Moed Ministries International
The
Video Version of this teaching is available at:
The scripture reading for this
teaching is
Yeshua leaves the temple for the last
time and looks back seeing the magnificence of the temple building. Perhaps he
got melancholy or even teary eyed because His disciples comment on the grandeur
of the temple.
Matthew
24:1-2 NKJV 1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His
disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to
them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one
stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
Instead of agreeing with His disciples
and expressing appreciation of the beautiful temple, Yeshua chastises them for
not seeing beyond the physical and tells them that the temple they are admiring
will be utterly destroyed! The disciples are taken aback and can’t stop
thinking about Yeshua’s words. Could Yeshua really mean that the temple would
be destroyed? How did this relate to the coming kingdom of God?
When
Yeshua and His disciples arrive at their destination on the Mount of Olives
overlooking the temple, the disciples immediately ask Yeshua when these things
will occur.
Matthew 24:3 NKJV 3 Now as He sat on
the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell
us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of
the end of the age?"
Yeshua’s
words recorded in Matthew 24 and 25 are a direct answer to these questions. In
order to understand the words of Yeshua in these two chapters, we must
understand not only the question, but the context of the question. Yeshua had
just completed four days of teaching in the temple. Luke records that at
Yeshua’s triumphal entrance to Jerusalem before He began to teach in the temple,
He stopped and wept over Jerusalem’s failure to recognize that Yeshua was sent
by God to redeem them.
Luke 19:41-44 NKJV 41 Now as He drew
near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, "If you had known, even
you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now
they are hidden from your eyes. 43 "For days will come upon you when your
enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on
every side, 44 "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."
Matthew
reminds us of this event by placing it right before Yeshua’s proclamation that
the temple will be destroyed. Matthew clearly wants us to associate these two
pronouncements of Yeshua. However, while Luke focuses on the physical
destruction of Jerusalem, Matthew focuses on the emptiness of Jerusalem’s
existence while Yeshua is not there.
Matthew 23:37-39 NKJV 37 "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 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 her wings, but you were not willing! 38 "See!
Your house is left to you desolate; 39 "for I say to you, you shall see Me
no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"
The
word translated as “desolate” is eremos, number 2048 in Strong’s Concordance
meaning lonesome. Jerusalem will be left lonesome until they once more see
Yeshua!
Over
the four days from the time that Yeshua entered in triumph to Jerusalem, He
cursed a fig tree proclaiming judgment on the present generation; He cleaned
out the temple pronouncing that it had become a den of thieves; He told a
parable about the owner of a vineyard going away for a long time before
returning to judge his servants; and He condemned the practices of the scribes
and Pharisees.
After
these four days of hearing about coming judgment culminating in the shocking
statement that the temple of God would be destroyed, the disciples asked these
questions. At this time, the disciples have recognized that Yeshua is the
Messiah, the Son of God. Their questions would reflect their belief that He was
indeed the Messiah. Alfred Edersheim in The Life and Times of Jesus the
Messiah relates that Jewish belief at that time about the coming of the Messiah
varied widely. However, the general stages of His coming transitioning from the
present world to the world to come followed similar lines. He writes:
This happy period would begin with
‘the days of Messiah’. These would stretch into the ‘coming age’ (Athid labho), and end with ‘the world to
come’ (olam haba).[i]
Edersheim
goes on to describe the general belief about ‘the days of Messiah’:
Suffice it to say, that, according to
general opinion, the Birth of the Messiah would be unknown to His contemporaries;
that He would appear, carry on His work, then disappear—probably for forty-five
days; then reappear again, and destroy the hostile powers of the world…
Ransomed Israel would now be miraculously gathered from the ends of the earth,
and brought back to their own land, the ten tribes sharing in their
restoration, but this only on condition of their having repented of their
former sins.[ii]
The
disciples would have recognized that the days of Messiah were coming to an end
and the coming age was soon to begin! However, the days of the “disappearance”
of Messiah were not forty-five days. The disappearance is still continuing! So,
the question about when these things will happen was more than about the coming
judgment on Jerusalem. The disciples wanted to know when the days of Messiah
would become the ‘coming age’ and ‘the world to come!’ “What are the signs of
your coming,” they asked. “And what are the signs of the entire completion of
the age?”
As
we examine Yeshua’s answers to these questions, we need to realize that many of
the events He described already happened during the destruction of Jerusalem
and the temple in 70 CE, and later, in the exile of the Jewish people from the
land of Israel in 135 CE. But which parts are which? The answer is not always
clear cut. Also, prophecy tends to be cyclical, so those events that have
already been fulfilled may yet be fulfilled again.
Yeshua
begins His answer to the disciples by warning about the rise of false prophets.
He is returning but not in forty-five days!
Matthew 24:4-8 NKJV 4 And Jesus
answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. 5
"For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will
deceive many. 6 "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you
are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not
yet. 7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8
"All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Yeshua
cautioned that hearing about turmoil and disaster throughout the world is not
the sign of His return although these types of things must happen in this
world. They are all symptoms of a bigger picture, that of the beginning of
sorrows. But what are sorrows? The word “sorrows” is odeen, number 5604 in
Strong’s Concordance meaning a pang or pain, especially of childbirth. These
are the inevitable pains leading up to the coming of the Messiah. These pains
include conflicts between nations as well as disturbances in the creation
itself!
Yeshua
warns that this interim time is not the time when He will again be seen in
Jerusalem. He goes on to explain that these days will include personal
tribulation as well as turmoil between nations. He again warns that it is a
time of false Messiahs.
Matthew 24:9-12 NKJV 9 "Then they
will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all
nations for My name's sake. 10 "And then many will be offended, will
betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 "Then many false
prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 "And because lawlessness will
abound, the love of many will grow cold.
The
word translated as “offend” is skandalizo, number 4624 in Strong’s Concordance
meaning to entrap, trip up, or stumble. Many people will be entrapped, tripped
up and stumble leading to betrayal and hatred! This has been going on since the
beginning of the days of Messiah as both Jew and Gentile stumble over faith in
Yeshua!
1 Peter 2:6-8 NKJV 6 Therefore it is
also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be
put to shame." 7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to
those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has
become the chief cornerstone," 8 and "A stone of stumbling And a rock
of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they
also were appointed.
Yeshua
goes on to say that this transition time of tribulation will continue until all
nations hear the gospel!
Matthew 24:14 NKJV 14 "And this
gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the
nations, and then the end will come.
The
word “end” in this verse is not the same Greek word used by the disciples in
their question about the signs of the end of the age. This time, the Greek word
used is telos, number 5056 meaning to set out for a definite point or goal. The
word “come” is hay-ko, number 2240, meaning to arrive. Yeshua is referring to
arriving at the goal!
All
of these things were fulfilled in the forty years between the ascension of
Yeshua and the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. The destruction of the
temple could be understood as arriving at the goal of judgment on Jerusalem! At
that time, the gospel of the kingdom had gone out to all parts of the Roman
world. However, the days of Messiah are continuing and will continue until He
makes His reappearance. In that sense, wars will continue, famines will
continue, earthquakes will continue, tribulation will continue, stumbling over
Yeshua will continue!
Yeshua,
then turns to describing events that will happen in conjunction with the
destruction of the temple.
Matthew 24:15-22 NKJV 15
"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him
understand), 16 "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17
"Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his
house. 18 "And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
19 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies
in those days! 20 "And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on
the Sabbath. 21 "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.
22 "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for
the elect's sake those days will be shortened.
When
the Romans surrounded Jerusalem in 68 CE, the believing Jews fled the city and
refused to enter it again. Anyone who did enter the city found that they were
trapped and couldn’t leave. They were caught up in the destruction that
followed in 70 CE. Josephus records that following the destruction of the
temple, the Romans used the temple mount as a place for their own sacrifices.
And now the Romans, upon the flight of
the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and
of all the buildings round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple and
set them over against its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to
them, and there did they make Titus imperator, with the greatest acclamations
of joy.[iii]
Yeshua
went on to warn against false Messiahs who would rise up and show signs and
wonders.
Matthew 24:23-26 NKJV 23 "Then if
anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.
24 "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs
and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 "See, I have told
you beforehand. 26 "Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the
desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.
One
particular false messiah rose up and fooled many people in 135 CE when Simon
bar Kochba was declared the Messiah and led a massive revolt against Rome. This
resulted in a huge slaughter of the residents of Jerusalem and the exile of the
Jewish people from Israel! Jews throughout the land were either killed or taken
into captivity. Once again, believing Jews heeded Yeshua’s words and fled
Jerusalem before the destruction of the city!
The
warning against false messiahs continues! In contrast, Yeshua says that He will
come as a flash of lightning from east to west!
Matthew 24:27 NKJV 27 "For as the
lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming
of the Son of Man be.
Yeshua’s
return will be after days of great tribulation. Tribulation has been going on
since the time of Yeshua’s ascension. Persecution has been targeted against
Jews and Believers in Messiah by both Jew and Gentile alike! It will continue
until Messiah appears!
Matthew 24:29-31 NKJV 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.
Alfred
Edersheim explains in The Life and Times of Jesus the Mesiah that the
Jewish belief at the time of Yeshua was that the sound of the trumpet would
usher in the coming age marked by the wars of Gog and Magog and repeated
attacks on Jerusalem. However, descriptions of the specific characteristics of
this time vary widely.
It
is at this time that we will see the coming of Yeshua. Yeshua says that His
coming would not be hidden but that everyone would see and hear it! We are not
to be fooled by proclamations of the Messiah coming in any way other than
openly with great power and glory!
However,
the Jewish expectation was that the Messiah would disappear and reappear after
an absence of only days! Peter and the other apostles confirmed this
expectation when they asked Yeshua at His ascension if this was the time He
would establish His kingdom.
Acts 1:6-7 NKJV 6 Therefore, when they
had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time
restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for
you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
Yeshua’s
answer only conveyed the fact that only the Father knows the times or seasons
of the coming of Yeshua. Yeshua said the same thing in His answer to these two
questions.
Matthew 24:36 NKJV 36 "But of
that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father
only.
Yeshua
goes on to describe the days leading up to His coming as days much like any
other. People would be going about their business eating, drinking, marrying,
and having kids. Yeshua wraps this up with an illustration of a homeowner
constantly on alert for housebreakers.
Matthew 24:42-44 NKJV 42 "Watch
therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 "But know
this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come,
he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44
"Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you
do not expect.
The
point is not that we should be watching for thieves, but that we should be
watching for the coming of our master. Just like a homeowner has no idea when a
thief may break into his house, and so must be prepared at any time, we, also,must
we be prepared for the coming of Yeshua at any time!
Yeshua,
then, turns His attention to a series of parables emphasizing the need to be
prepared! The first of these is the illustration of two servants, one of whom
is found working when His master returns while the other one abuses and
mistreats his fellow servants.
Matthew 24:45-51 NKJV 45 "Who
then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his
household, to give them food in due season? 46 "Blessed is that servant
whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 "Assuredly, I say
to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. 48 "But if that
evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' 49
"and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the
drunkards, 50 "the master of that servant will come on a day when he is
not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, 51 "and will
cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The
warning here is to those who would be leaders who would have authority over
others. Their focus is not to be on when or if the master returns; it is to be
on taking care of the household left to them in trust!
Yeshua
follows this illustration with the parable of the ten virgins. All ten are
asleep when the bridegroom comes because his appearance is delayed. However,
five of the virgins are still prepared and go out to meet the bridegroom. The
other five are not prepared because they neglected to put oil in their lamps.
Matthew 25:3-5 NKJV 3 "Those who
were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 "but the wise
took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 "But while the bridegroom
was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
The
foolish virgins seemed surprised when their lamps went out and demanded some
oil from others. This indicates that each individual is responsible for their
own salvation and needs to be prepared at any time for Yeshua’s coming. Alfred
Edersheim explains in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah:
The foolishness of the five virgins
therefore consisted, not (as commonly
supposed) in their want of perseverance—as
if the oil had been consumed before the Bridegroom came, and they had only not
provided themselves with a sufficient extra supply—but in the entire absence of personal preparation.[iv]
Finally,
Yeshua concludes with the parable of the talents awarded to the servants of a
master who went on a long trip. The servants were to use their talents for the
benefit of the master while he was away. When the master returned, he demanded
an accounting of how they had carried out their responsibilities. Each servant
must be prepared to give an accounting of his actions while the master is gone.
When Yeshua returns, He will ask that same accounting from us. Isaiah speaks of
the time of the coming of salvation:
Isaiah 62:11 NKJV 11 Indeed the LORD
has proclaimed To the end of the world: "Say to the daughter of Zion,
'Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work
before Him.'"
The
word “reward” is sakar, number 7939 in the Strong’s Concordance meaning payment
of a contract, a salary, reward or wages. Yeshua confirms this promise in His
final words recorded by John in Revelation.
Revelation 22:12 NKJV 12 "And
behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one
according to his work.
Yeshua
never really answered when these things will be; instead He gave the disciples
warnings about hardship to come including persecution, tribulation, and the
rise of false prophets and messiahs. These things began immediately after
Yeshua ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit came in power upon the disciples.
These things will continue to happen until the coming age when He will appear
in such a way that there is no doubt He is the Messiah. In the meantime, we are
to be carrying out His instructions faithfully no matter how long it is until
His appearing. Finally, we are to be watching for His coming!
Study Questions:
1. Revelation
21:9-10 calls Jerusalem the bride of Christ. Bereisheit Rabbah identifies the
temple in Jerusalem with Sarah’s tent. Paul compares Sarah to the heavenly
Jerusalem. Describe the foreshadow of Yeshua that begins with the binding of
Isaac and ends with Isaac taking his bride into Sarah’s tent.
2. Matthew
24:9 begins with the word “then” which, in English, indicates a definite
sequence of events. However, the Greek word we translate as “then” is #5119,
tot’-eh, meaning then or at the same time
indicating concurrent not sequential events. How does this change our
understanding of Matthew 24:8-12?
3. Isaac
was out in the field when his bride Rebaccah arrived. How will Yeshua be out in
the field when His bride arrives?
4. Paul
tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10 that Yeshua comes like a thief in the night
to those in darkness however we are in the light. Compare Paul’s discussion
with Yeshua’s illustration of the homeowner and the thief in Matthew 24:36-44.
5. What
are the similarities of the parables Yeshua told in Matthew 25? What should we
be doing as we wait for Yeshua to return?
©
2018 by Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.
[i]
Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Hendrickson
Publishers, Inc. ©1993. Page 775.
[ii] Edersheim,
Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Hendrickson Publishers,
Inc. ©1993.
Page 775
[iii]
Josephus. The Works of Josephus. “The Wars of the Jews”. Book 6, Chapter
6, line 316. Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. ©1987. Page 743.
[iv]
Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Hendrickson
Publishers, Inc. ©1993. Page 789.
