Among the Gospels, indeed, all the New Testament, Matthew 24 records the greatest account of the end times; it is Jesus' Olivet discourse and teachings thereafter that preserves the best preparation for us of the end time, the time factors and the sense of the Kingdom of God pending. The time factors categorize events of before, during and after the hinging event of the Satanic era, the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Prophet Daniel. Jesus' discourse of time factors lead up to the point of the disciples' question, the sign of his coming and of the end of the age. After that, Jesus then gives parables of the Kingdom. These are significant in developing a deeper sensitivity to the coming of the Kingdom and the timeless quality of its being here according to God's will and in keeping with God's kingdom principles applicable to all ages and all nations.
Jesus begins with a warning, "take heed" or beware lest anyone deceive you. Deceptive false Christs are coming and many of the world's foolish dotting follower types will be led astray. The world will be filled with weapons, warfare, and warriors - cold war, or rumors of war if you prefer - as well as hot wars, diplomacy and intrigue as well as the failure of world orders and alliances into outright conflict fought in campaigns on the fields of battle. Even when such matters intensify, the fact of the matter is the end is yet to come.
It is as these wars, rumors of war, along with famines and terrible natural disasters intensify in a regular pattern of development on a global scale that we are to count it "The Beginning of Sorrows." This is a good title for the events leading up to The Abomination of Desolation mentioned by Daniel. Because Jesus mentions Daniel by name, that prophet in particular, his discourse is tied with Daniel's prophecy, and the time factors align with the 70 "weeks" of Daniel. Or translating from Hebrew nomenclature, what we might better call "septades" in comparison to our "decades" - septades are seven-year periods.
I will describe the prophecies of Daniel and the 70 septades later.
NOTE FROM READING: Jesus said, "Ye shall hear . . ." and "Be not troubled . . ." as well as, "The end is -/- not yet." Jesus continued, "Nation will rise against nation . . . There will be famines . . . earthquakes . . . All these are the beginning of sorrows. . . . They shall kill you . . . Then shall many be offended . . . many false prophets shall rise . . . because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold . . . - endure to the end - the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness . . . THEN the end shall come."
In saying this, Jesus tells us there will be deceivers, warriors, persecutors, purveyors of apostasy, pretenders, hedonists, and the suckers who follow them - BUT - there will also be PREACHERS OF CHRIST. God has through His Son said that the end comes AFTER the preaching of the Kingdom's message of victory - the GOSPEL! Remember the Great Commission: GO into all the world, witness in all the nations. (Mark 16:15ff and Matthew 28:16ff) This gives a complete sense of multiplicity with the commission's manifold application: "all the world," "every creature" and "teach all nations."
Jesus himself promised, "I am with you . . . unto the end of the age." There should be no doubt what this "end" is, and no confusion how it will come about. Jesus plainly tells us in Matthew 24. This end is the culmination of: OUR GREAT CAUSE, OUR REASON AND OUR PURPOSE! Here from Matthew 24, and it's place with the Great Commission of Matthew 28, we see the consequence of wrong teaching about the end; wrong ideas threaten how ready we'll be when we get there and how able we'll be when we are prompted to do what we are called to do. I see no other purpose in faulty teaching of end times than Satan's ultimate hope to deceive the very elect into coldhearted abandonment of these ultimate purposes, our part in the great conflict of the Church Age, the times of the Gentiles.
I would counter the prevailing wrong ideas by reminding all Christians of what they are: ambassador soldiers under God's Great Commission - baptized into a militancy that sets aside every other consideration. In truth, Commissioned militant Christian disciples of Jesus Christ should beg to be a part of these sorrows, to bear the burden of preaching the gospel unto the end of the age and the sign of Christ's coming. True followers of Christ who are of military discipline shall beg God Almighty to see the Great Tribulation, to run that race as the most intense global genocide against all belief hunts them down.
To think God would sweep believers out before the real culmination of the end seems a statement of failure: sounds like, "You could not be trusted - you are an incapable lot and ill-equipped; I'm not going to strengthen you, go ahead and float on cloudy beds of ease while angels and so-called "tribulation saints" do the heavy lifting. Maybe argument can be made for the rapture taking the church away - as some would thank God and say, "we won't be there." But truly militant Christian disciples should beg God that they will be there, and against all reason, "please let me be a part of these times, to see from planet earth the sign of Christ in space and the angels going forth to gather the elect."
By the way, that rapture is the only rapture that Jesus ever actually mentioned.
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