Clearing Up the Confusion

Last night we continued in our discussion of "Questioning Your Answers." The nature of this discussion has been incredibly revealing. What are the beliefs you carry, or the church carries that you have basically adopted, that creates fear, confusion, and/or disillusionment? Being the kind of person that I am, I tackled the "BIG ONE" on our list of topics. I chose to provide different ways to view the Book of Revelation, understanding the contextual nature of Matthew 24, and looking into some of the Greek words that I believe have been translated incorrectly in some of the popular Bible translations.

Much of what I am attempting to do would be much easier if we could just dump out a lot of the bad teaching we have received and start all over. However, I don't think we've invented a memory wipe. Which means we simply have to look at certain passages in context. Matthew 24 is one of those particular places in Scripture that has to be seen in context or we get ideas for a sci-fi thriller.

I will not go into great detail about this chapter today. I simply want you to look at the first few verses. The reason this is very important is because we see a discussion that is initiated, a question that is asked, & an answer that is given. When you see this in the chapter, you can begin to think about the meaning in a whole new light.

"Jesus left the temple and was going away, when His disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But He answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them..." [Go to Matthew 24 and read all of this for yourself]

I want you to place yourself in this story. Consider that you are one of the disciples. Jesus is walking out of the temple and suddenly all of your friends start showing Him all of the buildings. He looks at all of you and says, "You see all of this? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." Then He just walks away. As you follow Him up to the Mount of Olives, and are sitting there looking at the temple, you have to ask the question: "When will these things be? AND what is the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?"

Here's what I want you to notice. A specific question was asked of the Lord. The disciples clearly want to know when the Temple is going to be destroyed & how/when Jesus is going to pull this off. It's an honest question. He just said this thing was coming down. They recognized it as something He was going to do & that it would also signify the end of the age. These are important questions. Unfortunately, in our day & time, this has not been how Matthew 24 has been presented. We don't see it as applying to that generation. We have been taught to view this passage in a futuristic tense. In other words, our future. What we have missed is the meaning behind it.

We read Matthew 24 & think that they are asking Him about the signs of His 2nd coming. Folks...they didn't think Jesus was leaving. There was no other group more shocked at the death of Jesus than His disciples. He tried to let them in on what was going to take place. They simply didn't hear it. They didn't believe He was going to die. They didn't believe He was going to leave the Earth. They were wondering when He was going to rise up and make this thing happen. His "coming" that is in question is the coming to destroy the Temple. Can you see that?

Another thing that we have to look at is the "end of the age." The KJV, along with some other translations, have improperly translated the Greek word "aion" which means "age" not "world." Based upon the translation of the Bible that you use, you can read this & think they are asking Jesus when the end of the world is coming. That is NOT what they are asking. They are asking about the end of the age. What age? The age of the temple. The age of Moses. The age of the Law. Think about it this way: If I came to you the day before your 60th birthday and said, "Welcome to the end of the "aion", and you heard end of the world, then you would be very fearful. However, if you understood that I mean end of the age, you would understand that I was talking about your 50's. You are getting ready to enter into a NEW AGE. Turning 60 doesn't literally mean the end of the world. It may just feel like it.

Last of all, I want to point out that everything Jesus declares in this passage is for that generation. "This generation will not pass away until all these things take place." This is a specific time statement unless you spiritualize the word generation. A Biblical generation is typically understood as 40 years. Which is an important number for the fulfillment of these things.

Let's recap:
Jesus makes a statement concerning the destruction of the temple.
The disciples ask Him about it. When will it happen & what are the signs that will lead up to it?
Jesus answers them.
Everything that follows in Chapter 24 IS AN ANSWER to their question in verse 3. What we read is prophetic in the sense of that generation, not ours. He is preparing them for what is to take place. The wars & rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, etc. were all a sign that these things were getting ready to happen. The warnings about taking flight when you see these things coming, the prayers that it would not take place in winter or on the Sabbath, etc. were all meant to prepare them for what was to come. This "generation" would see these things come to pass. And all we have to do is look into some of the historical documents about this time to see that these things did take place.

So what signified the end of the age? The destruction of the temple. The age of Moses came to a close in/around AD 70 when the Romans invaded Jerusalem. They utterly destroyed the city & the temple. Many, many, Jews died during this invasion. Those who were allowed to live would be hauled off as slaves. All of this we read in history. According to Jewish history, and what is often overlooked by many people, is the fact that there were no Christians who died during this invasion. Why? The Christians did not die in the invasion because they left. The saw the signs of the times and they headed for the hills. They did not run back into the city, they did not go after their cloaks, and they did not go back into the house to get their possessions. They left the city as they had been instructed. Their lives had been saved from destruction.

Why is this important?
It's important for us to recognize that the end of that age had come. We are in a New Covenant age. An age of grace. The temple, with all of it's practices has been done away with. The Jews no longer had a priesthood. There was no place to offer sacrifices. All of the vessels of the temple were destroyed or taken as loot. Because of the fire within the temple, all of the gold was melted down through the stones. The Romans took what was left of the temple apart stone by stone. Therefore, there was not left "one stone upon another." The prophecy of Jesus in Matthew 24 has been fulfilled. It was the end of the age. Welcome to the New Covenant.

As long as we read Matthew 24 in a future tense, it creates confusion, fear, and misunderstanding. When we see it in it's historical context, it creates security, comfort, and assurance. See this chapter for what it is, who it was spoken to, and the questions that it answers. That is all I ask. Read it in context & see if it changes the way you view life. It's time to clear up the confusion.

Be Blessed.