Matthew 24 – A few details about end-time prophecy

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Jesus Christ gave an important speech on the Mount of Olives in a rather exclusive circle. He spoke about the near and distant future. The so-called end-time speech. A prophecy that can be seen being fulfilled today with just one’s eyes open.

Olivet speech for the faithful

Chapter 24 of Matthew is one of the most famous chapters in the Bible. In it, Jesus Christ gives a speech to his disciples on the Mount of Olives. In contrast to the equally well-known Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ does not speak to a gathered crowd on the Mount of Olives. This means that the speech on the Mount of Olives is directed exclusively at his followers. Matthew, chapter 24, is also referred to as the end-time speech of Jesus Christ. And not without reason. Jesus Christ warns of the impending, imminent events concerning Jerusalem and the developments at the time of the end.

Reports from Matthew, Mark and Luke

In addition to Matthew, Mark and Luke also report on this speech by Jesus on the Mount of Olives. Here it is important to note the details of the statements of Jesus Christ in all three Gospels. The corresponding parallel passages to Matthew 24 are Mark 13 and Luke 21. Some “scientific theologians” are of the opinion that parallel passages in the Bible should simply be removed. In keeping with the motto, “it is already somewhere else anyway and they all copied from Mark”, some parallel passages have already been deleted in the new Bible editions. In doing so, these “academic Bible critics” forget that the parallel passages are about the witness principle..

Deuteronomy 19:15:
“One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.“

If a scene is reported several times in the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, then there are two, three or even four that testify to this event. But if such parallel passages are deleted, this can, if you like, also be called “removal of witnesses”. There is a big difference between three people reporting on the speech on the Mount of Olives, or the introduction of new teachings by an angel in a cave being witnessed by only a donkey..

Destruction of the temple announced

The Mount of Olives is a vantage point for Jerusalem. The temple complex was particularly visible from this position. Jesus Christ announced the destruction of the temple to his disciples. “Not one stone will be left on another.” With this, Jesus Christ announced the destruction of the temple. And that happened. In 70 AD, the second siege of Jerusalem by the Romans under the general Titus followed. Finally, Jerusalem was destroyed and, as Jesus Christ predicted, not one stone of the temple was left on another.

The complete dismantling of the temple was not so much due to the Romans’ desire for destruction as to their greed for gold. First a fire broke out, which spread quickly due to the processing of a lot of wood. The heat generated even melted the gold used in many places in the temple. This ran down the walls in places and also flowed into the joints between the stones. In order to get to this gold, the stones had to be removed one by one. That is exactly what happened, and thoroughly.

The listening disciples, however, misinterpreted the announced destruction of the temple. They assumed that the destruction would mean the end of the world. They asked Jesus Christ when this would happen, Matthew 24:3 (Mark 13:4):
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?“

(Verses are taken from the King James Version, 1611)

Jesus Christ warned against seduction

However, Jesus Christ did not give a concrete answer to the signs of the end time. Rather, Jesus Christ made clear which dangers will be the greatest at the end time, Matthew 24:4 (Mark 13:5):
“Take heed that no man deceive you.“

It is not adverse circumstances due to the threat of persecution, hunger and natural disasters that are the main concern, but the danger of seduction. Seduction through false teachings, paganism and idolatry and thus apostasy from the true faith according to the gospel. This can even go so far that people who have fallen away from the true faith follow in the footsteps of their persecutors and believe that they are thereby fulfilling God’s will. A situation that led to countless victims, especially during the period of monopoly power of the Church, the so-called “Dark Ages”.

It is a truism that the persecutors do not want the “troublemakers” they persecute to be as evil as they are, but rather they want these “delinquents” to be as “good” as they are. And if they did not want this, as history shows, the “evil heretics” were even tortured and killed. All this “in the name of God”. A seduction in the “final stage”.

Wars, rumors of wars, unrest

Matthew reports of announced “wars and rumors of wars” at the end of time. Mark writes here of “wars and rumors of wars”. In Luke we find “wars and unrest” at this point. Today we can certainly say that there are wars, threats of war and unrest in almost every nook and cranny of the world. While wars and the mutual threat of war take place at the country level, unrest can particularly affect the internal situation of a country.

Demonstrations, protests, physical mass brawls between rival ideologists and also between civilians and the police are anything but rare. There is already far more going on globally than the media conveys, and an event does not just begin to exist when some writers in the editorial offices report on it from their point of view suggested by third parties.

When it is announced that “one heathen nation will rise up against another,” the original Greek text seems interesting. The word for heathen nation here is “etnos.” This is also an image that has been observed in many places, that not only states make life extremely difficult for each other, but also ethnic groups beat each other’s heads in.

Famines and epidemics

Matthew 24, verse 7, also describes the accumulation of “famines, plagues and earthquakes”. Not globally and simultaneously, but “here and there”. Mark writes here of “earthquakes, famines and unrest”. Luke adds another detail, according to which there will be “great earthquakes, famines and plagues; and terrors and great signs from heaven will appear.”

“Here and there” famines have unfortunately long since become a daily occurrence. Be it in the corresponding areas in the frequently mentioned Africa, in war zones or in besieged areas of the Middle East. Even in so-called developed countries, the supply of food (food, not body fillers) is no longer guaranteed. Persistent price increases (inflation), (provoked) economic decline, unemployment, etc., will make the situation even more dramatic.

Observable conditions

The number and severity of earthquakes, also in connection with volcanic eruptions, has increased steadily in recent years. This also applies to the occurrence and severity of extreme storms. After the years 2020 to 2023, epidemics do not really need to be addressed separately. Tangible epidemics naturally carry out their destructive work on their own and if it is a “synthetic” epidemic, then the measures provided for this will do the job. Meanwhile, the next “wave” is already rolling in. This or that, both possibilities are immediately counterproductive for the well-being of people.

Luke added to this passage the addition “great signs from heaven”. What these signs will be remains to be seen. Various “signs” that are extremely detrimental to the health of people and nature have been observed for many years if one simply looks upwards.

Only the beginning

Matthew, Mark and Luke all report that these signs are “not yet the end”. This is only the “beginning of the birth pains”. In plain language: It is only just beginning. At this point, it should be remembered that Jesus Christ did not speak to the general crowd, but to His disciples. He therefore addressed his message to the believers. The wheat will be separated from the chaff. Persecutors and persecuted will become clear.

Persecution of the Believers – Little Tribulation

Jesus Christ speaks in clear words, Matthew 24:9-13:
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.“

Mark writes here according to verse 9:
“But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.”
Luke’s wording is essentially the same.

How will the difference be made between who will be the persecutors and who will be the persecuted? And above all, for what reason? It is obvious. The persecuted will be those who hold on to the true gospel despite the many temptations and misleadings. They will be perceived and treated as “troublemakers, extremists, fanatics, eccentrics, fundamentalists, pests of the common good”. The accusers will not only include the judges of civil society, but also the spiritual leaders of the churches (handing them over to courts and synagogues).

Erection of the mark of the beast

As Revelation 13:15 shows, the “beast from the earth” (Info) will cause people to worship the image of the “beast from the sea.” This is no longer just ideology, because worship clearly has a religious character.

Here it can be assumed that this worship will have a Roman Catholic character. In this church, conscious of the commandment to worship only the one true creator God, it is common to play around unspeakably on the grounds of venerating “Mother Mary” and the countless “saints”. One does not worship them, one only directs prayers to her as intercession, is one of the downright childish theses.

Also conscious of the prohibition of idolatry, in the church of Rome one still bows down to statues and images of people who have long since died. The hand of a statue of Mary is kissed and one prostrates oneself before it. The foot of “Peter” in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is kissed bare. The fact that this statue was once dragged out of the pantheon of pagan Rome and once bore the name Jupiter does not seem to bother anyone particularly.

Daniel 3 is an example

The events surrounding Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego show what this will look like one day. These three companions of Daniel were the only three who did not bow their knees before the statue of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3). Daniel and his companions were not the only Judeans who were deported from Jerusalem to Babylon. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Judeans, who should have known better, bowed before this idol statue because Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to do so.

In Revelation 13, this type of action is described in the (near) future as the mark of the beast (Info). Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego held fast to the law of God and did not bow down to this statue.

These future charges against those who remain faithful to God, like Daniel’s three companions, will give the accused an opportunity to testify for Jesus Christ. Matthew writes here looking ahead, “But he who endures to the end will be saved.” Luke reports similarly, in verses 17 to 19:
“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls.“

In the truest sense of the word, steadfastness, just as Daniel’s three companions stood before the image and did not bow down.

The grounds for accusation will be defined

The religious character will probably be achieved by declaring the increasing number of natural disasters with all their consequences to be a punishment from God. A punishment because humanity does not observe the prescribed day of rest of “Sunday”. This Sunday, which has long been referred to as a day of rest, as a Christian Sabbath, as the “Lord’s Day”, is, however, a construct of the Roman Catholic Church.

Anyone who wants to observe God’s actual will is on the completely wrong track with Sunday (Info). It is Saturday, the seventh day of the week, which God had established as a day to be sanctified, at the end of His six-day creation.

Sunday will one day also be prescribed as a “climate and nature conservation day” in the form of a prescribed lockdown or something similar. Anyone who follows this will thereby recognize the authority of the papacy, but not the authority of God. The steadfast, true believers know about the commandment of the biblical Sabbath (7th day of the week) and will be careful not to honor the papacy by observing this rule on Sunday.

This will be the starting point for accusing them of being “blasphemers” and invokers of God’s wrath. They are to blame for the still prevailing misfortune caused by natural disasters, epidemics and famines. The beginning of persecution, including imprisonment, abduction and killing.

The wheat is separated from the chaff

This pressure on believers is also the concrete moment when the wheat will be separated from the chaff within many a congregation. In view of the threatened consequences, as well as through conviction, many congregation members who outwardly demonstrated fervent fear of God turn out to be the bitterest opponents of those who remain faithful to God. The particular zeal in the accusation of those who remain true believers is understandable. Once a member of this congregation, it is now a matter of rehabilitating oneself in the face of the raging, misled majority.

Destruction of Jerusalem – symbol of the end times

The destruction of Jerusalem announced in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 is ambiguous. In the type it concerned the destruction of this city along with the temple. In the anti-type this heralds the “great tribulation” at the end of time. At that time, believers were required to leave the city immediately and flee to the mountains when the “abomination of desolation” became visible..

At that time, this abomination was the standard of the Roman legions during the siege of Jerusalem. The first siege was abandoned for unknown reasons and the legions withdrew. There was a window of opportunity to flee. In 70 AD the siege began again and ultimately ended in total destruction. The historian Josephus Flavius, a contemporary witness, reported that not a single one of the people who believed in the words of Jesus Christ was harmed. They fled. Those who remained experienced a time of unspeakable cruelty. Countless people died.

Abomination of desolation at the end

The abomination of desolation, as Daniel also announces in chapter 12, will have the character of the statue in Daniel 2. The establishment of the Sunday law with the forced sanctification of the “sun day”. A tribute to the authority of the papacy while simultaneously disregarding the will of God. The statue of Nebuchadnezzar was not made and erected overnight, from one day to the next. It took a certain amount of time to make. This certainly did not happen in secret and certainly not without an announcement of a law on idol worship that would soon come into force.

With the announced “Project 2025” (Info), such plans are already taking concrete shape.

There will be a window of opportunity, but here too it is important not to wait and see what the weather might bring in three months, but to leave the metropolitan areas, i.e. cities and metropolises, immediately. The period from 2020 to 2022 showed very clearly what the practice of harassment, with broad support from the population, can look like.

Like in Noah’s time

This persecution will continue for a while. The gospel will continue to be preached by the accused. They will also bear the testimony of Jesus Christ. But the time will come when the gates will be closed and there will still be an opportunity to make the right decision. Just as Jesus Christ announced on the Mount of Olives that it would be like Noah’s time, this also applies to the “end of the flagpole”. When the gate to the ark was closed, everything was decided.

Those who were in the ark were saved. All those who were outside perished in the flood. It took 7 days between the closing of the ark and the breaking of the flood. Nothing happened in between. This will also be the time when people will cry out, “Peace and safety”. But afterwards they will be overcome like the “labor pains of a pregnant woman”. The so-called “Great Tribulation” will break out upon humanity. The beginning of the last 7 plagues.

Mistakes and errors recognized – too late

There will be no pre-rapture of the Christian community before an Antichrist comes and sits in the temple of God. This adversary has been actively at work for many centuries (Info). This pre-rapture story is a fairy tale from Jesuit pens. (Info).

But the faithful need not fear (see Psalm 91). The plagues will rain down, but those are protected by God’s hand in safe areas. Shortly before the 7th plague, Jesus Christ will appear again, pick up His own, and leave the remaining “rest” to the final destruction.

People will recognize their fatal error. But it is too late. The train has left the station. God has long since completely withdrawn His Spirit. Conversion is no longer possible. Mistakes recognized, but hatred and contempt for Jesus Christ and His faithful followers remains unchanged.

Bible verses from King James Version