Matthew 24 – Part 7
Jesus Makes the Timing Very Clear Yet We Keep Getting it Wrong
“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. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:30-1.
“Now, we have him,” the end-of-the-world pursuers say. How can he explain this portion. Clearly, Jesus returns physically at the end of time, according to this passage. But this entire passage is bookended by timing verses. The first, of course, is when Jesus’ disciples ask him when the temple will be destroyed, and He answers very clearly and explains the signs of an event we already have the historic record of its occurrence. Then he follows with a specific timing statement for those who didn’t have that history . . . yet. “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:34-5.
Matthew 24 – Part 5 Jesus Makes Clear “When” – So When Will We Listen to Him?
Jesus Makes Clear “When”
“And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2.
“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Matthew 24:34.
Like bookends, Jesus explains perfectly when His coming occurred. Yes, occurred – past tense. Particularly when we have the benefit of historical hindsight, our refusal to listen to Him now is even more unforgiveable. Jesus told His disciples that not one stone of the temple would stand upon another, then the disciples asked Him when that event would happen, then Jesus told them. The temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. I hate to tell you this, but you have missed the Great Tribulation.
Continue reading “Matthew 24 – Part 5 Jesus Makes Clear “When” – So When Will We Listen to Him?”
Matthew 24 – Correct Interpretation
Jesus Did Not Try to Trick Us
Let’s get one thing out of the way. When you encounter a scripture passage with clearly literal elements mixed with symbolic or allegorical elements, you interpret the literal parts literally and the allegorical parts allegorically, not the other way around. Second, everyone recognizes symbols in scripture, including those who shout the loudest about not interpreting the scripture symbolically. Third, you interpret the bible’s symbols using the bible’s symbols, not your modern spin on those symbols. These three points will take you a long way toward interpreting the bible, not only correctly, but also much more intelligibly.