Matthew 24 is the Place to Start as You Search Out the End of This Age

 This honest question was posed.  "Just curious, because I am pretrib, what do you do with verses like Matt 24:36 that says "as it was in the days.of Noah..." If we are going at the end of the tribulation, and all the horror show that is happening on earth at that time is going on, how would people be marrying and partying? Aren't they all hiding in caves and hoping rocks will fall on them? And at that point, would it really be like Jesus coming would be some surprise? The way I read it, people are doing normal life when the rapture happens"

The entire chapter of Matthew 24 is our guide for the times of the end. 

 Matthew 24:1  As Jesus left the temple complex and was walking away, his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the temple buildings.

2 In response Jesus said to them: “Do you see all these things? Amen, I solemnly tell you this: No two stones here will be left standing together; all are doomed to be torn down!”

3 While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him privately. “Please tell us,” they said, “ when will these things take place? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the culmination of the age?”  This is the only place Yeshua is asked this specific question so we need to pay attention. 

4 In answer Jesus said some very important things:

“Make sure that you don’t let anyone deceive you!5 There will appear in my name, you see, many imposters, claiming, ‘ I am the Messiah!’, and they will deceive many, many people. 6 Now you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure ᵖyou aren’t alarmed, for these things must take place, but its end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation and ‘kingdom against kingdom,’ you see, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these events, by contrast, will signal the beginning of birth pains.  These events are not THE EVENT that signifies the end of this age.

9 “At that time people will hand you over to be punished and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the Gentiles because of my name; 10 at that time many will fall away and hand one another over and hate one another. 11 There will appear many false prophets, and they will deceive many people. 12 Things will become so wicked, in fact, that the love of most will grow cold. 13 He who endures to the finish, however, will be saved. 14 And this gospel about the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole empire as a witness before all the Gentiles, and then its end will come.

15 “In light of these things, when you see the ‘abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken about through Daniel the prophet, stationed near the holy place (let the reader take careful note),  Yeshua wants us to take careful note because the abomination is THE EVENT that signals the start of the tribulation and therefore the 3 and 1/2 year period that culminates this evil age. Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11 speak of it and Paul speaks of it in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2. 

 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 If someone happens to be on the roof of his house, he must not come down to gather his belongings in the house. 18 Likewise, if someone happens to be out in his field, he must not turn back even to get his precious cloak. 19 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers at that time! 20 Pray that your flight won’t take place in winter or on a Sabbath, 21 because there will be at that time great trial and distress, such as has not occurred from the beginning of the world until now, nor will ever occur again. 22 In fact, if that time had not been cut short, no one would survive. That time will be cut short, however, because of the chosen ones. Mercy is always in play, even at this time when war and disease are wiping out large portions of humanity and lawlessness is running wild, God is still putting a time limit on evil, like he put limits on satan in his quest to destroy Job, in this case it is a time limitation so that the chosen ones do not fall away. 23 At that time, if anyone, to you, says, ‘Look! The Messiah is over here!’ or ‘Here he is!’, don’t believe it! 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the chosen ones. 25 Remember, I have warned you ahead of time.

26 “So then, if people say to ᵖyou, ‘Look! The Messiah is out in the wilderness!’, don’t go out! Or if they say, ‘Look! He’s in the inner rooms!’, don’t believe it! 27 As when lighting comes from the east and shines light as far as the west, you see, this is how it will be when the Son of Man comes. 28 Wherever there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.

29 “But suddenly, after the trial and distress of that time, other translations say "after the tribulation of those days" 

“ ‘the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light,’

and ‘the stars will fall from heaven,

and the powers of the heavens will be shaken’!  This is the Day of the Lord spoken of many, many times in scripture, also called the Day of God, the Day of Messiah or just That Day.

30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the land ‘will mourn’ when they see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet blast, the final trumpet of 1st Corinthians 15:52 and they will gather his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.  The gathering of His chosen ones is the rapture and the timing is, AFTER the tribulation of those days.

32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and start sprouting leaves, you recognize that summer is very near. 33 In the same way, you, too, when you observe all these things, recognize that he is very near—right at the door! 34 Amen, I solemnly tell you this: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. 35 It is heaven and the earth that will pass away! My words, however, will never pass away.

36 “Now in regard to that day and appointed time, no one knows it—not the angels in the heavens, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 Just as it was in the time of Noah, you see, this is how it will be when the Son of Man is about to come. 38 Indeed, just as people were, in that time before the flood, simply enjoying life, marrying and giving daughters in marriage, right up to the day Noah entered the ark, 39 and didn’t realize what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away—this is how it will be when the Son of Man is about to come.So the key is these people that are marrying and giving in marriage and in Revelation celebrating the temporary death of the two witnesses are staunch unbelievers who are doing their best to go on with their "normal" lives even with all the disease and war that is going on.  This type of people existed in Noah's time and will exist at the end of this evil age.  Right at the very end Yeshua will appear and at that point they will be begging for death and hiding under rocks, but up until that appearing they put up a brave front. 40 At that time there will be out in the field two men; one will be taken, and one will be left. 41 Grinding grain at the millstone will be two women; one will be taken, and one will be left. 42 In light of these things, stay awake and be watchful, since you don’t know in what day your Lord is going to come. 43 But understand this: If the master of the household had recognized in which watch of the night the thief was about to come, he would have stayed awake and not allowed the thief to break into his house. 44 That is why you, too, must yourselves be prepared. For it is in an appointed time you don’t suppose that the Son of Man is going to come.

45 “Who then is the trustworthy and wise slave, whom the master put in charge of his household slaves to give them their food at the appointed time? 46 Blessed is that slave whom the master, upon his arrival, finds doing exactly that. 47 Amen, I solemnly tell you this: The master will indeed over all his possessions put that slave in charge. 48 But suppose that slave is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with the drunkards— 50 the master of that slave will come in a day that the slave is not anticipating and in an appointed time he doesn’t recognize 51 and cut him in two; that slave’s portion he will make the same as the punishment he assigns to the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. We are called upon to be faithful to the end. Over and over it says this in Revelation that we are to persevere to the end. There is no scripture that speaks of a pre-trib rapture.  People in Syria are being crucified and having their heads cut off right now, do you think you could convince them that they will be raptured before it gets really bad?!  This doctrine, this teaching only flies in a country where religious freedom is still maintained and the jails are not filled with people who refuse to deny Yeshua.

 One last scripture portion 2nd Thessalonians 5:1-6  

5:1 Now as for the set times and the appointed seasons, brothers, you really don’t need to have anything written to you. 2 You yourselves, after all, know very well that the Day of the Lord is going to arrive how? Like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “peace and security,” then there will fall upon them disaster, suddenly, like birth-pains on a pregnant woman, and they will certainly not escape. 4 But as for you, brothers and sisters, because you are not in darkness, that Day should not overtake you like a thief. 5 All of you are people of the truth who live in the light, you see, and belong to the daytime. We do not belong to the nighttime, nor do we belong to the darkness.

6 So, in view of these things, we must not be sleeping like the rest of mankind, but must be watchful and awake and have self-control.

 

The Single-eyed Purpose of God Almighty

We wrestle not against flesh and blood.  

We want to see all come to the knowledge of the mercy of God.  

Satan has infiltrated into the teaching and mind of so many followers of God.

Oh God we are poor and needy, restore the love of truth.  

Prepare the soil and plant the imperishable seed.

My simple question would be, "What is the purpose/goal of God in His dealings with man?"

The only true, ultimate answer is, "The glory of God."  We are on the potter's wheel to be transformed 

into the image of Yeshua.  

This one question destroys, pre-trib, preterism, and prosperity (the 3 horrible p's) all in one cut.

End time summary Declaring the end from the beginning.

God's glory is that He controls all things and can tell the end from the beginning.  Isaiah 46:10, 45:21, 44:7, 41:22,23.  Reggie Kelly, "Doc" and others have labored long and hard to put together a clear concise view of the end times.  I am so grateful for this part of it that was recently shared.

Firstly, we know that the great tribulation cannot start until the necessary preliminary conditions are in place. Breaking the deadly peace arrangement, the Antichrist descends suddenly upon an unsuspecting Israel that is resting in a false sense of security (Isa 28:15, 18; Dan 8:25; 9:27; 11:23-24; 1Thes 5:3). Sweeping away all opposition (Dan 11:31; Rev 13:4), he forcibly enters the rebuilt temple of God which must again stand in Jerusalem ('the holy place' in 'Judea'; Mt 24:15-16; 2Thes 2:4; Rev 11:1-2). He then stops the regular (morning and evening) sacrifice that has been only recently reinstated (Isa 63:18; Dan 8:13-14) and places the abomination that triggers the great tribulation (Dan 11:31; 12:1-2, 11; Mt 24:15-16, 21; 2Thes 2:4). It's that simple. It was meant to be for our protection.

It is fitting that God would make it plain so that we would not be deceived by false reports and premature excitements to the contrary. There is only one antidote to end times deception: "But take ye heed! Behold; I have foretold you all things" (Mt 24:25: Mk 13:23). And, "Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall NOT come, except there come a falling away FIRST, and that man of sin be revealed ..." (2Thes 2:3-4).

Jesus does not give all the details that are needful for His people's knowledge of the end. Rather, He sends His disciples to Daniel's prophecy to identify and understand the key event that signals the beginning of the tribulation (Mt 24:15-16, 21). If we would only follow His clear command, we would save ourselves a lot of abuse and needless diversion from the false alarms of prophetic speculation. By His interjection, 'let the reader understand' (to paraphrase, "pay attention to Daniel!"), Jesus is directing us to search Daniel's prophecy for this event, and to read with "understanding" (a word that appears with significant frequency all throughout the book).

We find that the abomination that brings the final desolation of Jerusalem is mentioned four times (Dan 8:11; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). Jesus knew that when we would carefully observe what leads up to this event and mark what follows from it, we would not be so easily mistaken or deceived concerning the time of His return, nor without understanding of the nature and meaning of the tribulation that must immediately precede (Mt 24:29). This should be the beginning point of any study of prophecy, since it is exactly where Jesus tells His disciples to begin, a divine directive that has been far too little emphasized.

Contrary to many prophecy scenarios, the abomination of desolation cannot be separated in time from the stopping of the daily sacrifice. Both are equally 1290 days before the end (Dan 12:11). I agree this would seem obvious, but many false views of prophecy live and thrive by separating the inseparable. For example, some insist that Christ stopped the sacrifice by His death, but move the abomination up another 40 years to 70 A.D or some other more distant place in church history.  Then, contrary to the clearest of evidence from the most simple comparison of scripture with scripture, they boldly proceed to disconnect these inseparable events from Paul's description of the man of sin who enters the temple of God just shortly before his destruction by Jesus' return (2Thes 2:1-9). These things cannot be split up and placed at different points in history!

Many of the false systems of prophecy can only be sustained by either separating the sacrifice from the abomination by either decades or centuries, or by spiritualizing one or both. Invariably, the temple must also be spiritualized, so that the temple that Paul mentions in 2Thes 2:4 (see also John's reference in Rev 11:1-2) is usually considered to be representative of world Christendom. It is disconnected entirely from the temple mentioned by Jesus in His Olivet prophecy (Mt 24:15). And yet, both Jesus and Paul are clearly citing the words of Daniel to describe the same man who enters and defiles the temple of God to begin the unequaled tribulation (Dan 11:31, 36-37; 12:1, 11 with Mt 24:15-16, 21; 2Thes 2:3-4, 8).

What temple and where? How could Paul, without further qualification, have expected the Thessalonians to imagine any other 'temple of God' than the one that was standing in Jerusalem as a wonder of the ancient world when Paul was writing his epistle? What powerful presuppositions must be at play for interpreters to insist that Paul's reference to the temple of God in 2Thess 2:4 is an entirely different kind of temple, separate in time, meaning, and location from the temple that Jesus refers to in Mt 24:15-16. This is especially awkward when both passages are so manifestly speaking of the same event that signals the great apostasy and and final tribulation.

If we will carefully compare Paul's wording in 2Thes 2:4 with the identical language of Daniel's prophecy in Dan 11:36-37, it cannot be missed that the same person is in view. It should be obvious that this is the same man who places the abomination of desolation only five verses earlier in Dan 11:31, the event which Jesus references using precisely the same language in Mt 24:15.

Notice too that Rev 12:7-14 puts the 'short time' of Satan's rage as following immediately upon Michael's heavenly victory over Satan. This is exactly what we see in Dan 12:1-2. Michael stands up and then begins the unequaled trouble (Jacob's trouble; Jer 30:7) that ends with the deliverance of Daniel's people and the resurrection. In such a context, it would be a violence against plain language to separate these events, whether by decades or centuries. No, the abomination is placed at the same time the sacrifice is removed in the middle of Daniel's 70th week, precisely 1290 days before "the end", i.e., the end that accomplishes the final salvation of Israel in connection with the resurrection (Dan 9:27; 12:1-2, 11-13). That end! The text could hardly be plainer, and if a plain reading of plain language is not a sufficient ground for interpretation, then the sky's the limit!

With the temple spiritualized to stand for the church, the man of sin becomes a symbol for either a long line of Roman emperors or more commonly, the succession of popes, spanning, not a short period of approximately 3 1/2 years, but many centuries, as each of the days of Daniel's half week (1260, 1290, 1335; Dn 9:27; 12:11-12; Rev 11:3, 12:6) is understood to represent a year. This is the presupposition of the so-called 'historicist' interpretation that has been the dominant view since the Reformation until modern times and remains prevalent today among both Reformed and Seventh Day Adventists.

In this view, the sacrifice of Dan 12:11 is either put in the past or spiritualized. It cannot conceivably refer to a literal sacrifice that is being offered in a literal Jewish temple in a Jewish Jerusalem that will be stopped by the Antichrist just 3 1/2 literal years before the end. Why? Because this would require a prophetically significant reconstitution of the Jewish nation, such as we see before our eyes.

(Note: The so-called 'year day theory' has been a principal cause of most of the failed dates for Christ's return, most notably Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists).

The end result of all is to transfer prophecy out of its original Jewish context into a more symbolic and spiritualized fulfillment in the church. The rule seems to be (I've heard it stated) that the original and literal Jewish context must be abandoned if any progress is to be made in prophetic interpretation.

It is the separating of what God has joined that brings all the error and confusion. Keep these few events together and in their manifest relationship and alignment, and you'll be much better prepared to detect any deviations from the basic criterion (plum line) that Jesus gives in His Olivet prophecy as safeguard against deception.

Failure to hold these inextricable parts together has led to many disappointed expectations that have notoriously discredited prophecy all throughout the history of the church. The net result is to create what I like to call, the 'wolf! wolf! syndrome' that has led many to conclude that nothing definite or certain can or 'should' be known concerning the time of the Lord's return, whether now or at some point in the future. In this way, many have been diverted from the specific instruction that Jesus presents as His provision against a deception that will particularly concern the time and manner of His return (see Mt 24:23-29; Mk 13:21-23; 2Thes 2:3). The urgency of the language that both Jesus and Paul uses to warn and correct of any deviation from this basic criteria may prove much more decisive when the time comes than we can presently conceive.

Recently I was sent something from a youtube clip of the Jim Bakker show where someone was on declaring that "we missed the 5th trumpet." But as I mentioned, a careful comparison of Rev 8:12-13; 9:12-13 with Rev 11:11-14, in their contexts, should put beyond question that the 5th trumpet is the first woe. The 6th trumpet which is also the second woe coincides with the great earthquake that attends the ascension of the two witnesses. Manifestly, this is close to the end of the tribulation. Then, with the passing of the second woe in the aftermath of the ascension of the witnesses (Rev 11:14), announcement is made that the third woe is coming quickly. According to Rev 8:13 with Rev 9:12, the third woe is manifestly the 7th trumpet that finishes the mystery of God with the Lord's return to judge the wicked and reward the righteous (Rev 10:7; 11:15-18).

The tribulation is sufficiently defined that no believer who regards the plain meaning of scripture can miss it. I believe a clear case can be made from scripture that all 7 of the trumpets are within the last 3 1/2 years, but what is clear beyond any reasonable dispute is the impossibility that we missed five trumpets so that only one more remains between us and Christ's return at the 7th trump. That such a ludicrous proposal could get to first base is sad commentary on how vulnerable we are to deceptions of a much more serious nature.

As for the ever present threat of upheavals and disasters and judgment upon nations, Jesus says we are not to be troubled (in the sense of distracted or moved off course; compare 2Thes 2:2). Regardless of what we see, until we have seen the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet; the end is not yet! This is very important, as apocalyptic enthusiasm will grow ever more distracting and misleading with premature announcements of an imminent end. By such false alarms, the really significant events that do indeed mark the time with clarity and final certainty are lightly regarded or dismissed. Thus it is that despite the most prolific and visible display of prophecy in human history, that day is able to come upon the world completely unawares. That's amazing; but it also removes all excuse.

It is a sobering paradox that despite the great clarity of at least the most important sign events that Jesus gives, the angelic messenger can say to Daniel, "the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand" (Dan 12:10). That is very sobering. How else could such manifest fulfillment overtake the world as a thief?

Finally, I think the great question is what does all of this confusion mean? Why are things as they are? I believe the answer lies in what the Lord did at His first coming. Concealed within the prophetic writings was a mystery that was not to be revealed until the appointed time (Mk 5:43; 8:30; 9:9; 1Cor 2:7-8; Ro 16:25-26; 1Pet 1:10-12). All things were indeed foretold, albeit in such a way that for some, it would be a trap and snare, a stone of stumbling and rock of offense (Isa 8:14-18; Lk 2:34-35), designed by God to elude carnal confidence, while for babes, God Himself would undertake to reveal His hidden wisdom, ordained to their glory (Mt 11:25-26; Jn 15:15; 1Cor 2:7; Rev 10:7 with Amos 3:7).

All things were being tested by the mystery that confronted the nation in the person of Jesus. It will be so again at the end. God intends that the world be confronted with a mystery that is designed to test and search the depths of every heart. By their nature, the prophetic scriptures are designed to elude the pride of human self reliance, not because they are difficult or clouded in mystery; quite the contrary, they are plain and simple to the plain and simple. That is to say, they are clear and transparent to plain persons of simple trust who have been emptied of their own self sufficiency to know anything of themselves. Such find their only hope in a trembling dependency on the Holy Spirit, and in the reliability God's plain use of plain words for plain, everyday people. Everything will try to move us from the simplicity and clarity of what Jesus gave us to protect us from the subtleties of well meaning religious zeal, "But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand. Therefore, if they say to you ... (any deviation) ... believe it not!"