Matthew 24:4-14

Matthew 24:4-14
As we begin our exposition, please first remember the context. The apostles have asked when the temple is going to be destroyed and what the sign is when these things will be fulfilled. Jesus is not discussing the end of time, but the end of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel.
Jesus first begins with the things that are not signs of the coming end of the nation. Jesus states that there will be those who will come in His name to lead them astray. There will be wars and rumors of wars. There will be famines and earthquakes. Now get this: none of these things are the sign of the end of the nation. Jesus states, “The end is not yet” (vs. 6), and “these are but the beginning of birth pains” (vs. 8).
There will also be other things that will take place prior to the fall of the nation. They will deliver you up (the apostles and other of Jesus’ disciples) to tribulation, put you to death, and you will be hated. Notice that these are things that are happening within the lifespan of the apostles. Verse 14 even states that the gospel will be preached throughout the whole world before the “end” (end of the nation) comes. Many have argued that such never happened. No, Paul plainly states in Colossians 1:23 that the gospel had been “preached to every creature under heaven.” Paul wrote Colossian in about 63 A.D. Therefore, even that prophecy of Jesus came to pass prior to the fall of Jerusalem (70 A.D.).
It is important to understand that all of the things Jesus just mentioned are not signs of the end of Jerusalem. These were simply things that were to take place prior to the destruction. At the very beginning of Jesus’ dissertation, He said, “See that no one leads you astray.” He is talking about being led astray in thinking the end was about to come just because they saw all these things taking place. No, “the end is not yet.”
Unfortunately, many teachers today lead people astray by transferring these words of Jesus into the twentieth and twenty-first century instead of keeping His words in the context of the first century. Further, when they see “wars and rumors of wars” today, they teach that we are now to look for the “end” to come. No, the wars and rumors of wars to which Jesus referred were in the first century and the “end” was not the end of time, but the end of the nation of Israel.
Berry Kercheville