Signs of the End

Matt.24 [All this took place in that time. Y’Shua was not telling them something about centuries ahead of them, which they would not have carried about, but what would take place in their time, those standing there would see it happen. Matt. 24 and Revelation are talking about the same subject that rarely has a single fulfillment. It is possible that a single event, usually from the past, is expected to recur in some way, in the future. The circumstances and characters may be different, but the motif is the same showing that history repeats itself if we did not learn from it the first time around, called Telescoping prophecies, in which descriptions of the Second Coming are linked with activities of the first century church. This is not to say that in the future there will not arise one of more Antichrists with the same characteristics of the man of lawlessness, or at least his spirit, but remember the church during the first century has no concept of millennia of future yet to come. For them, they are the last generation and the Roman emperors carried the spirit of 666 that was Nero. In fact, many possibly would have given up if they were told the Second Coming of Y’Shua would not occur for thousands of years to come. For this reason, many of these prophecies are telescoping back and forth from Daniel to Y’Shua, and the book of Revelation that is an explanation of Daniel’s writings.] [1] And Y’Shua went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. [3] And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? [Disciples – Peter, James and John (Mk. 13:3), asking 3 questions: When will this be? The destruction of the city and Temple. What are the signs of your coming? Back as judgment on the Romans. End of world? The Jewish world as we know it. There were many signs warning the inhabitants of Jerusalem (7 signs) that the end was near and to repent for the Temple was about to be destroyed, all have been reported and seen by many: These included a comet lasting an entire year. A bright light shining around the Temple during the Feast of Unleaven bread for ½ hour at the 9th hour. A cow giving birth to a lamb in the Temple Court. The Eastern Iron Gate that took 20 men to open opened by on its own in the 6th hour. Star shape like a sword over Jerusalem. Chariots and armies fighting in the clouds. Voices in the Temple saying “lets get out of here”. There were some 24 different signs given by Y’Shua to warn first century believers that the end was near. The phrase end of the world actually is speaking of the consummation or termination of the Temple possibly referring to the end of the Jewish system, as they knew it in the first century. Jerusalem was concreted and called the world. World is a bad translation is was land “end of the land.” As the siege of Jerusalem ended Josephus tells us that Titus went on to destroy the rest of the city and razed the walls killing one million one hundred thousand, many of which had come from all parts of the country for the Feast of the Unleaven Bread.] [4] And Y’Shua answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. [In Acts 21:38 Paul was thought to be an Egyptian Messianic pretender who was famous for causing trouble. Even today there are well over 1500 people in California claiming to be Y’Shua. In 66 –33 many false Messiahs, Y’Shua predicts this 40 years before it happens. There were some 24 different signs given by Y’Shua to warn first century believers that the end was near. Simon Magus was persuading people in Samaria that he was the Son of G-d. Josephus tells of messianic impostors being so plenteous that he said some were killed almost every day.] [5] For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Messiah; and shall deceive many. [Josephus records the fulfillment of this as many were led astray when the “Romans set fire to all the surrounding buildings, the remains of the porticoes and the gates, and the treasury chambers, where vast sums of money had been deposited. They then moved on to the surviving portico at the outer court, where some women and children had taken refuge (6000). They had gathered there because of a false prophet, who had told them that G-d commanded them to go to the Temple, where they would receive guarantees of deliverance. Before Caesar made up his mind what to do with these people, the soldiers set fire to the colonnade, and not a soul escaped.] [6] 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. [6-24 The tumors of war were so great during this period that the Jews did not even till their ground for fear of conflict. The Greek residents of Caesarea, sympathetic to the Romans started anti-Semitic attacks that remind us of the actions of Hitler. Josephus tells us: “In one hour over 20,000 were massacred, and Caesarea was emptied of Jews…The Syrians did similar things killing the Jews in every city their captured, and the whole province was a scene of indescribable horror…Next Scythopolis attacked her Jews butchering 13,000 of them…Other cities followed the same example and even in Alexandria Egypt the Jews were massacred by Greek inhabitants and resident Roman forces.” For these first century believers, it was impossible to conceive of the year 2,000 as they struggled to hold their faith amidst their greatest persecution that would shortly take the Holy City and the Temple itself.] [7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. [The phrase kingdom against kingdom refers to wars between various cities and nations. It was a popular Jewish saying that in the time of Messiah civil wars would be stirred up and nation shall rise against nation and city against city. And when you see kingdom rising against kingdom, then expect the appearance of the Messiah. Famines – no food, and followed by pestilences (diseases). Earthquakes – shaking is the right translation “all that can be shaken will be shaken.] [11] And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. [Although the name of Jerusalem means peace, the city has been destroyed many times. Seeing this constant threat several prophets arose pronouncing woe to Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah forecast the approaching destruction in the person of Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar who lay waste to the city in 586 B.E. Daniel spoke of the coming conquest of the city by the Seleucid dynasty of Syria, and the defilement of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 B.E. Y’Shua of Nazareth predicted as He sat weeping on the Mount of Olives looking across the Kidron Valley: “If you had known, even in your day, the things which make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”(Lk. 19:41-42).] [12] And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. [Because of the persecutions on the outside and the false prophets on the inside the love of many believers did waxed cold.] [13] But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. [History records how that when Celsius Gallus came to Jerusalem that for some unaccountable reason he raised the siege (stop it) and many Jewish believers fled the city and went to Pella. (24:32) Elect – Jewish believers. 55-73 end of Jewish tribulation.] [15] When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) [See Daniel 7:8; 11:31; 12:11; & 2 Thess. 2:3-4. Telescoping prophecies spoken by both Daniel and Y’Shua hundreds of years apart. By the time Essence of Qumran and Y’Shua arrived on the scene, the Temple had already been destroyed two times by Antiochus Epiphanes and the Roman general Pompey. Yet, Y’Shua (in 30 A.D.), spoke of yet another abomination of desolation concerning the Temple of His day. This happened just 40 years after the resurrection in 70 A.D. The term abomination of desolation is the Jewish understanding of a pagan standing in the Holy of Holies; no one was to do so except the high priest. B..E. Text 400-600 years before Y’Shua. This has already happen when they sacrificed a pig and poured the blood in the Temple (4 Macc.). Josephus the early historian tells us that the early believers took Y’Shua’s warning and fled some 17 miles south of the Sea of Galilee to Pella for safety. While the unbelieving Jews stayed in Jerusalem. The events described in this great tribulation (66-73) are called by several names including Daniel’s 70th week and Jacob’s trouble. The term abomination is also a synonym for the term antichrist. There were too groups among the Jews, one believing that G-d would supernaturally cause them to throw off the Roman yoke, while the other idea was not willing to fight a battle that could not be won. The confusion of these different concepts resulted in a commonly understood idea that dated back to the time of Confucius (551-479 B.C.) that held to the rational philosophy: If the battle cannot be won, don’t fight it! This was the view of Agrippa and those listening to his reasoning. The Ziolest, on the other hand, believed in the apocalyptic idea that G-d was going to intervene and deliver them. Those who refused to take part in this battle against the Beast (Nero) and were labeled as traitors by the Zealots. As the Roman soldiers in their rage ravaged the Temple, the curiosity of Titus gives in and he entered the Holy of Holies. Jewish legion tells us that when Titus penetrated the Holy of Holies he asked, “Where is their G-d, the rock in whom they trusted?” He spoke those words as he saw no Ark of the Covenant and only the foundation stone that was the only thing that occupied the Holy of Holies during the second Temple period. Tradition records that Titus then took a harlot by the hand and entered the Holy of Holies spreading out a scroll of the Law, and committed sin on it. Afterward, Titus took a sword and slashed the curtain and shaping the curtain in the form of a basket, carried all the Holy vessels of the Sanctuary to his ship to be taken to Rome. See 2 Thess. 2:2-3. Understand - the hidden symbolic imagery used in this type of Jewish code to protect themselves from the Romans, believers were trained to understand what it meant, because this had already happen with the destruction of the first Temple by the Babylonians, and with Antiochus Epiphanes (165 A.D.), who proclaimed himself as G-d. these Jews understood from Daniel’s predictions that the beast standing in the Holy of Holies was known as the Abomination of Desolation. Titus, even though he was not the emperor yet, represented Rome and his father, the beast. It should also be remembered that the Roman emperors displayed themselves as having divine status. Titus entered the Temple Sanctuary; he brought with him the entire Roman concept of deified humanity, which was the mystery of lawlessness.] [16] Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: [Y’Shua was neither compromising with the Romans nor flattering them, but was foreseeing the disastrous course, which lay ahead, and stating that this battle could not be won. Although the Zealots may have been justified in some of their ideas, their timing was wrong. The message of Y’Shua basically was in two parts: 1. Repent and believe for salvation, healing and restoration, 2. Flee the city of Jerusalem during the time of destruction so the believers can be preserved. Since the people of Jerusalem did not know the things that make up peace they were bent on a course of destruction and Y’Shua warned His group to not follow the same course. His instructions were to bend and flex with the wind until the storm passes because this resistance against the Roman occupation was not a war that could be won. In Judaea shows who He is talking to. Although the Messianic community of Jerusalem had saved itself by reading the signs of the times and obeying the words of the L-rd by fleeing to Pella, there were others who were yet to face more tribulation. Like the Believers, the Essenes also fled, but they went southward, “along the shore of the Dead Sea, from their headquarters at Qumran to the Zealot stronghold fortress of Masada. For three more years they were able to hold out against the Romans in fulfillment of the predictions in their scrolls. But I shall be as one who enters a set the foundation on a rock and the tried stones will you lay - to build a mighty wall which shall not sway. (Manual of Discipline).] [17] Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: [17-20 says 50% will be killed, it is a parallelism.] [21] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [Tribulation or persecution so horrible the world has not seen its equal and so terrible that it threatens to extinguish the entire Jewish world. The word world refers to the world system within the Roman Empire or the Jewish world order of the first century. The Jewish aspect is made clear by the persecutors making various assaults against the Jewish Temple.] [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. [Those days - At least three historical things point to the shortening of the days of this tribulation that is about to take place in 70 A.D., so a remnant will be preserved. Cestius Gallus raising the siege, unexpectedly. Herod Agrippa stopping the strengthening of the northern walls. The neglect of the Zealot Jews to prepare for a long siege. Josephus’ report: “no other city ever endured such miseries. Not since the world began was there ever a generation more prolific in crime than this bastard scum of the nation who destroyed the city. See Rev. 9:21.] [24] For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. [Josephus continued by informing us that: “Numerous false prophets deluded the people at this time. They were hired by the tyrants to urge the people to wait for help from G-d, and so keep them from deserting.” This mentality kept the war going and continued to increase the number of victims. There was even one Y’Shua, son of Ananias, who for seven years and five months, continuing through the war, wandering the streets shouting: “Woe to Jerusalem!” Even though he was arrested by the rebel leaders and whipped to the bone, and later dismissed as mad, he continued. Finally, one day while making his rounds along the wall, he uttered, “and woe to me also!” as he was struck by a large stone hurled from a catapult and killed instantly.] [28] For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. [Lk. 17:37 Wheresoever - "As birds of prey scent out the carrion, so wherever is found a mass of incurable moral and spiritual corruption, there will be seen alighting the ministers of divine judgment," a proverbial saying terrifically verified at the destruction of Jerusalem, and many times since, though its most tremendous illustration will be at the world's final day. Carcase – dead body The eagle in the OT Hebrew word appears occasionally to denote the vulture. In those places where the Hebrew word for ‘eagle’ seems to have the meaning ‘vulture’, it is the Greek word for eagle that is used in the Greek version of the OT; so that for Matthew and Luke there was this precedent for the occasional use of the Greek word for eagle in the sense of vulture for Eagles are not scavenger birds and they eat live meat not dead. The change to eagles may have been made deliberately Where there is a dead body the vultures will flock together’ means in effect, ‘where there is a situation ripe for judgment, there the judgment will fall. But the situation in view in the context is the city of Jerusalem, doomed to destruction because of its unwillingness to pay heed to the message of peace, which Y’Shua brought. The executioners of this particular judgment were Roman legionary forces. The eagle was the standard of a Roman legion, and this may explain the choice of the word ‘eagles’ here. Is the swiftness with which vultures discover the presence of carrion and flock to feast on it. So swiftly will the judgment fall on the day when the Son of man is revealed in Lk. 17:30. The judgment will seize on one person and pass over another, separating two people asleep in the same bed or two women grinding at one mill (one of them turning the upper stone and the other pouring in the grain). ‘Where, L-rd?’ say the disciples; ‘Where will this judgment take place?’ tho this His answer is, ‘Wherever there is a situation which calls for it.’ The disciples desired to know where this manifestation and division would take place, looking upon it as a local prediction. Y’Shua gave a proverbial answer, the meaning of which is that sin courts and draws to itself punishment and destruction just as a carcass draws winged scavengers. Applying His words, we may say that as the corruption drew upon them, the destruction of the flood, and as the crimes of the Sodomites called down upon them, the fires from heaven, and as the unbelief of the Jews of Messiah's day caused the destruction of Jerusalem and the death of the nation, so the wickedness of the men of the last times will result in the ending of the world.] [29] Immediately after the tribulation of those days 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: [THOSE DAYS. The time problem is not centered on the word immediately, but the word then in verse 30.] [24:32] Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: [Parable of the fig tree – the end of the Jewish order as they knew it. The Jewish terms end of summer and at the door points back to the text in Amos 8:1. Both Josephus and the Roman historian Tacitus mention several supernatural occurrences that appear to be signs just prior to the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. Josephus records: “Before the siege, portents had appeared, foretelling the impending devastation, but the Jews disregarded these warnings of G-d. A star resembling a sword hung over the city, and also a comet that lasted an entire year. And just before the revolt, when the people were coming together for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a bright light shone around the altar during the night and brightened the sanctuary for half and hour. The people thought is was a good omen, but the sacred scribes told them the contrary. A cow gave birth to a lamb in the Temple Court, and the Eastern Gate of the inner court, which was fastened with iron bars and so heavy that it took 20 men to move it, flew open on its own during the night. At the Feast of Pentecost, when the priests enter the inner court of the Temple, they heard a great noise, and after that the voices of a multitude, saying, We are leaving this place! We are leaving this place!” As a result of these and other signs as well as the warning of Y’Shua, a multitude of believers did leave Jerusalem at that time and flee to the mountain area of Petra.] [33] So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. [With the many supernatural signs being witnessed by these first century Jews, it was obvious that the time was approaching in which the believing community should seek refuge elsewhere other than Jerusalem.] [34] Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. [Josephus tells us that after the rebels fled and the Sanctuary itself and all around it were in flames, the Romans carried their standards into the Temple court, and setting them up opposite the eastern gate, there sacrificed to them, acclaiming Titus as imperator.” The prophecies of the Dead Sea Scrolls, (Habakkuk Com.), could not have been more accurate as they foretold: “They sacrifice to their standards and worship their weapons of war.” This generation - the ones He was speaking to, at that time. The 40-year generation lasted exactly as He predicted from 30 A.D. to 70 A.D. the exact year in which the Romans destroyed the Temple.] [40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. [The idea of two being in the field with one being taken and the other left illustrates the 50% of those killed during the first century tribulation. What about the Dead Sa sect of the Essenes? Why did they choose to stay and fight rather than escape to safety? This has to do with a major difference in the theology of the Essenes at Qumran. They believe that fleeing was tantamount to treason and that they were to stay and do battle with the hated Romans, known to them as the Kittim. The War Scroll declares: “Among the poor in spirit there is power…and by the perfect of way all nations of wickedness will come to an end; not one of their mighty men stands..we are the remnant of Thy people.” Notice the language of the Essenes is quite similar to that of the disciples of Y’Shua and the New Testament in that they refer to themselves as the poor in spirit and have power from G-d. There were many other similarities including the fact that they considered themselves to heirs of the Covenant of grace and the New Covenant spoken of by Jeremiah 31:30-31. In the final analysis, the Dead Sea sect decided to remain in the Land of Israel and fight, which let to their extinction.] [41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. [Even this prophecy, which is almost always understood as a rapture text, had immediate first century application. Remember, the present day ideas being taught concerning the rapture were not a part of first century theology. Actually, we are not saying they will not occur as they are taught, but we are just reporting that historically these ideas were first taught by John Darby in 1830 A.D. as a reference to this several major works can be checked including “Things to Come, p. 165, by Dwight Pentecost, the popular professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at Dallas Theological Seminary, and “The Approaching Advent of Christ, p. 18,” by Alexander Reese, as well as Robert Cameron in his work “Scriptural Truth About the Lord’s Return, pp. 72,73.” The historical argument is difficult to overlook since the way the pre-tribulation rapture ideas are presented by modern preachers are new concepts that have evolved in the last 166 years and are not apostolic. Reese records: “About 1830…a new school arose within the fold of pre-millennialism that sought to overthrow what, since the Apostolic Age, have been considered by all pre-millennialism as established results, and to institute in their place a series of doctrines that had never been heard of before. The school I refer to is that of the Brethren or Plymouth Brethren founded by J.N. Darby.” Cameron says along the same line: “Now, be it remembered, that prior to that date, no hint of any approach to such belief can be found in any Believers literature from Polycarp, 120 A.D., down.” This is a doctrine that for 1800 hundred years after the founding of the Church - a doctrine that was never taught a Father or Doctor of the Church in the past - that has no standard commentator or professor of the Greek language in any Theological school until the middle of the Nineteenth century.” One taken and one left - out of the inhabitants of the Land of Israel during this revolt against the Romans roughly one out of every two were cut down by the advancing legions. As they saw it the wicked were the ones off - who are taken. The righteous, representing those Believers who remained in the Land was to be preserved through the darkest days of tribulation. Some scholars believe the precise wording of this prophecy of Y’Shua goes back to Ps. 37:9: “For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the L-rd will inherit the land.” This same idea is conveyed in the book of Revelation 7:3-4, with the concept of the sealed 144,000.]