This is an excerpt from my book “40 Moments From Christ’s Final Days.” Click here to get it from Amazon using my affiliate link.
Find this moment in: Mt. 24:3-25:46, Mk. 13:3-37, Lk. 21:7-36
Two days after His arrival, Jesus and His disciples return to the Mount of Olives after a day of teaching, debates, and mourning over how much Jerusalem has rejected God. From where they sat, they could see the beauty and grandeur of the temple that Jesus said would face destruction. Some of the disciples are anxious to know when it would happen and when He would return, as He promised in Matthew 23:37-39. What Jesus Christ teaches them on the Mount of Olives is known today as the Olivet Discourse.
Most know the Olivet Discourse for its end-times messages. Matthew 24:3-25:46 deals with heavy topics, most of which capture the minds and play on the fears of many today. However, if we’re going to understand what Jesus is saying, we must set aside many of our assumptions.
Perhaps the most important thing we must remember is that while the whole Bible is valuable, not all of it is written to us. In these chapters, we see a Jewish Messiah talking to Jewish disciples, outside of a Jewish temple, talking about Jewish promises. The warnings Jesus issues aren’t meant for Christians today, but for the Jews who will remain when Jesus removes Christians from the world in a future event called the Rapture.[1]
Space doesn’t allow for a complete discussion of this particular topic. However, the content of the Olivet Discourse can only make sense if this is true. Perhaps the briefest piece of evidence is what Jesus says in Luke’s recording of the Olivet Discourse. After discussing the signs of His coming, He pauses to address their question about when the temple would fall. Notice the timing He sets out:
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand… and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:20, 24b)
Compare this to what Paul says when discussing Israel’s salvation:
For I do not want you, brothers, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” (Romans 11:25-27)
God has hardened Israel, and today He is extending the gospel around the world to the Gentiles and any ethnic Jews who will listen. However, the time for non-Israelites to turn to Christ will end, at which point Jesus will take all Christians to Heaven and make salvation exclusive to Israel for seven years.
The warnings Jesus gives will be life-giving for Israel during these seven years. As we’ll see, Israel will undergo terrible persecution while God pours out His wrath on the rest of the nations. Despite everything, they’ll be able to look at these awful events and know their Messiah will return soon to set up His kingdom.
Stop and think: It’s tempting to read everything in the Bible as though it applies directly to us. As the next few topics reveal, this can easily lead us to not only taking certain things out of context, but missing the richer narrative of the Bible. How does the importance of context challenge how you read and study the Bible?
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[1] For a more thorough look at end times events, visit the “End Times” topic section at OnwardintheFaith.com
