The Two Great Prophecies
of "The End of the Age"
(Luke 21, and Matthew 24, Mark 13).
This
Is Appendix 155 From The Companion Bible.
The
great prophecy recorded in Luke 21 is different both in time,
place and subject from that recorded in Matthew 24
and Mark 13.
The one recorded in Luke was spoken "on one of those days,
as He taught the people in the Temple" (Luke 20:1).
For one note of time is in 21:1,
"and He looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts
into the Treasury." So that He was still "in the
Temple" when He uttered the prophecy recorded in Luke 21, for the
whole conversation with the disciples follows without a break the Lord's
commendation of the widow.
But with regard to the prophecy recorded in Matthew 24, we
distinctly read (verse
1)
"and Jesus went out and departed from the Temple
... and as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples
came to Him privately" (verse
3).
So in Mark 13:1,
"He went out of the Temple ... and as he sat
upon the Mount of Olives, over against the Temple, Peter and
James and John and Andrew asked Him privately" (verse
3).
So that we have two great prophecies. One (Luke)
spoken in the Temple, the other (Matthew and Mark) spoken later
upon the Mount of Olives. As parts of the first are repeated on the
second occasion, we will give the leading points of the three in
parallel columns, so that the object of each, and the difference between
them, may be clearly seen.
They both open with a summary of events which might have taken
place in the lifetime and experience of those who heard the words :--
FROM
THE
CROSS
ONWARDS.
|
LUKE
21:8-9.
|
MATTHEW
24:4-6
|
MARK
13:5-7
|
"Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come
in My name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go
ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and
commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come
to pass; but the end is not by and by (that is to say,
immediatel; so Revised Version)." |
"Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come
in My name, saying I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye
shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not
troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end
is not yet." |
"Take heed lest any man deceive you. For many shall come
in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And
when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not
troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall
not be yet." |
John refers to this first sign in his First Epistle (2:18);
but had the nation repented at the proclamation by Peter in Acts
3:18-26,
by the Twelve in the Land, by "them that heard Him"
(Hebrews 2:3),
and by Paul in the Synagogues of the Dispersion, "all
that the prophets had written" would have been fulfilled.
|
LUKE
21:10,
11.
|
MATTHEW
24:7,
8.
|
MARK
13:8.
|
"Nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against
kingdom: and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and
famines, and pestilences, and fearful sights and great signs
shall there be from heaven." |
"Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of
sorrows." |
"Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom; and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and
there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings
of sorrows." |
Now, it will be observed in the Lord's discourse as recorded in
Luke, that, instead of saying "these are the beginning of
sorrows", and going on with the account of them, He stops
short; He goes back; He introduces a parenthesis detailing and
describing events that would take place "BEFORE ALL THESE"
beginnings of sorrows. He describes in verse
12,
|
THE
DESTRUCTION
OF
JERUSALEM.
|
12. But before all these, that is to say "BEFORE"
the great tribulation, all that is recorded concerning Jerusalem
in verses
12-24
would take place. These are the closing words :- |
|
|
24. "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and
shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled." |
|
|
Now, in the discourse recorded in Matthew 24, instead of going
back to speak of the condition of Jerusalem before and until the
beginning of the great Tribulation; having said "All
these are the beginning of sorrows", He goes on to
describe the sorrows, or birth-pangs of the Tribulation
(Matthew 24:9-28.
Mark 13:9-23),
and He continues the prophecy concerning these sorrows up to the
moment of His appearing in the clouds of heaven. |
While, in the discourse recorded in Luke 21, having gone back,
and described what should take place "before all these"
beginnings of sorrows, the Lord does not speak further of the
great Tribulation, but takes it up at the end, and, as in
Matthew and Mark, speaks concerning |
HIS
COMING
IN THE
CLOUDS
OF
HEAVEN
(of course, in Luke the words are slightly different from those
in Matthew and Mark) :- |
LUKE
21:25-27.
|
MATTHEW
24:29,
30.
|
MARK
13:24-26.
|
"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon,
and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with
perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing
them for fear, and for looking after those things which are
coming on the earth; for the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud
with power and great glory." |
"IMMEDIATELY
after the tribulation of those days
1
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of
the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of
the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
|
"But in those days, after that tribulation
1,
the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that
are in heaven shall be shaken, and then shall they see the Son
of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory."
|
The
first prophecy, in the Temple (Luke 21), was uttered in
answer to two questions : (1) "When shall these
things be?" and (2) "What sign shall there be when these
things shall come to pass?" The answer to (1) is given in verses
8-24,
and the answer to (2) in verses
25-28.
The second prophecy, on the Mount of Olives (Matthew
24 and Mark 13), was uttered in answer to three distinct
questions : (1) "When shall these things be?" (2) "What
shall be the sign of Thy coming?" and (3) "And [what shall
be the sign] of the end of the age?" The answer to (1) was given
in Matthew. 24:4-14.
Mark 13:5-13.
The answer to (2) was given in Matthew 24:15-27.
Mark 13:14-23;
and to (3) in Matthew 24:29-31
and Mark 13:24-27
(and in Luke 21:25-28).
And then both prophecies conclude with the Parable of the Fig
tree, and the final solemn assurance :-
"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall by no means
(See Appendix 105. III) pass, till all
these things may be fulfilled"
2
(Matthew 24:34.
Mark 13:30.
Luke 21:32.)
This latter is the last of four equally impressive statements :
Matthew 10:23;
16:28;
23:39;
24:34.
Each of these consists of two clauses, the former of which
contains the strongest negative that could possibly have been used (see
Appendix 105. III); and should be
rendered "by no means", or "in no wise", as
it is often rendered elsewhere; while in the latter clause the verb is
in the subjunctive mood with or without the Greek Particle "an",
which (though it cannot be represented in translation) makes the clause
hypothetical and dependent on some condition expressed or implied. This
condition was, in each of these four passages, the repentance of the
nation, in response to the appeal of "the other servants"
of Matthew 22:4,
as recorded in Acts 3:18-26
and elsewhere, culminating in Acts 28:17-29.
The conclusion of both prophecies thus consists of an assured
certainty, with a definite contingency, or uncertainty
which was not fulfilled.
Had the nation repented, then Jesus Christ would have been "sent",
and "the restoration of all things which God had spoken by all
His holy prophets since the world began" would have taken place,
in accordance with God's Divine assurance given by Peter in Acts 3:18-26;
but the condition of national repentance (Leviticus 26:40-42;
Hosea 14:1-4,
etc.) was not fulfilled; hence that generation passed away; and both
prophecies (with all the others) are now postponed. The
first sign of all did (and will again) take place - the rising of the
"many Antichrists", whereby John could say they knew that it
was "the last hour" before "the end of that age" (1
John 2:18).
NOTES
1
Leaving no space, therefore, for a millennium of peace between the great
Tribulation and the appearance of the Lord in glory; proving that the
second coming must be pre-millennial.
2
In all three passages the verb is genetai = may arise, or
may have come to pass: not pleroo = be entirely fulfilled
or finished, as in Luke 21:24.
This was so in both cases. |