MATT. 24
Some christians believe that 70ad was the end of all prophecy. However, if one examines Matt. 24 closely you will find that 70ad didn’t even fulfill the prophecies in Matt. 24 let alone all the others. Let’s set the stage; this wasn’t a sermon for the masses. It was an intimate conversation between Jesus and those who were to become the founding fathers of the church and happened to be Jewish. After Jesus made the statement that “there shall not be one stone shall upon another” regarding the temple, the disciples asked him three questions, “When shall these things be?”, “What shall be the sign (singular) of thy coming?” and “of the end of the world?”
Jesus never answered the last question at that time and he didn’t answer the second question until vss. 29-30…”and then shall appear the sign(singular) of the Son of Man…”, the main body of His answer, vss. 4-26 deals w/ the first question by offering signs to look for, so future generations will know these things could be on the horizon. Let’s see if any of them occurred between the time of his crucifixion and 70ad.
Matt. 24:4-26 - “4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (Did many come? No! I’m sure not too many people had a public death wish.) 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: (Were there world-wide wars happening? Nope, there was only Rome and it would stay that way for hundreds of years after 70ad!) and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. (Did these happen? Yes, but they were happening before Christ and haven’t stopped since 70ad either.) 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. (Did this happen? Yes and No.10 out of 13, counting Paul, were killed before or circa 70ad, yet they were NOT hated by ALL nations.Wherever they died, it was under Roman control, so this is speaking to the future church as well.) 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (None of these have happened to the degree inferred by Jesus, in fact holiness was as hot as could be for at least a couple of hundred yrs. after 70ad where christians were almost hoping for the chance to be martyred, considering it a great badge of eternal honor.) 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Did this happen before 70ad..No!)
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand
(Did this happen? No, certainly not before 70ad when what some might claim it to have happened, it was after the war was over and not in the context of the prophecy.) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: (Did this happen as prophesied? No! By the time Jerusalem was surrounded it was too late for the vast majority of the population of Jerusalem to flee and the christians knew what was coming and had ample time to gather their things and leave Jerusalem!) 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Did this happen? No! The 70ad destruction of Jerusalem doesn’t count because it happened before, in the past and could very well happen again. The whole context is speaking of believers be they Jewish or Gentile and nothing to the extent that Jesus is describing happened to believers during or after 70ad. This affirms that the GT is upon the church not the world or unbelieving Israel.) 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (By using the word “elect” Jesus is affirming that the GT affects only believers) 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, (This did not happen before 70ad to the degree implied) and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Did this happen? No!) 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.” (Were believers cc 70ad deceived into running to and fro chasing claims of Messiah sightings? No!)
Up to and including 70ad, all fulfilled prophecy was fulfilled literally. Upon what scriptural basis can one justify putting prophetic fulfillments into the allegorical class? Exactly, what prophesies were fulfilled in 70ad? Did Jesus return shortly after 70ad? Absolutely not! Every single nation would have a record of it and the gospel didn’t really start going out into the world until after 70ad so we know the prophecy of Matt. 28:18-20 hadn’t and still hasn’t been fulfilled yet. I really don’t understand how amillennialists come to the conclusion that all prophesy has been fulfilled when to me, it is obvious we haven’t even really scratched the surface yet!
Some christians believe that 70ad was the end of all prophecy. However, if one examines Matt. 24 closely you will find that 70ad didn’t even fulfill the prophecies in Matt. 24 let alone all the others. Let’s set the stage; this wasn’t a sermon for the masses. It was an intimate conversation between Jesus and those who were to become the founding fathers of the church and happened to be Jewish. After Jesus made the statement that “there shall not be one stone shall upon another” regarding the temple, the disciples asked him three questions, “When shall these things be?”, “What shall be the sign (singular) of thy coming?” and “of the end of the world?”
Jesus never answered the last question at that time and he didn’t answer the second question until vss. 29-30…”and then shall appear the sign(singular) of the Son of Man…”, the main body of His answer, vss. 4-26 deals w/ the first question by offering signs to look for, so future generations will know these things could be on the horizon. Let’s see if any of them occurred between the time of his crucifixion and 70ad.
Matt. 24:4-26 - “4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (Did many come? No! I’m sure not too many people had a public death wish.) 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: (Were there world-wide wars happening? Nope, there was only Rome and it would stay that way for hundreds of years after 70ad!) and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. (Did these happen? Yes, but they were happening before Christ and haven’t stopped since 70ad either.) 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. (Did this happen? Yes and No.10 out of 13, counting Paul, were killed before or circa 70ad, yet they were NOT hated by ALL nations.Wherever they died, it was under Roman control, so this is speaking to the future church as well.) 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (None of these have happened to the degree inferred by Jesus, in fact holiness was as hot as could be for at least a couple of hundred yrs. after 70ad where christians were almost hoping for the chance to be martyred, considering it a great badge of eternal honor.) 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Did this happen before 70ad..No!)
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand
(Did this happen? No, certainly not before 70ad when what some might claim it to have happened, it was after the war was over and not in the context of the prophecy.) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: (Did this happen as prophesied? No! By the time Jerusalem was surrounded it was too late for the vast majority of the population of Jerusalem to flee and the christians knew what was coming and had ample time to gather their things and leave Jerusalem!) 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Did this happen? No! The 70ad destruction of Jerusalem doesn’t count because it happened before, in the past and could very well happen again. The whole context is speaking of believers be they Jewish or Gentile and nothing to the extent that Jesus is describing happened to believers during or after 70ad. This affirms that the GT is upon the church not the world or unbelieving Israel.) 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (By using the word “elect” Jesus is affirming that the GT affects only believers) 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, (This did not happen before 70ad to the degree implied) and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Did this happen? No!) 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.” (Were believers cc 70ad deceived into running to and fro chasing claims of Messiah sightings? No!)Up to and including 70ad, all fulfilled prophecy was fulfilled literally. Upon what scriptural basis can one justify putting prophetic fulfillments into the allegorical class? Exactly, what prophesies were fulfilled in 70ad? Did Jesus return shortly after 70ad? Absolutely not! Every single nation would have a record of it and the gospel didn’t really start going out into the world until after 70ad so we know the prophecy of Matt. 28:18-20 hadn’t and still hasn’t been fulfilled yet. I really don’t understand how amillennialists come to the conclusion that all prophesy has been fulfilled when to me, it is obvious we haven’t even really scratched the surface yet!
