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We can well imagine how great the shock must have been to the disciples, for, as
Christ was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him to get further
information about this tremendous event:
"Tell us", they said, "when this will happen, and what will be the sign of your coming
and of the end of the age?" (24: 3, N.I.V.).
This threefold query the Lord answers in the reverse order, (1) the end of the age
(24: 4-24), (2) the sign of His coming (parousia) (25-31-), and (3) when it will take
place (-31-42). It is important to notice that the disciples were not concerned as to when
the end of the world would take place (as A.V.). The word is age, and the end of the age
would coincide with the conclusion of Daniel's seventy weeks of years (Dan. 9:) which
contain the fulfillment of God's plan for Israel.
Before the Lord commences His reply, He sounds a note of warning, which He repeats
over and over again, hence its importance:
"Jesus answered, `Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My
Name, claiming, I am the Christ, and will deceive many'." (24: 4, 5, N.I.V.).
"and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people" (11, N.I.V.).
"For false Christ and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles
to deceive even the elect--if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time" (24,
25, N.I.V.).
The apostle Paul, when treating of the same time, also stresses deception:
"That wicked one shall be revealed . . . . . even him whose coming is after the working
of Satan . . . . . with all deceivableness of unrighteousness . . . . ." (II Thess. 2: 8-10).
This period then is going to be a time of great danger. These false prophets and false
Messiahs obviously originate from the religious world and are just tools of Satan, the
father of lies. All this is confirmed in the book of Revelation which deals with the same
period as Matt. 24::
"The wild beast `doeth great wonders . . . . . and deceiveth them that dwell on the
earth, by reason of those miracles'." (Rev. 13: 13, 14).
The two great opposing systems of the Lie and the Truth come out into the open at
last, and we have the final clash between them before the Second Coming of Christ and
the inauguration of His kingdom on earth. It is the time of the greatest difficulty and
danger recorded in history, as Matt. 24: 21 clearly teaches, and the only place of safety
is keeping close to the guidance of His Word, not adding nor taking away a fraction of
what is written there concerning this great climax.
Wars and rumours of wars will come, but these are not the indications of the end, but
rather "the beginning of sorrows" (24: 8). The Lord quotes Isa. 19: 2 as an
illustration of this, and it is one of seven quotations from the O.T. that He makes in this
address, which we shall note as we consider its details. The word "sorrows" in the Greek