s wrath. Paul later wrote of the same generation: “the wrath of God has come upon them at last” (or “to the utmost,” NASB, 1 Thess. 2:16). His wrath was even then poised to be decisively unleashed shortly afterwards, when in AD 70 the Roman legions were to destroy Jerusalem and the temple, forcing most of the survivors into what was to become a worldwide exile.

The meaning of the word was specific to the current generation at the time of Christ, not to the future generation in 2000 years later that Christadelphians taught. Christ’s coming was imminent and would take place only in the generation that spanned from Christ’s death and resurrection until that date (AD 30 to 70) (Matthew 24:34). If an “imminent” coming of Christ is taught at all in the New Testament (and it was), then it becomes necessary for the student of that New Testament to discover exactly to which area of time that imminence applies.

*Evidence #6: Verse 40,41 – Parable*

“Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.” – Matthew 24:40-41

Jesus teach his disciples about the necessity of faithful living employing two illustrations based upon life in Israel.

The first pair are simply working a field to grow a crop. The second pair are grinding grain to prepare food. Men routinely worked in a field and women ground grain, without any sense of threat. The point is there’s no difference. They’re just trying to feed their families.

When interpreted in the context of AD 70, is often understood as a reference to the sudden and unexpected judgment that would befall Jerusalem during the Roman siege, where some people would be spared while others would perish, signifying a separation between the righteous and the wicked; essentially, “left” represents left behind and survival, while “taken” represents being caught in the destruction.

The wicked are contrasted with Noah, the righteous (verses 37-39). Noah was not caught unprepared, only the wicked were. Therefore, the comparison to the destruction of Jerusalem makes sense. He says that one is taken, and one is left in verses 40-41. The wicked were taken, not the righteous, for the righteous fled at the approaching armies (verses 15-16).

The imagery of “two men in the field” and “two women grinding at the mill” is similar to the story of Noah’s flood, where people were going about their daily lives unaware of the impending disaster and “swept away” in the Global Flood, highlighting the suddenness of the judgment.

Why it cannot apply to today because there will be no one left behind in the second coming of Christ. There will be no such choices!

*Evidence #7: Matthew 24 & Luke 17 – the timing of these events divided?*

Christadelphians suggest that Jesus’ Olivet Discourse in Mathew 24 is a divided discourse. According to most who take this position, Matthew 24:1-28 refers to the events which precede and consummate in the judgment and destruction of Jerusalem at the coming of the Son of Man in AD 70. Then Mathew 24:29-51 refers to events sometime in our future, immediately prior to a supposed visibly second coming of Jesus at the “end of time”.

Here is a brief comparative study between Matthew 24 and Luke 17, which completely invalidates Christadelphian’s teaching on a divided Olivet discourse. For those divide Matthew 24, regardless of where exactly they divide it, the following chart should be considered:

Let’s call the first part Section A and the second part Section B.  When you parallel the Luke 17 passage with Matthew 24, here is what you find:

Luke 17 paralleled with Matthew 24, with the wording classed in Sections A or B:

1. Luke 17:24                    –                 Matthew 24:27         (A)

2. Luke 17:26-30               –               Matthew 24:37-39    (B)

3.  Luke 17:31-33              –                Matthew 24:17-18    (A)

4.  Luke 17:34-36              –                Matthew 24:40-41    (B)

5.  Luke 17:37                   –                  Matthew 24:28          (A)

It is obvious that Mathew 24 and Luke 17 are parallel prophesies. However, by virtually unanimous consensus Luke 17 is not a divided prophecy but an undivided prophecy.

Clearly, all of Luke 17 refers to the destruction of Jerusalem. In light of all the evidence, this view is really the only logical and consistent view.

Unfortunately for Christadelphians, Luke 17:22-37 describes five Olivet-Discourse prophetic events that are identical to those found in Matthew 24. Matthew 24 and Luke 17 proved that it was fulfilled in the AD 70, in Jesus’ own generation. I have proved that Christadelphians completely falsify all claims that Matthew 24 can be divided into 2 separate stages of fulfillment, separated by 2000 years.

Therefore, Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 are referring entirely to the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the Judah’s Commonwealth, not about the second coming of Christ and the end of the world today.

*Evidence #8: Matthew 24 & Luke 17 – LOT

Jesus’ words in Luke 17 likewise liken the destruction of Jerusalem and Judea in A.D. 70 to Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus said:

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; But the same day that lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed (Luke 17:28–30).

Just like Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone from heaven, so Jerusalem would be destroyed by the fires of God’s vengeance acting through the Roman armies which would come into that land. Just as Lot was saved from the fires of Sodom and Gomorrah by escaping outside the cities, so anyone in Jerusalem escaped the tribulation that fell upon Jerusalem and Judea by escaping outside the city and cross over other country where they were preserved from the wrath of God that soon fell upon the land.

In Luke 17:32 we also find the expression, “Remember Lot’s wife. Jesus is reminding his hearers of how Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt when she hesitated and looked back upon the city. He was suggesting to them that this could be the fate of any who did not hurry and get out of Judea and Jerusalem when the Roman armies showed up. That’s how theirs could be a similar fate by being caught in the situation at Jerusalem, if they did not heed His words and get out of the city immediately when they saw the Roman armies surrounding the city. While not experiencing fire and brimstone, they could be slaughtered during those horrible days of tribulation there.

We need to be reminded again here, that in Luke 17:31 Jesus said, “In THAT DAY, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back,” In that day that the son of man is revealed, the watchful are to escape rather then going back to their homes.

 Those who seek to find a transition verse in Matthew 24:36 because Jesus used the expression “that day” rather than “those days”, need to be reminded that here Jesus is using that same expression “THAT DAY” which relates to the time of danger from which the disciples were to flee, and which time in Matthew 24 is described in verses 17–18 in a passage far before a so-called transition “THAT DAY” is found in verse 36.

Would it have made sense for Jesus to urge His disciples to “watch’” for something that was not to take place for another 2,000 years or so? But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such as an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh (Matthew 24:43–44).

Here Jesus repeats His same admonition for His disciples to be on the watch and be ready for His coming in judgment upon that wicked city of Jerusalem. Judea’s house was ready to be broken up. Those people who escaped from the city and land would not be affected by the awful things that would happen there.

*Evidence #9: Matthew 24 – End of the Mosaic Age*

It is in the last part of Matthew chapter 23 that we find the plaintive heart cry of Jesus as He thinks of how these people have rejected Him and of their fate awaiting them because of this. He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that kill the prophets, and stone them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gather her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (23:37). And then He said, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (23:38).

No wonder the scathing denunciations of Christ to the Jewish leaders in Matthew 23 were so harsh as He predicted in the following chapter 24 that He knew that God’s wrath toward Judea was now filled up and must soon be poured out and in that generation too!

His statement that their house would be left unto them desolate was His prophecy of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, God’s wrath and judgment that would be poured out upon them in A.D. 70, and the utter desolation of both the city and the Temple. These tragic and prophetic words of Jesus were uttered at the end of His ministry, just several days before He was crucified. This was the last time He ever went into the Temple.

Christadelphians have taken for granted that most all of the New Testament prophecies deal with the future in our time (our present age), and have not given enough recognition to the fact that when prophecies or predictions made during the ministry of Christ and the lives of the apostles spoke of the “present” age, or the “end of the age” they were referring to THEIR age, the Jewish age which came to an end in A.D. 70, and not to our age of today.

Many prophecies which Christadelphians have assigned to a future second coming of Christ, for example, were actually fulfilled at the end of THEIR age, in the destruction of” Jerusalem and the Temple. The fact that many Christadelphians do not recognize this difference accounts for the many varied and confused interpretations concerning the prophecy of Matthew 24. Paul spoke of those in his day as those “upon whom the ends of the world (age) are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). This was not OUR end-time, but THEIRS.

The end of that present age (to them) was the age to which the disciples had reference. They were talking about the end of the age in which THEY lived—the end of the Jewish age. They were speaking of that age that was closing in the LAST DAYS mentioned in Hebrews 1:2, “Hath in these LAST DAYS spoken unto us by his Son,” Not OUR last days, but the last days of the Jewish age—in the last days during which Jesus Christ came.

This is the same age referred to as was mentioned in Hebrews 9:26, “Now once IN THE END OF THE WORLD (ages) hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” The crucifixion of Christ took place as THAT age was coming near a close. Peter said that Christ came “in these last times” (1 Peter 1:20). Paul, writing elsewhere regarding his contemporaries, said, “upon whom the ends of the world (ages) are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). Jesus came during the last days of the age that was then (the Jewish age), which age definitely came to an end with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70. In their question to Jesus, the disciples connected the destruction of the Temple with the end of the age. It was THEIR age under discussion, not OUR age.

When we consider whether the meaning of “end of the age” refers to the end of OUR age, or to the end of some earlier age, we need only to pay attention to the fact that Jesus connected the “end of the age” with the events involved in the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in the year A.D. 70

Thus, the end of the age which Jesus and the disciples anticipated, was the end of the Jewish age which took place when the Jewish Temple, rituals, and the capital city were all completely destroyed. This was a coming of Christ in judgment on the Jewish world which finally ended one age and brought another into existence.

So when in the New Testament we see the expression, “end of the age,” let us remember that that expression CANNOT refer to OUR age, as applied by so many Christadelphians, but refers to that age which is now past and closed. ALL of the things prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24 occurred at the end of THAT age.

Thus we can see the trajectory of Matthew’s Gospel, and the events that lead up to Jesus’ teaching regarding the end of the Judah’s commonwealth in Matthew 24. 

*Evidence #10: Matthew 24 – All the world*

Paul very plainly said that what Jesus predicted had actually come to pass in his own day. Writing in A.D. 64 he mentioned “the gospel, which ye have heard, and WHICH WAS PREACHED TO EVERY CREATURE WHICH IS UNDER HEAVEN” (Colossians 1:23). He had just mentioned “the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in ALL THE WORLD” (Colossians 1:5–6). This has been done already, in his own lifetime, he said!

Paul said to the Romans that “your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” (Romans 1:8).

Paul said in Romans 10:18: But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

Paul said in Romans 16:25–26: …my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ… now is made manifest, and… made known to ALL NATIONS for the obedience of faith.

Preaching “for a witness” (Matthew 24:14) meant to present the message and proof (with signs) that Jesus was the promised Messiah. “’Unto all nations” was the extent to which this witness should go. In the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19, Jesus said again, “ALL NATIONS.” In Mark 16:15 it reads, “ALL THE WORLD.”

The word “world” is from the Greek word oikoumene which meant the inhabited world as they knew it in their day and time. But usage of the word in that day meant different things to different peoples. To the Romans, it was the Roman Empire. To the Greeks, it meant all the countries where their language was spoken. But to the Jew, it meant primarily the land of Palestine with all of its tribes, and then later inclusive of all areas where their peoples were scattered. This does not mean that the gospel was not to continue being preached after the “end” had come. In fact, there would be greater opportunities for the preaching of the gospel and the salvation of multitudes. In the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22:1–14, Jesus told how that “he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (22:7), and after that He said:

Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests (Matthew 22:9–10).

Notice that the wedding feast was not complete until there had been further invitations going out to Gentiles AFTER THE CITY WAS DESTROYED. This parable goes right along with the parable of the householder in Matthew 21:33–45 where the murderers who killed the householder’s son were to be destroyed, and Jesus saying that “the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (21:43). The chief priests and Pharisees knew that Jesus was talking about THEM (21:45). The destruction of Jerusalem

brought about a tremendous advantage for the propagation of the gospel into all of the Gentile world.

*Evidence #11: Matthew 24 – Abomination of Desolation*

When reporting on the Olivet prophecy, Luke did let us know who the abomination of desolation was. He said, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh” (Luke 21:20). By reading the surrounding verses one cannot deny that this is a parallel account to Matthew’s Olivet Discourse found in chapter 24.

Parallel accounts cannot have a different meaning. By combining Luke’s statement with secular history it is clear that Titus and his Roman army were the abomination of desolation. It was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when the Romans desecrated and destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem. Matthew 24:15 and Luke 21:20 are parallel accounts speaking of the same event.

In summary of Matthew 24:15 concerning the abomination of desolation, there are four things to be said:

1. The “abomination of desolation” is NOT something that will occur in our future, nor in our present time.

2. The “abomination of desolation” is a past event, fulfilled in a series of events beginning with the Roman pagan soldiers camping around the holy place (city of Jerusalem) in A.D. 70.

3. This event fulfilled the prophecies of Daniel concerning the “abomination of desolation” as said by Jesus in Matthew 24:15 – “spoken of by Daniel the prophet.”

Everything predicted in Daniel 9:23–24 came to completion by the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, as can plainly be seen by anyone reading the passage with an unprejudiced mind. There is just no way it can be made to apply to a situation 2000 years away from that time, for that would do away with the very idea of God’s prediction of how long it would take for those things to occur. The exact time was spelled out.

4. The “abomination of desolation” was a signal for the disciples to leave Jerusalem and Judea to insure their safety from the coming great tribulation upon the Jewish people. “Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains” (Matthew 24:16).

Jesus had warned His disciples to get out of the city and to head for the mountains just as soon as possible when they saw the armies surrounding the city. This was the abomination of desolation, and was the sign for the disciples to flee.

Likewise, anyone in the field should not take time to go back to get his clothing, but leave just like he was in order to save time and escape before danger overtook him. It was like the instructions given to Lot many years before, “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed” (Genesis 19:17). And concerning this, Jesus said, “But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:29–30). Jesus was instructing His disciples to get out of Jerusalem and Judea as quickly as possible and head to the mountains, else they would be overtaken in the awful tribulation and destruction which was to be poured out on that place. This statement has nothing to do with a future second coming of Christ.

In Luke 19:43 Jesus said, “For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and KEEP THEE IN on every side.”

These instructions can only apply to the situation involving the “tribulation of those days” prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, not a future tribulation period prior to a second coming of Christ as taught by the Christadelphians. This sort of far-fetched teaching results from “futurizing” these events of Matthew 24. be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.” The women who were pregnant and those with nursing babies would have an unusually difficult time. This would be the time when God’s wrath was finally poured out on Judea, as was said also by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2:16, “for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.” That day would be just around the corner after the people got out of the city and left Judea for the mountains and safety elsewhere. The wrath was to be upon “THIS PEOPLE,” that is, Judea in A.D. 70, not today.

God preserved His people from the days of “great tribulation” which came upon the land of Judea and on Jerusalem in particular in A.D. 70. By following Jesus’ instructions to get out of the city and country when they saw the armies surrounding the city of Jerusalem, they thereby secured for themselves safety and security during that awful time of Tribulation.

When they were taking Jesus away to be crucified, Jesus told the daughters of Jerusalem not to weep for Him, but for themselves and their children. He said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us (Luke 23:28–30).

This cannot refer to a final day of judgment in our future nor to some future tribulation period, but to that great day of His wrath against Jerusalem. It was directed to them and to their children.

It should be noted that Luke flatly states that: “These be the days of vengeance, THAT ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN MAY BE FULFILLED” (Luke 21:22). Knowing that these events described by Luke apply to Jerusalem’s tragic destruction in 70 A.D., we can safely conclude that it was those awesome events which marked the fulfillment of all the previous prophetic statements concerning the eventual judgment which was destined to befall the commonwealth of Judah.

*Conclusive Evidence*

This article has attempted to interpret the 24th chapter of Matthew from the standpoint of what the discourse meant to the disciples themselves the ones to whom the message was first given. The message was future for them, but is past for us. The time factor was summed up in the 34th verse:

Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. (Matthew 24:34)

It has been pointed out that “all these things” included the things the disciples asked Jesus about: (1) The destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, (2) the coming of the Son of man, and (3) the end of the Mosaic age. It has been shown that other passages in the New Testament testified to this same nearness of time for which those things were predicted to occur.

It is very evident that the teachings of Jesus and the writers of the New Testament spoke of the end of the Mosaic age and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70. It was all in that generation! It does not refer to a final worldwide, violent persecution immediately prior to the second advent, but rather to God’s judgment in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was all fulfilled in the interpretation of these prophecies. It is an event in history.

The importance and significance of what happened in A.D. 70 is not fully appreciated by a majority of Christadelphians today. This is partly because the historical setting and the prophetic fulfillment have been overlooked, and this in turn is because most Christadelphians are “futuristic” in their thinking when they read ANY prophecies. We need to see and understand that Matthew 24 was a prophecy that has already been fulfilled. On this premise, then, we can better try to understand the meaning and significance of what has already happened.

We need to read these New Testament prophecies with first century glasses on, not 20th century glasses! We need to understand that these future prophecies were given to the disciples with reference to THEIR future—not OUR future. It is so easy to read the New Testament and just simply take for granted that EVERYTHING applies to us and to OUR future. But this is not true. Jesus spoke to the generation in which He lived.

I strongly insist that if you really want to see the truth of the matter, that you read the several parallel passages relating to this—in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 17 and Luke 21—all at the same reading. You cannot escape seeing that the events relating to the destruction of Jerusalem and the coming (parousia) of Christ, were all involved in the same time frame. Language does not allow for the separation of these events into two periods separated by a couple of thousands off years or so. What applies to one, applies to the other, as is seen when analyzing all four of these passages. It seems to me that those of us who believe the Bible had better get back to accepting what it says, instead of rationalizing about the matter and trying to make it mean what it does not say. Only with previously held concepts on this matter could it ever be thought that Jesus was talking about two different things at least 2,000 years apart! The passage itself would not lead anyone to believe that two comings of Christ are taught in this chapter.

I have given all the proof and highlighted the fact that Christadelphians made an error when they assigned most of the passages about the second coming of Christ and the final eventful time in our future.

This practice are twisted to say things that are not accurate by just take one verse or few verses out of Matthew 24 without even poring over its whole context and at times not going through the whole Bible! When you take bits and pieces of the Bible and rearrange them to make a different picture of what’s going on, you can make the Bible say just about whatever you want.

It is a dangerous thing to take a single verse from scripture and make a doctrine from it. False teaching swerves anyone away from the truth which is only way man can be saved. The stakes are eternal!

I simply ask you to re-examine your beliefs about Matthew 24 which is referral to the timing of the Daniel’s 70 “weeks” prophecy that Jesus prophesied the events lead up to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

It is so important to keeping in whole context what Jesus is intending to talk about.

So If we want to understand Matthew 24, we must not take things out of context. We must not choose some verses randomly and think that they are the teaching of the Bible!

Christadelphian need to deprogram their own minds in order to accept this; but facts are facts. My suggestion is to steer clear of pitfalls when interpreting. It is important to examine Matthew 24 in the greater context of the previous chapters.

The conclusion is that the whole context of Matthew 24 was all about events prior to Judah’s Commonwealth being overthrown in AD 70, not today!