My thanks go to Geoff Buckman who directed me to this timely book by the late Ray Stedman, What on Earth is Happening? What Jesus Said About the End of the Age. Read his book, here.
Ray’s book focuses on the Olivet discourse from Matthew 24-25, where Jesus tells us about the end of the age. As the Editors so rightly mention, “In light of current events in the Middle East and heightened interest in Bible prophecy…the book has never been more timely and relevant.”
“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come…What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.” Isaiah 46:9-11
Wouldn’t you like to know the future? If it were possible, wouldn’t you like to lift the curtain of tomorrow and read the future as if it were a history book? Well, there truly is a Book of future history, the Bible…many of its prophecies have already been fulfilled with astounding precision and reliability. The rest are either being fulfilled right now in our newspaper headlines, or they await an inevitable fulfillment in a certain future. The message Jesus delivered from the Mount of Olives … predicted the destruction of the city of Jerusalem (AD 70)… outlined the perils of that period between His first and Second Coming – the age in which we live…He looked past present day to a time called “the end of the age”… His prophecy of the end of the age culminates in His own return to earth and the dawn of a new day.
Once we’ve read the Olivet Prophecy, understood it and know the end of the story, Ray asks, “What will we do about it? What will our response be? There can be only one answer to that question, the same answer that our Lord has given us: Watch! The One Great Word is Watch!” In Matthew 24 & 25 Jesus emphasises the need to watch. “Watch out that no one deceives you. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” Ray writes, “Watch out! Be ready! Keep watch! Stand firm to the end! This is what it means to watch and wait for the Lord’s return.”
MARANATHA! (Come Lord Jesus)
See also Apocalypse now or 2012 or ?
I consider the Olivet Discourse to speak to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. It is a common partial-preterist view and there are some solid arguments for dates lining up for this to be the case (particularly, the writings of John of Patmos come into consideration).
The language Jesus uses is just so area-specific. It is always assumed that when two men are in a field and one will be taken and one left, that the one taken is the one who is to be favored – but what if the one taken is killed in the destruction because he didn’t head the words of Jesus? Nothing in the context of that passage suggests that the one taken is in the ideal position.
“Pray it may not happen in the winter”? Really specific.
“Those who are in Judea must flee for the mountains” – again really specific.
There is this great image of Jesus riding on the clouds in vs. 26 but I love what Luke does with this:
Luke 17:20-21 “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
I am more and more convinced that Jesus was warning Christians that worship in the Temple would soon come to an end and the Kingdom of God would be at work in our “midst” unfolding as we follow Him in our world, yet still waiting for the Great Completer to finish His work. Then the New Heaven will descend and be wed with the New Earth, a la Revelation 21.