Bible Commentaries
Matthew 24

Verses 1-51

1-14 Compare Mark 13:1-13; Luke 21:5-19.

1 The sanctuary was doomed, for it was no longer even a nominal shrine after He had left its courts. It was almost unbelievable that such buildings, with such enormous stones, so highly venerated, should fail so suddenly into utter ruin. Its destruction was averted for forty years by His prayer upon the cross, and the subsequent Pentecostal proclamation of the kingdom, much of which took place within its walls. At the siege of Jerusalem, not only were the fanatical Jewish factions within the city anxious to save it from destruction, but the Roman general Titus was very desirous of preserving it without damage. But the divine decree had gone forth. Nothing could save it from its doom. And so it was leveled with the ground and no stone remained upon another.

3 This prophetic outline of events to come before the kingdom can be realized entirely ignores the present secret administration of God's grace, so that we must overlook all that occurs during Israel's unbelief (Romans11) and consider the future time of the end as following immediately after the close of Acts. It is only as we keep the future before us and the present out of sight, that we can view these scenes aright.

4 Many false messiahs have come and will come, but the greatest of all will be the white horse rider who comes forth under the first seal (Revelation 6:2).

5 See 24; John 5:43; Revelation 6:1-2.

6-7 See Revelation 6:3-8.

6 The wars correspond with the second seal (Revelation 6:3-4), when a red horse comes forth and takes peace from the earth.

7 The famine is the same one that occurs under the third seal, when wheat and barley will be worth about eight times their normal value.

9-14, See Matthew 10:17; Matthew 10:23; John 16:2-3; John 6:9-11.

9 The great affliction occurs under the fifth seal (Revelation 6:9). It begins at that great chronological crisis, the middle of the last seven years of Daniel's seventy heptads, when the covenant with the false christ will be broken and the daily offering stopped. Many will be martyred. It is their blood which calls down vengeance on the world and leads to the awful judgments on the nations and Babylon.

15-18 Compare Mark 13:14-16; Luke 17:31-33.

15 See Daniel 9:27.

15 The Septuagint of Daniel may be closely rendered as follows: “And he shall establish a covenant with many one heptad, and in the middle of the heptad My sacrifice and libation shall be suspended, and on the temple is the abomination of desolations, and till the conclusion of the era a conclusion shall be given to the desolation” (Daniel 9:27). It seems evident that, coincident with the breaking of the covenant, the image spoken of in the Unveiling (Matthew 13:14) will be placed in the holy place as a signal for the greatest anti-Semitic outbreak of all time. Then it is that the dragon is cast out of heaven and persecutes the woman, who flees into the wilderness to be there for the remainder of the seventieth heptad (Revelation 12:1-16). Through the terrible afflictions the faithful of that day will be gathered in the mountainous wilderness southeast of Judea near the scene of their wanderings of old, when they came out of Egypt. There they will be miraculously preserved for the twelve hundred and sixty days until the coming of Christ.

19-22 Compare Mark 13:17-20.

21 See Daniel 12:1; Joel 2:2; Revelation 7:17.

23-28 Compare Mark 13:21-23; Luke 17:23-24.

23 Then will the false prophet give spirit to the image of the wild beast and cause it to speak,

and cause as many as should not be worshiping the image to be killed, and all must have the emblem of the wild beast on their right hand or their forehead before they will be able to buy or sell (Revelation 13:15-17).

24 See John 10:28-29; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12; 2 Peter 2:9; Revelation 13.

26 The coming of Christ to the earth for Israel is not a secret, invisible event. That is the sign of the false prophets. His presence will be with the utmost publicity and swiftness. Like a lightning flash will His glory appear, so that no one will be unaware of its startling brightness, or fail to apprehend His presence. We can only enjoy His presence before this by being caught up to Him in the air the moment that He is present there.

28 See Luke 17:37; Job 39:30.

29-31 Compare Mark 13:24-26; Luke 21:26-27.

29 See Revelation 6:12-17; Isaiah 13:10; Joel 2:30-31; Joel 3:15; Amos 5:20.

29 Israel goes through the great affliction, and watches for the Son of Mankind, Who will stand on the mount of Olives, from which He ascended. We have a prior expectation (Ephesians 1:12) and wait (not watch) for the Son of God out of the heavens (1 Thessalonians 1:10), not to come down to earth, but to meet us in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17), according to a secret, not revealed during the ministry of our Lord or His twelve apostles, which tells of the change of our bodies to suit a celestial destiny (1 Corinthians 15:52-54), when these bodies of humiliation will be transfigured to conform them to His glorious body (Philippians 3:21). In Israel, after His descent to earth, He sends His messengers to gather His saints about Him. Both events will take place with incredible speed. The lightning flash of judgment describes His advent to earth. The upward movement of the eyelid measures the time taken for our transfiguring and gathering together to Him in the air.

30 See Daniel 7:13-14; Zechariah 12:4-14; Revelation 1:7.

31 Compare Mark 13:27. See Isaiah 27:13.

32-35 Compare Mark 13:28-30; Luke 21:28-33.

32 We do not watch for signs, for, except the apostasy, which is already at full tide, none are given. We look for Him. Israel is given indications of His approach. Among His last acts was the withering of the fig tree, indicating the national decadence of the Jews. Among the first signs to be looked for is the national resurgence of unbelieving Israel as foretold by (Isaiah 66:8). “Who has seen things as these? Will the land travail in one day? Should a nation be born at one time?” In our day we see leaves which sprout from the tender stem of Jewish national aspirations. Summer is near for that nation. The Lord's return to earth cannot be long delayed. But, as He must come for us some time before His descent to the mount of Olives, His coming for the members of His body is far more imminent than His later descent to earth for His Bride, the redeemed of Israel.

34 His coming to Israel should have taken place in that generation.

35 See Psalms 102:26-27; Isaiah 51:6; Revelation 20:11.

36-39 Compare Mark 13:32; Luke 17:26-30.

36 See Acts 1:7; Acts 1:1 Thessalonians 5:2.

36 The probable time of the Lord's advent to Israel can only be known by the signs, but the exact time will never be known till it arrives. A day or an hour would have sufficed for many to enter the ark in Noah's day. But no date was given.

37 See Genesis 6:3-5; Genesis 7:1-10

40-41 Compare Luke 17:34-36.

41 When His messengers gather His elect (31) not all will be taken along to stand before the Son of Mankind. Some will be left.

42 See Matthew 25:13.

43 For them there is not the joyous anticipation of being ever with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17), but a certain dread that, should they not be watching, instead of His coming as a Saviour, He may come as a thief. For us He does not come as a thief (1 Thessalonians 5:4). Our conduct does not count in His coming for us. Whether we watch or are drowsy we shall live together with Him. The difference between the two events is pictured for us in Peter's recall of Dorcas from death (Acts 9:36-41), and Paul's restoration of Eutychus to life (Acts 20:9-10). Dorcas was deserving, but Eutychus (like many of His saints today) had nothing to commend him, but that he went to sleep while Paul preached. So it will be when we hear His shout. We may be drowsy or dead, yet grace demands that we live together with Him. We will be dealt with on the ground of His death, not of our deserts.

43-51 Compare Luke 12:39-46. See 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3, Revelation 16:15.

45 The conduct of God's slaves is most vitally affected by their attitude toward the return of Christ. If it is an imminent expectation, their course will correspond. They will act as those who are about to give account. If it is far off, the restraining power of His expected presence will be wanting.

50 We, also, must appear in front of the dais of Christ that each should be requited for that which he puts into practise through the body (2 Corinthians 5:10), but, though fire will be testing the kind of work we have done, we shall all be saved (1 Corinthians 3:15). In Israel righteousness rather than grace will reign, so that they are subject to condemnation.