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Matthew 24, part 3 – It was right in front of us all along

It does not take complex degrees from seminary or understanding of the Greek to figure out the meaning of Matthew 24. Just read it for what Jesus intended. He’s the Christ, and He’s a prophet, the final prophet, but not the only one. He speaks like the prophets of old, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah. Ever read them? They use colorful, picturesque language to make their point as powerfully, as poignantly, as effectively as possible. Do you think God has no emotion? He created us with emotions. His prophets’ language expresses emotion and great meaning.

Those who hypocritically call for interpreting all of the bible literally (no one, not even the literalists, interpret all the bible literally) does not bring out the truth; it would hide it. Symbolism is meaningful because the words mean what they say and more. If you take the symbolic word literally, you haven’t enhanced the meaning, you’ve taken away meaning.

So, the prophets speak emotionally because God cares, and they speak symbolically because their words have greater meaning than just what the words would say alone. They spoke truly because they had an important warning for people, so the message was practical. Jesus spoke that way too.

Take the following passage as an example of just taking His words as intended.

“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:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” Matthew 24:15-22.

Ignoring until a future blog post “the abomination of desolation,” a symbolic phrase used by another prophet, Daniel, notice that Jesus wants the listener to understand. In other words, something esoteric and difficult to decipher is not about to be pronounced. Nor is it something to happen centuries later; it is a warning for the people of His day. I’m going to quote the advice he gives one sentence at a time, then I’ll ask questions. You tell me what makes sense. By the way, notice that the advice is based on, yep, timing – “When ye see.”

1st quote: “Let them in Judaea flee into the mountains.” What good is fleeing into the mountains if the passage is about Jesus returning to earth to end history? If it’s about some anti-Christ political/religious leader taking over the world, against whom Christians should stand up as a witness to the truth and the true King, Jesus Christ, why would Jesus advise to flee cowardly? If the end of all of the earth & its history is at hand, why flee at all? What would be the point if Christ is about to take us up to heaven for our new bodies & the final judgment?

2nd quote: “Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house.” Oh yeah, that’s really sensible advice. I’ll just jump off my roof when Jesus or the anti-Christ comes. Tell me when jumping off your roof in a hurry ever makes sense except in 1st-century Israel, when people’s houses had flat roofs & where they entertained quests to get the cool breeze in the evening. Why would that advice make any sense to anyone except those people living in the first century?

3d quote: “But pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day.” I understand that winter can be a bad time for fleeing at any time in history, but I’m not sure why the sabbath day would make a difference today. Can someone explain that timing issue and its relevance to our day or at any time in the future? But it makes sense in that day, when they could not buy food or find shelter perhaps on the Sabbath day.

4th quote: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Do you still not see it? It’s been there all along – “. . . nor ever shall be.” So, are you sorry that you have missed the Great Tribulation? Well, I hate to break it to you, but you have.

5th quote: “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” Tell me, end-of-the-worlders, if the end of the world is the event being referred to by Christ, why in the name of total fiery destruction would flesh need to be saved and the days shortened if the world is about to be burned up with fire? Even if you believe in some extra-biblical, post-apocalypse, bureaucratic government, ruled by Jesus and His post-resurrection saints, then you still can’t explain why there would be any need to shorten the days of destruction for the sake of the elect, who would be resurrected from the dead anyway in order to rule after the destruction of anti-Christ?

Thus, even if you just read Jesus’ words with some good, ole common sense, you have to know that there’s something wrong with the futuristic view of Matthew 24. You should at least ask some questions. But that’s not all.

Cont’d in next Matthew 24 post.