Matthew 24: Signs Of The End Of The Age

Matthew 24: Signs Of The End Of The Age

Collin Leong. 31/5/2025

(v1-3) Destruction of The Temple.  (Mark 13:1-9; Luke 21:5-9)

(v1-3) When Jesus left the temple, his disciples called his attention to the temple buildings. Jesus told them that not one stone will be left of another, and every one will be thrown down. When they reach Mount of Olives, the disciples asked him when will this (destruction of the temple) happen, and what will be the sign of His coming and the end of the age. 

This chapter is known as the Olivet Discourse, as He spoke at the Mount of Olives. It was on a Tuesday of Passion Week, just three days after He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Jesus just prophesied the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70AD. The disciples are asking him two questions: (a) when will the temple be destroyed, and (b) what will be the signs of His second coming and the end times, which He will answer next.  

(v4-14)  Birth Pains and First Half Of Tribulation. (Mark 13:10-13; Luke 21:10-19)

(v4-8) Jesus told them that many will come and pretend they are the Messiah, and many will be deceived. They will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but do not be alarmed. Such things will happen, but the end is still to come. Nations and kingdoms will fight each other. There will be famines and earthquake in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. 

Which of the two question is Jesus replying to? I believe Jesus was replying to 1st question in v4-6, as he said the "end is still to come."  Then he answered the second question from v7-8, when he said "nation will rise against nation", which happens as part of the "birth pains" referring to the recent centuries. 

Like a woman about to give birth, "birth pains" are a gradual increase in intensity leading up to a climactic event. The wars, famine, and earthquakes are getting bigger and more frequent today than the past. The "birth pains" will turn into the seven-years of tribulation described by Daniel 9:24-27. This prophecy speaks of a final "week" (interpreted as seven years) before the arrival of the Messiah’s kingdom. 

(v9-14) Jesus told them that they will be persecuted and put to death. and they will be hated by all nations because of Him. Many people will turn away from the faith and betray and hate each other. The wickedness will increase and the love of most will grow cold. But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world before the end will come. 

Similarly, these events had already happened before the temple was destroyed, but more is happening now - these are also part of the "birth pang." The disciples and many Christians were murdered during the first 3 centuries AD. Terrorists are targeting Jews and Christians to be killed. Jews, specifically, have been hated and persecuted from the time of Romans, and during World War II, and are still in war today with Hamas. We have also seen the "love grew cold", where there are moral decline, societal unrest, and closing of churches in Europe and America.

Jesus said those who stands firm or have endurance against the persecutions and who remain faithful until the end (of their lives) demonstrate genuine faith, meaning their perseverance is evidence of their salvation.  

Jesus also said that the gospel will be preached to the whole world before the end will come. This is another criteria before Jesus will come. Jesus delayed his coming because He wants everyone to hear the gospel and to decide if they want to follow Jesus.  2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Note that even during the tribulation, there will still be people proclaiming the gospels - these are the believers in the tribulations and the 144,000 Jews in Revelation 7:4. 

(See Appendix for details related to "unreached people")

(v15-33) The Second Half of Tribulation - The Great Tribulation (Mark 13:14-23; Luke 21:20-24)

(v15-22) Jesus continued saying that when they see the "abomination that causes desolation", spoken by Daniel, then those in Judea should flee to the mountains. Those on the roof tops and those in the fields should not go back to take their belongings. That time will be dreadful for pregnant women and nursing mothers. They should pray that the flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. It will be a great distress (great tribulation in NKJ), unequaled from the beginning of the world until now, and will never be equaled again. And if those days are not shortened, no flesh will be saved, but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.  

Jesus was referring to Daniel 9:27, which says that the antichrist, who had initially made a peace agreement with Israel for one 'seven' - meaning for seven years, but in 3.5 years, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering in the temple. He will set up an 'abomination that causes desolation' in the temple. This event marks the beginning of the "Great Tribulation" as Jesus said in v21, right in the middle of the seven year tribulation. He said that this 3.5 years of great tribulation will be the worst disaster the world will ever experience. 

Note that the temple has been desecrated several times in history. The first is when Nebuchadnezzar II from Babylon looted the Solomon temple of sacred items and destroyed it in 586BC. The second time was when Antiochus IV Epiphanes from the Greek Seleucid erected an altar for Zeus and sacrificed pigs in the second temple, in 167 BC.   (The second temple was re-built under Zerubbabel in 516 BC when King Cyrus from Persia defeated Babylon. It was then expanded and refurbish by Herod the Great around 18 BC)

Jesus is referring to the future abominations. Which future abominations is He referring to? 

The first abomination in Jesus' future is  the Roman Destruction of the second temple by burning it to the ground in 70 AD. Until now, the temple has never been rebuilt. 

The second abomination is when the anti-Christ set himself as a "god" in the temple. 2 Thessalonians 2:4 says: “He [the lawless man] will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”  

The prophecy will occur twice, once by the Romans, and another by the anti-Christ in the middle of the 7-year tribulation. (Daniel 12:11-12) This means the temple will be rebuild by the modern Israel, before or during the first half of the tribulation.

Jesus said that if the great tribulation is not shortened, no one will survive (v22). This apparently suggest that nuclear bombs will be used in the tribulation war. There are similar description of nuclear war in Revelation. (See my Revelation blog).  However, God will limit the period for we know that Jesus will come 3.5 years after Great Tribulation to win the war against the antichrist. 

(v23-28) (Mark 13:24-27; Luke 21:25-28) Jesus continued to warn them not to believe in false Messiah and false prophets that will come and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, even the elect. If anyone says he is in the wilderness, or he is in the inner rooms, don't believe it. The return of the Son of Man will be like a lightning on the east is visible in the west. Whenever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. 

This is another "birth pain" that we see today, and it will be worse during the tribulation.  They will hear rumors that the Messiah has come to save them, and they shouldn't believe it. There will be so much chaos and suffering in the tribulation that even the "elect" (the Jews) will believe them.   When Jesus returns, it will be very visible to all - light lighting that can be seen from east to west. 

There are many false prophets in history before, but during the tribulation, they have additional powers to perform miracles and signs. The chief of the False Prophet, described in Revelation 13:11-18, is said to perform great wonders, even making fire come down from heaven, to convince people to worship the Antichrist. He also creates an image of the Beast (the antichrist) and gives it the ability to speak, further deceiving the masses.

As for what Jesus mean by "Whenever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather", there are a couple of interpretation. The first one is that the vultures represent the false prophets, and that they came because many of the people are spiritually dead. It makes it easy for them to deceive them. 

The second interpretation is that when Jesus comes back, there will be a judgement on the spiritually dead people. They used Revelation 19:17 as the basis, where it said an angel called the birds in the air to come to the great supper of God, to eat the leaders and armies and all the unsaved people. 

(v29) Jesus told them that after the distress, the sun and moon will be darkened, and stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.  

Jesus was quoting Isaiah 13:10, speaking about the day of the Lord (i.e. the return of the Messiah) and it says "The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light."  

Joel 2:31 also prophesy the same: "The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."   

In Revelation 6:12, John's vision testify that when the sixth seal is opened, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black and the moon became like blood. The sixth seal is an overview of the seventh year of tribulation and an overview of the details of the disasters in the trumpet and bowls vision. 

In Revelation 6:13, it also says that "the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind."  Isaiah 34:4, describing the judgement of the nations, says: "All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree."

There are several interpretation of the "stars" mean. We know it cannot be the actual stars, as every star is way bigger than the earth. Some people believe they are nuclear missiles coming in from the sky, and the explosion causes "heaven rolled up like a scroll" as the smoke raises high into the sky. Others interpret this spiritually, and said that the demons fell down "from the sky" or looses their ability to influence the people of earth. 

(v30-31) Then the sign of the Son of Man in heaven will appear, and the people will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming of the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 

After the disasters from the sky, Jesus will appear. Then the Jews will miraculously recognized him as Jesus, the Messiah. The mourn when they knew they had rejected him and killed him as a nation. Revelation 1:7 says "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him."  Similarly, Zechariah 12:10 says: "They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."

Then there will be a trumpet call, and the "elect" will be gathered together. According to Isaiah 45:4 and 65:9), Israel is called God's "chosen" or "elect".  We believe there will be another rapture of the Jews that believed in Jesus during the tribulation (as well as gentiles from the earth), before Jesus apply God's wrath on the anti-Christ and unbelievers, where "no one will survive" (v22)

 (See Appendix for different ideas about rapture)

(v32-33)  (Mark 13:28-31; Luke 21:29-33)  Jesus uses the fig tree as analogy. He said if the twigs get tender and it's leaves come out, we know that summer is near. So when we see all these things, we will know that it is near, right at the door. 

The "twigs get tender and it's leaves come out"  signals the end of winter and summer is coming. The fig tree symbolize Israel. (Hosea 9:10, Jeremiah 24).  It means that Israel will go through a winter time and nothing will grow. But when summer is near, then it will become alive again. This is a most amazing prophecy by Jesus. 

The "winter time" of Israel begins in 70 AD, then the Romans destroyed the temple and dispersed them all over the Roman world. They renamed Judea to Syria Palaestina, and Jerusalem was rebuilt as a Roman city, renamed to Aelia Capitolina. Israel has been wiped out of the world. 

The "spring time" came after 1,878 years later, when they gained independence in 1948. They were given their own land by the UN, after the World War 2. It was the original land they had.  

This entire Israel history was choreograph by God, not by luck. Ezekiel prophesied: "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land." (Ezekiel 36:24).  (See Isaiah 11:11-12 and Jeremiah 32:37)

Immediately the Arab nations around it went to war against it. However, Israel always win, though they are a very new country and don't have an experienced army. I believe that God has protected Israel during those days. In 1967, another attack from the Arab allowed Israel to conquer Gaza strip, West Bank, Sinai mountain, and East Jerusalem where the temple used to be. 

During independence, the land Israel were barren land. However, now they have made the land into a farm land, producing the best fruits in the world; their technology is the most advance. They are the ones who invented the USB flash drive, the Iron Dome, Waze, Drip Irrigation, PillCam, Watergen, ReWalk, SniffPhone and many others. (See appendix for the description of these technologies)

We can see that Israel is blossoming and their "leaves" are out. Then we know the tribulation is near. Did Jesus how near? Yes, the same generation that saw the re-birth of Israel will not die before the tribulation comes. Please read on.

(Please see the Appendix for a different interpretation of the Fig Tree parable)

(v34-35) This Generation Will Be Persecuted

(v34-35) Jesus told them that this generation will not pass away until these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will never pass away. 

When Jesus said this generation will not pass away, which generation is He referring to? There are two possibilities: 

a) The generation that he is speaking to. History tells us this is true. This happens in 70 AD when General Titus, besieged Jerusalem and destroyed of the Second Temple with fire. They did mass killings of tens of thousands of Jews, captured them to be slaves, and expelled Jews from Jerusalem, leading to the Jewish Diaspora. Surely, some of the people that Jesus spoke to was still alive. 

b) The generation that sees Israel independence, as explained above. This happened in 1948. 

I believe both options are true. This is a dual prophecy that will be met twice. How long is one generation?  Psalms 90:10 says: "Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures"

If you add 70-80 years to 1948, you'll get the year 2018-2028. In other words, the tribulation will start between now and 2028. If you believe in pre-tribulation rapture, we can disappear before 2028. If you are mid-trib, then we will be gone in 2032.

It is very very near! I hope this will motivate us to put more time to spread the gospel and prepare ourselves for the rapture and his coming!

 

(v36-44) The Day and Hour Unknown (Genesis 6:1-7; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:35-48)

(v36) Jesus said that the day or hour of his second coming is unknown by man, angels, and even the Son. Only the Father knows. 

Jesus has given us signs of his coming, but the exact day or hour is unknown. Most people take this as we don't need to care, since Jesus himself doesn't even know. If it's not important to Him, it shouldn't be important to me. But if this the case, Jesus won't spend his time to tell us of the signs of the tribulation and his second coming! The entire book of Revelation was written for us to know the details of his coming. 

Do you know that the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) is traditionally known as “the feast where no one knows the day or the hour.” This is because, in Jesus' time, the first day of the seventh month (Tishrei) is determined by the sighting of the new moon. The new moon couldn’t be calculated precisely due to weather and visibility. The Sanhedrin required two reliable witnesses to confirm the moon’s appearance before the feast could officially begin. Because of this uncertainty, the feast was celebrated over two days (called Yom Arichta, “one long day”) to ensure it was observed correctly.

Scholars believe that Jesus was using this Jewish idiom as the timing of the rapture. In this feast, the shofar is blown 100 times over the two days. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 that at the "trumpet call.... that we who are still alive...will be caught up.. to meet Jesus in the air."

We may still don't know which day and hour, but we still know the season and maybe in the 2 days of the Feast of Trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets often happens in the September of the year. 

But why did Jesus say that He doesn't know the day and the hour He is returning, only the Father knows? Isn't He the triune God? There are two interpretation, and both can be right at the same time. The first perspective is that Jesus, as the Son, submits to the Father's authority within the Trinity. The Father is often depicted as the one who determines the timing of events, including Christ’s return. 

Another common interpretation is that in His earthly ministry, Jesus voluntarily limited His divine knowledge. While He is fully God, He also took on full humanity, and part of that meant experiencing human limitations. This aligns with Philippians 2:6-7, which describes how Jesus "emptied Himself" and took on the form of a servant.

(37-39a) The coming of the Son of Man is like the days of Noah. Before the flood, people were easting and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. They knew nothing about what will happen until the flood came and took them away. 

Like Noah's time, people will still enjoy their food and pleasures when Noah was building the ark. They had over 60-70 years warnings from Noah that the flood is coming, but they don't believe it. They have never seen rain before, thus they assume it will never happen. Also, if it still haven't happen for so long, they'll forget about it and their normal life continues. When the animals miraculously came by themselves to ark, it was the last chance for them to believe.  According to Genesis 7:2-4, God gave Noah seven days to on-board the animals into the ark, before the rain come. 

Jesus said His coming is like the days of Noah - isn't it true that the tribulation mirrors the flood event? Many people still do not believe there will be a tribulation even though all the signs have been fulfilled.  Just because they have never seen such things before, and until now it still hasn't happen, they ignored it and do their own thing, instead of coming to God. The faithful will enter the ark (symbolizing the rapture), and the rest will have the last chance to receive Christ in the 7-year tribulation (represented by the 7 days when the animals entered the ark.) After that, the judgement came and those that didn't take their second chance will be thrown into the lake of fire. 

(v39b-41) This is how it will be for the coming of the Son of Man. Two men in the field, one will be taken and the other left; two women will be grinding with a hand mill, one will be taken and the other left. 

When Jesus said that some will be taken, and some will be left, there is debate over whether the one taken is a believer, or the one left is a believer. If we believe those that entered the ark represents the rapture, then the one taken away is the believer. 

However, some people use v39a - "the flood came and took them all away" - to say that those who are taken away are unbelievers being brought into judgement. 

The Greek word for “taken” in v40–41 is paralambanō, which can mean “to receive” or “to take alongside.” In contrast, the word used in v39a for those taken by the flood is airō, meaning “to remove or destroy.” This suggests the “taken” in v40–41 might be received favorably, not swept away in judgment.

(42-51) Keep Watch and Serve Faithfully

(v42-44) Jesus told them to keep watch, as they do not know what day their Lord will come. If the owner of the house knows at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not let his house be broken into. So they must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour they do not expect. 

Jesus is telling them to be ready, as the person who knows that the thief is coming tonight. We need to be spiritually alert and be wise and discern the signs. We should not think that He won't come back for a long time and go back to sleep. In fact, the rapture can happen anytime. We should always live righteously and to do his work and spread the gospel. We need to love others and strengthen our relationship with God. 

(45-51) They should be the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household, and to give them their food at proper time. It will be good if the master returns and see them to that. He will put him in charge of all his possession.  But if the servant is wicked and think his master will be away for a long time, and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. His master may come back at an hour he does not expect, then he will cut him to pieces and assign him to a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

The "servant" represents any believer who are entrusted to care for believers and/or to bring in pre-believers into the kingdom of heaven. When we meet Jesus (whether after death or during the rapture), He will reward us and give us more authority to manage God's kingdom and to rule nations together with Jesus. (See Revelation 20:4, 5:10; 2 Tim 2:12)

But there a "Christians" who thinks that Jesus won't come back until far future, and become complacent and do nothing to serve him; instead, he will spend all his time and money to enjoy his own pleasure. Some of these people may end up in hell, as their faith is not real. 

They are like the 3rd soil in the parable of the sower, where they are distracted by the world (Matt 13:3-23),  or like the man who was not properly dress for the king's banquet (Matt 22:1-14), or the weeds that grew together with the wheat but will be separated and burned in the final judgement. (Matt 13:24-30, 36-43). (Also see Matthew 7:21-23; Titus 1:16; James 1:22)

Notes:

* From the book "Enter the Story" by Morgan Jackson, 2022

** It is quite common for biblical prophecies to have multiple fulfillments. This concept is sometimes called dual fulfillment or typological prophecy, where a prophecy has an initial fulfillment and later echoes or greater fulfillments in history. For example, the old testament prophesize that the Messiah will come to earth, but we have to interpret whether it is referring to the first coming or second coming. 

Appendix

1. Technologies from Israel

USB Flash Drive – The tiny device that revolutionized data storage was developed by Israeli company M-Systems.

Iron Dome – A cutting-edge missile defense system that intercepts incoming threats, protecting civilians from rocket attacks.

Waze – The popular navigation app that uses real-time traffic data to optimize routes.

PillCam – A swallowable medical camera that helps doctors diagnose digestive issues without invasive procedures.

Watergen – A device that extracts clean drinking water from the air, helping solve water scarcity issues.

ReWalk – A robotic exoskeleton that enables paraplegics to walk again.

SniffPhone – A smartphone attachment that detects diseases through breath analysis.

Drip Irrigation – A revolutionary farming technique that conserves water while maximizing crop yield.

2. Unreached People (v14)

Joshua Project is an organization that tracks global evangelism efforts, showed that there are still 7.248 unreached people groups, representing about 3.5 billion people as of 2025. The biggest barrier is the different languages of these unreached people. Translation from English to their languages takes a long time, and many of them cannot even read their own languages! 

Morgan Jackson, the founder the organization called Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH), that distributes Audio Bibles for over 2,000 languages so far, said that their mission is to provide audio bibles to 99.9% of all known languages by 2033*. If they cannot read, then they can hear! This technology will be able to cover all unreached people within our life time. Meanwhile, let's us continue to go out and reach out to people urgently.

3. Rapture (v31)

The trumpet is also used by Paul in 1 Thess 4:16:17 to describe the rapture: "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."  Trumpets were used in ancient times to announce important occasions.

Most scholars believe Paul is speaking about the rapture of the church before tribulation or in mid-tribulation. They believe that God will not let us suffer His wrath in the Great Tribulation that is meant for the kingdom of the antichrist; therefore the rapture must be before or in the middle of tribulation.  It's not the same event as what Jesus said, which happens after His return, and we do not know if these "elect" (i.e. new believers during the tribulation) will be raptured or not. 

There are those who thinks the two are the same event, and that the rapture happens at post-tribulation. However, Revelation 19:14 says "... the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses." referring to the church following Jesus to earth. Therefore post-tribulation rapture after Jesus came back cannot be true. 

4. Alternative Interpretation to the Fig Tree parable. 

When we discuss the parable of the Fig Tree (v32-33), I interpret it as the rebirth of the Israel nation in 1948. And when Jesus said that when you see "all these things" (v33), I said that he is referring to the birth pains that leads to the start of the tribulation. In v34, when Jesus said "this generation will not pass away until these things have happened", He is referring to the generation that saw the independence of Israel in 1948, whom some of them will enter into the tribulation. In Psalms 90:10, it says that people will live up to 70-80 years old. Based on this, the tribulation should start before 2028, which is terrifying!

However, a few scholars interpret the Fig Tree parable will happen only when Jesus return. This is because they include the return of Jesus at the end of the tribulation, mentioned in v30, to the "these things" in v33. 

There are two small issues with this. Firstly, when Jesus returns, the goal has already been accomplished. He did not have to say "when the leaves come out, you know the summer is near."  He should instead say: "when the leaves come out, you know spring is here."   The word "summer is near" means "not now" but it will soon happen. He also said when you see "all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door" (v33). Again He use "is near", not "now". The door is still closed, not yet open. 

The second issue is the "generation will not pass way until these things have happened" (v34).  If the "these things" include his return, then isn't it obvious the generation that saw his coming will all be alive?  This sentence becomes redundant in this case.  The only other way to solve this, is to interpret that v34 is referring to the generation that heard Jesus Olivet's discourse, that some of those who heard him will not pass way until the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70 AD. But I'm not sure why Jesus suddenly changed the topic from "sings of my second coming" to "destruction of the temple."