Recapitulation
In our last study, we looked
at part I of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse. He
has already told His disciples that He is about to be betrayed and
crucified—that He will die and that within this generation both the temple and
Jerusalem will be destroyed. Then, we
looked at his description of the things that are happening next—in the
interadvent age—before the End.
No matter how alarming, none of these things, like wars or earthquakes
or unbelief, are signs of the end. They
are general characteristics (though with increasing intensity) of the age
before the End.
Then the End Comes
In Matthew 24:14 He says, “Then the end will come.” Then are no signs for it but after an
indeterminate time the end comes! The
Greek word for “end” here is “telos” (telos). This is not
a reference to a single moment but to a definite period of time that concludes
and completes the result, the purpose, and the reasons for the past events of
world history. These past events like
sin in the world, the rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah, and indeed the
whole wicked mess that the world has committed is coming to a final
resolution—the “Telos.” It is not a
split second but a period called “the End.” We don’t know when it will happen but it will
happen. Now once the “Telos” starts then there will be signs
within that period.
Note: This Telos
is not the end of the world because the kingdom age has yet to play out. But it is the end of the interadvent age and
the end of the “times of the Gentiles” as Daniel calls it. As we shall see, it is a limited but definite
period of time at the end of the interadvent age but before the kingdom age.
Three Distinct Future Events Associated with the Telos
We need to distinguish several
future events associated with the “telos” from one another. 1) There is a “gathering
together” of all who believe in Christ (2 Thessalonians 2) in which they meet
Christ in the air as they are changed to immortal imperishable bodies in the
“twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15). 2) Christ comes in the clouds to the earth like
a blast of lightning to effect temporal judgment
on the living wicked of the world (Matthew 24) to preserve it for the righteous
who will inherit it. 3) There is also a closely
related last-minute rescue of the living righteous remnant by the angels from
the persecution of the wicked (Matthew 24) so they can inherit the earth and
live in the kingdom. These three events have
some similarities but they are not the same event as we will see.
Abomination of Desolation in a Rebuilt Future Temple
Now in Matthew 24:15, where
we pick up our study, Jesus chooses to mention another sign within the “telos”—after it
begins. This sign continues the
disciples’ focus on the temple. He takes
them back to the prophecy of Daniel (Daniel 9) that lays out a timeline of signs
and events related to Israel.
The Daniel Connection
In Daniel 9, the angel
Gabriel explains to Daniel certain coming events that affect the nation of Israel. In Daniel’s time (538 BC), Israel is still in
captivity, though her original captors, the Babylonians, have been defeated by
the Medes and the Persians. Daniel has
been reminding God (!) in prayer and fasting about His promise in Jeremiah to
allow His covenant people Israel to return to the Promised Land after 70 years
and it has already been about 67 years or so!
So, God sends Gabriel to let Daniel know that, yes, they will be allowed
to return to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. From the King’s decree to go and
rebuild until all is complete will take seven “weeks.” Then after another 62 “weeks” the “Anointed
One” (aka the Messiah) will come.
Two Signs During the Interadvent Age
Then there is a break of indeterminate length
before Daniel’s prophetic clock starts ticking again. This indeterminate break is the interadvent age (between the first and
second advent) which started at the Messiah’s first coming. Daniel is given only two predicted signs near
the beginning of this period: 1) The
Messiah will be “cut off and have nothing.”
2) Then the sanctuary and the city (the temple and Jerusalem) will be
destroyed by the “people of the prince who is to come.” There are no further signs during this period
and none preceding the end of this interadvent period. Then Daniel’s prophetic clock starts ticking
again and during the following period called the Telos there is an event called the “abomination of desolation.” This
is a sign that precedes His return in judgment. It means that judgment is not far off. More details below.
Jesus’ Predictions Concerning the Telos
So, in Mathew 24, Jesus points to Daniel and this abomination sign because
that prophecy includes some information about the timing of His “coming and the
end of the age.” In Daniel 9:27 Gabriel says this prince (whose
people destroyed the temple and Jerusalem—the Roman Empire) will confirm a
covenant or treaty with “many” for one “week.”
So, this covenant signing begins Daniel’s prophetic clock ticking for
one final “week.” But in the middle
of that final “week” this prince (who rules as an heir of the Roman Empire)
will cause sacrifice and offering in the (rebuilt) temple to halt by causing a desolating abomination there that will
persist until his predicted end comes. This abomination is the event that Jesus points out to His disciples
because it also concerns their temple. The Telos
kicks off with the treaty between Israel and the heirs of the Roman Empire
(ruled by a powerful prince). The middle
of the Telos reveals this prince to
be a false friend of Israel who desecrates the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. The end of the Telos comes with a sudden return of Jesus Christ.
Daniel’s Seventy Heptads
This prophecy of Daniel contains
a total of seventy “weeks.” In this
case, a “week” is literally “seven” or a “heptad.” It is a period of seven time units. Most scholars are agreed that Daniel’s “week”
refers to a period of seven years. So, the
seventy weeks are 490 total years.
Starting and Stopping the Prophetic Clock
Thus, Gabriel tells Daniel
precisely when the city of Jerusalem and the temple will be rebuilt (49 years
after the Persian king’s decree). He
also tells how many years after that the Messiah will appear (434 years after
that). Then there is a break during
which Daniel’s ‘clock of weeks’ is paused.
This pause is the time period called the “times of the gentiles” where
we are—the interadvent age. During that pause, the “Messiah will
be cut off” and Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed by the same people
from which a wicked prince will later arise.
This prince will make a covenant or treaty of peace with many nations
for seven years. This peace covenant
is the sign that starts up the clock again for the final seven years. In the middle of that period (after 3½ years)
this prince breaks the covenant and commits the “abomination of desolation”
which makes it impossible for the daily offerings and sacrifices to continue.
The Lawless Prince
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 also
describes this prince and calls him the “lawless one” or the “man of sin” who
Paul says seats himself in the temple to be worshiped but God destroys him when
Jesus returns in judgment (at the end of the Telos.
Gathering the Believers BEFORE the Telos
Paul’s point in 2
Thessalonians, however, is that the appearance of this “man of sin” comes AFTER the “coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ” and “our being gathered to be with Him.” He specifically identifies this aspect of Jesus’ coming (the rapture) with
the fact that we will be gathered
together to be with Him and will be gone when this “man of sin” is revealed.
Some of the people he was writing to were concerned that “the Day of the Lord” –
the Telos – had already come. But if that were true, says Paul, the “Man of
Sin” would have already been revealed.
That is the “Prince who is to come” who is revealed when he confirms a
covenant of peace for seven years. He
seats Himself in the temple to be worshiped as god! (This is the “abomination of desolation.”) Furthermore, says Paul, before
the “Day of the Lord” and the revealing of the “Man of Sin” there will be our
“gathering together” to be with Christ. This
is the rapture! He makes this point as a word of comfort. So,
the rapture has no sign beforehand because it happens before the Telos when the
Man of Sin is revealed who signs this peace treaty.
No-Knock Gathering for Rescue
Just as Jesus says in Matthew 24:15-28, there are no signs warning
about the “telos.” The signs only come DURING the “telos” beginning with the peace treaty. So, Jesus comes to gather His children
suddenly with no notice and only after that does the “man of sin” (the
wicked prince of Daniel) appear and sign his seven-year covenant only to break
it 3½ years later and then after the final 3½ years is the end of the age when
Jesus returns in judgment.
Daniel’s Corroboration
Similarly, Daniel 12:11 tells
us that there will be 1290 days (or about 43 months or about 3 years 6 months
and two weeks!) until the judgment at the end of the tribulation following this
abomination (beginning on the day the sacrifices cease). This adds up to about 3½ years so the
abomination of desolation is again located in the middle of this seven-year
period.
Three Major Views on the Timing of the Rapture
To be clear, there are three
major views among those who believe that Jesus will set up a literal earthly kingdom
(as He tells us to pray in the Lord’s prayer) for 1000 years (mentioned 5 times
in Revelation 20:1-6) on the timing of this gathering of God’s children (called
the rapture). (Those who do not believe
in a literal 1000-year kingdom are called amillennials. They generally do not take Scripture
literally when it comes to unfulfilled prophecy.)
Post-Tribulation View
But here are the three views:
1) The post-tribulation view says
that the rapture is at the end of the seven-year tribulation. This is because in Matthew 24 angels do
gather God’s elect at the end of that period—but this gathering cannot be the
rapture because if all the righteous are gathered and raptured and get immortal
incorruptible bodies at that time (1 Corinthians 15:51-56) then who will
populate the millennial kingdom and have children, etc.? There is no marriage among the resurrected,
and remember, the wicked are killed at the end of the tribulation (Matthew 24—the vultures gather around their
corpses!).
Pre-Wrath View
2) The mid-tribulation view has hardly any adherents any more—most of them
have moved to the pre-wrath rapture
view. This view says the rapture occurs
after the first six seals in Revelation 6 which while devastating they claim are
not due to the wrath of God. And yes, the
first six seals are quite devastating to the earth but they are supernaturally
caused one by one as the Lamb of God (Jesus) breaks or opens one seal after
another on a scroll which sends judgment upon the earth. This view agrees that the rapture occurs before
God’s wrath is poured out on the earth since we do not come into
condemnation and we are not destined for wrath.
But, those first six seals sure cause a lot of death and destruction and
are directly caused by Jesus sitting in His heavenly courtroom opening the
seals during the tribulation. Thy are
His opening salvo of wrath. The rapture
must precede the opening of those seals.
Pre-Tribulation View
3) The pretribulation view says that the rapture has no signs
whatsoever—not even one seal—and occurs BEFORE
the man of sin (the prince who is to come) is revealed (by signing the seven-year
peace treaty with Israel and the nations).
These predictions are signs that only occur AFTER the rapture. All other
tribulation views depend on signs that point to the timing of the rapture
within the tribulation period. But Jesus
says there are NO SIGNS and “no one
knows” –not even the angels.
Signs for the Righteous Remnant
Now back to Matthew 24! Even during times of great wickedness, God
always has His “remnant.” (In Elijah’s
time, there were 7,000 who had not “bowed the knee” to Baal although Elijah
thought (wrongly) that he was the only faithful follower of God remaining!
Isaiah also predicted that God would save His remnant.) Here Jesus tells the remnant
who are alive (and have come to believe AFTER
the rapture) that at the time of this abomination (the middle of the
tribulation) to watch out especially if you live in Judea and Jerusalem. (Many Jews will come to believe through the
144,000 Jewish evangelists mentioned in Revelation 7). He tells those people to run for the
mountains when you see this awful sign. Pray that it is not in winter or on a
Sabbath day. Don’t stop to get stuff in
your house. Run. Because a terrible persecution of those who
worship God will break out at that time.
This suffering will be unlike any ever seen before. He says, it is a good thing that it only lasts
3½ years or all the righteous would be dead.
Supernatural Counterfeits
Once again, during this final
3½ years, there will be false Christs and false prophets. Revelation tells us about the Beast (and the
False Prophet who claims the Beast is God—Revelation 13). Both Matthew and Revelation tell about false
signs and miracles that will mislead many people. Even the true believers might come close to
being deceived.
Return for Judgment NOT Resurrection and Rapture
The true Messiah will be made
known by His glorious return. You can’t
miss it—just like lightning! And judgment
begins immediately causing a gathering of vultures.
Now, in contrast, at the
rapture, He meets His saints in the air whose bodies are changed and are
gathered with the dead in Christ who are resurrected with new bodies as
well. All these resurrected saints go to
be with Jesus. This event is His return for rescue and resurrection not judgment.
So, Matthew 24:29-31 discusses
not the rapture but His return in judgment. At His return in judgment, the
heavenly bodies will fail to give light, the laws of celestial mechanics will
seem to fail, and Christ will return to earth causing great weeping among all
people. His angels do gather up all
those who have trusted in Him during the past seven years (the remnant) for
safe-keeping while judgment will fall on the others. This is also a rescue but these believers are
not given immortal resurrection bodies. They will be responsible to be fruitful
and multiply and repopulate the earth during the kingdom age. This is just like
in the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds in Matthew 12.
God has not Appointed You for Wrath
There are no signs for the
rapture. But there are many signs
afterward during the tribulation—the Telos. This is why our hope for Christ’s return
is imminent—at any time. “Comfort
one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). If we have the wrath of God ahead, that is
not too comforting. “But God has not
appointed you for wrath” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
© 2018 Eric Thimell
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