The BLB Blog

The official blog of Blue Letter Bible

Emphatic Elements in the Greek: Matthew 24 (part 3)

Posted on Posted by

The following is section two from a series on emphatic elements in the Greek New Testament, written by biblical language expert Justin Alfred. For section one, click here. For section two, click here.

Section III – Matthew 24:9-14

             Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. 10 “And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. 11 “And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. 12 “And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 “But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. 14 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. (Matthew  24:9-14)

     In this section, Jesus talks about the persecution that His followers will endure until He returns, as well as the fact that “many” of His professed followers “will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another.”  He also states that “many false prophets will arise and will mislead many,” and in the above quote, we verify that even up to our time in the 21st century.  We certainly see “lawlessness” in our nation today, as well as the hardness of heart of many people throughout the world, but this is not some new thing, but rather this has been with us for 2000 years!  On the other hand, much of what we see in our country today is new to us because it has not been a part of our country’s history, but with the secularism permeating so much of our society, what we are witnessing is the unequivocal fruit of narcissistic self-centeredness.  However, Jesus states that “the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved,” and this too is not new with us, but this has been a truth for 2000 years, and it will remain so until Jesus returns.  What is of great importance to us with regard to the time of Jesus’ return is this next statement, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.”  Dear, precious readers, what Jesus is saying here is that NO ONE BUT GOD knows when this will be, and our goal and aim, therefore, should not be in trying to calculate His return (because WE CANNOT DO IT), but rather to be about preaching and ministering His Word to a lost and dying world, who, without Him, will perish for all eternity in “the lake of fire”:

             And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15)

Therefore, based on the above, as well as Acts 1:6-8, it would appear, without any equivocation, that our focus needs to be on sharing and ministering the Gospel until we depart this life, either through death or the rapture, versus spending useless time and effort in trying to calculate when His return is going to be: “And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ 7 He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth’” (Acts 1:6-8).

Comments

  1. Each morning my husband and I wake up we give the Father & Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, our minds to be like His, our eyes to see His way he sees, our ears to hear His spirit and leading, our mouths and words we say to be His and speak His words not ours, our hearts to be the heart of the Messiah, our bodies to be His flesh here now, and our spirits and souls. We yeild each day, every day to His will. We get our Armor on, ask him to go before us and make our path level and straight and we start our day.

    I have to admit somedays my flesh actually cries out, I don’t want to die today, but regardless I force it to. I always hear Him say if not you ? Who ? That one little question quenches my flesh and in that I find the strength I need that he gives me.

    We were led recently to pray that we would be in the plan God has for us. Jeremiah 29:11 I had looked at often, I even have a poster but the revelation finally came one that if he’s not going to tell me the plan, but he knows it, if we pray to be in it, we can’t go wrong.

    We also ask him to send those that need him or love him accross our paths. He has us walk, and talk his word every day, all day. Its so fun, to be part of his kingdom here on earth. We have noticed that we are truely not of this world anymore, but completely set apart, more each day.

    I said all that to say this. We have battles, we have victories, we have tears, we get murdered by the hand of the advesary through people sometimes daily.

    We do it because that is where we have found our peace and rest. Nothing in this world ever satified my like working for God in his kingdom.

    We have found the plan, in as much as we are created to Love him, fight for him, and be the light of him here in a very dark world.

    We are separated from the world, choice sheep, but sacrifical ones, just like Jesus. Did we think if they scorned him, they wouldn’t scorn us ? They do oftern but I am hear to tell you, in that death is his Glory, Love, and Peace.

    We are many and he is connecting us into one spirit, one mind, one heart, if we will jsut let him. We will overcome, by the blood of the lamb and words of our testomonies.

    Those are daily testimonies. we live in a very dark time, but as the dark get s darker the Light is also getting lighter and brighter. We can be what he needs us to be each of us, if we will just turn back to him, yield to his purpose for each of us, overcome our fear of man & rejection and listen to his voice and his word.

    Make him your first love and I promise you will become what he created you to be. I used to think I would be lacking IF I did but that was a lie and now I know I am fullfilled. Amen.

    John 4:24 ” But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth, for such people the father seeks to be His worshipers!!! God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

    Live like he says above as we are the great commission, we have our dwelling place in heaven, but Jesus came here not for the physicians but for the sick and afflicted, and this world is very full of those people for us to just reach out and touch.

    If we open our eyes they are reaching out for our light every moment of everyday we walk this earth, ask for eyes to see.

  2. Are you saying that unless you have recieved the gift of the Holy Spirit. Your Witnessing would be unaffecting.

    • You are correct. Preaching the good news of that time was restricted to jesus(yeshua) jewish disciples then after pentacost the gentials were enabled and they had a different good news.

      The failure of the religions which blueletterbible has complained about evidences lack of Gods backing but even if they did add numbers will not in itself indicate Gods approval.

      The context shows the good news of that time would be accomplished prior to the destructuion of the temple.

  3. Dear Mr. Alfred,
    I am doing a personal study on judgment. What do you believe it means when the above verse states that Hades and death will be thrown into the Lake of Fire? It seems that folks tend to gloss over that line and do not consider it. I see the result as destruction (complete removal) of those things. If souls are thrown there as well, why do we think it spells eternal torment? Considering the verse where Jesus said, “I’ll tell you who to fear, fear Him that can destroy both body and soul in hell (Gehenna)…” – I wish someone could explain why the world ‘destroy’ and ‘destruction’ is used as an equivalent to ‘going to hell’ (?!)
    Another consideration is that the parable of the Lazarus and the rich man does not depict heaven and hell since the Final Judgment had obviously not occurred yet. Many folks mistakenly think that parable is a description of hell, but reading it reveals it is not.
    These are very serious questions that I hope you will consider. God bless you, thank you for your teaching.

    • Jesus never views physical death as very important like we do. In the context, Jesus almost always is considering ‘death’ as “spiritual death,” which is eternity in the Lake of Fire. Every person, saved or unsaved, is an ETERNAL being/spirit.

      There are actually several “judgments,” and as you say, many people gloss over everything so serious…

      The rich man is dead spiritually and is therefore in Hell, the place of torment, which is only a precursor to The Lake of Fire, which is the SECOND DEATH (2nd spiritual death, if you will). There are people who have seen BOTH the current Hell, which is within the earth, but in the spiritual realm, AND The Lake of Fire. (e.g. A horse-thief in England).

      Death is also a spirit, an evil spirit. After the Great White Throne Judgement, the death spirit and all of Hades/Hell is thrown into The Lake of Fire, which is the second death.

      This is for all eternity, which is why Jesus basically says that the death of the body is trivial in comparison.

      Since you are studying judgment, you will note that some will be judged [and found guilty] by their conscience {con= with, science = knowledge}. For example, those who died before The Law (Sodom, etc.). Those “under The Law” will be judged by both their conscience and The Law, which shows the sinner his sinfulness. Under the new covenant, the judgment is far worse: your conscience, The Law, the revealing of The Law by Jesus (lust = adultery, hate = murder) and the rejection of Christ and his atoning sacrifice, those who shared the Gospel will testify against them. If the righteous are scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and sinners appear?

      Judgment is also important in evangelism. You are wise to study it…

  4. Hey Justin,

    Something that I find very revealing from the Greek text of Matt 24 is the clause-

    ψυγήσεται ἡ ἀγάπη τῶν πολλῶν

    The Greek word for love here is “agape” which is only used in the Scriptures to reflect the love that Christians have for one another or their love for God or God’s love for them. This text is speaking of true Christians and their love growing cold during the Tribulation. This love growing cold is also the reason why many fall away.

    The Greek adjective πολύς translated “many” found in V10-12 is therefore being used to refer to true Christians, and not just those who make a profession. πολύς is also better translated as “most” or “the greater part”. The NIV translates this adjective well in v12

    “the love of most will grow cold”.

    In other words the greater part of Christians who belong to the faith will depart from it during this time. But this makes sense when you look at the warnings that Jesus gave to His disciples throughout this whole chapter. If a disciple of Christ (Christian) cannot be deceived then why does Jesus say “take heed that no one deceives you”?

    Paul also referred to Jesus statement in Matt 24:10 in his second epistle to the Thessalonians where he teaches them that the return of Christ and our gathering to Him will not take place until the falling away comes first and the antichrist is revealed.

    2 Thess 2:1-4 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless THE FALLING AWAY COMES FIRST, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

    Paul used the Greek noun ἀποστασία which means “apostasy” for “the falling away”. “THE apostasy” of Christians from the faith will take place at the onset of the tribulation as Jesus stated in Matt 24:10.

    There is also another interesting grammatical marker in Matt 24:10-12 with the use of the adjective πολύς indicating that the substantive is referring to Christians. In Romans 5:19 Paul used the same adjective “many” as a substantive in the masculine gender (with the definite article and without modifying another noun). This use of “the many” as a substantive is rare. It appears in Romans 5:15 also and Paul clearly defined the term for us in Romans 12:5

    “Thus we, the many, are one body in Christ.”

    Other references for πολύς as a substantive referring to Christians includes 1Corinthians 10:17, 33

    I would also like to address this comment of yours

    “Dear, precious readers, what Jesus is saying here is that NO ONE BUT GOD knows when this will be, and our goal and aim, therefore, should not be in trying to calculate His return (because WE CANNOT DO IT)”

    If the return of Christ cannot be known then why does God give us the exact amount of days of the antichrist rule and the exact amount of days between the event of The Abomination of Desolation and the end of this age?

    Daniel 7:25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand FOR A TIME AND TIMES AND HALF A TIME.

    Daniel 12:7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a TIME, TIMES, AND HALF A TIME; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.

    Daniel 12:11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY DAYS.

    Revelation 12:14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for A TIME AND TIMES AND HALF A TIME, from the presence of the serpent.

    Matthew 24:36 is often used by Dispensationalists to promote a false doctrine called “the doctrine of imminence” teaching that Jesus could return at any moment after His ascension. The Greek verb translated “knows” is εἴδω and means knowledge that comes by perception. In other words no one has yet perceived the day of Christ’s return at the time Jesus spoke this. The knowledge had not yet been available at this point. This is because no one can possible know when His return will be until the Abomination of Desolation is set up. When this event occurs the saints will know exactly when Christ will return. It will be one thousand two hundred and ninety days from that point. This is why Jesus told His followers to watch for this event because it will launch the prophetic timeline of Daniel and Revelation.

    1 Thess 5:1-6 But concerning THE TIMES AND THE SEASONS, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, ARE NOT IN DARKNESS, so that THIS DAY should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.

    Paul indicates to the Thessalonians that they have previously been taught the times and the seasons of the return of Christ and then tells them that the day of Christ’s return will not come as a surprise to them; as it will the unbelievers. This is because the Thessalonians would already have been familiar with Jesus’ previous teachings and the signs that precede His coming. This is why Jesus commands His disciples numerous times in the Gospels to “watch” and be alert for His return.

    Luke 21:25-28 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when THESE THINGS begin to happen, LOOK UP and LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWS NEAR.”

    • Good points about not knowing the day or hour, even though timelines are given. I do not have the scriptures at hand to prove this, but my understanding is that, at the end of the seven year tribulation period, the world will be in complete darkness. I believe there are 45 days after the end and Jesus’ second coming, since that is the difference between the 1,290 days of Daniel 12:11 and the 1,335 days of Daniel 12:12. So, scripture does tell the exact number of days. However, since the world will be in complete darkness for 45 days, how will man know when the 45 days are up? It’s amazing how quickly you can lose all track of time in complete darkness. So, they will be sitting in darkness, not able to figure out when Jesus will come back, even though they know the day. Incidentally, the darkness is why we are told that Jesus will come as a thief in the NIGHT.

    • Ben,

      Your post shows you are properly allowing the Scripture to teach you rather than trying to force the verses into some [pre-] contrived theory. Agape in verse 12 makes it clear that many [true] Christians will abandon the faith [turn away/become apostate]. Lawlessness is the reason, and as I suspect, the lack of a secret mythical per-Trib Rapture. Jesus cannot come before the antichrist is revealed. The Tribulation is 1260 days or 3.5 years, which is precisely as you reference. Scripture never says it is a 7-year period. Furthermore, when Jesus comes as a thief, which in context is always coming for judgment/death, it is not a secret event, but rather is very visible…

      2 Peter 3:10
      10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

      NOTE: the heavens [sky] will vanish… VERY VISIBLE

      This can be seen in Revelation chapter 6:14-17 also:

      14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

      15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

      16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

      17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

  5. Eric,
    You said-

    “I believe there are 45 days after the end and Jesus’ second coming, since that is the difference between the 1,290 days of Daniel 12:11 and the 1,335 days of Daniel 12:12. So, scripture does tell the exact number of days.”

    I should have addressed the issue of the 45 extra days mentioned in Daniel 12:12 in my previous post. In Daniel 12 the period of time mentioned is from the “abomination of desolation” until Daniel stands in his allotted inheritance and not to the second coming as the 1260 days of Revelation specifies.

    It goes beyond the second coming by 45 days and indicates by the end of the period; Daniel has already received his reward after having been resurrected. Therefore this period of 45 days contains the judgment of the righteous and their receiving their rewards.

    There is not 45 days of darkness as you suggest from some point during the Tribulation and the second coming.

    Matthew 24:29-31 “Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

    Jesus said that “IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION” the sun would be darkened and the moon will not give its light.

    The darkening of the sun and moon will happen in one day at moment of the return of Christ.

    Joel 2:1-2 Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand: 2 A DAY of darkness and gloominess, A DAY of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations.

    Amos 5:18-20 Woe to you who desire THE DAY of the LORD! For what good is THE DAY of the LORD to you? It will be DARKNESS, and not light. 19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him! 20 Is not THE DAY of the LORD DARKNESS, and not light? Is it not VERY DARK, with no brightness in it?

    Also on a side note, if this is the same Eric I have been blogging with from the July 25 thread I wanted to let you know that I just left a response to your last post. I hope you can read it and address my concerns. Thanks,
    Ben

    • Thanks for your response to the July 25 blog. I certainly appreciate the time and scripture that went into that response. I will read and respond to you when I can, but it will probably be a few days, since I will be out of town for a couple of days. But, I will respond. Thanks again.

  6. Hey Tom,
    I totally agree with what you have said here concerning the reasons for the coming great apostasy.

    “Lawlessness is the reason, and as I suspect, the lack of a secret mythical per-Trib Rapture”

    In addition to these reasons I would also like to add the very popular teaching among Christianity today called once saved always saved.

    Teaching Christians that nothing they do will separate them from Christ is so incredible dangerous that it will lead to Christians taking the mark out of self-preservation and believing that they can still remain saved.

    When the antichrist reveals himself on the temple mount and the greatest persecution of Christians in all of History commences those Christians who bought into the pre trib rapture lie will be in total confusion.

    When they turn to their “leaders” they will not have answers for them either. It will be a mass exodus from the buildings and unfortunately many will abandon the faith believing it to be a farce and embrace the deception.

    I would also like to add something to your comments on 2 Peter 3.

    After Peter got done describing to the brethren the events of the return of Christ which as you mentioned will be very visible he then makes this statement.

    2 Peter 3:17 You therefore, beloved, since you KNOW THIS beforehand, BEWARE lest you also FALL from your own STEADFASTNESS, being led away with the error of the wicked.

    I also like how the NIV translates this verse even though I usually don’t care for the translation as a whole.

    2 Peter 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already KNOW THIS, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your SECURE POSTION.

    Peter gave this warning to Christians because he knew that false teachers would creep in and teach lies about the second coming of Christ which would ultimately lead to Christians being deceived and falling away as Matt 24:10 indicates.

    Lastly I wanted to post a teaching from an early Christian writer named Hippolytus about the Tribulation. I have been greatly blessed by reading the writings of the early Christians. This is partly because their material is in stark contrast to what is coming out of the pulpits today. They did not care about filling the pews and having a steady cash flow. They cared about properly training the saints and preparing them for everything that that the Scriptures teach.

    Imagine this teaching by Hippolytus being taught on a Sunday morning service. The pews would be empty before the end of the reading. Although this teaching is very sobering I love at the end how he keeps the brethren focused on the ultimate hope- The final deliverance of the saints and retribution of evil.

    Hippolytus [A.D. 170-236] Commentary on Daniel – For then there will be a great persecution like which there has not been such from the foundation of the world, while others from here and there are sent against every city and land in order to kill those who believe, and the Jews cheer at their destruction, and the nations rejoice and the unfaithful celebrate with them, but the saints, coming from the west to the east and others from the east to the south are pursued, but others will hide in the mountains and in caverns, everywhere the abomination will make war against them even through the sea and through dry places. He will kill them through the command and according to every way he will oppress them from the earth and not allow them to sell some of their own possessions nor to buy from another’s things, unless one should carry on his hand the name of the beast, or one should bear his mark upon his forehead. For then all the faithful will be banished from every place and will be displaced from their homes and will be expelled from their cities and will be swept away by the state and they will be punished with every punishment and will be cast out from all the world. And so it is needful to consider the coming persecution of the saints at that time and the distress, for it is necessary for us, from what has partially occurred already, to reflect on the future things, that such distress and upheaval in all the world will occur, and everywhere all the faithful will be killed and slaughtered in every city and land, and the blood of the righteous will be poured out and men will be burned alive and others shall be thrown to beasts, and infants in the womb shall be murdered, and all shall be hurled away unburied, and shall be eaten by dogs, both virgins and women shall be corrupted in openness and shall be shamefully mocked, and be captured and they shall dig up the graves of saints and destroy the remains and they shall hurl them onto a plain, and they shall become blasphemous. Then there shall be upheaval in the cities, when the saints are persecuted from there. There will be upheaval in roads and in deserts when all wish to be hidden there. There will be upheaval in the sea when all attempt to flee through water. There will be upheaval on the islands when all seek to go there. And then the earth will be barren for the saints and every city uninhabitable and the sea unnavigable and all the world a desert, when they are destroyed by famine, and faint from thirst, but others die from fear and from the great persecution. But then how will a man hide? To whom shall his own children run? How, after his belongings have been carried off, shall he preserve them, when he is not able to save his own soul? Then there will be many wailings of infants, lamentations of both fathers and mothers, loud cryings of both wives and virgins, moans of both brothers and cousins. Then will one mourn another? Brother will not mourn brother, for he also expects death. Mother will not mourn daughter, for she also suspects death. Father will not mourn son, fearing that he also will be killed. On account of this, the Lord, foreseeing these things, says, “Pray that your flight does not happen in winter or on the Sabbath, you ought not to rest from righteousness nor engage in the matters of this life, as in winter, lest that day unknowingly fall upon you as a trap.” “For if,” he says, “those days were not curtailed, not any flesh would be saved. But on account of the elect those days will be curtailed. ”But after the persecution of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give its splendor and the stars shall burn out and fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken and then they shall see the Son of Man coming with power and great glory.” For if the devil receives for a little while authority to trouble the earth, as it is written, “God has given to him the authority to test those who dwell upon the earth,”4 how much more rather that the Son of God, when he takes all authority of heavenly and earthly and subterranean things, shall trouble all the earth and the elements in it, arriving to avenge the saints with angelic power and patriarchal glory, when he comes to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled by all who pray to him and to repay those who persecuted us with persecution, but to repay us who were persecuted with rest.

    • Thanks for sharing that Ben. I see that this guy had a much clearer understanding of the end times… and that he properly took most of these verses literally, which is what was intended. In the Luke 21 version, it states:

      25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

      26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

      Jesus is describing “THE DAY OF THE LORD” which is referenced many times in the OT:

      ISAIAH 13:9-13 (AMP)
      9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming!—fierce, with wrath and raging anger—to make the land and the [whole] earth a desolation and to destroy out of it its sinners.(C)

      10 For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened at its rising and the moon will not shed its light.

      11 And I, the Lord, will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their guilt and iniquity; I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible and the boasting of the violent and ruthless.

      12 I will make a man more rare than fine gold, and mankind scarcer than the pure gold of Ophir.

      13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the [b]earth shall be shaken out of its place at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of His fierce anger.

      The AMPLIFIED Bible has a great footnote for Isaiah 13:13
      “By the outbreak of [the Lord’s] wrath the material universe is [to be] shaken to its foundations. Such representations are common in the descriptions of the day of the Lord, and are not to be dismissed as merely figurative” (The Cambridge Bible). See also I Thess. 5:2; II Thess. 1:7, 8; II Pet. 3:10.

      ISAIAH 34:4 (AMP)
      4 All the host of the heavens shall be dissolved and crumble away, and the skies shall be rolled together like a scroll; and all their host [the stars and the planets] shall drop like a faded leaf from the vine, and like a withered fig from the fig tree.(A)

      ISAIAH 24:19-21 (AMP)
      19 The earth is utterly broken, the earth is rent asunder, the earth is shaken violently.

      20 The earth shall stagger like a drunken man and shall sway to and fro like a hammock; its transgression shall lie heavily upon it, and it shall fall and not rise again.

      21 And in that day the Lord will visit and punish the host of the high ones on high [the host of heaven in heaven, celestial beings] and the kings of the earth on the earth.(A)

      Just like Noah preached a long time… the flood (judgment) came suddenly. Judgment of Sodom came suddenly…

      But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise… [2 Peter 3:10a KJV]

      What most conveniently avoid is that the gathering is AFTER the Tribulation and AFTER the “Celestial Signs” as I call them… as Matthew 24:27-31 makes clear…

      27 For just as the lightning flashes from the east and shines and [h]is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

      28 Wherever there is a fallen body (a corpse), there the vultures (or eagles) will flock together.(C)

      29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.(D)

      30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and [i]beat their breasts and lament in anguish, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory [in brilliancy and splendor].(E)

      31 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect (His chosen ones) from the four winds, [even] from one end of the [j]universe to the other.(F)

      While there are good reasons why this might not be an exact LINEAR timeline from our Lord, as many of these events are somewhat overlapping… what is clear is that the Resurrection/Rapture is not before The Tribulation:

      Matthew 24:27 His coming is obvious and VISIBLE to all [like lightning which lights up the entire sky]
      (remember that Tribulation saints cannot be numbered)

      verse 28 is obvious reference to the slaughter at Armageddon (carrion birds have a feast)

      Verse 29 Celestial Signs are immediately AFTER Tribulation (Tribulation period = 3.5 years)
      [This is at least the beginning of THE DAY OF THE LORD as all the verses in Isaiah make clear]

      Verse 30 Everybody SEES Him in His glory

      Verse 31 The Rapture, which is really the second phase of the Resurrection, as the dead in Christ rise FIRST

      Jerusalem is over-run until His feet hit the mount of Olives (Zechariah 14) and the time of the Gentiles is completed (Luke 21)

      The harvest is the end of the age (epoch), but the sinners and carnal “Christians” are removed FIRST… then the righteous shine forth…

      Finally, as you somewhat reference, Jesus makes it clear that those who are WISE will recognize the time of His coming… when ALL these signs (taken together) have occurred.

  7. Also, these verses in Matthew clearly debunk the “once saved, always saved” myth. “He who endures to the end” is taught consistently throughout the NT. You are saved when you first believe, but you must be faithful until you give up the ghost… There will be lots of apostate Christians near the end when they must die for their faith and realize that the Pre-Trib Rapture was a false teaching… Even in Paul’s day, there were those believers “who returned to the world.” Furthermore, without true, genuine and authentic repentance, there is no remission of sin. The parable of the sower clearly teaches that there are false Christians, or mushroom Christians, that have no root and FALL AWAY when persecution comes or who return to worldliness and carnality. There are more unsaved people in our churches than anyone can imagine…

  8. Tom,
    I like your reference to the parable of the sower concerning the topic in this thread and Matt 24:10. I believe there are some extremely important spiritual truths that Jesus is teaching that are often completely overlooked today in Christianity.

    I’ll use the Luke account to explain what I mean.

    Luke 8: 4-8, 11-15 And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

    “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

    The first type of seed that Jesus describes is the seed that fell along the wayside. The result was that the birds ate the seed. The meaning- “The devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts so that nothing is sown. The seed never germinated thus producing a plant, in other words no new life and regeneration.

    The second type of seed fell among the stony places. The result was that the seed “sprang up “quickly but because it had no root. It withered when exposed to the sun and lack of moisture. The meaning- This is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet has not root in himself and only endures for a while. When tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. It says that they “believe” but they do not continue in endurance. Temptation and persecution causes these believers to stumble. What is important to take note of is that this seed turned into a plant. Germination took place, in other words new life (.i.e. regeneration)

    The third type of seed falls among thorns. The result is that the thorns choke out the plant. The meaning- They hear the word, yet the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. This is the class of believers that Paul mentions in 1 Tim 6:10. But again we have a case where the seed grew into a plant. New life- Regeneration.

    Now the reason that the last group of seed is distinct from the rest of the seed is because of what takes place after the seed turns into a plant. The ones in the last category endure and bear fruit. New life happens (regeneration) and the plant continues to grow. V15 in the Greek reads

    “But that on the ideal land are these, which in a genuine and good heart, after hearing the word are seizing it and are bearing fruit in endurance”.

    V 15 in the NKJV renders the verb κατέχω as “keep” but this verb has stronger implications than just “keeping” it means to grasp or seize upon.

    Also “patience” is a bad translation of the noun ὑπομονή. If they rendered it “patient continuance” that would be better but it means to endure. The participle form of this noun is used in Matt 24:13 in describing those who will end up in salvation- The one who ENDURE’S till the end.

    What’s also important to keep in mind is that there is hope for Christians who belong to the second and third type of plants. What is needed is a good farmer to come and till the ground making it easier for these plants to grow. This should be happening today with capable teachers/pastors yet most are failing to do so and the result is tragic, with the loss of actual crops.

    Teachers/Pastors should submit to Acts 20:28

    Therefore TAKE HEED to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

    And Christians as a whole should submit to James 1:12-22

    Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

  9. Hey Justin,

    I’m not completely sure if you read all the comments that people make on your posts but I presume that you do. I have noticed in previous threads that you have blogged back and forth with people.

    I am just wondering why you have not addressed any of the questions I submitted to you in this thread? For example in a previous thread concerning the topic of John 3:5 you taught that “born of water” means physical birth. I responded to your teaching and explained from the Greek why that interpretation is grammatically unlikely. I also politely asked to be corrected if I was mistaken.

    According to your profile (which is impressive) you are a Biblical language expert. I am the farthest thing from that. My knowledge of Biblical Greek is very basic, so that’s why I was trying to get some feedback from you. If you do not have the time to respond I understand. I can also understand not responding if the blogger who is submitting questions to you is not using the Scriptures but their own opinion, but when someone submits a question to you using a legitimate exegetical approach and asks for feedback, some type of response is at least warranted. At least that’s what I thought the purpose of a blog is so that Christians can interact and discuss the Scriptures that are posted.

    One of the best learning tools that I have used in my understanding of Scripture is a Christian discussion forum. I enjoy a healthy debate amongst the brethren over Scripture and have found that putting my interpretation out there and having another brother pick at it to show its weakness is the best way for discovering truth. I have been corrected multiple times in this approach and I was very grateful to the person correcting me because it made me realize that I was submitting to error. Since I have no Theological loyalties I simply submit to the interpretation that has the most evidence.

    I think people often forget what the purpose of Scripture is for.

    The Scriptures are given for “doctrine, reproof, CORRECTION, and instruction in righteousness.”

    My friend once gave me a good comment on 2 Tim 3:16

    He said
    “Everyone says they believe this, but it is exceedingly rare to find Christians who are actually willing to be corrected. Somehow they think that passage actually reads,

    “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for dogma, retort, confirmation, and vindication of my opinions.”

    This unfortunately is the predominant attitude I have encountered when trying to submit questions to pastors/teachers. In my opinion a pastor/teachers failure to address another brother’s question concerning the interpretation being taught exposes the weakness of the interpretation being taught. This is why most churches do not allow interaction and questions between the pastors and the “lay people” when teaching is given.

    I think pastors/teachers are forgetting a very important aspect of their job.

    1 Titus 1:7-9 For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, 8 but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort AND CONVICT those who contradict.

    Christians should be allowed to contradict their pastors/teachers so that the pastors/teachers can convict and correct the misunderstanding.

    I’m not trying to pick a fight so to speak, I am just interested in why you believe Matt 24 is teaching some of the points you made in your post.
    Sincerely,
    Ben