Fourfold Parallel Passages

Fourfold Parallel Notes to Above Graph

Matthew 24 is in response to the question the Disciples asked in verse 3. Matthew 24 is 100% fulfilled prophesy!

Jesus Sees Beautiful Temple. Notice one of the last statements Jesus made to the Jews is about the destruction of the temple and the judgment of Jerusalem in their generation (Matthew 23:36-39). Jesus is inside the temple itself when he tells them this.

Disciples See Beautiful Temple. It was at this point that He exited the temple, and His disciples began to show Him the same buildings from the outside. Therefore, we can be sure what was on the mind of Jesus as the disciples marveled at the stones of the temple.

Temple Torn Down. Jesus states that this temple will be torn down (the subject matter is about the temple).

Question Disciples asked. Notice that the disciples did not ask about the dissolution of the physical heaven and earth or the judgment of the "world" (kosmos), but about the end of the "age" (aion). The Disciples asked Jesus when will the temple be torn down. They could not possible have been asking Jesus about his Second Coming or the future Kingdom because:

Fact #1: The Disciples didn't understand that Jesus was going to die the first time (John 12:34; 16:16-18; 20:9, Mark 9:10,31-32, Luke 9:44-45; 18:31-34). Whenever Jesus told them he must die, they limited divine council and disregarded the plain teachings of Jesus by imposing their own, man-made wisdom and worldly understanding (Mat.16:21-23, Mark 8:31-33).

Fact #2: Disciples expected Jesus to be their physical King and set up a worldly Kingdom at his First Coming (John 6:15, Luke 24:21), not at his Second Coming. So did others (John 18:36, Luke 17:20-21; 19:11).

Fact #3: Even when Jesus was resurrected, they still did not understand about his Second coming or future Kingdom, because they still thought he was going to give them the Kingdom at that time (Acts 1:6). The disciples could not have asked a question about something they knew nothing about; they didn't understand the Second Coming or spiritual Kingdom (John 13:36 - 14:6; 16:16-17). This account in John takes place after the Olivet discourse. After the crucifixion, they still didn't understand that Jesus was going to rise from the dead (John 20:8-9).

In Zech.14:1-5 and Dan.9:26, the destruction of Jerusalem and the coming of the Lord is clearly prophesied to happen at the same day. The disciples believed the coming of Jesus would be simultaneous with the destruction of Jerusalem.

The Jews of the 1st century clearly understood what "the sign of thy coming" meant, because they read it many times in the Old Testament. Such language was used many times in the past whenever God would overthrow and destroy a single nation at a specific time. Compare: Isa.13:6-9 - fulfilled Babylon 539 BC / Isa.19:1 - fulfilled Egypt 480 BC / Eze.30:3-4 - fulfilled Egypt 480 BC / Amos 5:18-20 - fulfilled Israel 722 BC / Zeph.1:7,14-16 - fulfilled Jerusalem 586 BC / Mal.4:5 - fulfilled 27 AD (notice Mat.11:13-14) / Joel 2:1,11,31 - fulfilled 30 AD (compare Joel 2:28 with Acts 2:16-17). Other verses: Isa.2:12, Jer.46:10, Eze.13:5, Joel 1:15; 3:14, Oba.1:15, and Zeph.2:2-3, Zech.14:1.

Jesus said that there would "be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" (Mat.16:27-28, Mark 8:38 - 9:1, Luke 9:26-27), which proves that this verse was already fulfilled, because everyone who was alive 2,000 years ago is now dead!

Be Not Misled and False Admonition: False Christ's. Verses 4, 5, 23-26 are fulfilled in Acts 5:36-37; 8:9-11 (Jesus said "take heed that no man deceive you," yet these Samaritans "all gave heed" to Simon because of his signs and wonders, from the least to the greatest, thus fulfilling Christ's words, "and shall deceive many"), Acts 13:6-10; 16:16; 20:29-30, Gal.1:6-7; 2:4; 5:7-12, Philippians 3:18-19, 2 Timothy 2:16-18, 1 John 2:18,19,22; 4:1-6, 2 Cor.11:3-4,12-15, Jude 1:4. The wolves of Acts 20:29-30 are from Mat.7:15. Jesus associates the presence of these wolves with His coming before the disciples would have gone through the cities of Israel (Mat.10:16-23). The appearance of false Christ's in our century should no more cause us to believe we are in the last days than a twentieth-century virgin birth should cause us to believe that Jesus was born in the twentieth century.

Peter, who was present when Jesus gave this prophecy (Mark 13:3), later wrote about "false prophets" that had risen and of "many" that followed their pernicious ways (2 Peter 2). John, who also heard Jesus give this prophecy, recorded the fulfillment in l John 2:18,22; 4:1 and 2 John 7.

Wars, Famines, Earthquakes. Wars: Historical account: Josephus said, in Antiquities 18:5:3, that Bardanes, and after him Volageses, declared war against Aretas, King of Arabia. But the death of Tiberius prevented war (rumors of war). Earthquakes: History record 5 earthquakes in Crete 46AD, Rome 51AD, Apamaia 53AD, Laodicea 60AD, and Campania 62AD. Bible records earthquakes (Mat.27:51; 28:2, Acts 16:26). Famines: Historians record 30,000 deaths in Rome alone. Bible records famines (Acts 11:27-29) which occurred during the reign of Claudius in 41-54AD.

It is true that in the twentieth century we have experienced false Christ's, false prophets, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, wars and rumors of wars, etc. However, have not these things existed throughout the last two thousand years? Of course! It's amazing to see how many generations thought that Christ would be coming in their lifetime because they thought that the signs in Matthew 24 applied to their generation.

Disciples Betrayed. Jesus prophesied in Mat.10:23 that persecution would be an unmistakable sign to prove that His return was imminent. Some have assumed that these particular passages are referring to a far-removed group of Christians in our century or, for that matter, in any other century beyond the generation of the disciples. Matthew and Luke, however, say the disciples would be delivered up to be afflicted, killed, and hated.: Mat.10:1-6, Luke 6:20. Mat.24:3 qualifies the disciples as the audience of Jesus. Mat.24:34 qualifies the generation in which the persecution must take place.

The apostles fulfilled this prediction in Acts 4:1-3,17; 5:17-21,27-28 ("Ye should not teach in His name," was the command of the Pharisees. We see again the persecution for the name's sake of Jesus from Mat.24:9), and Acts 5:40 also says "they should not speak in the name of Jesus." Acts 5:33 shows the Pharisees took council to kill them. Acts 6:9-15 shows the Jews clearly reproached Stephen and cast out his name as evil, then stoned Stephen to death. Paul (Saul before his conversion), after commanding the death of Stephen, relentlessly persecutes Christians in a rather violent manner (Acts 8:3; 9:1-2). Immediately upon his preaching Christ in the synagogues, Paul's experience of persecution for the name of Jesus would begin (Acts 9:23-24,29). James, the brother of John, was killed, and Peter was thrown in prison (Acts 12:1-5). Paul was stoned (Acts 14:19), and beaten and cast into prison (Acts 16:19-24). The Jews cast out the name of Jason as evil for the cause of Christ (Acts 17:5-8). The Jews in Asia laid hands on Paul to kill him (Acts 21:26-33), and brought him before the Pharisees and the Sadducees (Acts 23:12-15), and then brought before governors (Acts 24:10,22), then to King Agrippa (Acts 26:1), which fulfills Mat.10:18 as well. Paul describes the trying fire that the disciples were enduring (2 Cor.6:4-10; 11:23-27,32-33). Persecution always awaited him (Acts 20:22-24). Paul was brought before Gallio (Acts 28:12), Felix (Acts 24:24), and Agrippa (Acts 25:23). Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 7:59): James was killed by Herod (Acts 12:2)

Gospel Preached - End Will Come. Acts 2:5,9-11,14; 8:1-5,14,25; 9:31; 10:37 (all fulfil Acts 1:8); 17:6; 24:5, Romans 1:5,8; 10:18 ("world" means oikumene, same as Mat.24:24, and "earth" means ge, same as Acts 1:8); 15:19 (fulfills Acts 1:8); 16:19,25-26 ("nations" mean ethnos, same as Mark 13:10), and Col.1:6 ("world" means kosmos, same as Mark 16:15), 23 ("creature" means ktisis, same as Mark 16:15). The fact that Colossians was written in 62AD, 8 years before Jerusalem was destroyed, is proof that 70AD was the total fulfillment of this passage. 1 Pet.4:6, Heb.4:2, 1 Tim.3:16. Titus 2:11.

The argument might be raised, "The apostles were saying that the Gospel had been preached to the world as they knew it, but the Gospel has to reach the world as we know it before Christ will return." First, where does the Scripture speak of Christ's words being fulfilled during the twentieth century as we know it? This is the world's way of trying to make the Bible fit their standard of unholiness. Second, why would the apostles even mention the fact of the Gospel reaching its destination if there was no prophetic significance? All that would do is confuse those to whom they were writing. After all, their readers were perfectly aware that Christ had predicted His return once the Gospel had been preached in these areas. What other predictions were there besides those of the Lord? From the Scripture we can be certain that all these predictions regarding the destination of the Gospel were fulfilled.

Abomination Of Desolation - Jerusalem Surrounded By Army. Reference Daniel 8:13 9:27; 11:31; 12:7-13 (indicates meaning of prophesy was sealed). Matthew and Mark insert, "whoso readeth, let him understand", indicating the meaning of Daniel was revealed by Jesus. Daniel was told prophesy was sealed until the "end time", which is 70AD.

Flee From Judaea To The Mountains. 1) The city of Judaea has not existed since the first century, it was destroyed! So what relevance could this have to Christians today? How can they flee from a city that does not exist anymore? Obviously, this warning pertained to those living in the first century in Judaea, because Judaea was destroyed in 70AD, just like Jesus said.

2) Why would Jesus command the Christians to flee if they are going to be raptured at the Second Coming? But it makes perfect sense since Jesus was warning Christians living in Jerusalem in 69AD to be ready to flee when the Roman armies surrounded the city just prior to its besieging. Small children will make escape difficult. In winter, there's a danger of freezing, exposure, hypothermia, and the snow will slow down escape. The gates are closed every sabbath day in Jerusalem in 70AD (Neh.13:19-21).

3) Today, the rapture, as it is commonly taught, would not be hindered by the Sabbath, very few people keep the Sabbath now. Women of our generation do not usually allow their babies to breast feed. Modern means of going from place to place (cars, boats, snowmobiles, planes, etc) would not make winter a hindrance. Neither would there be a necessity to flee into the hills of Judaean or any other hill if the world was ending. Our housetops are not flat, nor are they used for guard duty.

Historical account: Josephus, a Jewish historian of that day, says the Roman General Vespasian began the siege of Jerusalem and set up pagan symbols in the temple. But hearing of the political tumult in Rome, returned to Rome to become the new Emperor. He then sent his son, Titus, back to Jerusalem to finish the siege. During the lull in the siege, Christians, alert to the warnings of Christ, fled the city to the mountains. He described the destruction and told of the incomprehensible suffering that the starving Israelites were subjected to before they were destroyed and their carcasses were thrown into Geehena, just as Jesus had predicted. (The Works of Flavius Josephus, Volume one, Chapter nineteen, page 200 in the Wars of the Jews).

Sun Darkened/Moon Blood. Compare: Isa.6:10 - fulfilled Babylon 539 BC / Isa.34:4-5 - fulfilled Edom before 400 BC / Eze.32:7-8 - fulfilled Egypt 480 BC / Amos 5:18-20; 8:9 - fulfilled Israel 722 BC / Zeph.1:15 - fulfilled Jerusalem 586 BC / Jer.4:23-28 - fulfilled Jerusalem 586 BC / Joel 2:2,10,30,31 - fulfilled 30 AD.

Trumpet. Compare: Zeph 1:16 - fulfilled Jerusalem 586 BC / Zeph 1:16 - fulfilled Jerusalem 586 BC / Jer. 4:19; 6:1 - fulfilled Jerusalem 586 BC / Joel 2:1,15 - fulfilled 30 AD.

To "Gather together his elect" was the entire goal of Old Testament (Psalms 50:4-5, Isaiah 11:12; 40:11; 43:5; 54:7-8). Notice this last verse, where gathering is inseparable from having the everlasting kindness and mercy of the Redeemer upon His elect.

Will Occur In This Generation. God calls 40 years a generation in Numbers 32:13, and in Hebrews 3:8-10. Also, in Matthew 1:17, we have data to estimate the length of a generation. It tells us that from the captivity in Babylon until Christ are fourteen generations. The date of the captivity, in the reign of Zedekiah, is said to be 586 BC. From 586 BC until the birth of Christ would be about 586 years which, divided by fourteen, makes the average length of a generation about 41 years.

Every time the phrase "this generation" is mentioned in the New Testament, it is always spoken by Jesus (Mat.11:16; 12:41-42, Mark 8:12, Luke 7:31; 11:30-32,50,51; 17:25). In each and every verse, it refers to the generation that was alive during Jesus' first coming. Other verses Jesus used the word "generation" in is Mat.12:39,45; 16:4; 17:17, Mark 8:38; 9:19, Luke 1:48,50; 9:41; 11:29; 16:8. These all refer to an age of 30-40 years, never as an age of 1000's of years. Here are all other uses of the word "generation" (Greek word genea, word #1074) as used by the apostles: Mat.1:17, Acts 2:40; 8:33; 13:36; 14:16 (times); 15:21 (time), Eph.3:5,21 (Ages…not age. This doesn't conflict with many "generations"), Phil.2:15 (nation), Col.1:26 (generations), and Heb.3:10.

Some folks that oppose the simplicity of this statement attack the word "generation" and apply various meanings to the Greek 'genea,' (genea), mainly that it should be translated "race" or "nation." This would have the Messiah saying, "This race or nationality shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled." That would be such a ridiculous answer, if you take into consideration that these people never expected their race or nation to ever vanish off the face of the earth, in fact they expected to populate the whole earth!

This term for generation can't mean "race", for the Greek word genos (#1085), which means "race", would have been used (1 Peter 2:9). And it cannot mean "age", for the Greek word aion (#165), which means "age", or "a period of time", would've been used (Ephesians 2:7, Colossians 1:26). Instead, genea (#1074) was used.

Jesus said, concerning "this generation," that there would "be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" (Mat.16:27-28, Mark 8:38 - 9:1, Luke 9:26-27).

To say that when he said "this generation," he was speaking of a generation that would be living more than 2000 years in the future at the delayed time of His second coming is preposterous. This is to accuse the Messiah of a deliberate deception. But what is more, such an interpretation is a corruption of the English language. Visualize, if you will, Christ suddenly appearing to rapture the church, and then fit this statement into the scene. Why would he need to say that some of the people living on earth at the time of the rapture would not die before he returned being as he would have already returned by that time? That is saying, "There will be some people living on earth at the time of Christ's second coming that will not die before Christ's second coming." Senseless statement, huh?

Heaven And Earth. Jesus merely affirms His prior predictions, which are recorded in Matthew 24:29­31.

Secular Record: Encyclopedia Britannica 1979, Vol 17:950-951

1. "Herod and his successors could not wipe out all resistance to Hellenism among the Jews. There were, of course, varying degrees of resistance. Herod's supporters sought to bridge the gap between the two cultures and thus have the best of both worlds; the Sadducees combined a strict adherence to the Mosaic Law with at least a partial acceptance of Hellenism; the Pharisees were sterner opponents of foreign culture but more flexible in their attitude toward Judaism; the Essenes and other groups hoped for a messiah to deliver them from Roman domination and restore an independent Jewish nation. The Zealots had the most important influence on political events. They condemned anything foreign and insisted that force was the only weapon with which to combat it. At first only a minority, they grew powerful as Roman policy toward the Jews changed. The mad Caligula reversed the formerly tolerant Roman policy by attempting to install his own statue in the Temple, and only his timely murder saved the day. After Claudius' inauguration of the province in 44 AD, conditions worsened under a series of greedy and incompetent procurators, and in 66 AD revolt broke out (the First Jewish Revolt 66-77).

2. The governor of Syria could not quell the uprising, and the emperor Nero entrusted the campaign to the veteran commander Vespasian. With superior forces Vespasian slowly and effectively subdued Galilee and Judaea. When he was recalled to Rome to become emperor himself, he gave his army to his son Titus. In 70 Titus captured and completely destroyed Jerusalem with great slaughter. In 73 the last flames of revolt were put out at Masada, where the last rebels committed suicide rather than fall into Roman hands."

Translation