Prophetic Understanding of Matthew 24

Introduction

The words of the Lord Jesus Christ recorded in Matthew 24 are known as the Olivet Discourse. This discourse has been understood by theologians in a variety of different ways. Preterism views all of it, or at least everything except the Second Advent (i.e., Matthew 24:30), as history that occurred in the first century in association with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Historicism views it as prophecy that is being fulfilled during the present Church Age, such that some of it is history now fulfilled, while some of it remains yet to be fulfilled prophecy. However, Dispensationalism correctly understands the Olivet Discourse to be entirely unfulfilled prophecy that relates to the future 7-year Tribulation period also known as the 70th Week of Daniel (Daniel 9:27).

The Olivet Discourse was given by Jesus in response to the questions of His disciples, after Jesus mentioned the destruction of the Temple (v. 2), “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (v. 3). The answer to these questions as they applied to the destruction of the Temple is recorded in Luke 21:21-24; the answers to the questions related to “the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world” are recorded in Matthew 24:4-30. The key to the proper interpretation of Matthew 24:4-30 is the understanding that this is a concise exposition of events that are to take place during the 70th Week of Daniel (i.e., the 7-year period that immediately precedes the Second Advent; Daniel 9:27), which is greatly expanded by the Apostle John in Revelation 6-19. As the 70th Week of Daniel has not yet begun, the events described by Jesus in Matthew 24 are prophecy that will be fulfilled in the future after the rapture of the Church.

Correlation of Events in Matthew 24 and Revelation 6-19

This view is supported by the correlation of similar events described in Matthew 24:4-30 with those in Daniel 9:27 and Revelation 6-19. Matthew 24:15 makes reference to “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet”, which occurs “in the midst of the week” according to Daniel 9:27. Thus, Matthew 24:15 marks the middle of the 7-year Tribulation, such that those events that precede v. 15 relate to the first half of the Tribulation, and those events that follow v. 15 relate to the second half of the Tribulation. The Seal judgments that begin the Tribulation in Revelation 6 find clear analogs in Matthew 24:4-14. Namely, 1) the false “Christ” in Matthew 24:5 correlates with the revelation of the Antichrist at the 1st Seal judgment; 2) the “wars and rumors of war”, “for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” in Matthew 24:6-7 correlates with the 2nd Seal judgment which will “take peace from the earth”; 3) the “famines” in Matthew 24:7 correlate with the 3rd Seal judgment which describes hyper-inflation and a scarcity of food; 4) the “pestilences” in Matthew 24:7 correlate with the 4th Seal judgment in which “death” is brought upon the earth in a variety of ways, including “with the beasts of the earth”; and 5) the persecution and martyrdom of believers “for [Christ’s] name’s sake” in Matthew 24:9 correlates with “the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held” associated with the 5th Seal Judgment. Further, the preaching of “the gospel of the kingdom … unto all nations” in Matthew 24:14 would seem to correlate with the ministry of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists sealed in Revelation 7:1-8. As understood from the chronology in the Book of Revelation, these are all events that take place during the first half of the 7-year Tribulation and are described in Matthew 24:8 as “the beginning of sorrows”.

As already noted, “the abomination of desolation” in Matthew 24:15 marks the midpoint of the 7-year Tribulation. Following that, the Jews “which be in Judea” are warned to “flee into the mountains” in Matthew 24:16-20, which correlates to “the woman” (i.e., Israel) fleeing “into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God (i.e., Selah-Petra), that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days” (Revelation 12:6); these 1,260 days represent the second half of the 7-year Tribulation during which the Antichrist attempts to destroy the Jews. This period of time is described as “the great tribulation” in Matthew 24:21, “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be”, which correlates with Daniel 12:1. This period concludes with “the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (i.e., the 2nd Advent) in Matthew 24:30, which correlates with Christ’s coming to earth in Revelation 19:11-16 (Cp., Daniel 7:13-14). While even many Dispensationalists are tempted to put some (or all) of the events in Matthew 24:4-14 (i.e., the first half of the Tribulation), such as “wars and rumors of wars”, “earthquakes in divers places”, and the world-wide preaching of “this gospel of the kingdom” (often erroneously conflated with the gospel of grace), into the present Church Age, the clear correlation of these events with those during the Tribulation make that interpretation untenable.

The Parable of the Fig Tree (vv. 32-34)

Though there are several difficult interpretive issues that remain in Matthew 24 following the straightforward chronology of prophetic signs given in vv. 4-30, only the Parable of the Fig Tree will be addressed in this article. To begin, it should be asserted that the basic elements of this “parable” are clearly understandable. First, knowing that the Gospel of Matthew specifically targets Jews as its audience, the “fig tree” should be understood to be a Jewish symbol. Second, the “fig tree” used as a Jewish symbol represents the nation of Israel (Cp., Matthew 21:19; Luke 13:6-9). Third, since the first mention of “fig” occurs when Adam and Eve make aprons of “fig leaves” in an attempt to cover their nakedness exposed by their sin (Genesis 3:7), “fig” carries the connotation of an attempted self-righteousness, which is the national sin of Israel (Romans 10:3). Fourth, Jesus’ cursing of the “fig tree” that was found to be without “fruit” (Matthew 21:19; Luke 13:9) was a symbolic foreshadowing of the nation of Israel being subjected to the ultimate “curse” of the Mosaic covenant, which is dispersion from the Promised Land (Leviticus 26:32-39; Deuteronomy 28:63-68), coincident with the subsequent Church Age. Thus, in the parable when the “fig tree” is said to “putteth forth leaves”, it is a picture of the dispersed nation of Israel beginning to reform in the Promised Land. It is reasonable to take this to mean that the reestablishment of Israel as a Jewish nation in the Promised Land, which occurred in 1948, is in some sense a sign that the beginning of the Tribulation is “near, even at the doors” (v. 33).

What is less clear, however, is how to interpret v. 34, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled”. Many have attempted to use this phrase as a formula, which by assuming the duration of a “generation” have attempted to calculate either the rapture, the start of the Tribulation, or the 2nd Advent. Early on, a “generation” was taken to be forty years (Numbers 14:33), which resulted in much anticipation with the approach of the year 1988; but after nothing occurred in 1988, speculation concerning the length of a generation transitioned to seventy, or eighty (Psalm 90:10), or one hundred (Isaiah 65:20), or even one hundred and twenty years (Genesis 6:3). In all likelihood, however, “this generation” is not intended to be used in a numerical formula to date any particular aspect of the return of the Lord.

A better understanding is likely that all the sign-events described in Matthew 24:4-30 will be observed by a single “generation”, which is consistent with the understanding that all of the events occur during the 7-year Tribulation period (and also implicitly supports the negative assertion that none of these events occur during the Church Age). Thus, the rebirth of the nation of Israel in the Promised Land is a sign that the Tribulation is indeed “near, even at the doors”, but with no specific time duration intended. Hence, the admonition to “Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” (v. 42) is appropriate.