A Study of Matthew Chapter 24, Part 7 -- Matthew 24:4(Stay tuned for more posts until study of Matthew 24 is completed.)
And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you." (Matthew 24:4)
On the Mount of Olives, Jesus was concerned that His disciples not be misled. To prevent the believers of Daniel's seventieth week from being misled, an apocalypse was given to John, on the island of Patmos. Much of that apocalypse parallels, and adds details to, the events Jesus set forth in the Olivet Discourse.
John Walvoord[1] and Marvin Rosenthal[2] are among those who have recognized a remarkable parallel between what Jesus described on the Mount of Olives and what was revealed to John in Revelation chapter 6. The basic events and actions in both Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 progress in the same chronological order. There is war, famine, death, and martyrdom, followed by cosmic disturbances. Bear in mind that the four horsemen in John's apocalypse are symbolic of four phases of the activity of the Antichrist during Daniel's seventieth week. I'll expound on that in future parts of this series, but for now, let's look at a comparison of passages of Matthew 24 and Revelation 6. So that the reader may easily view the contrast between the two accounts, I've rendered Christ's sayings from the Mount of Olives in red and passages from John's apocalypse in blue:
"For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many." (Matthew 24:5)
Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come."
I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. (Revelation 6:1-2)
"You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end."For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom... (Matthew 24:6-7a)
When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come."
And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. (Revelation 6:3-4)
"...and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
"But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs." (Matthew 24:7b-8)
When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come."
I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."
When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come."
I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:5-8)
"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name." (Matthew 24:9)
When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;
and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. (Revelation 6:9-11)
"But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Matthew 24:29)
I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;
and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. (Revelation 6:12-13)
Thus, these two accounts in the New Testament provide a brief outline of some of the major features of the seven year period that will close the end of the age. In the next installments of our study of Matthew 24, we'll explore these things in more detail.
Footnotes:
1. John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chicago: Moody Press, 1966), p.123.
2. Marvin Rosenthal, The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), pp.150-152.
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.http://www.lockman.org/
