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2. The Olivet Discourse Problem
This "problem" is more challenging than the first, which simply pointed out the obvious truth that there are many precursor signs to the "day of the Lord," which apparently many Pre-Tribbers don't believe. But I do. For example, here are 3 that I believe are in the Bible that had to happen before the "day of the Lord" and even before the resurrection and rapture: first, the Holocaust; second, 9/11, the 29-year countdown to the 6000th year; and third, Covid, the "trumpet" 10 years before the 6000th year. Especially on the last 2, see my article on this site titled "THE ENIGMA OF BURNT OFFERINGS". And 1 more sign that I expect before Nisan 1 (March 23), 2023 is a big regional Mideast war. See my recent article, "WHAT'S NEXT ON THE PROPHETIC TIMELINE?", for more on that.
Now, let's get back to the Olivet Discourse. Matthew 24 begins this way:
Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”
3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Here's how I see the rest of the chapter:
1. False Christs, wars and rumors of wars but this is not yet the end, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, famines, earthquakes: the beginning of birth pangs (before Israel gives birth to many born-again Jews and the birth of a New Creation) (24:4-8)
2. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation: marked by martyrdom and hatred of Christians, then many will be caused to stumble (apostasy?), betrayal, hatred, false prophets, lawlessness, love growing cold, gospel preached in the whole inhabited earth, and then the end will come (24:9-14)
3. Therefore when you see the Abomination of Desolation, the Jewish Antichrist displaying himself as God in the temple, then let those in Judea flee to the mountains for then there will be a great tribulation, never before or after seen and for the sake of the elect the days will be cut short, otherwise no flesh will be saved--likely nuclear war (24:15-22)
4. Then false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect (24:23-26)
5. For just as lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be (24:27)
6. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather--unclean, unregenerate Jews gathering to the dry bones of spiritually dead Israel? (24:28)
7. But immediately after the tribulation (see 2. above, not the great tribulation of 3. above) of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light--this is a figurative description of the rapture (24:29a)
8. And the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken--this is a figurative description of Jews being killed in Israel when the Jewish Antichrist comes against Israel right after the resurrection and rapture and then tramples Jerusalem in the second half of the last 7 years; the powers of Israel will be shaken (24:29b)
9. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth, likely figurative for the Jews in Israel, will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other--this is the visible Second Coming of Christ, not the resurrection the rapture (24:30,31)
10. Learn the parable from the fig tree (a figure for Israel): when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves (no fruit yet), you know that summer (a time of scorching heat) is near; even so you too, when you see all these things, know that He is near, at the doors (24:32,33)
11. Truly I say to you, this generation (this kind of evil, unregenerate generation) will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth (both figures for Israel) will pass away, but My words shall not pass away (24:34,35)
12. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah ... and they did not know until the flood came and killed them. Then there shall be two men in the field, one will be taken to Jesus' side, and one will be left .... Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming (24:36-42)
13. But know this, if the head of the house (good figure for a Church leader) had known at what time of night (the time after Christ and the apostles, after 70 AD) the thief (a figure for Satan) was coming (released from hell in 1903/4 with the demons not active in the 120 years before Noah's 600th year), he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into (think of the apostasy in the 120 years since 1903/4). For this reason, you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. (24:43,44)
14. Who is the faithful and sensible one whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is he whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if he is wicked and thinks that his master is not coming for a long time and he begins to beat others and to eat and to drink with drunkards, then his master will come on a day he does not look for and at an hour he does not know and kill him and send him to hell, basically.
The major mistake that the Pre-Wrathers make is that they see nearly all of the signs from verses 4 (point 1 above) through 29 (point 8 above) as chronological before the resurrection and rapture, which they see in verses 30 and 31 (point 9 above). This major mistake puts the resurrection and rapture after the Abomination of Desolation at the midpoint of the last 7 years. But clearly this chronological interpretation is not correct, because:
1. The end of the age is mentioned in verse 14 (point 2 above) before the Abomination of Desolation is covered in verse 15 (point 3 above).
2. Verse 15 (point 3 above) begins with a non-chronological Greek word translated "Therefore," not the more chronological Greek word translated "Then" or "At that time" which appears 9 times through the chapter. It is as though Jesus is jumping back 3 1/2 years from the end of the age in verse 14 to the Abomination of Desolation in verse 15 and the great tribulation which characterizes the time around that event, the last 7 years. It should be noted, however, that even the Greek word translated "Then" or "At that time" is not as chronological as, for example, the English word "Next."
3. Verses 23 through 26 (point 4 above), the section immediately after the Abomination of Desolation and great tribulation section, which begins with the Greek word translated "Then," is about false Christs and false prophets. It is possible that Jesus is referring to the false Christs mentioned in the "beginning of birth pangs" section (point 1 above) and/or the false prophets mentioned in the Christian tribulation section (point 2 above) and/or false Christs and false prophets in the last 7 years after the resurrection and rapture (point 7 and including point 3). I suspect, since the phrase "great signs and wonders" is used that it relates to times when Satan and the demons not active in the 120 years before Noah's 600th year are on the scene (before 70 AD and since 1903/4 AD), deceiving the nations with counterfeit supernatural signs and wonders (e.g., those of the Pentecostals/charismatics) and, in the last 7 years, true supernatural signs and wonders (e.g., those of the Jewish Antichrist and the Jewish False Prophet/Jewish High Priest?). With Moses and Elijah also working true supernatural signs and wonders for the first 3 1/2 years, it is going to be a very supernatural last 7 years.
4. Verse 27 (point 5 above) seems to me to be just about the Second Coming of Christ, since it suggests that He will come from the east to Jerusalem, perhaps to enter the east gate of the temple (Ezekiel 44:1-3). But even if it is about the resurrection and rapture, what is it doing here if Pre-Wrathers say the resurrection and rapture doesn't come chronologically until verses 30 and 31?
5. Verse 28 (point 6 above) certainly does not follow chronologically from either the resurrection and rapture or the Second Coming. It seems to me to be about the gathering of unclean, unregenerate Jews to the spiritually dead bones in Israel. This gathering has especially been happening since 1903/4 and even more after the Holocaust.
6. Verse 29a (point 7 above) is figuratively about the rapture, in my opinion, which the Pre-Wrathists miss entirely. See my first article with the same title as this one for more on this.
7. Verse 29b (point 8 above) is figuratively about the killing of Jews/Israelis by the Jewish Antichrist immediately after the resurrection and rapture, which Pre-Wrathists also miss. See my first article with the same title as this one for more on this.
8. Verses 30 and 31 are again about the Second Coming of Christ, not the resurrection and rapture as Pre-Wrathers assert. "The tribes of the earth will mourn" may well refer to the tribes of Israel that will see with their own eyes, not via media, Christ descending from the clouds to fight against His enemies with "power and great glory." At the very end, He will gather all of His elect from the last 7 years also to Himself.
A more minor mistake the Pre-Wrathers make is to believe that the 3 examples of not knowing the day and the hour at the end of the chapter (points 12, 13 and 14 above) must of necessity refer to the resurrection and rapture that they see in verses 30 and 31 because certainly the day of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ, which Pre-Tribbers see in verses 30 and 31, will be known by some alive at the time. They argue that some will be able to count the days from the Abomination of Desolation to arrive at the day. But I say, they will not know, it will only be a guess. My guess is that the Second Coming will be 1290 days after, but it could be 1335 days. Anyway, certainly no one will know the literal hour.
The first example of not knowing the day and the hour is Noah's flood, the First Day of Wrath by water. This example, in my view, is a picture of both the resurrection and rapture and the Second Day of Wrath by fire, likely nuclear. Noah and 7 others entered the ark 7 days before the flood in Noah's 600th year. Jesus and the 7 churches will enter the ark of heaven 7 years before the fire in the 6000th year. It is not known whether God told Noah about the 120 years of the Spirit's striving before the flood, but He did tell him to enter the ark 7 days before the flood and that the flood would happen in 7 days. I believe that we can have a good guess at when the 120 years began before the Spirit is removed at the rapture (mine is 1903/4, when I believe Satan and the demons not active in Noah's day were released from hell), when the resurrection and rapture will occur (mine is 2023/4) and when Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ will occur (mine is 1290 days after the Abomination of Desolation, 2030/31). Nobody can or will be able to know the literal day and literal hour of any of these 3 events, let alone the literal month or literal year of at least the first 2 events. By the way, there is a "Then" near the end of this section, talking about 1 being taken to Jesus' side and 1 being left. I do think that it is referring to the rapture and maybe speaks to half of the visible Church being raptured.
The second example of not knowing the timing of end-time events is a parable about a house being broken into by a thief at night. Some may think that Jesus is picturing Himself as the thief who comes at some unknown hour, but I'm inclined to think that the thief pictures Satan and the demons not active in Noah's day being released from hell in 1903/4 and stealing some of the visible Church through apostasy. If the visible and invisible Church had known the "hour" of Satan's and the demons' release, they would not have let their "house" be broken into. Anyway, I see nothing here that opposes a Pre-Trib view.
The third example of not knowing the day and the hour is another parable about a household whose master goes away and catches the evil one, as opposed to the wise one, unawares on his return, beating others and eating and drinking with drunkards. There are rewards for the wise one and the judgment of death and hell for the evil one. I can see the parable speaking about the resurrection and rapture as well as the Second Coming and I see nothing that opposes a Pre-Trib view.
In summary, the Olivet Discourse is not strictly chronological and therefore does not necessitate a Pre-Wrath view. Also, as the Discourse contains both the Resurrection/Rapture and the Second Coming, the 3 examples of unknown timing at the end of the Discourse cause no problems for Pre-Tribbers.
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