Matthew 24, Part Two

The coming judgment upon Jerusalem (vs. 29-31)—These three verses are the ones that confuse most people. Let’s get them fully before us: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Verse 30’s declaration that “they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and great glory” is interpreted to mean the literal Second Coming of Jesus. It’s not. It is a figurative coming in judgment upon Jerusalem and the Jewish nation. Notice that this coming was going to happen “Immediately after the tribulation of those days” (v. 29). Jesus obviously did not literally come back in the first century, so we must understand the “coming” of verse 30 as figurative.

And, frankly, if we’d do just a little bit of Old Testament study, there would be no difficulty. This idea of the sun being darkened, the moon not giving its light, etc. was used by the prophets to indicate judgment upon a nation. For example, in his “burden against Babylon” in Isaiah 13, we find this language: “Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine” (vs. 9-10). Notice that the language used is almost exactly what Jesus says in Matthew 24:29. If God used this language in illustrating “the day of the Lord,” i.e., a day of judgment against Babylon, why would He not use it against Jerusalem? It's language Jesus' listeners and Matthew's readers would have been been familiar with.

Another example: In Ezekiel 32, the prophet speaks judgment against Pharaoh and Egypt. Verses 7 and 8 read, “When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land,' says the Lord GOD.” Sound like Matthew 24:29 again. If we study the Old Testament, this “apocalyptic” language that Jesus uses in Matthew 24 should be familiar to us, too, and thus we ought not be surprised that such speech is found in reference to the coming judgment on Jerusalem.

And, once more, the “coming with the clouds” is figurative. Isaiah 19:1 says, “The burden against Egypt. Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, and will come into Egypt.” Jehovah is coming in judgment upon Egypt riding on a cloud. Literally? Psalm 104:3 talks about a God Who “lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind.” Now, indeed, when the Lord Jesus returns the final time, He will come with the clouds (Acts 1:11; Rev. 1:7). But that coming will be a judgment day, too. So familiarity with the Old Testament figures and allusions will help us to understand Jesus’ language in Matthew 24:29-31, the most difficult passage in the chapter.

Verse 31, “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other,” tells us that, during this destruction of Jerusalem, the Lord will protect “His elect”—provided, of course, they paid attention to what He had told them earlier in the chapter. “See, I have told you beforehand” (v. 25).

The lesson from the fig tree (vs. 32-36)—Jesus relates a short parable in vs. 32-33: “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near--at the doors!” You know the signs for ripe figs, Christ says, now you know the signs for the coming destruction of Jerusalem. If they didn’t pay attention, it wouldn’t be the Lord’s fault.

Verse 35 is clear: “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.” A generation is 40 years and that’s about how many years intervened between Jesus’ warning in this chapter and the disaster that befell Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans in 70 A.D.

The destruction of Jerusalem that year is a cardinal event in the history of the Jews. The Romans obliterated everything—the temple, all the records, etc. There isn’t a Jew alive today who can tell you which of the 12 tribes he comes from, because the Romans destroyed those records. How can Israel today set up their religion as revealed in the Law of Moses? The priests must be from the tribe of Levi, but no Jew today can know if he is from that tribe or not. The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was God’s plenary judgment upon the Jewish nation—no more land, no more temple, no more sacrifices; the Jewish religion is not God’s authorized religion today, and He has no more purpose for the Jewish people. God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Tim. 2:4), and that can only happen through Jesus Christ and the Christian religion (Acts 4:12). If the Lord had His way, there wouldn’t be one single, solitary Jew left on the face of this earth. They would all become Christians.

That’s what He was trying to tell them in 70 A.D.