Welcome back to The Line of Fire, where we are here five days a week to infuse you with faith, with truth, with courage to help you stand strong in the Lord. On the front lines, every single one of us, friends, we are in The Line of Fire.
That is the reality. But God is with us. And in Jesus, we are more than conquerors through him who loves us. We are overcomers. And whatever comes your way, be encouraged. Jesus has overcome the world. We are in him.
Michael Brown, it is my privilege and honor to be with you. We are talking all this month about the return of Jesus. We're going to get into date setting questions. We're going to get into some sensationalistic things that we need to avoid. We're going to really look at the glorious truths of the return of Jesus.
Do our best to discern what time it is today in the world. We're going to continue reading in Matthew 24. Notice this coming of the Lord is after the tribulation of those things. And it's the coming of the Lord for the elect, and it is coming with a loud trumpet call. And we know, 1 Corinthians 15, it is at the last trumpet that the Lord returns. So the last trumpet cannot be before this trumpet, otherwise it wouldn't be the last trumpet, right? If you're playing a baseball game, the eighth inning is not the last inning, it's the ninth inning.
If you're playing a football game or a basketball game, the third quarter is not the final quarter, it's the fourth quarter. So the last trumpet is not before other trumpets, it is the last trumpet. So this loud trumpet call, after the tribulation of those days, is the final trumpet. It is the seventh of seven trumpets, at which time the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Messiah, and he reigns forever and ever. Revelation 11.
It is with a loud shout. With the trumpet blast, 1 Thessalonians 4, that the Lord returns, and we are gathered to meet him, we are caught up to meet him together in the air, and we are with him forever. I mean, it is glorious truth, and it is after the tribulation of those days that this happens.
So that summer is near. So also when you see all these things, you know that he is near at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
All right, now, we've got to dig in here a little deeper, very, very important truths. We've said that the prophetic scriptures in the Old Testament are similar to Matthew 24, namely that they speak of things relevant for the hearers then and for future generations, and that you often have them layered together in such a way that you cannot distinguish the one from the other until they fully come to pass. So we see certain things took place already, certain things remain to take place in Matthew 24, and there are parallels as it happened back then, it will happen again now.
And friends, the table's set. You've got a Jewish Jerusalem again. You've got religious leadership growing and wanting to enforce more Sabbath regulations. You've got a growing Messianic Jewish population in the land. You've got the gospel going through the entire earth, as scripture says, and a harvest like we've never seen, so everything culminating so that Matthew 24 unfolding in the future now makes perfect sense.
Relevance to the first century and relevance to the final generation and spiritual relevance for all of us who read it through all time. What about the fig tree? Is the fig tree a picture of Israel? Sometimes in the Bible, but it's not the primary view. The primary picture of Israel, it's like into a vine. So you have Isaiah 5 would be one of the classic passages. It's like into an olive tree, although the olive tree in Romans 11 goes beyond Israel, the Israelites individual branches, but it can be like into an olive tree, like into a vine. There are occasional references to Israel being a fig tree, but I don't believe this is primarily saying when you see the modern state of Israel, rebirth, you know the end is near. Now, some say the fig tree was cursed by Jesus earlier in Matthew's gospel, and that was a sign to say that God is finished with Israel forever. That the fig tree represents Israel, and when he cursed Israel, Israel was finished forever and would soon be destroyed with the destruction of the temple and God was no longer dealing with Israel as a people.
Well, God didn't get the memo on that, number one, because he's preserved the Jewish people and he's brought us back to the land and here we are, so he didn't get the memo on that. Plus, Jesus can't curse the fig tree and curse Israel forever when God explicitly in passage after passage after passage in the Old Testament, with his own name, with his own reputation, with his own oath, said I'm going to keep you and I'm going to bring you back to the land. But, even if you wanted to argue that the fig tree represents Israel, well then Jesus is saying it's going to rebud.
It was cursed, but it's going to rebud. So for those who say the fig tree represents Israel and he cursed Israel, well I'm saying then, well then have it your way, but in Matthew 24, he now says it's going to bud again, and that's how you know. My understanding is simply that he's saying, hey, just like you see this happen in nature, you can know this also.
It's interesting though, Luke's gospel mentions fig tree and the other trees, which some would say speaks of Israel and the other nations. Some interpret it like that, I don't, but it is very interesting that it could bear those words. So also when you see all these things, you know that he is near at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Now, Matthew 24, 34, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place, is used by my colleagues, my brothers and sisters, who say that all this had to take place in the day of those disciples, that generation. Because always in Matthew's gospel when he says this generation, he's speaking of that current generation.
Some have argued that the Greek word used there for generation can mean race, genia, that it can mean race and it should not be taken to mean generation, genia there. I don't agree with that. I don't agree that speaking of the Jewish people, that the Jewish people will not pass away. I don't believe he's saying that. Some say this generation is speaking of the spiritual condition of the people. The spiritual condition of the people. Meaning when Jesus says this generation seeks a sign that it's a wicked generation and this generation, this wicked generation will persist until all these things come to pass. That's a possible reading.
I don't see it like that either. Rather, I see it as relevant in the first century and as relevant in the last. In other words, the generation that is seeing these things happen will see the rest happen. So the generation that saw Jerusalem surrounded by armies in Matthew 24, in the days of Jesus, alright, that that generation saw the destruction of the temple.
It happened. The generation that will be alive at the end of the age that will see these things come to pass will see Jesus return. So there is a final generation to whom this applies and it's possible that all of this just applies to the final generation. That they're the only ones who will see it all come to pass. You say but elsewhere this generation in Matthew is speaking of people in this day because that was relevant in that day. They were the ones that were there and the ones that will be there at the end of the age, it will be relevant to them. But it could well be that this generation is used for the first generation, those listening to Jesus right then, that saw the destruction of the temple and the final generation. This generation, whenever that will be, that will see the Lord return. So there's no contradiction.
There is no problem there. And remember, the Greek is explicit, the end of the age in Matthew's Gospel does not refer to the destruction of the temple, does not refer to the end of the age and sacrifice, refers to the culmination of all things when Jesus returns and he is with us always to the end of the age. And we're still living in that time of awaiting with his presence right now. Heaven and earth will pass away, he says, but my words will not pass away. But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Obviously speaking of Jesus on earth at that time, not knowing, obviously the eternal Son, one with the Father knows, but emptying himself of his divine prerogatives at that moment, he went without knowing, right? So that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven. It's based on this that those of you who hold to a preacher of rapture say, you see, this is something different now. This is different than the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds and the sign that the whole world sees. This is something that no one sees coming. I appreciate that.
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So call now 1-800-771-5584, 1-800-771-5584 or online at TriVita.com. Welcome back to the Line of Fire. I am loving going through Matthew 24 verse by verse. Obviously we can go word by word and then compare in detail Mark 13 and Luke 21. But remember, it's Matthew 24-3 where the disciples ask a two-fold question. Not just about the destruction of the temple, but about the sign of His coming, the end of His age. Remember the piracy of the coming is not just coming in judgment, coming in power. It is His literal arrival. That's how it's used throughout the New Testament. It is a literal arrival.
It is a physical presence. It is when we will be transformed. Have you received your resurrected body yet? No. Well then He has not returned yet. We are still waiting for His coming.
Have the wicked been destroyed from the earth? No. Well then we are still awaiting His coming. Has He destroyed war and set up His kingdom and ruling and reigning from one end of the earth to the other without resistance?
No. We are still awaiting His return. So concerning that day and hour, no one knows not even the angels of heaven, not the Son but the Father only. There's no way that that day is referring to anything other than that day of the coming of the Son of Man visibly. That day when we're caught up to meet Him and the whole world sees.
That day of the piracy of the visible, physical return of Jesus Yeshua to the earth. That's what we're waiting for. And no one knows the day or the hour.
And that's why date setting remains unwise. As things get closer, as things unfold more and more clearly, then we'll know. Then we'll know. But for now we take heed to the warnings, the large warnings of Matthew 24 that are relevant for every generation. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark.
They were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man. Once again the parousia, His visible return, His presence.
Okay? So there's no way that this parousia was used just a few verses earlier for His physical return for the whole world to see. And now it's talking after the tribulation of those days and it's speaking about something else here.
No, it's one and the same. So what does it mean as things were in the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man? There are two ways of reading this. One way is that it's telling us that just as there is extreme wickedness in the days of Noah, so there will be extreme wickedness at the end of the age.
You know it's an interesting thing. There's an ancient Jewish Midrash. This is homiletical interpretation.
It's not historical data. It's not legal discussion but homiletical interpretation and many traditions preserved in it. But there are some ancient Jewish texts that may have even been known in the days of Jesus. They're certainly known in the centuries immediately after but they may have even been known in His day. That in the days of Noah, that one of the things that brought about the flood was that they were giving out marriage certificates for men to marry men.
Just fascinating little anecdote, isn't it? But in any case, this could mean that just as it was in the days of Noah, that there was all types of sin and evil and God had to come and bring destruction, all types of violence, all types of sexual sin of all kinds, that that's how it will be at the end of the age. That's one way to read it. Another way to read it is more simple and saying that Jesus is explaining right here, So the day when Noah entered the ark and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and one left, two women will be grinding at the mill and one will be taken and one left. So the other way of reading it is that even though Noah was preaching in the morning, they still didn't see it coming. They didn't see the end coming. Now again, in favor of the pre-trib rapture, you say, look, surely the time of tribulation, the final upheaval, people aren't just going to be living their lives, marrying, giving them marriage, eating, drinking, thinking everything is normal.
The whole world is going to be shaken. Look at the book of Revelation and look at other prophecies about the end of the age and surely people won't just be living normal lives and that's why it's a rapture that suddenly comes out of the blue and then after that, later after the tribulation, then the second coming. Again, I appreciate the argument.
I held to it my first days, my first years in the Lord and so my dearest friends hold to it to this day. We don't divide over it and since we don't know the day of our death, we always live ready to meet the Lord. So that's not an issue. I don't need an any minute rapture to help me to live ready to meet the Lord because we don't know what the next second brings.
And I understand the force of this argument. I simply understand it to say that even right to the end, people are still going to be going on with normal life. Even, you know, look in the midst of war, people are still getting married and still having children and so life still goes on. So that's what I understand Jesus is saying. People still won't be ready. Even right at the end, they still won't be ready.
As for two in the field, one taken, one left, two women grinding at the mill, one taken, one left, that could well mean taken in judgment. That could well mean what's spoken of in Matthew 13, that first the weeds are uprooted. That's why my friend Craig Keener, who co-authored Not Afraid of the Antichrist with me, says I want to be left behind. I don't want to be one of those taken in judgment. Therefore, stay awake for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. This is a universal message for all of us.
Stay awake. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have left his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, my master is delayed, and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, in an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Wow. So, here's what I want to say plainly. There are things in Matthew 24 that clearly came to pass in the days of Jesus' disciples with the destruction of the temple in the year 70. But emphatically, categorically, clearly, there are many things that did not yet happen.
The fullness of the gospel going to the whole world is still ongoing. The final deception with all kinds of counterfeit signs, wonders and miracles, that still has not happened. And the visible return of Jesus for the entire world to see, and are being transformed when he comes, that still has not happened. And that is why, if you look at many of the church comments, the early church fathers commenting on Matthew 24, many will be speaking of a future antichrist. Many are speaking of a future tribulation. Many are speaking of a future return of Jesus. So that is our great hope.
That is our blessed hope that he is coming again and we will be with him forever and ever and ever. It is glorious and it is true. And it seems like a dream. It seems so impossible on a certain level.
But you know, I've thought about this. You see pictures of babies in the womb and it seems unimaginable, but that was us. All of us lived our first months inside of our mother's womb and existed and were doing whatever we were doing there in our mother's womb. And actually, we know it for a fact, but it seems so surreal. Well, we know for a fact because scripture said it, as soon as he left, he's going to return.
He is going to come back. And that's what we were waiting for. So we want to keep opening this up in the days ahead.
We've got some more time for our series. This is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks so much for tuning in. Just a reminder that we are listener supported. If we have been a blessing to you, if you're being enriched in the Word and prayer and your own walk with God through this broadcast, then stand with us so that we can reach many, many more and bless many, many more. Together, friends, we're making a difference. So go to TheLineOfFire.org. TheLineOfFire.org and click donate.
