Jesus didn’t hide anything from his disciples and there is no reason to think that he spoke things that his followers didn’t or wouldn’t know. Of course, the unbelieving Jews didn’t believe even though he painted a picture with words they refused to understand. The Old Testament message foretold the end for Jerusalem and the message Jesus spoke was from the Old Testament. (Review the Book of Daniel and recall that Jesus made reference in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 to the message of Daniel. Jesus could not have been referring to a period of time thousands of years in the future. Daniel spoke of the time in which Jesus lived and the 37 years that followed and that is what Jesus referenced.)  

Again we must refer to Matthew 24: 2 where Jesus told the disciples the temple would be destroyed. In verse 3 they asked when these things be which has to refer to the temple stones being thrown down. Examination of verse 3 in light of the verses that follow in the chapter shows that the second part of their question is answered by Jesus when he spoke of the signs that would precede the destruction. (Note that the disciples did not ask what he meant nor did they doubt him.) The signs will precede the first and third parts of the question while the first and the third parts are connected and will occur after the signs of which Jesus spoke. The destruction of the temple called these things is part and parcel of the doing away with the age under the law.

After Jesus spoke verse 30, he said, 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. The use of a trumpet sound signified to the Jews a gathering together for a time of joy, for war and warning of destruction. The word translated angel (angelos--pronounced: ang'-el-os) the context would call for a human messenger due to the blowing of the trumpet. Since the meaning of Greek words in the New Testament are consistent with Old Testament Hebrew meanings, the contextual evidence of the Old Testament shows that the word trumpet (showphar--pronounced: sho-far' or shophar sho-far' (H7782) refers to either a human blowing the trumpet or a reference to God causing the trumpet sound.  But God is never referred to as a messenger in the 52 times in 51 verses the word is used, so a human (a messenger) blowing the trumpet is the choice for translating verse 31.

Given that the trumpet was used to call the people together for some purpose, the instrument in verse 31 was to be used to call the elect from across the land. The elect (see verse 24) were those who had chosen to follow Jesus. The messenger would sound the alarm that the time to flee was near. Four winds (directions of north, south, east and west) refer to the vast overall area or everywhere the people lived and they were to be summoned from one end of heaven to the other. Heaven in the verse doesn’t mean celestial realm; rather it refers to the sky or atmosphere surrounding the earth in which the people breathed, lived and worked.

Jesus shifted to a parable in verse 32, one of his favorite methods of teaching to get his message and point across. In verse 33 he said, So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. As the fig tree changed, it signified that summer was coming and was near. The parable of the fig tree was another way of presenting the signs he had spoken of earlier and he said that likewise the signs for the things of which he spoke meant that time for the events were near. What were the things to which he referred that were near? It was the coming destruction of Jerusalem.

Verse 34 is the point where the controversy over what Jesus spoke occurs. Those who want the events of the Bible to be yet future ignore the grammar, the history and the context of the teaching. Jesus said in verse 34, Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. The controversy is about the words this generation. What or which generation is the question? That question will be explored for the answer in part XV.

© 09-18-2012 DEC