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, immediately;
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 [*WBSG
NOTE then,
in all three Gospels]
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.
|