An Introduction to Matthew Chapter 24

By Lucien LeSage

The following is in a note format for Sunday School.
There are a lot of notions concerning Matthew Chapter 24 and some think that it was all fulfilled in 70 AD.
So a proper study of the Prophet Daniel is in order since Jesus spoke of Daniel's prophecy in verse 15 of Matthew's gospel.

Matthew Chapter 24

Introduction:
We need to look at Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:1-38 and compare.
There are not contradictions but one gospel writer may not have
included all that can be said and so all three fill in the gaps.

Our Lord mentions words "spoken of by Daniel the prophet" in
verse 15. So lets see what Daniel has to say before we try to
understand all of thus.

We need to look at Daniel and and discover the GAP as I call it.

a) The Image in Daniel: Read Da 2:28-45
  In verse 32-33
    Gold was Babylonian
    Silver was Medo-Persian
    Brass was Grecian
    Iron was Roman
  But look at 34. A stone cut out without hands destroyed the
  whole image. See 34-35
  In verse 38 we are told Babylonia was the head of gold.
  In verse 39 follows another kingdom that is inferior.
  That would be the Medo-Persian (Silver) and it happened in
  chapter 5 verse 31.
  Then another which is Brass (Grecian)
  And then the fourth of Iron and we know the Roman followed
  that.
  There is no mention of a fifth kingdom in this dream and
  interpretation.
  BUT notice that in verse 44 we see that the ten toes represent
  10 kings and it is during the days of these kings that God
  will set up a kingdom.
  Was this the kingdom of heaven that started wiith John the
  Baptist and which had suffered violence or another?
  Notice this kingdom will break in pieces and consume all these
  kingdoms and it shall stand forever.
  SO DID THIS HAPPEN IN THE PAST OR IS IT YET FUTURE?
  If future then there was a gap somewhere before we get to the
  feet and toes that are a mixture of clay and iron (which some
  say is democracy).

b)  Before the Medo-Persian when Belshazzar was king of Babylon
  there was another dream that Daniel had at this time.
  So this was Daniel's dream and not the king's dream.
  See Dan 7:1
  There were FOUR beast this time. Before it was an image with
  four metals (some precious) but now four beasts.

  Lion with eagles wings = Babylon
  Bear raised up on one side with three ribs in it's mouth =
    Medo-Persian
  Leopard with four wings and four heads = Grecian
    Thrace, Macedonia, Syria and Egypt.
  Dreadful beast with great iron teeth = Roman
    But notice it had ten horns like the feet in the image had
    ten toes.
    From Da 7:8-11 we see a little horn who is destroyed by 
    Christ at his coming in verse 11. Notice in verse 9 that the 
    thrones were cast down during the time of this little horn
    and the Ancient of Days did sit.
  
  In verse 17 of chapter 7 we see that these four beasts are
  four kingdoms that will arise out of the earth. Yet we are
  taken down to the little horn that came up out from among the
  ten and it is during his time that Christ comes and destroys
  him and the Ancient of Days did sit.
  Then in verse 18 we see that the saints shall take the kingdom
  and possess it for ever.

  So there must have been a gap from when the dreadful fourth
  beast appeared and the time of these 10 horns and the little
  horn just as we saw in the image.

  In verses 19-20 we see that Daniel wanted to know more about
  that fourth beast and those ten horns and of that other little
  horn that came up.
  Please notice that this little horn made war with the saints
  in verse 21 until the Ancient of days CAME and then judgement
  was given to the saints and they possessed the kingdom.
  So again a gap somewhere after this fourth beast came on the
  scene and this little horn

  Verse 23 thru 28 explain more. Remember the Roman empire
  encompassed all of middle east and Egypt, etc. So these ten
  arise out of that empire and the little horn somewhere from
  that empire (probably Syria).
  Verse 25 says that this little horn will think to change the
  times and the laws and he will rule with absolute power for
  3.5 years (time, times and half time). But verse 26-27 tell us
  that the Lord's kingdom will come and all dominions will serve
  and obey him.

c) In chapter 8 Daniel has another vision.
  Ram with two horns - Medo-Persia (one higher=Persia).
  He goat with a horn - Grecian and Alexander the Great.
    But in verse 8 the great horn was broken and then four came
    up in it's place. Alexander died early in life and his four
    generals took over the kingdom.
    Out of one of them came a little horn. This little horn is
    claimed to be Antiochus Epiphanes, by most scholars, who
    came up out of Syria, from the Seleucidan dynasty.
    BUT look at verses 19-27
    It is explained who they all are.
    In verse 22 we see the kingdom of Alexander divided into
    four kingdoms.
      1) Macedonia: Cassander was made king, to which belonged
        Greece.
      2) Syria: Seleucus was made king, which included the
        eastern countries.
      3) Egypt: Ptolemy was made king, to which belonged Lybia,
        Palestine, Arabia, and Caelesyria.
      4) Asia Minor: Lysimachus was made king, which included
        Thrace, Bithynia and other places.

    In verse 19 we read the words "I will make thee know what
    shall be in the LAST END of the indignation: for at the time
    appointed the end shall be."
    In verse 23 we read the words "in the latter time of their
    kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king
    of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,
    shall stand up."

    Larkin points out that these kingdoms did not disappear at
    once but were gradually absorbed by the Roman Empire at
    different times, with Egypt as the last one to loose its
    identity. Since then, Egypt, Greece, and most recently Syria
    (which Larkin did not mention) have all regained their
    identity. Antiochus did not live in the "latter time" of
    those kingdoms., but was the eighth out of 26 kings that
    ruled over Syria. Larkin also says that Antiochus never
    waxed great.

    Notice this king comes out one one of these four, so does
    all this start narrowing down the location from witin the
    old Roman Empire that the anti-christ comes from.

    It is strange that Antiochus Epiphanes almost fulfills this
    but not entirely. We know that he came from Syria.

    The point is that we see yet another gap. These four
    kingdoms that came out of Alexander's kingdom and a king
    from one of them standing up against the Prince of princes
    in verse 25 yet destroyed not by man's hand.

d) Chapter 9 - the key to the gap
  In verse 24 we read this:

  "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy
  holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of
  sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
  everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and
  prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

  70 weeks = 490 years

  Thy people = Israel (see verse 20 and really all of chapter 9
    to verse 20).

  Upon thy holy city = Jerusalem  (vs 2, 7, 12, 16 'THY CITY
    Jerusalem, thy HOLY mountain'

  It has to do with the nation of Israel, the Jews, and the city
  of Jerusalem. This shows that the seventy weeks have nothing
  to do with the "Gentiles" or the "Church," but only the Jews
  and Jerusalem and for the accomplishing of the things
  mentioned.

  To finish the transgression: Was that accomplished at Calvary
  or at 70 AD? And what transgression? That of Israel. And what
  is it? Their unbelief. Did that end in 70 AD?

  Make an end of sins. The Lord paid for sins but did he make
  an end of the sins of Israel at Calvary, or are they still in
  unbelief? Have their sins been taken away in a practical
  sense? Paul speaks of it yet in the future and not when Christ
  died as a substitute for his people.

    Romans 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be
      ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your
      own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to
      Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.  26
      And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There
      shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall TURN AWAY
      UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB: 27  For this is my covenant unto
      them, when I shall TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.  28  As
      concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes:
      but as touching the election, they are beloved for the
      fathers' sakes.

  Everything listed will be done during the seventy weeks of
  years. "To finish the transgression, and to make an end of
  sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in
  everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and
  prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

  Verse 25 tells us when it starts.
  The 70 weeks are broken down into three parts.
    7 weeks
    62 weeks
    1 week (70th)
  Jesus was crucified after the 62nd week or 69th total but not
  in the 70th.
  Here is the gap again.
  Since it has nothing to do with the Gentiles and the church
  age it jumps from the 69th to the 70th just as everything we
  have seen so far jumps to the end. So this does as well.

  The gap is between the 69th and 70th week.

  I would mention that in verse 26 it says the PEOPLE of the
  prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the
  sanctuary. That happened in 70 AD. It did not say the kingdom
  of the prince that shall come but the people of the prince
  that shall come.
  People = tribe, flock nation but not a kingdom. Kinsman,
    kindred.

  Notice it does not say that the people under the leadership of 
  this prince shall destroy the city. This prince comes at some 
  later date than his people come and destroy the city. So he 
  did not come in 70 AD but must come after that.
  So again a gap between the prince that shall come and his
  people that came in 70 AD and destroyed the city and the
  temple.

  AFTER RESEARCH I have discovered that the PEOPLE that
  destroyed the city and the sanctuary were mainly Syrians and
  Arabs under the authority of Rome. They were troops assembled
  from the people of that area. To verify you can see Josephus
  on this. Since that is the case then the prince of these
  people could very well be a Syrian and perhaps a Syrian Jew
  with Islamic ties.  It says, PEOPLE, not Government or Kingdom
  or Empire.


  Notice in verse 27 the he looks back to the prince that shall 
  come not to the Messiah. Some contend that teh he is Jesus in 
  verse 27 and that he caused the sacrifice to cease when he 
  offered himself as the true and perfect sacrifice. It is true
  where remission of these is there is no more offering for sin.
  But the sacrifices went on after Jesus was crucified.  Notice
  in this verse we see the statement "for the overspreading of
  abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the
  consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the
  desolate."

  In every other place in Daniel it is the little horn that
  causes the sacrifice to cease (in one case Antiochus
  Epiphanes).

e) In chapter 11 we see history written in advance. It was so
  accurate that unbelievers have suggested that it was actually
  written after the events it spoke of.
  In verse 21 the vile person is Antiochus Epiphanes and he does 
  things that the antichrist will do, so how can he not be a 
  type and also point to the location that the antichrist
  arises from?
  In verse 31 we read of him: "And arms shall stand on his part,
  and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall
  take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the
  abomination that maketh desolate."

  But this cannot be what Christ spoke of as it was already past 
  when Christ spoke the words concerning the "Abomination of 
  desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet" in verse 15 of our 
  chapter 24 in Matthew. So Christ speaks of another Abomination 
  of Desolation that Daniel wrote about.

  Now look at verse 33 of Daniel chapter 11.
  "And they that understand among the people shall instruct
  many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by
  captivity, and by spoil, many days."

  The apostles and his disciple were they that understood among
  the people.
  But nevertheless the Jews fell by the sword in 70 AD and
  their city and temple destroyed by flame such that the
  gold in the temple melted and ran in teh cracks of teh
  street. Then the remnant of those who survived were taken into
  captivity and so have they been for at least 1900 years (many
  days).

  Here is the gap again.

  In verse 35 we read these words "even to the time of the end"
  In verse 36 we read of the willful king who is none other that
  the antichrist (read 36-45).
  Notice in 45 "he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace
  between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall
  come to his end, and none shall help him."
  So he sets the place from which he shall rule as Jerusalem.
  Yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him.
  If we continue to read into chapter twelve we read "And at
  that time".
  What time?
  Well the time that this willful king sets the tabernacle of
  his palace in Jerusalem. It is at that time "there shall be a
  time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation
  even to that same time: and at that time thy people (ISRAEL)
  shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in
  the book."

  It is when this willful king, the coming man of sin, sits in
  Jerusalem and in the temple declaring that he is God that the
  great tribulation period comes and the world will know that
  they had believed a strong delusion.

f) Continuing in Chapter 12 we see that the words and the book 
  are shut up and sealed until the time of the end (verse 4).
  Then we see that it is for 3.5 years to the end of these 
  wonders (verse 6 and 7). In verse 9 we see that these things 
  are closed until the time of the end. In verse 10 many will be 
  tried and purified but this is concerning Daniel's people. We 
  see that none of the wicked will understand.
  Then in verse 11 we see the abomination of desolation that 
  Jesus spoke of in verse 15 of Matthew chapter 24.
  
  Then we read in verse 13 where Daniel is told "But go thou thy 
  way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot 
  at the end of the days."