Daily Bread for Oct 12, Mat 24-25

Today's readings are Mt 24-25. 

In this chapter, Jesus relates prophecies concerning events after His death. In short, the temple will be ruined, judgment will come upon all the nations then He will return.

The disciples seem to think all these things will happen simultaneously and immediately. Jesus makes it clear they are mistaken.

First, in Mt 23:4-14, we see signs that will characterize life in what will be known as the “church age,” the era that will commence immediately after the temple is destroyed. Jesus depicts the horror of the destruction of Jerusalem and the razing of the temple in Mt 24:15-29. Then we see an allusion to an undefined period of great tribulation (Mt 24:21-28). After that time of tribulation, we see the return of Christ prophesied in Mt 24:29-31.

After telling them about the signs that will occur before His return, Jesus says, quite clearly, that "this generation will not pass away until all these things take place" (Mt 24:34). "This generation" refers to the time of the men standing in front of Him, their generation. In other words, the signs indicating His return will be completed before their generation passes. 

This is a crucial point in understanding the nature of the imminent return of Christ, the doctrine that teaches us He can come back at any moment. Once the signs are completed, it will leave every generation that follows that of the Apostles waiting for Him to return. 

The disciples thought it was their generation just as nearly every generation since then has believed. However, Jesus never tells them how long it will be until He returns. He merely states that He will return sometime after the signs are completed.

Consider this, knowing all the signs have been fulfilled allows every generation to eagerly await His imminent return. We don't have to see all the signs again for Him to come back. That means no modern-day event indicates the day is nearer or farther away.

This has been difficult to accept for those who believe we're still waiting for some of these prophesied events to occur. Oddly, the disciples mistakenly thought everything would happen in the near-future while many who followed them mistakenly believe those events will happen in the far future. The truth of the matter is that most of it happened back then in the first century. Some of them may foreshadow events that will occur in the future. But, the initial signs prophesied have been fulfilled. Now, we await His return. Still, there are those who believe Jesus can't come back until some significant events take place.

But to the Jews of the first century, when the text was written, a generation was forty years. Jesus could just as easily and accurately have said, "Forty years will not pass until you see these things." Within forty years of Jesus’s quotes, the temple was razed, and the temple mount desecrated. It was certainly an end to the way Judaism was practiced. The sacrifices stopped, the genealogies were lost, the priesthood scattered, for all intents and purposes, Israel was in the last generation of those whose faith was based on the temple. Many who misunderstand these historic events await the “abomination of desolation” as if it has never occurred, thinking it will be the beginning of the end.

So, either Jesus was wrong about His time frame and those who stood before Him did not see those things prophesied--or have been misinterpretations of the prophecy. We know Jesus was not only right but perfectly accurate. The only available option to those of us who believe in the inspired word of the Bible is to assume we have misread or misapplied the passage. The last generation Jesus spoke of has come and passed.

Still, some believe the last generation began in 1948 when Israel was once again established as a nation. Since more than forty years have passed, 1948 must not have been the last generation. For this reason and others, we should be cautious about how much spiritual value we place on modern Israel. Even more importantly, we should be careful about any teaching that over-emphasizes current events ab being emblematic of the end-times. Every generation since the first century has made the same mistake.

There are all manner of books and articles written on analyzing the times and predicting the end. Yet, Scripture tells us it will happen in the "twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor 15:52) and when the people cry "Peace and safety!" (1 The 5:3), coming "like a thief in the night." (1 The 5:2). This should keep the body in high anticipation of His imminent return.

There is no scenario that should cause us to think it could not happen in the next moment. Yet, we hear things such as "The Temple has to be rebuilt!" Or, "We haven't seen the two witnesses of Rev 11:3 yet.” The identities and timing of the two prophets or "olive trees" as they are described in Rev 11:4 is so vague it would be a mistake to think their appearance or lack thereof trumps Christ's imminent return.

BTW, speaking of "Left Behind," a book very loosely based on Mt 24:40, the ones "left behind" in Mt 24:40-41 are the blessed ones. This verse is closely tied to Mt 24:38-39, where all the wicked get "swept away" in the flood. In this scenario, believers are the survivors! They want to be left behind! The evil ones are the ones who are taken away. The entire series of novels is based on a misreading of the text. 

We should be careful of which resources we use to influence our theology. We should be equally careful not to read into a passage our preconceptions. It is upon us to conform our thinking to the Scriptures, not the Scriptures to our thinking. 

Notice, Mt 25 follows the warning in Mt 24 that the Lord will return quickly at a time that no one knows. Virtually all Mt 25, as rich as it is in life lessons, boils down to one simple principle. We should live life as if Jesus is coming back at any moment, diligent to watch for His return, prepared for His arrival and working at being His ambassadors all the while. It is a somber but encouraging coda to Mt 24. We don't know when He's coming back, but we can have confidence that He surely will. Meanwhile, we are to be diligent to do the things He tells us to do and portray the gospel at every opportunity putting God on display in how we live our lives.