Facing the Future with God

MEMORY SELECTION: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” —Matthew 24:35

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Matthew 23:37-39; 24:1-14

IN THE context of the 24th chapter of Matthew, we are considering our Lord’s great prophecy concerning the events that would transpire down through the Gospel Age until the establishment of Christ’s kingdom here on earth.

The prophecy came as a result of the disciples’ showing Jesus the Temple, and Jesus said that the Temple would be destroyed with not one stone left upon the other. The disciples were amazed and asked when these things should be and what should be the sign of his coming and the end of the age.

Three things are important to note about the disciples’ question. The first is that they asked for a sign so that they would know when the Lord returned. Previously Jesus had told them he must go to Jerusalem and there he must suffer and die, and on the third day be resurrected. (Matt. 20:18,19) He must also have explained to them that after that, he would be a great spirit being invisible to human eyes. Hence the desire of the disciples for a sign, in order that they might be aware of his return.

The second point in the question by the disciples involves the word “coming.” This is the Greek word parousia which, according to Rotherham, one of the most reliable of translators, should always be translated presence. He states, “In this edition the word parousia is uniformly rendered “presence” (“coming,” as a representative of this word, being set aside). The original term occurs twenty-four times in the New Testament. … The sense of “presence” is so plainly shown … that the question naturally arises, Why not always so render it?” This is true also of a number of other translators.

There is a third point associated with the disciples’ question, and we think it is very significant. The signs that indicated our Lord’s second presence were also to signal the end of the world [age]. The Greek word translated world in this instance is aion which according to Strong’s Concordance should be translated age.

The key to an understanding of our Lord’s prophecy in Matthew the 24th chapter is the word parousia, or presence. This makes the important point that when we see the signs the Lord gives us in this chapter, we know that he is actually present, and that these same signs also indicate the end of the age. Without this understanding we would assume that we see the signs that the Lord would be coming sometime in the future, without necessarily realizing where we are on the stream of time.

One of the signs the Lord gave us that would indicate his presence and the end of the age is found in verses 21 and 22, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but … [by the elect] those days shall be shortened.” We think it is very evident that the conditions that exist in the earth today have never been present in past ages. The population of the earth is expanding so rapidly that the world’s food supply is not keeping up, and many parts of the world are experiencing famines. Moreover, scientists have endeavored to estimate how many people the earth can support. In their most optimistic estimates they have concluded that the absolute maximum number of people our globe can support is roughly eight billion people living on a cereal diet. We expect to reach this number by 2010.

Another of the more positive signs distinguishing this time from all previous ages is that man possesses the means of destroying himself from the face of the earth. Most scientists agree that the balance of terror being maintained between nations now will be breached. It will probably occur as the direct result of a proliferation of nuclear weaponry. The more people who have such weapons, the more probable their use.

We have only very briefly considered one of the signs the Lord gave us in this prophecy. The Dawn invites you to read the booklet entitled, “Our Lord’s Return” if you are interested in pursuing this subject further.

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