THE REAL CONTEXT OF MATTHEW 24...
Matt 24:1-36
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and His disciples came to Him for to shew Him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
That was the time when the second temple in Jerusalem still existed at Christ's first coming. He and His disciples were upon the Mount of Olives overlooking the Temple Mount. That 2nd temple and Jerusalem was destroyed in 69 A.D. when the Roman general Titus came upon the city. Per the Jewish historian Josephus (100 A.D.), the temple caught fire before the Romans could gain possession of it. The Wailing Wall stones, part of the old western wall, still exist today in Jerusalem. So not absolutely every stone there has been cast down yet. Jesus refers to the time of the end of this world for that event, not the 69 A.D. event.
3 And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Christ's disciples then ask Him specifically when these events will be, including the end of this present world, and the sign of His second coming. Some Preterists are so powerfully deceived, that they actually think Christ's second coming has already happened because of the 69 A.D. destruction of the temple and Jerusalem by the Romans. They are 'drunken in the night' in the darkness of deception because of such a false belief.
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.
That's the first sign, don't let any man deceive you. It's a parallel to the first Seal of Rev.6, the fake rider on a white horse trying to come in like how Jesus is to return riding a white horse per Rev.19. Christ makes Deception the main warning with this first sign of the end of this present world. No false messiah came in 69 A.D. to do the great signs and wonders Jesus will later explain about this deception warning. So Preterists simply bypass... this sign, or wrongly assign to something else, pretending they can't read it as written.
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.
The 2nd sign, a parallel to the 2nd Seal of Rev.6 about the red horse, a war horse. Christ reveals a mystery with this. The end of this present world will not happen with war, but with a false peace. The opposite of wars and rumours of wars is a time of peace. As long as there are wars and rumours of wars, like He says, the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
The 3rd and 4th signs, parallels to the 3rd and 4th Seals of Rev.6 about the black horse of commerce, and the pale horse of a 4 part working upon the earth by the locusts of Joel. The Romans sacking Jerusalem in 69 A.D. does not fit all that these two signs reveal.
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.
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.
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.
All this is the 5th sign, a parallel to the 5th Seal of Rev.6, about Christ's elect being delivered up to give a Testimony for Him, and killed for that Testimony. It includes a time when many false prophets (like those of Preterism), will work deception upon many.
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
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:
This is the 6th sign, a parallel to the 6th Seal about the "untimely figs". Christ links it to the "abomination of desolation" event in the Book of Daniel, which is about a vile person coming to power in Jerusalem to end the daily sacrifices and setup false idol worship INSIDE THE TEMPLE. Per Josephus, the Romans never gained access inside the Jerusalem Temple to do any of that. Antiochus IV in 170 B.C. was a blueprint for this event of false worship, as he DID gain access inside the Jerusalem Temple in 170 B.C., sacrificed swine upon the altar desolating the temple, and then setup an idol to pagan Greek Zeus worship. The Romans didn't do any of that, so Preterism bypasses this event too.
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.
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.
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, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
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.
More infor about the 6th sign (6th Seal) concerning a coming false messiah to do that abomination of desolation setting up of idol worship inside a temple in Jerusalem. It is to be a time of tribulation the likes the world has never seen, nor will ever again. That has yet to happen, and is prophesied for the very end of this present world just prior to Christ's return. That false one did not appear in 69 A.D. Jerusalem. The Romans were not that specific false entity.
27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The final 7th sign is a parallel to Christ's return in Rev.11 on the 7th Trumpet, and Rev.16 on the 7th Vial, and Rev.19. Just so happens, Zechariah 14 gave His disciples the events of His second coming to that VERY SPOT WHERE THEY WERE, the Mount of Olives. No doubt, His disciples already knew that Zech.14 prophecy, which is why they would ask about all this.
We know Christ's second coming has NOT happened yet today, simply because Paul and Peter told us His coming will be "as a thief" on "the day of The Lord" (1 Thess.5; 2 Pet.3:10). The "day of The Lord" contain events about a judgment upon the wicked on this earth and a destruction by fire upon this earth by God with Christ appearing in the clouds, and His saints being gathered to Him. Only someone deceived and foolish, or a liar, would claim such Bible events have already happened today.
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Then Christ COMMANDS us to learn the parable of the fig tree. When a fig tree starts sprouting leaves in the Spring, then you know Summer is just around the corner. So also, when we 'see' ALL THESE THINGS, know that His coming is at the doors. Does that mean when we see the destruction of a temple only? Nope. He said "all these things", meaning all these signs, not just ONE of them. The fig tree parable involves the timing of Jer.24, when the good figs and bad figs would be planted in the holy land again, and not removed again. There's only one time that took place since the Romans destroyed the nation of Israel back in 69 A.D. Israel became a nation again in the land in 1948.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
It is THAT generation which SEES "all these things" that Christ was speaking of. Did He say the generation that see the Romans destroy the temple and Jerusalem? Nope. He said, "all these things", meaning all these signs, not just ONE of them. This generation can ONLY mean the very last generation on this prior to Christ's second coming. 1948 is when He gave us to start watching all these things begin to come to pass, to mark the generation of His second coming.
The doctrine of Preterism is aligned with orthodox Judaism, those who reject Christ Jesus as The Saviour. The reason is because it's a bait to get you to trust in this PRESENT WORLD AS IT NOW IS AS CHRIST'S KINGDOM ALREADY HAVING COME. That's what it means to believe that these 7 signs for the end, which include Christ's second coming and our physical gathering to Him, as already past back in 69 A.D. There is simply no excuse for any professing Christian to hold or espouse the Preterist doctrines which point back to the Jews having coming up with it.
