Matthew Chapter 24

VERSE 3 continued, “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Before we proceed on to the next verse let us consider the first question asked by the disciples a bit more, recall our Lord had just stated that “not one stone (of the Temple) shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.”

“In order to view the Temple complex in its beauty, Jesus had to be on the Mount of Olives; that is, he had to be far enough away to see the Temple complex as a whole. The disciples admired the stones of the Temple (Mark 13:1). The stones were beautifully beveled in a way that was characteristic of Herod. (Herod rebuilt the Temple of Zerubbabel and further enlarged it.)

Luke 21:5 mentions “gifts” in connection with the Temple (“some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts”). From the Mount of Olives the disciples could see the Gate Beautiful (now called the Golden Gate) embellished with heavy gold leaf. Also, they could look over the gate to the Temple proper. The doors were a gift from Egypt. Both the embellishments and the fine stone work were being admired.

What caused the disciples (Peter, James, John, and Andrew) to state how beautiful the Temple was (Mark 13:1, 3; Luke 21:5) and then to ask, “When shall these things be?”

In other words, “When will the destruction of the Temple take place?” Previously, in advance of Matthew 24, Jesus had mentioned that the city and the Temple would be destroyed (Luke 19:41–44). As he beheld the city and wept over it, he said, “For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” This advance clue pertaining to the destruction of the city had saddened the disciples, especially in regard to the beautiful, costly Temple.

Another factor leading to the disciples’ question is that Jesus had just said, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate,” and the disciples considered the Temple to be the “house” (Matt. 23:38). These words also saddened the disciples, for the Temple was the pride, the jewel, of Israel—the Holy City and its Temple.

From Verse 3 on, Jesus stressed other things and never did answer the disciples’ question regarding WHEN the Temple would be destroyed.

 Why? Because they might confuse the destruction of the Temple with the Second Advent, they might think the end of the age had come, whereas the destruction of the Holy City and the Temple was a separate incident that occurred much earlier.

There is an interesting parallel here with the end of the age; in that the feet members (the John class) can say with certainty to the professing church today, the nominal spiritual house, Babylon the Great, the very same thing, ‘Behold your house (composed of both Mother and daughter systems) is desolate (fallen) and will shortly be destroyed. (Rev 18:2, 8, 21)

They too are failing in the day of their visitation (the day of the Lord) Why? For the very same reasons that the nominal fleshly house failed, not only a failure to discern the times and the seasons, but likewise both the object and the manner of the Lord’s parousia (presence).

As it is written, “He shall be for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the [nominal] houses of Israel.” Isa 8:14

Although our Lord never answered the question as to when the destruction of the Temple would take place history informs us that it took place in A.D. 69–70 when Titus sacked Jerusalem.

VERSE 4 and 5 “And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”

“In other words, before Jesus began his discussion, he warned the disciples against being deceived. Indirectly, the fact that many would say, “I am Christ,” implies or infers that the Kingdom was not imminent, that time had to elapse first. “Take heed, beware, lest you be deceived because many shall come” indicates that before the true announcement or occurrence would take place, there would be many deceptions.

Earlier the disciples had asked, “Wilt thou at this time establish the kingdom?” Jesus answered in effect, “No, the Kingdom will not come as soon as you think!” Matthew states that the deception would consist of some actually assuming to be the Messiah, the Anointed One. They would claim they were Messiah. But Mark 13:6 and Luke 21:8 omit the word “Christ” and simply say, “Many shall come in my name, saying, I am; and the time draws near: go ye not therefore after them.”

Hence the deception would not always be that another would represent himself as Christ but would represent himself in a high capacity as pointing to the way of truth. Jesus was saying that these would be false announcements.

The “man of sin,” which is the chief of these deceptive systems, is pointed out in 2 Thess 2:3, 4. Although Roman Catholicism says that Jesus is the Messiah, the system deceives, nevertheless.

Thus two kinds of religious deceptions are pointed out by the differences in the Gospels (“I am Christ” versus “I am”). The Scriptures give examples of false Christs—individuals who claimed to be Messiah “Gamaliel mentions two of these false Christs in his speech referred to in Acts 5:36, 37.”

Gamaliel’s advice (to the other Pharisees, etc., who wanted to put the apostles to death, was: “Such action is not necessary. If they really do represent God, we better not interfere, but if their words are false, their counsel and work will come to naught. Look at what happened to Theudas and Judas [false Messiahs in Jesus’ day].”

“Sabbathai Levi (A.D. 1648) styled himself “The firstborn Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of Israel,” and promised a restoration of the kingdom and prosperity. Sabbathai, says the historian, “prevailed there [in Smyrna] to such a degree that some of his followers prophesied and fell into strange ecstasies: four hundred men and women prophesied of his growing kingdom. The people acted for a time as those possessed by spirits; some fell into trances, foamed at the mouth, recounted their future prosperity, their visions of the Lion of Judah, and the triumphs of Sabbathai.

This was undoubtedly Satan’s counterfeit fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:29; See, “The Spirit Poured upon All Flesh”)–a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit witnessed also in religious revivals of more modern times. Altogether, there have probably been fifty or more false Christs (various individuals), male and female, and many of them undoubtedly demented–possessed of evil spirits nevertheless none of these, nor all of them together, can be said to have “deceived many.” Yet it is against the kind which “deceive many” that our Lord especially cautions us here, and again, later on in his prophecy, in which connection we will examine particularly the antichrists which have deceived many.” (D565-566)

“A more modern-day false Christ was Father Divine a prominent African-American religious leader of the 1930s. He used the Trinity aspect, saying that Jesus came first as the Son and that now he has come as the Father (Father Divine). However as stated by the Pastor, the various religious systems have deceived many more than any one individual who ever claimed to be Messiah. Our Lord was saying that various deceptions, especially religious institutions, would arise in the Church’s history before the Kingdom Age.

The denominations—Roman Catholic, Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, etc.—all at one time taught that if you did not follow them, you were not in the Truth and were, therefore, doomed to perdition. Each of the denominations claimed to be the only way. Only in the last 30 or so years have the nominal systems realized the public was fed up with this type of reasoning, and they have since become more lenient toward each other. Nevertheless, others today have the same attitude that only they are right. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are an example. Some, like Armstrong, even claim to be apostles. Religious institutions are the ones who have deceived millions.

Instead of being dependent upon nominal Church membership, a Christian’s relationship is a personal one between that individual, Christ, and the Heavenly Father. The making of one’s calling and election sure is based upon faithfulness to Christ and to God, and NOT upon identity with a particular group.

The story of the Gospel Age which the Lord wished to convey was that deceivers as both as individuals and as institutions would precede the end of the age. Verses 23–26 show us that these deceptions will be especially manifest at the end of the age.” (The Gospel of Matthew: Edited)

We will continue with Verse 6 in our next post.