As Jesus continues His Olivet Discourse, He issues a warning that will save Jewish lives in the middle of the Tribulation...
Transcription (automatically-generated):
New Hope Church and God Rock Church are studying the gospel of Matthew together, Pastor Bjarni are currently in the all of that discourse of famous teaching given by Jesus toward the end of his earthly ministry to four of his closest disciples in which he prophesies about future events, including the end times.
If you missed last week's message, you're going to want to catch up online because we've already covered events prophesied by Jesus that include things that have already happened, like the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the persecution experienced by the first generation of the church.
Jesus spoke about those things literally, and they happened. Therefore, logic tells us that as Jesus continues to speak about things that are yet to come, he is speaking literally and they too will happen.
I need to be straight up with you and let you know that there's not a lot of practical application in today's message.
And that's because before we start drawing out practical application lessons from a biblical text, we need to make sure that we first understand what the text says. We need to make sure we understand what the writer and the Holy Spirit wanted us to understand. And it's going to take all of today's study for us just to understand what Jesus is talking about. It's going to be a fascinating study and it's going to take us all over the Bible and into the Old Testament as well as the new.
And when we reach Matthew, Chapter 25, Jesus is going to switch gears and teach in a more practical way.
He's going to answer the question, what should we do with all this information? What should we do in light of all of this prophecy? So hang in there until then, because that's going to be powerful. The all of it discourse appears in three of the four gothe gospels. The all of it discourse shows up in Matthew, Mark and Luke and in Luke 21, it records Jesus sharing a warning for believers that would save their lives in 70 A.D..
It's absolutely fascinating and unfortunately, I don't have time to get into it in this study. But if you'd like to check that message out and I think you should, you can do so on our website. And I've put that link on your outlines.
And I mention that because while Luke, 21, contains a warning for believers that would save their lives in 70 A.D., Matthew, 24, where we're studying today, contains a warning for Jews that will save their lives in the tribulation. That's the first fill in on your outline.
Jesus shares a warning for Jews that will save their lives in the tribulation.
And the reason for the difference between Luke and Matthew is just because the different gospels were written for different audiences and the gospel of Matthew was written primarily for a Jewish audience.
So let's dive into our text in Matthew 24. We're going to pick it up in verse 15. Jesus says.
Therefore, in this case, it just means then when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet standing in the holy place. And if you've never really dived into the stuff before, I just want to let you know that I recognize you're probably thinking what the heck did I just read? And I understand that Verse is is a string of references that likely make no sense to you. But hang with me. We're going to walk through this and you're going to understand everything before we're through.
For starters, make a note of this and then we'll unpack it. The trigger event of Matthew 24. The trigger event is the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet standing in the holy place in this section of Matthew, 24. Jesus talks about a trigger event and the trigger event is called The Abomination of Desolation. And apparently it's spoken of by Daniel the Prophet. What is the abomination of desolation? While it might sound like a name for an obscure death metal band, but it's not in the Bible, the word abomination is only ever used to refer to something God finds disgusting, offensive and insulting.
To him specifically, an abomination usually involves worshipping an idol or some other false God.
In some way, the word desolation is defined as a state of complete emptiness or destruction.
So the phrase abomination of desolation refers to some type of worship of a false God that is disgusting to the Lord, and it causes a place to become physically and spiritually empty.
We're going to find out. That's exactly what happened and exactly what will happen. Jesus refers to a location more specific than just Jerusalem in this prophecy. You'll notice that he refers to the holy place, and every Jew would have known that that was a reference to the holy of holies, the innermost room, the innermost part of the temple, the room that the entire Temple Mount was built around.
And it was the special place where the presence of God dwelt in the temple before Pentecost took place in Acts Chapter two, when the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, was given to every believer. Once Pentecost happened, every believer could have the presence of God in them. Before that, the presence of God dwelt in this room called the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem.
The Holy of holies was so sacred that only the high priest was allowed to enter and only once a year on Yom Kippur to repent for the collective sins of Israel.
Now, something to keep in mind is that Jesus is prophesying about a future event that will take place long after 70 A.D. when the temple was destroyed. So think logically with me for a minute. If there's a holy of holies that can be desecrated after 70 A.D. by something being physically placed in it. That's only possible if the temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt. It has to exist once again. We haven't seen that happen yet, but we will. How do we know?
Because Jesus is telling us right here in this passage and many other passages in scripture tell us the same thing, then take a look at what Jesus said next.
He says, whoever reads, let him understand. That's a command. You and I just received a command from Jesus to understand what he's talking about. Jesus didn't say, well, I'll skip over this part because it's not relevant to everyday life.
Jesus didn't say it's all allegorical and apocryphal language, so don't even bother trying to make sense of it.
It's all poetic anyway. No, he commanded us to understand our task is clear.
We have to figure out with the help of Scripture and the Holy Spirit what Jesus is talking about when he mentions the abomination of desolation and what it has to do with somebody called Daniel the Prophet.
So let's get to work.
Fortunately for us, the abomination of desolation was an event known to practically every Jew because it was even more serious than Pearl Harbor or 9/11 is to an American.
Let me tell you the story. There was a king of Syria who was a descendant of Alexander the Great and a Grecian Antiochus Epiphanies was his name, and he ruled the region of Syria from 175 B.C. to 164 B.C. He was a horrible, horrible human being.
He was clearly under the control of what the Bible would term, the Antichrist spirit that appears multiple times in scripture and throughout history, possessing men like Haymon, Herod, Nero and Hitler.
You can identify this Antichrist spirit by its fervent, perverted and violent hatred of Christians and Israel in 168 B.C and Tyack is epiphanies came down from Syria into Israel and then up to Jerusalem.
Where he murdered eight hundred thousand Jews in cold blood, 800000, he wanted to establish Greek culture in Israel, including polytheism and a lifestyle of hedonism and paganism. And if you didn't conform to his vision, you were killed.
So anyone who was committed to serving God, anyone who was a follower of Yahweh was killed, 800000 of them.
And TICAS epiphanies outlawed circumcision and observing the Sabbath by penalty of death.
And he built a pagan altar in the holy of holies.
On his birthday, he decided to strip the temple treasury and use that pagan altar for the first time, sacrificing a pig on it before an idol of Zus, turning the most sacred space and building in Israel into a pagan temple, spilling unclean swine blood on the floor of the holy of holies, an abomination according to the Law of Moses.
All of this is recorded in Josephus Antiquities of the Jews.
That event, that desecration of the holiest part of the temple was devastating to the Jewish people, and they refer to it as the abomination of desolation. Every Jew, every Jew knew the story not only because of its tragedy, but also because it was the event that sparked the Maccabean Revolt, which actually ended in a great and miraculous victory for the Jews and which they celebrate every year still with the holiday of Hanukkah, Hanukkah.
So write this down. Historically, the abomination of desolation was committed by Antiochus Epiphanies around 168 B.C when he sacrificed a pig to zus in the holy of holies.
That's the sort of historical abomination of desolation. So let's take stock of what we know so far.
Jesus is referring to an event that the Jews believed had taken place around 168 B.C, but Jesus is referring to it in the future tense. He's referring to it prophetically, as though it's yet to come. He's giving a warning about something that is yet to take place. Jesus says when you see. So in other words, when this happens. So understand this.
The Jews assumed that Daniel, who had written this prophecy about the abomination of desolation, they assumed that Daniel had been prophesying about Antichrist epiphanies.
When that happened, they said this This must be the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet. And that's where they got the term from. They got it from the Book of Daniel, which was written hundreds of years earlier.
But Jesus is now saying. Guys. The abomination of desolation that Daniel wrote about it hasn't actually happened yet. It wasn't Antiochus epiphanies. It is yet to come.
It's going to be the trigger sign, the warning sign for something yet to come. So how do we make sense of that? Well, the first thing we need to understand is that we generally view prophecy in our Western mindset through the Greek perspective. We believe there's really only two aspects to prophecy.
There's a prediction and then there's the fulfillment.
And this is how prophecy works to the Greek mind, to the Western mind. But in the Jewish mindset, there's a third component to prophecy. And that component is pattern.
Pattern. Pattern can also be prophecy.
And this is a huge concept. You've got to wrap your mind around if you want to begin to really understand Bible prophecy. So write this down in the Jewish perspective.
Pattern can also be prophecy. Pattern can also be prophecy.
And when you study the Bible, you'll quickly come to understand this. The most obvious example are the different types of Jesus that we find in the Old Testament. These were men who were not Jesus, but certain aspects of their lives were patterns that pointed prophetically ahead to Jesus.
We're talking about men like Moses leading God's people from slavery in Egypt through the wilderness into freedom, Joshua leading Israel to one victory after another as they move into their destiny in the promised land. David reigning as Israel's greatest king on and on and on, we could go. These men were all patterns, prophetic patterns of messiah, Jesus.
So when Jesus talks about a past event, the abomination of desolation, and he talks about it as a future event, what he's actually implying there is he's saying, guys, what happened in 168 B.C Antiochus epiphanies, that was not the abomination of desolation Daniel was prophesying about. What that was, was a pattern.
It was a prototype. It was a model of what is really going to happen, the real abomination of desolation that's going to take place in the future. Are you with me? I hope that makes sense.
This is a real treasure hunt through the scriptures, and we're going to need to put this thing together piece by piece.
So you might for a little bit be thinking, well, Jeff, how's all this stuff connected? We're going to connect it all. But first, I need to point out what the puzzle pieces are before we put the puzzle together.
However, I do this, I'm not going to be able to get into the level of detail. I would like to I'm going to do my best.
But if there's anything you don't understand, any questions you have, anything you need clarity on, please feel free to email me or message me online.
We know what the abomination of desolation was historically.
So we know the pattern. We know the prototype. The next place we need to go is where Jesus told us to go, the book of Daniel. And so we're literally going to go into the book of Daniel. We're going to do a word search for these unusual terms that Jesus used abomination and desolation.
And we're going to see what comes up in the book of Daniel around these terms. It's pretty logical stuff, right? And the place we're going to end up, if you want to turn there, is Daniel nine twenty seven.
You can turn there. I think it was to put it on your outlines.
And you need to know that in Daniel Chapter nine, the word weak w e k, the word weak is the Hebrew word.
For a seven year time period. We have ten year time periods called decades. The Hebrews have seven year time periods known as shovelware shovelware.
So I need you to remember that every time I mention the word weak, when I'm talking about Daniel Chapter nine, I'm referring to a seven year time period in Daniel Chapter nine, Daniel records a prophecy he received from the Lord about 70 weeks.
OK, now what is a week? Again, it's seven years. So if he's talking about seventy weeks, he's talking about seventy periods of seven years, 70 times seven, which is 490. Hope you're still with me when Daniel is writing this. Israel is in exile in Babylon. Jerusalem is destroyed. But Daniel prophesies that the day is coming when the command will be given to rebuild Jerusalem, and he says from that day to the day when Messiah reveals himself publicly, which Jesus did on Palm Sunday, Daniel prophesies in Daniel nine that there will be a time period of 69, nine weeks, 69, nine shovelware 69 periods of seven years between these two things, between the day the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem and the day that Messiah appears in Jerusalem, revealing himself to be messiah.
That was Palm Sunday and subject for another day. That is exactly what happened in history, exactly what happened. It was exactly 483 years.
Now, of course, this leaves us with one final week, one final period of seven years, a seventieth week that doesn't get dealt with in this prophecy, this seventieth week of Daniel.
This final time period of seven years is going to begin shortly after the rapture of the church in the big series of end times events that the Bible prophecies and books like Revelation. The first major event is the church. All believers on the Earth being taken up to be with the Lord removed from the Earth in the event known as the Rapture. Now, shortly after that, the seventieth week of Daniel, this final time period of seven years begins. If you're having a hard time following me, you can go and listen to the Daniel study on our website.
Again, I wish I could explain everything better, but I have to keep moving because this is a matter of study, not a revelation study or O'Daniel study. So the rapture happens.
And then shortly after that, the one who's commonly known as the Antichrist shows up on the world scene and he rises to prominence politically.
And Daniel 927 tells us this about what the Antichrist is going to do in that seventieth week.
Daniel 927 addresses the seventieth week. It says then he that's Antichrist shall confirm a covenant with many for one week, now a week. And Daniel nine is how long?
It's seven years. So it says here Antichrist will make a seven year peace treaty between the world and Israel. But in the middle of the week, how long will the middle of the week be?
Three and a half years. Halfway through seven years.
In the middle of the week, he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. Now, sacrifice and offering can only take place one place if you're a Jew, the temple in Jerusalem.
This is another example of how we know the temple is going to be rebuilt in the future. It's also why we suspect that giving the Jews a temple on the Temple Mount will be one of the things that Antichrist will offer Israel as an incentive to sign the seven year peace treaty.
And many Jews today believe that the rebuilding of the temple will be one of the signs Messiah will give when he comes.
Remember, the Jews don't recognize Jesus as their messiah.
They're still waiting for their messiah, and they may very well be fooled for a time for, say, three and a half years by the Antichrist when he arranges for their temple to be built. There's a very good chance most Jews will begin to believe that Antichrist is the Messiah.
So write this down. The temple will be rebuilt in the seventieth week of Daniel. That's the seven years shortly following the rapture as a result of Antichrists peace treaty.
But at the halfway point of those seven years, three and a half years in, the Jews are going to realize that they've made a huge mistake when Antichrist puts an end to sacrifices in the temple. Here's what I keep saying. And Daniel, nine, 27 and on the wing of abominations, underline abominations. There's that key word.
And on the wing of abomination shall be one who makes what desolate, desolate underline that even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate. There's that word again.
Those are key words, abominations and desolate. So Antichrist is going to show up performing abominations.
And we're told that as a result of these abominations, a place is going to be made desolate and this is going to continue until the consummation. Now, consummation just means the point at which something is complete or finalized.
So in other words, this is going to continue continue until an appointed time. That's what it means. Until the consummation, until an appointed time.
So if you put all this together, hang with me. You put it all together. We're told that someone Antichrist is going to make a covenant or agreement of some type a peace plan that's meant to last for seven years.
However, halfway through those seven years, at the three and a half year mark, he's going to break that agreement and put an end to sacrifices at the temple. Daniel's reference to sacrifice an offering tells us. We're talking about the temple. We're talking about Jerusalem, we're talking about Israel. That means this seven year treaty, the seven year peace plan has to include Israel and it has to include the rebuilding of the temple.
After breaking that seven year agreement at the three and a half year mark, someone is going to do hateful and disgusting things to a place. And the implication is that it's the temple as it's the subject of this verse and those things will result in that place being left deserted and empty, desolate. And this is going to continue until an appointed time is reached.
And I suggest that scripture points to that appointed time being the end of that seventieth week of Daniel, the end of the seven year tribulation. We're going to add more pieces of the puzzle in just a moment, but remember, Jesus has revealed that Daniel's prophecy about the abomination of desolation has not yet been fulfilled. Again, this means Antiochus Epiphanies was a prophetic pattern. He was not the abomination of desolation. So in our minds, we need to be thinking what sort of future event would fit this profile and include all of these pieces.
And the more pieces we add, the clearer the picture becomes. Next puzzle piece in Revelation 12 six. We read about the halfway point of Daniel's seventieth week. It's on your outlines. It says, then the woman. And if you study Revelation 12, you'll find that that's a reference to the Jews.
Then the woman or the Jews fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Now, that's an incredibly specific number, wouldn't you agree?
And guess how long that number comes out to three and a half years exactly by the Hebrew calendar.
Halfway through Daniel's seventieth week revelation, Twelve tells us that the Jews are going to need to flee for their lives.
And if you study Revelation, you'll find that's because Satan is trying to prevent the second coming of Jesus by killing all the Jews, because Jesus has promised in places like Romans that he is going to save the Jews at his second coming.
So Satan things.
If he can kill all of the Jews, then he can turn Jesus into a liar and somehow prevent his second coming.
We believe that when Antichrist turns against the Jews after three and a half years, they're going to flee to a very specific place called Petra, that ancient rock city carved into the sides of these hills in the country that's called Jordan today.
And if you want to know why we believe that, listen to the revelation study. Now, if the Jews need to flee at the three and a half year mark, there has to be a major reversal of things. Right. And that's what Jesus, Daniel and Revelation all point to Antichrist, reversing his peace plan, kicking the Jews out of the temple and instead attempting to wipe them all out.
That's another puzzle piece. Let me give you one more in second Thessalonians the Apostle Paul, it's on your outlines as well. The apostle Paul writes that Antichrist is one who opposes and exalts himself. Above all, that is called God or that is worshipped so that he and then underline the rest of the verse sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Now, this cannot be a reference to God's temple or throne in heaven, because no one's ever going to dethrone God in heaven can't happen.
It's not a reference to the throne of our hearts, because before this verse, Paul makes it clear in the same sentence that he's writing about Antichrist, the person, an Antichrist, the person cannot come into my heart. The only explanation is that this is referring to the temple on Earth in Jerusalem. Now, let's put all of these pieces together.
Let's summarize what we have. Jesus points us back to the historical abomination of desolation as a prophetic pattern. Jesus points us to Daniel and Daniel tells us that when this future event takes place, it's going to take place at the halfway point of the tribulation. Revelation tells us that at the halfway point of the tribulation, the Jews will need to flee for their lives.
Paul tells us that Antichrist will go into the temple in Jerusalem and declare himself to be God. Daniel tells us the same thing. This is what Jesus is referencing. When we put all this together, it becomes clear that at the halfway point of the seventieth week of Daniel, that seven year period that will begin shortly after the rapture.
Halfway into that, after three and a half years, Antichrist will go into the temple, put an end to sacrifices, expel the Jews, set up a throne for himself, declare himself to be God and demand to be worshipped.
And at the same time, he will initiate a genocide against the Jewish people. Make a note of this at the halfway point of the tribulation, three and a half years in. Antichrist will set up his throne in the holy of holies and demand to be worshipped as God. That is what Jesus is talking about here in Matthew, 24, Verse is 15 through 24 hour two fascinating notes for you Bible nerds.
Remember that Jesus said when you see he says when you see, not when you hear or when it happens. He says when you see now, how would they be able to see what's taking place in the holy of holies? I suggest it's very, very simple. When Antichrist does this, it's going to be live streamed. He's going to broadcast it around the world, something that couldn't have happened before, 50 years ago, 30 years ago, maybe second.
Interesting, though, and this one kind of blows my mind. Around 40 A.D., Caligula ordered his governor in Judea, whose name was Petronius, to put a statue of him in the holy of holies.
Caligula said Petronius put a statue of me in the holy of holies.
However, Petronius was smart enough to realize that if he did that, he would have a repeat of everything that had happened two centuries earlier. He would have a whole nother Maccabean revolt on his hands because the Jews would be so outraged.
So Petronius delayed obeying the order for over a year. When Caligula heard of Petronius insubordination, he sent orders by mail for Petronius to be executed.
But as the message is on its way across the sea, Caligula dies and something gets mixed up in the mail system.
And it causes news of Caligula's death to reach Judea before his command to execute Petronius. And if the order giver is dead, the order was considered null and void. Can you imagine that moment when it shows up when someone's like a Caligula?
I'm not Caligula, Petronius. We've got an order to put you to death. Lucky for you, Caligula died a few days ago. So you're a good man. That was a close call and that's what happened.
But what's so interesting about this is that God seems to have intentionally intervened in history to prevent another event happening in 40 A.D. that could have been interpreted as the abomination of desolation that he's speaking about in Matthew 24. Now, why would God do that? Well, because firstly, it wouldn't have fit the prophetic pattern he wanted in place.
And Jesus didn't want to create confusion by having people say, oh, well, when Jesus talks about the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24, that happened in 40 A.D. when Caligula set up a statue of himself, Jesus didn't want his people confused.
So he seems to have intervened miraculously with the Roman mail system to prevent another abomination of desolation from taking place. And now it can only take place when the temple is rebuilt is pretty incredible.
Let's keep reading in Matthew 24 16. Jesus tells the Jews now what to do when they see this trigger event happening during the seventieth week of Daniel. He says, when you see this happening, verse 16, Matthew 24, then let those who are in Judea underline Judea flee to the mountains. Judea is Israel. Notice that this stuff has nothing to do with the church. That's because the church has been raptured before all this stuff goes down.
Verse seventeen. Let him. Who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house? Here's the idea. Israel, when you see Antichrist, go into the temple, set up his throne and demand to be worshipped as God, you need to know that things are about to take a turn so dark it will make the Holocaust seem tame by comparison. When you see this happen, don't grab your things, don't pack. Don't call your friends because there's no time.
Just run. Flee Israel.
Get out of there. Verse 8 team and let him who is in the field, not go back to get his clothes, but woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days, because nobody is going to be able to slow down for them and pray that your flight may not be in winter.
Most of us think of Israel as a scorching desert like place, but looked this up online. When you get home today, parts of Israel, especially in the mountains, can become completely impassable due to snow in winter. There's a ski resort in Israel, a real thing.
And then he says also pray that your flight might not be on the Sabbath, which you underline Sabbath.
And I want you to underline that because, again, it shows us this is not an issue that affects the church.
And I don't mean theologically. I mean practically. This does not affect the church. The Sabbath, which is Saturday, doesn't really change anything for us other than we might go out and do something.
In Israel, though, still today, everything shuts down on the Sabbath. The streets are pretty much empty. Society grinds to a halt. That is why Jesus says it's going to be very difficult for you if this happens on a Sabbath.
One more indication, Jesus is talking to Jews in Israel when he gives this warning, he's warning them that when they hit the halfway point of the tribulation, when Antichrist takes over the temple and demands to be worshipped as God, things are going to change dramatically.
The persecution of the Jews is going to become unbearably intense. That's why Jesus says this in verse 21 to get your pen ready for then there will be great tribulation. So when you see this happening, you need to flee. Why? Because there's going to be great tribulation then underlying the rest of us.
21, such as has not been since the beginning of the world. Until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
He says nothing this intense or bad will ever have happened before in history to Israel or will ever happen again.
Now, would you agree that as far as reliable sources go, Jesus is pretty accurate? I think he is.
And I hope you feel the same way. So get this.
Jesus himself is telling Israel that 70 A.D. and TAIEX epiphanies, the diaspora, the Holocaust, it's all nothing compared to what is going to happen to the Jewish people in the second half of the seventieth week of Daniel in the tribulation back hath Jesus is echoing the words of Daniel 12 one which says there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that time. And by doing this, Jesus is telling us that what Daniel spoke about in that verse in Daniel 12 had not yet happened as of 32 33 A.D. But Jesus adds to Daniel to this little detail, he says, nor ever shall be.
In other words, not only is that time going to be worse than anything that's ever happened to the Jews before, it's going to be worse than anything that ever will happen to the Jewish people. Jeremiah, 30, Verse 8 seven on your outlines, tells us, alas, for that day is great, so that Nonna's like it and it is the time of Jacob's trouble, Jacob is used. There is a name for Israel ethnically.
The Holocaust killed one out of every three Jews on the Earth. Zechariah, 13 eight through nine tells us that the back half of the tribulation will kill two out of every three Jews on the earth. These words of Jesus are so important because they completely destroy the argument of anyone who says, well, the Book of Revelation and the Olivet discourse are just talking about things that have already happened.
It's all about the fall of Israel between 70 A.D. in 120 A.D..
That's not what it's about, because Jesus said, 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 the Holocaust was worse than the fall of Jerusalem and 70 A.D. So Jesus cannot be talking about 70 A.D. because Jesus says whatever he's talking about, there will never be anything worse than it that will happen to the Jewish people. I hope you're still with me. And then to underscore his point, Jesus says this in verse 22, he says, And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved.
But for the elects, the word elects there just means chosen ones. But for the elect sake, those days will be shortened.
So Jesus says unless God had set a limit and he has to this amount of time, he's limited to three and a half years.
Everybody would die. There'd be nobody left. Now some will try and say, aha, see that term Jeff V. Elect. Clearly this is talking about believers. And so this must mean the church will be on the earth during the tribulation.
The only problem is that in the Bible, the phrase the elect is used to refer to Jesus, Israel, the church, tribulation, saints and even angels. And here it's used in reference to Jews who survived the tribulation, as well as those who become believers during the tribulation.
Verse 23.
Then if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ or they're do not believe it for false Christ's and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible, even the elect. Jesus is clearly implying, by the way, that it's not possible to deceive the elect, he's not saying it is possible. He's saying it's not possible.
But he's saying if there was any way that the elect could be deceived, they would be, because that's how convincing this false Christ is going to be and that false Christ is going to be specifically the Antichrist.
Verse 8 25, Jesus says, see, I have told you beforehand. Now those words by Jesus to those are written to those who will read this during the tribulation, to those who are panicking and looking for guidance, to those Jews who who pick up the scriptures in desperation in the time of Jacob's trouble.
Jesus says, See, I told you beforehand, what he's saying is he's saying, stop doubting.
You know, I've told you the truth because I've predicted exactly what you're going through right now. Jesus himself declares here that one of the primary purposes of prophecy in the Bible is to prove that God is who he says he is.
So clearly, Jesus thinks prophecy is pretty important. And he built his word on Bible prophecy because it proves that his word is true.
No other sacred writings in the world do that first 26.
Therefore, if they say to you, look, he's in the desert, do not go out or look, he's in the inner rooms, do not believe it.
While these Jews are hiding after fleeing at the halfway point of the tribulation, there will be many rumors that Messiah has appeared.
Jesus says, don't believe it. Keep hiding. Do not go back to Jerusalem yet. Writing about the Antichrist, the poll says, Paul says this in second Thessalonians, two nine, The Coming of the Lord. This one is according to the working of Satan with all power signs and lying wonders. So here's the idea. Even if you hear there's a guy doing miracles and signs and wonders, keep hiding. It's not me. Which also tells us, again, Antichrist is going to do some incredible signs and wonders when he's on the earth.
And In verses 27, Jesus tells these Jews why they don't need to worry about missing Messiah, why they don't need to worry about missing the second coming of Christ, he says, for as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will be the coming of the son of man.
So he says, guys, just like the most intense lightning you've ever seen, the kind that seems to go from one end of the sky to the other and light the whole thing up. When I come back, it's going to be like that. Nobody's going to miss it. Trust me, my entrance is going to be epic.
Verse 8 28 for where the carcass is there, the Eagles will be gathered together, this phrase was also used by Jesus back in Luke 1737. And at the time I taught on this, I shared that I had no idea what it meant. And I've realized since then that I still have absolutely no idea what that verse means.
I've read lots of really bad explanations from other pastors and scholars. But but I just want to be honest with you, rather than share an explanation that I don't even find credible myself, if you know the answer, if you're enlightened, please email me.
I would love to hear it. If not, add it to the list of questions we have for God when we get to heaven. And we'll find out what the answer is going to wrap up with this now.
Why does this study matter to us today? Why does it matter to us today? Because Jesus was dead accurate about what he said would unfold in 70 A.D., he was dead accurate about what he predicted would happen to the early church, and that same Jesus has made predictions about the future which have yet to come.
And I believe we're living in the age when we'll see them come to pass.
That means I need to take what Jesus said about the future very seriously. And I don't just mean end times events. I mean that Jesus has demonstrated that he has a command over time itself, that when he shares prophecy, he's not saying this is what I think is going to happen. He's sharing what he knows happens because he's already there. He's in the future. He's in all of time. At the same time, he's there and he is reporting back to us from the future, what will happen, what is certain to happen.
And so when Jesus tells me that I need to be forgiven by putting my faith and my trust in him, he's telling me the truth. When Jesus says that I should spend my life living for him and storing up treasure in heaven rather than treasure here on the earth, he's telling me the truth because he's seen eternity and he knows what benefits me the most.
When Jesus says that he'll never leave me, never forsake me, but he'll be with me to the end of the age, he's telling me the truth because he's already there at the end of the age with me right now. That's why this prophecy stuff matters so much, it proves the Bible is true, that it's real, it's supernatural, and that we can trust what it says about our future.
But more importantly, it proves that we can trust the one who wrote it. And it means we can also trust everything he said about the best way to live in the best way to spend our lives.
It's him. It's spending our lives on him and living for him with everything we have.