Signs of the End Times

INTRO

In Matthew 24, Jesus shared with His disciples the signs of His return. There are many perspectives on these verses. We’ll deal with a couple of them. We’re going to unpack the Scriptures and let God’s Word speak for itself. The end goal of this lesson is for you to be prepared for the return of King Jesus.

TEACHING

Matthew 24:1-2: Jesus brought up the coming destruction of the temple complex (A.D. 70). Not only does this refer to the destruction of the temple , but of the rip in the veil at Jesus’ death.

Matthew 24:3-8: Later, the disciples asked Jesus when these things would happen and what signs would be seen. Jesus warned them to watch out for those who would deceive them––the false messiahs (v. 5). Many have come in the past, claiming to be the Messiah. Jesus said these false messiahs would deceive many. He also said there would be wars and rumors of wars, but the end would not come yet (v. 6). And, famine and earthquakes would happen (v. 7). These would all be birthing pains (v. 8). All these signs tell us to get ready.

Matthew 24:9-14: Then would come persecution of the disciples and even death. Those who call on the name of Jesus will be hated and betrayed. False prophets will deliver prophetic words that lead many of the hearers astray. Lawlessness and chaos will increase and spread. “The one who endures to the end will be delivered.” We are to stick with it! Because of endurance to the end, the good news of God’s kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world.

Let’s go to the end times here: The 144,000 will be the ones delivering the message during this time. They will be Jewish evangelists (Revelation 7:4). That’s 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes. Their goal will be literally to preach the kingdom of God. Those who endure will be able to support these Jewish evangelists.

Matthew 24:15-22: Verse 15 is like a bomb just dropped. As the gospel is going forth, “the abomination that causes desolation” (the antichrist) will come in and take over in the second half of the seven-year period of peace. He will stand in the holy place meant for God. Daniel 9:24-27 talks about the signs discussed in Matthew 24. One week in these verses stands for 7 years. The timeline for 490 years is divided into three sections and looks like this:

First 7 Weeks (49 years): The city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt.

Second 63 Weeks (434 years): The Messiah will come and die for the sin of the world.

Last Week (7 years): For the first three-and-a-half years, the prince will make an agreement with the Jews for a time of peace, and then the antichrist will come in and take over (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

The antichrist will sit in God’s sanctuary and proclaim that he is god. When we see a seven-year peace agreement in Israel, and one of the leaders who initiates that agreement sits himself in God’s sanctuary and declares he is god, we will know that Jesus hasn’t come back yet. The third segment of years we have not seen yet. When this takes place, those in Judea must flee to the mountains without even getting their own things (vv. 16-18). It will be difficult for pregnant women and mothers of small children (v. 19), or in the winter or on the Sabbath (v. 20). When that peace agreement is made, we can begin to expect the end times to unfold. There will be great tribulation unlike anything the world has ever seen before, and no one would survive if the days of the tribulation were not limited because of the elect (vv. 21-22).

Matthew 24:23-28: During the tribulation, false messiahs and false prophets will show up again (vv. 23-24). Jesus emphasized not to be deceived or drawn in by these false messengers (vv. 25-26). Everyone will see the coming Messiah, not just a few, and it will come suddenly or at any time (v. 27)! At some point, there will be a gathering of people to battle at Armageddon, and the carnage will be horrific (v. 28). Before the Son of Man comes, there will be massive fighting.

Matthew 24:29-31: After this craziness in the tribulation, the sun, moon, and stars will be changed, and the Son of Man will appear in the sky with “power and great glory” (vv. 29-30). He will appear on a cloud in the same way as when He left in Acts 1. The peoples of the world will mourn as they see Him. His angels will go out with trumpets to gather His elect from around the world (v. 31).

1. The rapture of the church will take place at some point. We must be ready at any time.
2. The leader of ten European nations will make a seven-year peace agreement with Israel. That leader can be the antichrist (Daniel 9:26-27). When that happens, we should all get ready.
3. After three years, the antichrist (the abomination of the desolation) is going to break the agreement (Daniel 9:27).
4. The antichrist will move to Jerusalem and set up his image in the temple (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
5. The antichrist will begin to control the world to worship him, and at that time, God will send a great tribulation.
6. The nations will gather at Armageddon and will fight the antichrist. At some point, we will see the sign of Christ coming to fight the antichrist in Israel.
7. King Jesus will return to earth, defeat His enemy, be received by the Jews, and establish His kingdom.
8. Then Jesus will reign for 1,000 years.

CLOSING

This is obviously a very brief overview. What is important, is to know that you shouldn’t bank on the rapture pulling you out so you won’t have to endure the tribulation. What is important is for us to be prepared and able to endure until the end.