THE TIMING ISSUE OF MATTHEW 24, PART 20
Those little words, and acts, and thoughts of every day may in themselves be trifles, but the moral character which each one (of these) is slowly and surely building up, that is no trifle.
9”Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. 12And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. 13But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. (Matthew 24:9-13; NASB)
We are looking at three 21st century commentators today, starting with D. A. Carson:
“9 — 13 Tote (‘then,’ v.9) is an elusive word…Translated ‘then’ in v.9, it occurs as ‘At that time’ in v.10. Certainly there is no suggestion of sequence between v.8 and v.9; it is during the ‘birth pains’ that Jesus’ disciples will be persecuted and killed. ‘You’ quite clearly extends beyond the immediate disciples and includes all the followers Jesus will have. Persecution would break out early (cf. Ac 4:1-30; 7:59-8:3; 12:1-5; Rev 2:10-14) and keep on during the ‘birth pains,’ against a background of hatred by the whole world (cf. Ac 28:22).”
I just want to say that if Jesus said “you” to the disciples, they probably didn’t recognize that it was for all the disciples forever after. I agree that we can take it that way as we read it now; but I doubt His followers did at the time.
1As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, 2being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3And they laid hands on them and put them in prison until the next day, for it was already evening…18And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, make your own judgment; 20for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 1:1-3,18-20; NASB)
58When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit!” 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:58-60; NASB)
Now Saul approved of putting Stephen to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles. (Acts 8:1; NASB)
1Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm. 2And he had James the bother of John executed with a sword. 3When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter as well. (Now these were the days of Unleavened Bread.) 4When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, turning him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending only after the Passover to bring him before the people. 5So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer for him was being made to God intensely by the church. (Acts 12:1-5; NASB)
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10; NASB)
19But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. 20For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, since I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.” 21They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor has any of the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything about you. 22But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for regarding this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.” (Acts 28:19-22; NASB)
As you may already know, the followers of Christ were seen as a sect of Judaism by most of the known world at that time. That is probably the biggest reason that the Jews were so upset by what the Apostles were doing.
“Thlipsis (‘persecution,’ ‘tribulation,’ ‘distress,’ GK 2568) occurs four times in Matthew…and relates significantly to the chapter’s structure…Jesus establishes thlipsis as characteristic of this age (cf. 10:16-39) — a time when many will ‘turn away’ (skandalisthesontai, GK 4997) from the faith…and hate each other (24:10).”
Personally, I still believe that it’s not just believers being talked about in “the many.” To me, the Matthew 10 quote makes it perfectly clear that Jesus is talking about the family and friends of those who become believers: that even their closest family members will turn against them; extending even to today.
16”Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be as wary as serpents, and as innocent as doves. 17But be on guard against people, for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues..21Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22And you will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. 23But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes…26So do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known…34Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I came to TURN A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; 36and A PERSON’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. (Matthew 10:16,17,21-23,26,34-36; NASB)
“In this chapter, there are several allusions to Daniel (cf. Da 11:35…) and a certain parallelism between v.10 and vv.11-12.
31Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. 32And by smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong and take action. 33And those who have insight among the people will give understanding to many; yet they will fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. 34Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join them in hypocrisy. 35And some of those who have insight will fall, to refine, purge, and cleanse them until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time. 36Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt himself and boast against every god and will speak dreadful things against the God of gods; and he will be successful until the indignation is finished, because that which is determined will be done. (Daniel 11:31-36; NASB)
“Those who turn away from the faith are deceived by false prophets, and those who hate each other do so because wickedness abounds and the love of most grows cold (cf. [Edward B.] Trotter).”
Here’s a quote from Trotter, quoting yet a third source (“Prebendary” is a title in the Anglican church, I was unable to find a person named Granes as a Christian author):
“Prebendary Granes has thus put it, speaking about character: ‘Those little words, and acts, and thoughts of every day may in themselves be trifles, but the moral character which each one (of these) is slowly and surely building up, that is no trifle. Not time only but eternity is involved. Hence the attempt to separate between the secular and the religious in the affairs of life is a foolish and impossible one. Nothing may be accounted trivial on the ground of its being secular, because the secular and the spiritual, the little and the great, the transient and the abiding, are indissolubly joined by the law of character…We are warned against regarding anything as ‘common or unclean,’ that nothing is really secular but what is sinful, and we learn that the most insignificant duty faithfully discharged — “as unto the Lord” — is fraught with issues of eternal and spiritual importance.’” [from THE ROYAL PROGRESS OF OUR LORD AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE: BEING CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL THOUGHTS ON LUKE IX.51-XVII.14, by Edward Bush Trotter, 1900]
I think Prebendary Granes is brilliant.
“Professing believers are either included in this description or are the focus of interest; but only those who endure — in love (v.12) and despite persecution (vv.9-11; cf. Rev 2:10) — will be saved (v.13).
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10; NASB)
“The must ‘stand firm’ (endure) to the end. Individual responsibility persists to the end of life, but corporate responsibility to the final consummation.”
I can agree with this idea, but he’s leaving out the rapture as a possibility for “the end.”
“Part of the effect of this ‘tribulation,’ therefore, is to purify the body of professed disciples. Those who endure are saved, as in Daniel 11:32, 34-35 and elsewhere in Matthew…”
32And by smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong and take action…34Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join them in hypocrisy. 35And some of those who have insight will fall, to refine, purge, and cleanse them until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time. (Daniel 11:32,34,35; NASB)
I thought Carson believed in the Pretrib Rapture; but these last bits certainly don’t sound like it. Tribulation in quotation marks suggests he also doesn’t see the correlation of Matthew 24 with Revelation. It doesn’t seem to me that the Tribulation will have the effect of “purify[ing] the body of professed disciples;” but more on that when we get further along in Revelation.
I really like the line in Daniel: “some of those who have insight will fall, to refine, purge, and cleanse them until the end time.” This seems to foretell the suffering of the believers as the Rapture and then the Tribulation approach. The LEFT BEHIND series by Jenkins and LaHaye seemed to show a pretty normal world right up until the Rapture; sure, there was some power shifting in the UN, but everyones life in the USA was normal. What we are seeing in real life is trial and tribulation (small t’s) and increasing anxiety; we’re not sure how long we have to stay before the action starts “officially.” Daniel seems to hint at this state of affairs. That some “with insight will fall” does not suggest to me that they will lose their faith. Rather, I see it as them making wrong assumptions, or going down a wrong path; but their faith will remain strong so that God will use this wrong turn to “refine, purge, and cleanse them” so that they are ready for what comes next, and with the correct information. Also, the fact that they “fall” suggests to me that those that have this “insight” hold some kind of high, or at least respected, position. I could be wrong about all this, but that’s what came to me as I reread this Daniel passage.
“The reasons for falling away may differ. In 13:21, the cause is thlipsis (‘persecution’ or ‘tribulation’), and in 24:10-12, it is false prophets…”
20The one sown with see on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the word, immediately he falls away. (Matthew 13:20,21; NASB)
So this Matthew passage is from the parable of the sower. This type of hearer of the Word does fall away with “affliction or persecution;” in other words, when trouble comes. But there are the hearers who just never understand it; and the hearers who are overcome by the anxieties of the world and/or the deceitfulness of wealth: They also fall away.
Matthew 24:10 says many will fall away and hate each other. 24:11 says that false prophets will mislead many people. And 24:12 says “because of lawlessness” the love of most will grow cold. This group of passages do not say to me that all of this falling away is due only to “false prophets.” I think that Carson’s first sentence is the most true of the short paragraph: “The reasons for falling away may differ,” though I think I would strengthen it by removing the “may.”
”But even here, the false prophecy finds some of its appeal in the matrix of trouble and persecution (vv.4-9) from which it emerges. Matthew cares little whether faith is lost owing to fear of physical violence or to deception effected by false prophets. The result is the same and is to be expected throughout this age (cf. 7:15-23; 24:24; Ac 20:29-30; 1Pe 2:1; 1Jn 4:1).”
I agree with Matthew: it truly makes little difference what ‘reason’ is given for falling away. It all adds up to the lack of a close relationship with Jesus, making it too difficult to stand.
15”Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?…21Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; LEAVE ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ (Matthew 7:15,16,21-23; NASB)
For false christs and false prophets will arise and will provide great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24; NASB)
29I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:29-30; NASB)
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. (1 Peter 2:1; NASB)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1; NASB)
“14 But none of this means that the gospel of the kingdom…is not preached or that its saving message does not spread throughout the world. Despite persecution — and often because of it (Ac 8:1,4) — The Good News is ‘preached’ (kerychthesetai, GK 3062…) ‘as a testimony to all nations.’ The expression is itself neutral…, and the gospel will bring either salvation or a curse, depending on how it is received. Thus the theme of the Gentile mission is again made explicit…” [from MATTHEW (THE EXPOSITOR’S BIBLE COMMENTARY), by D. A. Carson, 2017]
1Now Saul approved of putting Stephen to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles…4Therefore, those who had been scattered went through places preaching the word. (Acts 8:1,4; NASB)
Some may think my critiques of Carson’s commentary are small and perhaps petty. I’m not looking for ‘reasons to disagree’ just to disagree. I’m doing all this reading and writing to wring out as much meaning as I can from the Scripture. What sounds perfectly fine to me one day, may need a lot of clarification 2 weeks later after having read some other writers, leading me to think differently. This is where critical reading and thinking take you. Your basic beliefs may or may not change as you read, but the details keep changing; the deeper assumptions and beliefs can shift and/or solidify. And that goes for these writers we are looking at too. Carson published this in 2017; if he wrote it today it might be different based on further thought and study; it may be even further away from the stand I am taking. What matters in all this is that each of us takes a stand and holds it with the help of Jesus. The shifts we make with the addition of more information (and more instruction by the Spirit) usually help us to settle into Jesus more and more.
“v.9 Then they will hand you over to suffering and will kill you; and all the nations will hate you because of my name. Jesus has warned of persecution even to death (10.17,21).
17But be on guard against people, for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues..21Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. (Matthew 10:16,17,21; NASB)
“Here, though, the cosmic scope of events is confirmed as disciples are pursued on a truly global scale. That this intensifies exponentially during the second half of the tribulation is clear from Revelation 12.17, but that it begins in the first half may be understood from the sufferings of the multitude of the ‘tribulation saved’ (Rev.7.16f.).
So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 12:17; NASB)
14…”These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation…16They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat (Revelation 7:14,16; NASB)
“Early on, those in power recognize God’s wrath in the unfolding events (Rev.6.15f.) but refusal to repent appears endemic (Rev.9.20f.); the context is ideal for blame, persecution and execution (Rev.6.11) of the righteous…
Then the kings of the earth and the eminent people, and the commanders and the wealthy and the strong, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains (Revelation 6:15; NASB)
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands so as not to worship demons and the idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk (Revelation 9:20; NASB)
9When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth?” 11And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told that they were to rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, was completed also. (Revelation 6:9-11; NASB)
“v.12 and because of the increase of wickedness, the love of the majority will grow cold. As love is a major fruit of righteousness (Php.1.9-11), so its opposite, wickedness (2Co.6.14), freezes love’s ardor; fear, mistrust and hate abound….
9And this I pray, that your love may overflow still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may discover the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ; 11having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11; NASB)
Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14; NASB)
“v.14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. The multitude of the ‘tribulation saved’ (Rev.7.9-17) are the product of an evangelistic testimony that appears to have the 144,000 (Rev.7.1-8;14.1-5) as its vanguard, though surely other voices, human and angelic (Rev.14.6f.) also proclaim the gospel.
9After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9,10; NASB)
3saying, “Do not harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4And I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000, sealed for every tribe of the sons of Israel (Revelation 7:3,4; NASB)
1Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and the name of His father written on their foreheads…3And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one was able to learn the song except the 144,000 who had been purchased from the earth. (Revelation 14:1,3; NASB)
“Amid the outpouring of terrifying wrath, it is of the essence of God that he maintains a testimony to his redeeming love. The end will only arrive after a final, almost certainly spectacular, call to salvation; the two are inseparable.
“A chiasm [an intersection or crossing of two tracts in the form of an X] is evident in vv.9-14:
“A hated by all nations (v.9)
B turning from the faith (v10a)
C betrayal and hate (v.10b)
D deception through false prophets (v.11)
D’ increase of wickedness (v.12a)
C’ love growing cold (v.12b)
B’ the need to stand firm in the faith (v.13)
A’ the gospel preached to all nations. (v.14)
“The center reflects Jesus’ warning against deception in vv.4f.” [from MATTHEW, by Chris Prater, 2018]
Mostly Prater is paraphrasing rather than actually commentating. But, this last bit with the chiasm is very interesting. This is the kind of thing that the Hebrews did when writing. Think about doing this without a computer, which would allow you to rearrange words as you go; and at a time when writing materials were very expensive. You would have to at least outline the whole piece in your head before you started writing!
“‘Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake’ (v. 9). The book of Acts shows that the Apostles endured great persecutions from the Jewish religious leaders and later from the Romans. They were indeed seemingly hated nearly everywhere they went, and tradition tells us that all but one of the Twelve (minus Judas, of course) died as martyrs.”
Obviously this writer doesn’t think that “you” includes all believers down through the ages, which is similar to the view of R. T. France, who we looked at a few posts ago, and the opposite of D. A. Carson’s attitude.
“Jesus then said: ‘And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold’ (vv. 10-12). These signs seem to concern relationships within the church. Jesus said many ‘will be offended’ (or ‘will fall away’), and there would be betrayals among the brethren. Love would grow cold and hate would take its place. There would be deception as false prophets rose up. There would even be lawlessness in abundance. Jesus was sketching out a breakdown of body life. However, He said, ‘He who endures to the end shall be saved’ (v. 14). Here is another verse that seems to indicate a still-to-come understanding of ‘the end.’ Surely, we think, the gospel has not yet been preached to all the nations — after all, we are still sending out missionaries — so ‘the end’ must be in the future still. But ‘nations’ here does not mean countries; rather, it means peoples or races.
“This portion of Jesus’ prophecy was fulfilled in the first century, as Paul testifies: ‘the word of the truth of the gospel…has come to you, as it has also in all the world’ (Col. 1:5b-6).”
“Nations” probably does mean “peoples,” but probably not “races” as we understand them. All “peoples” certainly had not received the Word in Paul’s time; the “peoples” of the Roman Empire may have, and that was the then “known world.”
5because of the hope reserved for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel 6which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth (Colossians 1:5-6; NASB)
“Remember, scholars believe Colossians was written around AD 62, eight years before Jerusalem was destroyed. Paul did not mean that the gospel had been preached in every corner of the globe. He was referring to the known world of that time, the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. The gospel was indeed preached in all that world in the first century, even before the fall of Jerusalem.”
This is a cop out. I agree that Paul thought in terms of “the known world.” But that does not mean that we should think that way; we know more of the world than he did. Is the author implying that Jesus didn’t know that there was so much more to the world than was “known” in the first century? There may even be more that He knows about the world now, that we still don’t know.
“So, among these preliminary signs, these ‘beginnings of sorrows,’ there does not appear to be anything that must be understood as happening after AD 70 or much later in redemptive history. All the signs of which Jesus speaks here could have happened before the destruction of Jerusalem. To this point in the Olivet Discourse, we have not encountered any reason to doubt that ‘the end’ refers to the destruction of the temple.” [from MATTHEW: AN EXPOSITIONAL COMMENTARY, by R. C. Sproul, 2019]
R. C. Sproul is a commentator that I enjoy on some topics. On many topics he explains things very well and makes excellent cases. Prophecy, especially eschatology, is not one of those things. His explanations in eschatology are incomplete and truncated, in my opinion. On the whole, I loved this man and was sorry when he died. I still read his monthly magazine. But I don’t agree with everything he said, or that his followers say still.
That’s enough for today. I’m excited to be getting back to Revelation next time!
Love that Granes quote!