A Study of Matthew Chapter 24, Part 4 -- Matthew 24:3(Stay tuned for more posts until study of Matthew 24 is completed.)
After Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple (Matthew 24:2), He went over a short distance to Mount Olivet where some of His disciples approached Him privately (Matthew 24:3). So, the disciples asked Jesus two questions:
1. When will these things happen?
2. What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?
The first question regarded the timing of the destruction of the temple. How did it fit in with the other future events predicted by the prophets? That question was considered in Part 3 of our study. The second question was in two parts. First, the disciples wanted to be educated as to the sign of the Lord's coming. The word translated "sign" in Matthew 24:3 is the Greek word, semeion, which means a token signaling a future event. Jesus answers this part of their question in great detail in verses 15-22, which we will be studying in the future. The second concern of the disciples was: What would be the sign of the end of the age? This is addressed by the Lord in verses 23-51, which we will also study in future posts on this blog. I am going to devote this current post to a subject that is crucial to understand if Bible prophecy is going to make any sense at all to us: What did the disciples mean when they used the term, the end of the age?
During the time of the Old Testament and the time of Christ's earthly ministry, the Jewish perspective of history was very precise and simple. History consisted of two ages: the present age and the age to come. The present age was the age in which all Israel was waiting for Messiah to come and establish His kingdom. The present age would end in the devastating judgment predicted by the prophets and would be terminated by the appearance of Messiah. The age to come was the future age, introduced by Messiah's coming, an age in which the many blessings promised to Israel through the prophets would be fulfilled.
"The end of the age" is a term that was applied to the consummation of the first of the two ages: that is, the present age. We can see this very clearly in the last verse of the book of Daniel:
"But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age." (Daniel 12:13)
The angel Gabriel was imparting God's guarantee to Daniel that he would be physically resurrected to receive his inheritance of the blessings of the covenant promises God gave to Israel. Daniel will be resurrected at the end of the seventieth week designated for Daniel's people (Israel), in Daniel 9:24-27 (see part 3). Daniel will receive his resurrection body and allotted his portion at the end of the age (the age which will be terminated by the coming of Christ to establish His kingdom) to enjoy in the age to come.
In the Gospel according to Matthew, we see that Jesus held the same perspective on the two ages:
"Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." (Matthew 12:32)
It is unfortunate that because they do not understand the dispensational significance of Matthew 12:32, many believers think they've "blasphemed the Holy Ghost" and are doomed to everlasting condemnation because they cannot be forgiven. But the context of Matthew 12:22-32 shows us that what Jesus was saying was addressed to many, but not all, of the people of one generation of the nation of Israel: the generation He was actually speaking to. God would forgive Israel for the sins committed against the Son. In fact, in Luke 23:34, the Son said, while hanging from the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." But after Israel had spoken against the Son of Man, The Holy Spirit was sent at Pentecost, and great signs and wonders took place through the apostles. God then offered Israel the opportunity to repent, and if Israel would respond, Jesus Christ would return to reign over the prophesied kingdom (Acts 3:19-21). But Israel did not repent. In fact, Israel's hostility toward Christ climaxed in the stoning of Stephen by the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of Israel. Just before he was stoned to death, in Acts 7:51, Stephen accused the leaders of Israel of resisting the Holy Spirit, just as their fathers had. In Matthew 12:32, Christ was addressing that one generation who would go into the Pentecostal era. Many in that generation would resist the testimony about the identity of Christ which was overwhelmingly confirmed by the activity of the Holy Spirit. Those in that generation who ultimately and categorically denied that testimony were not forgiven of it; and that generation of Israel will not be forgiven in the age to come either: because they died in their unbelief! A future generation of Israel will accept God's testimony about Messiah (Zechariah 12:10). But notice, in Matthew 12:32, that Christ embraced the same perception of history as the Jews of the Old Testament: this age and the age to come.
Now there is an interesting passage in the Letter to the Hebrews about the age to come. The Letter to the Hebrews was written before AD 70 (probably in the late 60's) to the thousands of Jews in Palestine who had believed in Christ during the Pentecostal era. Those Jews lived under very unique circumstances in a very unique time. Their state of mind was described in Acts 21:20 by James and the elders when Paul visited Jerusalem in about AD 56:
...and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law."
Paul had been staying away from Jerusalem, planting churches throughout the Empire and teaching the things that Jesus Christ had revealed to him (Acts 26:16; 2 Corinthians 12:7; Galatians 1:11-12; Ephesian 3:2-3). The new doctrine for the present dispensation was transmitted to Paul by Christ over a period of years and it took some time for it to be conveyed by Paul's teaching and writings to the other apostles and new testament prophets (Ephesians 3:5). Until they had received doctrine that was up to date, it was only natural and completely appropriate that the Jews in Palestine would remain under the authority of the Law of Moses, because they had received no instruction to the contrary. However, by the time the Letter to the Hebrews was written, the specific doctrine for this present dispensation had been widely published and taught. The Law of Moses had been set aside (Romans 6:14; Galatians 3:24-25). But those believers in Palestine and Jerusalem clung tenaciously to the Law, assuming that to adhere to it would fulfill the requirements of God. These Jews wanted to continue in the Levitical sacrificial system. The Letter to the Hebrews was written to those Jewish Christians to explain the person and and sacrificial work of Christ and to admonish them to let go of the previous dispensation and grow up into the new one:
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
and have tasted the good word of God the powers of the age to come,
and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him openly to shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)
Notice in verse 5, they have tasted of the Good word of God, and the powers of the age to come. Pentecost was a foretaste of the conditions that will be completely fulfilled when Christ reigns on earth in the Millennium! A careful reading of Peter's citation of prophecy by Joel confirms this (Acts 2:16-21). Now many believers are under the impression that verse 6 teaches that you can lose your salvation, but that is because they do not understand the verse in its historical setting. This letter was written to Jewish Christians who remained zealous for the Law. They had experienced a powerful demonstration of the Holy Spirit during the Pentecostal era. They experienced a taste of the powers of the age to come. But instead of going on to learn about the person and work of Christ, and instead of experiencing a rich relationship with Him that would have been far superior to their relationship with the Law, they wanted to remain under the Law. With that mental attitude, they were effectively crucifying the Son of God again by disrespecting all He had achieved. The writer of Hebrews goes on:
For ground that drinks the rain which falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is tilled, receives a blessing from God,
but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and ends up being burned. (Hebrews 6:7-8)
Many believers are terrified, thinking that this passage is about a Christian losing his or her salvation and going into everlasting condemnation. That's not what it is about at all. This is about blessing from God for responding to the truth of His word versus the cursing of divine discipline for choosing to remain under the Law as if Christ hadn't even gone to the cross to justify us! The Law has never justified anyone (Acts 13:39; Romans 3:20). Incidentally, the city of Jerusalem was burned by the Romans in AD 70, shortly after the Letter to the Hebrews was written.
Now let's consider the Apostle Paul's perspective of history. In the first chapter of Ephesians, Paul prays that believers would be enlightened about the ascended Christ in his position which is:
...far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:21)
Yes, Paul, a Jew who had been raised with the Jewish viewpoint of history (a viewpoint acquired from the Scriptures), perceived history in terms of that dichotomy when he wrote his epistles: this age and the one to come.
Now, it is true that between the time that Christ had spoken about what He had called "this age and the age to come," and the time that Paul wrote about "this age" and "the one to come," a new dispensation had been inaugurated (Ephesians 3:2). But don't confuse dispensations with ages! An age is a period of time, while a dispensation is a particular arrangement by which God administrates to angelic or human beings and regulates their affairs. A dispensation is not a period of time, but an administration within a period of time. The present dispensation, a mystery which has interrupted the prophetic calendar, is operating within a continuation of the present age. After the Rapture of the Church (1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), the prophetic plan will resume, and this present age will continue for seven years, until the Second Advent of Jesus Christ introduces the age to come.
In part 3 of our study, I mentioned a growing trend within contemporary Christianity that assumes that the major prophetic portions of Scripture, such as the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24) and the Book of Revelation, were fulfilled in the events connected with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. This viewpoint is called Preterism (from the Latin word praeter, which means "past"). Many Preterists believe that the term "this age" (or "this present age") refers to the approximately 40 year period between the time Christ engaged in His earthly ministry and the time that the temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. This view would be hard to reconcile with these two statements by Paul:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father... (Galatians 1:3-4)
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us to deny ungodliness [godlessness] and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly [reverently] in the present age... (Titus 2:11-12)
If "this present evil age" referred to by Paul (Galatians 1:4) ended in AD 70 (not many years after Paul wrote), then the logical conclusion would be that the instruction of Paul's epistles for this age (Titus 2:12) was directed only to believers until AD 70. Amazing!
Now, back to Matthew 24. On the Mount of Olives, Christ's disciples said to Him, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" They were referring to the end of the age which precedes the age to come. We must remember that when they asked the question, the potential was there for the disciples to still be physically alive to go into Daniel's seventieth week, which would be followed by the glorious earthly reign of Messiah. In fact Jesus had encouraged them to expect it. Because of the Greek particle an with a verb in the subjunctive mood, a statement Christ made to his disciples in Matthew's Gospel should be translated like this:
Truly I say to you, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they may have seen the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." (Matthew 16:28)
When the prophesied kingdom was later formally offered, in Acts 3:19-21, had Israel accepted the offer, Daniel's seventieth week would have commenced, followed by the Second Advent of Christ and the establishment of His kingdom. That is why Jesus was instructing his disciples as to the nature of the final years before the kingdom, and how to survive until the return of Christ. Because Israel failed to respond to that offer, the establishment of the kingdom has been postponed. Thus, the Lord's discourse from the Mount of Olives will now be directed toward believers in the future, when Daniel's seventieth week begins.
After His resurrection, Jesus provided further instructions to His disciples as to their activity in the brief period of time leading up to Christ's return. These instructions are contained in what is commonly perceived to be the "Great Commission" for the Church, Christ's Body, but is actually a continuation of the only program the disciples had been familiar with when they received this commission: the kingdom program.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)
Jesus promised that He would be with His disciples (not physically, but in terms of power and provision) unto the end of the age. If this passage applied to the Church, Christ's Body, that would mean that there would be no Rapture prior to Daniel's seventieth week. However, this commission is addressed to those who will be on earth during the seven years preceding Messiah's kingdom!
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.http://www.lockman.org/ In Titus 2:11-12, the explanation in brackets is the author's. Matthew 16:28 is the author's translation.
