June 8, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Matthew? Here’s today’s reading:
Matthew 24 (NIV)
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2“Do you see all these things?”he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”……Continue Reading
Matthew 24
Matthew 24
Matthew 24
“So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Matthew 24:44 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.24.44.NIV
It is so important to understand that Jesus is answering 3 questions as He mentions signs that will come and what people should do in the midst of them. He is asked when will the temple be destroyed, when will He return and what are the signs of the end of the age…presumably the end of human history. So we shouldn’t be surprised that we find information that applies to each event and yet it is fairly fluid as Jesus moves back and forth. But because Jesus says that no one knows the time frame of His return, it is wise to see the overall lessons learned here. One, the end will be hard. Things will becoming increasingly worse if certain levels of trouble are said to be just birth pangs. There also will be great deception and people claiming to be Jesus. But we will know Jesus becomes He will be the One in the clouds. There will also be great cosmic events that show the work of God and the level of deterioration in creation. But we can be comforted that Jesus knows the end and therefore is in control of it. He can and will protect us to the extent that that is right. We just need to make sure that we are prepared, mainly spiritually as opposed to physically. We need to be ground in the Word, the Spirt and our knowledge and relationship with God. Because when we do those things, we will be in the center of God’s will…and that is all that really matters.
So Jesus says no one knows when the end will be here and makes it clear things will get worse before better. His urging then is to be prepared and to live each day like it is the day of His return! Like in the parable of the two servants, it isn’t take advantage of the this time to do as you wish and follow your fleshy desires but rather treat this time like it is the day of your master’s return so as to be rewarded as the good servant is.
All I need to know about the end times are summed here in Matthew 24 by Jesus. His words are more than enough for me.
‘For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ‘ People will know when Jesus comes, so do not be deceived by false prophets.
Jesus says no one knows the day or hour, but he also says that when you look at the fig tree, you know if it has put forth leaves, summer is near. We won’t know the DAY or the HOUR, this is very specific timing. But if we are watching, we should be able to tell if it’s imminent:
”“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!“
Matthew 24:32-33 NKJV
Paul days that Jesus will come like a thief to those who are in darkness, but then he says, we are NOT in darkness.
”But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.“
I Thessalonians 5:4-11 NKJV
Watch and pray 🙏
Matthew 24
Matthew 24