Dear Popeye,
One of the biggest challenges we face in understanding prophesy is to understand the timing of events so that we can rightly divide things that have happened and things that are yet future. Mat 24 is a great example of this. It took me many years of study to realize that only Mat 24:1-2 dealt with temple events. The rest of the passage deals with distant future (to Christ's days on earth) end time events. How do I know this?
When they departed the Temple Jesus made the comments about the temple buildings which Jesus responded would be thrown down. When we get to verse 3, they are no longer on the Temple Mount. By verse 3, they are now on the Mount of Olives across the Kidron Valley opposite the Temple Mount. This would have taken at least 10-15 minutes to walk and to allow time for 4 of the disciples to break away and be alone with Jesus to ask their question. My view is the temple was no longer being discussed by the time they got to the Mount of Olives. I believe the disciples were more interested in discussing the previous talk Jesus was having in the temple with the Scribes and Sadducees concerning the resurrection.
We are given these 3 versions of the question.
Mat 24: [SUP]3 [/SUP]Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Mrk 13:[SUP] 3 [/SUP]Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, [SUP]4 [/SUP]“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?”
Luk 21: [SUP]7 [/SUP]So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?”
So, three versions of the question and three versions of the answer. The first part of each version of the question dealt with "these things" as I highlighted above. It is impossible to tell what the "these things" were from the questions themselves, however, Christ gives us a big hint in his response.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.”
As we see, Christ has jumped ahead to discuss the time of the end and not the Temple destruction of AD 70. Therefore everything Jesus answered dealt with the end times and not circa AD 70.
Now if you look at the Hebrew translation of Matthew AKA the Shem Tob or Tov version, we get much more detail. The canonized version of the Greek which the Roman Catholic Church put forth is the Matthew we all use today. We know that the church played some games with the text. This is what is written about the Hebrew Matthew version:
One of the biggest challenges we face in understanding prophesy is to understand the timing of events so that we can rightly divide things that have happened and things that are yet future. Mat 24 is a great example of this. It took me many years of study to realize that only Mat 24:1-2 dealt with temple events. The rest of the passage deals with distant future (to Christ's days on earth) end time events. How do I know this?
When they departed the Temple Jesus made the comments about the temple buildings which Jesus responded would be thrown down. When we get to verse 3, they are no longer on the Temple Mount. By verse 3, they are now on the Mount of Olives across the Kidron Valley opposite the Temple Mount. This would have taken at least 10-15 minutes to walk and to allow time for 4 of the disciples to break away and be alone with Jesus to ask their question. My view is the temple was no longer being discussed by the time they got to the Mount of Olives. I believe the disciples were more interested in discussing the previous talk Jesus was having in the temple with the Scribes and Sadducees concerning the resurrection.
We are given these 3 versions of the question.
Mat 24: [SUP]3 [/SUP]Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Mrk 13:[SUP] 3 [/SUP]Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, [SUP]4 [/SUP]“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?”
Luk 21: [SUP]7 [/SUP]So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?”
So, three versions of the question and three versions of the answer. The first part of each version of the question dealt with "these things" as I highlighted above. It is impossible to tell what the "these things" were from the questions themselves, however, Christ gives us a big hint in his response.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.”
As we see, Christ has jumped ahead to discuss the time of the end and not the Temple destruction of AD 70. Therefore everything Jesus answered dealt with the end times and not circa AD 70.
Now if you look at the Hebrew translation of Matthew AKA the Shem Tob or Tov version, we get much more detail. The canonized version of the Greek which the Roman Catholic Church put forth is the Matthew we all use today. We know that the church played some games with the text. This is what is written about the Hebrew Matthew version:
“Matthew collected the oracles (ta logia) in the Hebrew language, and each interpreted them as best he could.” – Papias (Eusebius, H.E. 3.39.16)
“Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews n their own dialect while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome and laying the foundations of the church.” – Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 3.1.1
We can go to the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) version at Bible gateway and the timing becomes very clear that it is at the end.
Matthew 24 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
24 As Yeshua left the Temple and was going away, his talmidim came and called his attention to its buildings. [SUP]2 [/SUP]But he answered them, “You see all these? Yes! I tell you, they will be totally destroyed — not a single stone will be left standing!”
[SUP]3 [/SUP]When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the talmidim came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that you are coming, and that the ‘olam hazeh is ending?”
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Yeshua replied: “Watch out! Don’t let anyone fool you! [SUP]5 [/SUP]For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray. [SUP]6 [/SUP]You will hear the noise of wars nearby and the news of wars far off; see to it that you don’t become frightened. Such things must happen, but the end is yet to come. [SUP]7 [/SUP]For peoples will fight each other, nations will fight each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various parts of the world; [SUP]8 [/SUP]all this is but the beginning of the ‘birth-pains.’ [SUP]9 [/SUP]At that time you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and put to death, and all peoples will hate you because of me. [SUP]10 [/SUP]At that time many will be trapped into betraying and hating each other, [SUP]11 [/SUP]many false prophets will appear and fool many people; [SUP]12 [/SUP]and many people’s love will grow cold because of increased distance from Torah. [SUP]13 [/SUP]But whoever holds out till the end will be delivered. [SUP]14 [/SUP]And this Good News about the Kingdom will be announced throughout the whole world as a witness to all the Goyim. It is then that the end will come.
[SUP]15 [/SUP]“So when you see the abomination that causes devastation spoken about through the prophet Dani’el standing in the Holy Place”[SUP][a][/SUP] (let the reader understand the allusion), [SUP]16 [/SUP]“that will be the time for those in Y’hudah to escape to the hills. [SUP]17 [/SUP]If someone is on the roof, he must not go down to gather his belongings from his house; [SUP]18 [/SUP]if someone is in the field, he must not turn back to get his coat. [SUP]19 [/SUP]What a terrible time it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers! [SUP]20 [/SUP]Pray that you will not have to escape in winter or on Shabbat. [SUP]21 [/SUP]For there will be trouble then worse than there has ever been from the beginning of the world until now, and there will be nothing like it again![SUP][b][/SUP] [SUP]22 [/SUP]Indeed, if the length of this time had not been limited, no one would survive; but for the sake of those who have been chosen, its length will be limited.
[SUP]23 [/SUP]“At that time, if someone says to you, ‘Look! Here’s the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ don’t believe him. [SUP]24 [/SUP]For there will appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing great miracles — amazing things! — so as to fool even the chosen, if possible. [SUP]25 [/SUP]There! I have told you in advance! [SUP]26 [/SUP]So if people say to you, ‘Listen! He’s out in the desert!’ don’t go; or, ‘Look! He’s hidden away in a secret room!’ don’t believe it. [SUP]27 [/SUP]For when the Son of Man does come, it will be like lightning that flashes out of the east and fills the sky to the western horizon. [SUP]28 [/SUP]Wherever there’s a dead body, that’s where you find the vultures.
[SUP]29 [/SUP]“But immediately following the trouble of those times,
the sun will grow dark,
the moon will stop shining,[SUP][c][/SUP]
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers in heaven will be shaken. [SUP][d][/SUP]
[SUP]30 [/SUP]“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, all the tribes of the Land will mourn,[SUP][e][/SUP] and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with tremendous power and glory.[SUP][f][/SUP][SUP]31 [/SUP]He will send out his angels with a great shofar;[SUP][g][/SUP] and they will gather together his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
We can go to the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) version at Bible gateway and the timing becomes very clear that it is at the end.
Matthew 24 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
24 As Yeshua left the Temple and was going away, his talmidim came and called his attention to its buildings. [SUP]2 [/SUP]But he answered them, “You see all these? Yes! I tell you, they will be totally destroyed — not a single stone will be left standing!”
[SUP]3 [/SUP]When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the talmidim came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that you are coming, and that the ‘olam hazeh is ending?”
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Yeshua replied: “Watch out! Don’t let anyone fool you! [SUP]5 [/SUP]For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray. [SUP]6 [/SUP]You will hear the noise of wars nearby and the news of wars far off; see to it that you don’t become frightened. Such things must happen, but the end is yet to come. [SUP]7 [/SUP]For peoples will fight each other, nations will fight each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various parts of the world; [SUP]8 [/SUP]all this is but the beginning of the ‘birth-pains.’ [SUP]9 [/SUP]At that time you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and put to death, and all peoples will hate you because of me. [SUP]10 [/SUP]At that time many will be trapped into betraying and hating each other, [SUP]11 [/SUP]many false prophets will appear and fool many people; [SUP]12 [/SUP]and many people’s love will grow cold because of increased distance from Torah. [SUP]13 [/SUP]But whoever holds out till the end will be delivered. [SUP]14 [/SUP]And this Good News about the Kingdom will be announced throughout the whole world as a witness to all the Goyim. It is then that the end will come.
[SUP]15 [/SUP]“So when you see the abomination that causes devastation spoken about through the prophet Dani’el standing in the Holy Place”[SUP][a][/SUP] (let the reader understand the allusion), [SUP]16 [/SUP]“that will be the time for those in Y’hudah to escape to the hills. [SUP]17 [/SUP]If someone is on the roof, he must not go down to gather his belongings from his house; [SUP]18 [/SUP]if someone is in the field, he must not turn back to get his coat. [SUP]19 [/SUP]What a terrible time it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers! [SUP]20 [/SUP]Pray that you will not have to escape in winter or on Shabbat. [SUP]21 [/SUP]For there will be trouble then worse than there has ever been from the beginning of the world until now, and there will be nothing like it again![SUP][b][/SUP] [SUP]22 [/SUP]Indeed, if the length of this time had not been limited, no one would survive; but for the sake of those who have been chosen, its length will be limited.
[SUP]23 [/SUP]“At that time, if someone says to you, ‘Look! Here’s the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ don’t believe him. [SUP]24 [/SUP]For there will appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing great miracles — amazing things! — so as to fool even the chosen, if possible. [SUP]25 [/SUP]There! I have told you in advance! [SUP]26 [/SUP]So if people say to you, ‘Listen! He’s out in the desert!’ don’t go; or, ‘Look! He’s hidden away in a secret room!’ don’t believe it. [SUP]27 [/SUP]For when the Son of Man does come, it will be like lightning that flashes out of the east and fills the sky to the western horizon. [SUP]28 [/SUP]Wherever there’s a dead body, that’s where you find the vultures.
[SUP]29 [/SUP]“But immediately following the trouble of those times,
the sun will grow dark,
the moon will stop shining,[SUP][c][/SUP]
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers in heaven will be shaken. [SUP][d][/SUP]
[SUP]30 [/SUP]“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, all the tribes of the Land will mourn,[SUP][e][/SUP] and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with tremendous power and glory.[SUP][f][/SUP][SUP]31 [/SUP]He will send out his angels with a great shofar;[SUP][g][/SUP] and they will gather together his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
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