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,
immediatel; 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 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.
|