THE END OF THE WORLD

THE END OF THE WORLD

Mat 24:3 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?
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, BUT THE END IS NOT YET.

I have capitalized two portions of the above scripture selection in order to emphasize the point I want to show you about the teachings of Jesus to His disciples that day on the Mount of Olives.

The term END OF THE WORLD is not the same as THE END IS NOT YET. They are two different subjects, and are IN NO WAY CONNECTED.

The two phrases show how the disciples asked one question, and Jesus answered it in a different way than they had expected Him to.

I would like to add right here, that MUCH OF THE BIBLE is written the same way. I believe it was intentional on the part of the Lord. If the Word of God could be figured out with the MINDS OF MEN, then the smartest of them could all know the secrets of God. But, "The secret of the Lord is with those that FEAR HIM." He has hidden them from the wise and the prudent, and revealed them unto Babes.

One reason for the Church world being in such a state of confusion is because men have built doctrines on the best understanding the human mind can have of a Book that was written by the SPIRIT of God. "No Comprende" is the ONLY response our human understanding can give to the WORD OF GOD.

If the SPIRIT does not interpret the Word for us, we grope in darkness. And we are BOUND TO MAKE MISTAKES if we do not seek for, and get, the INTERPRETATION OF THE SPIRIT.

Have you ever had the experience of hearing the Bible explained by others, and something within you tells you it is not correct? I have, many times. Those times have caused me to go before the Lord and ask Him to reveal the TRUTH to me. Each time, when I have sought Him diligently enough, He causes His LIGHT to shine into my spirit. When He does, I know what the TRUTH of the matter is.

The disciples asked about the END OF THE WORLD. The Old Testament, especially the book of Isaiah, has much to say about the subject. They, no doubt, thought that Jesus was talking about that when He told them about the DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE IN 70 AD.

BUT THOSE ARE TWO DIFFERENT SUBJECTS ALTOGETHER.

When the disciples asked Him about the matter He had introduced at the Temple site, He continued to explain about the OVERTHROW OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE, instead of answering their misguided question about the END OF THE WORLD.

Most of the Church World is still as lacking in understanding as the disciples were on that day so long ago. We have "lumped" several subjects together, and crammed them all into a "last seven years", and given it a name that doesn't fit at all-- "The GREAT TRIBULATION" (AKA THE REIGN OF ANTICHRIST).

Jesus had told the disciples plainly that the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple would be the time of THE GREAT TRIBULATION. Nothing worse BEFORE it. Nothing worse AFTER it. What can be more precise than that?

But, people ask, "What about Mat 24:6 And ye SHALL HEAR OF WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, BUT THE END IS NOT YET.

Are we not seeing this unfold right before our very eyes?"

The answer is, "Yes these events are taking place, BUT THEY ARE NOT the events Jesus was talking about.” Jesus was referring to events which would happen immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

THE EVENTS WE ARE WITNESSING NOW ARE A DIFFERENT SUBJECT ALTOGETHER.

Here is where a look into history can be of great benefit. During the last five or six years before 70 AD. there were several "earth shaking" events occurred in the Roman Empire that had a profound effect on their relationship to Jerusalem and the Jews.

One historical account reads like this: Which wars, the gloss says, will be between the nations of the world, and Israel. Here wars may mean the commotions, insurrections, and seditions, against the Romans, and their governors; and the INTESTINE SLAUGHTERS COMMITTED AMONG THEM, some time before the siege of Jerusalem, and the destruction of it. Under Cureanus the Roman governor, a sedition was raised on the day of the passover, in which twenty thousand perished; after that, in another tumult, TEN THOUSAND WERE DESTROYED BY CUT-THROATS: in Ascalon two thousand more, in Ptolemais two thousand, at Alexandria fifty thousand, at Damascus ten thousand, and elsewhere in great numbers. The Jews were also put into great consternation, upon hearing the design of the Roman emperor, to put up his image in their temple:

Another historical note reads: Mat 24:6-7 -

Ye shall hear of wars. The Jewish war began in A. D. 66, and ended five years after. During this period all the Roman empire was filled with commotion. Nero, the emperor, was overthrown by Galba; six months after, Galba was overthrown by Otho; a few months after, Otho was overthrown by Vitelius; a little later, he was overthrown by Vespasian. All of these but the last, who ascended the throne shortly before Jerusalem was destroyed, died violent deaths.

Here is what one commentator gives about the months just prior to the overthrow.

see that ye be not troubled; so as to leave the land of Judea as yet, and quit the preaching of the Gospel there, as if the final destruction was just at hand;

for all these things must come to pass; these wars and the reports of them and the panic on account of them; these commotions and slaughters, and terrible devastations by the sword must be; being determined by God, predicted by Christ, and brought upon the Jews by their own wickedness; and suffered in righteous judgment, for their sin:

but the end is not yet; meaning not the end of the world, but the end of Jerusalem, and the temple, the end of the Jewish state; which were to continue, and did continue after these disturbances in it.

But the armies of Titus did accomplish the desolation of Jerusalem and the Temple in August of 70 AD. Not one stone was left on top of another. They were torn apart to retrieve the gold which had melted and ran down from the roof when it burned.

Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.