Olivet Discourse: Signs & Persecutions

Introduction

Last week we discussed the destruction of the 2nd Temple and the questions that the Talmidim asked Yeshua the following ...

Two Questions:

Tell us, when will these things happen?

What will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?

Today we will read through many of the signs that Yeshua warned about as well as the Persecutions that we should expect before He returns. We will first read the passage in Luke 21:8-11 and then fill in some additional details from the accounts in Matthew and Mark.

Luke 21:8–11 TLV

And He said, “Watch out that you are not led astray! For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He’ and ‘The time is near!’ Do not follow them. And when you hear of wars and chaos, do not be terrorized. For these things need to happen first, but the end will not come at once.” Then He continued telling them, “Nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes along with famines and epidemics in various places, and there will be terrors along with great signs from heaven.

Last time we went through a variety of questions that we will ask as we go through each passage. The questions break down in to two (2) basic categories. The first category has to do with the timeline of events and it includes: milestones, dates and the order of events. The second category has to do with principles we can and need to apply to our lives. These are warnings, encouragements and commands.

Signs before the End

So, with these two categories in mind, let us have a look at what we just read. Yeshua starts out with a warning: “Watch out that you are not led astray!” This principle, which is the same across Matthew and Mark, has a specific context. Yeshua is warning against imposters.

Imposters

There are those who go around saying, “I am the Messiah!” or “I am the Lord’s Anointed!” Luke also adds that there will be people saying that “The time is near!”

The problem with these people is that they are either not telling the full truth, or they are not living the truth that they tell. There are a lot of warnings throughout Paul’s, Peter’s and Judah’s letters about these false prophets and/or false teachers. We will cover Paul’s and Peter’s letters in more detail later but for now I will read from Judah (one of Yeshua’s half-brothers) Jude 11-13

Jude 11–13 TLV

Woe to them! For they went the way of Cain; they were consumed for pay in Balaam’s error; and in Korah’s rebellion they have been destroyed. These people are hidden rocky reefs at your love feasts—shamelessly feasting with you, tending only to themselves. They are waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

The fruit of the lives of these false teachers does not match the life of Yeshua. These people are more interested in being paid to prophesy (just like Balaam), and the lifestyle of these teachers and prophets does not align with their own words, let alone the teachings of Yeshua. Remember, that only the chapter before, in Matt. 23 we see Yeshua pointing out that it is not enough to preach and teach the Scriptures outwardly, we must live with the love of God in our heart.

This warning is to all of us. Not only should we watch the lives of those who we allow to speak into our lives, but we should also make sure that we are acting and even reacting just as Yeshua did. We should first ensure that our lives line up with what we know to be true.

Wars & Rumors

Now Yeshua throws the Talmidim a curve-ball. They were expecting that Yeshua would establish His Kingdom in their life time. This was still the case after the Resurrection as we have read in Acts 1:6b “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”

However here Yeshua points to the reality that there will be multiple wars between nations and kingdoms. The next two (2) slides show a brief list of the wars that have affected Jerusalem since Yeshua’s Resurrection:

Ancient & Medieval Eras

First Jewish-Roman War (66–73 A.D.)

Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–136)

Byzantine–Sassanid War (602–628)

Early Islamic Conquests (638)

The Crusades (1095–1291)

Modern Era

World War I (1917 A.D.)

Arab-Israeli War (1948)

Six-Day War (1967)

Yom Kippur War (1973)

The Intifadas (1987–1993, 2000–2005)

Recent Conflicts (2021–2026)

Earthquakes & Famines

As it regards the earthquakes, my RedAlert app on my phone told me that this week Israel experienced another earthquake. Jerusalem has experienced significant seismic activity over the last 2000 years, with a major earthquake at least every 60 years. Here is a brief summary of these major earthquakes.

Major Earthquakes 

33 CE: A slight earthquake reported during the crucifixion of Jesus, which allegedly damaged the Temple.

306 CE: Felt in Jerusalem; part of a larger seismic event that triggered a Levantine tsunami.

363 CE: Known as the Galilee earthquake, it halted the attempt to rebuild the Jewish Temple under Emperor Julian.

658–659 CE: Badly damaged the city according to historical chronicles.

756 CE: A moderate earthquake that caused damage within the city.

808 & 846 CE: Both events severely damaged the Dome of the Rock.

1015–1016 CE: Resulted in the collapse of the Dome of the Rock and affected the surrounding region.

1033 CE: A massive Jordan Rift Valley earthquake that destroyed walls and structures across Palestine.

1113–1115 CE: A series of quakes hit the region during the Crusader period.

1202 CE: One of the largest seismic events in the region's history, causing widespread damage.

1546 CE: A major earthquake in the Holy Land that caused significant regional destruction.

1834 CE: Directly affected Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron.

1927 CE (Jericho Earthquake): Heavily damaged the Old City, including the domes of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Al-Aqsa Mosque; over 130 people died in Jerusalem alone. 

Most of the famines experienced in the land of Israel have been the result of war, specific due to the military sieges of 70 A.D. and the Crusaders in 1099 A.D. Other famines that have occured were due to the desolation of the land. Mark Twain in 1867, in his work The Innocents Abroad, explained when traveling through the Jezreel Valley:

There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent – not for 30 miles in either direction. There are two or three small clusters of Bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitation. One may ride 10 miles, hereabouts, and not see 10 human beings.

Of all the lands there are for dismal scenery, I think Palestine must be the prince... Can the curse of the Deity beautify a land? “Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies.

And while this may not be famine, it is certainly desolation, and a fulfillment of the prophetic Song of Moses in Deut. 32.

Beginning of Birth Pangs

Yeshua closes out this first section with an encouragement, saying that these wars, earthquakes and famines are only the beginning of birth pangs. This might not sound like encouragement, especially to you mothers who had 40 hour labours, but Yeshua is pointing out that the end is not yet, and we must endure to the end. By using the picture of birth, Yeshua is also reminding us that these events will come in waves, like contractions, and that we should endure to the end because then the baby is born! The rhythmic tragedies, both man-made and Acts-of-God, are leading us to a glorious end, the rebirth of the world!

The encouragement for us is two-fold. Firstly, we should not be swayed when we see all these events occuring. We need to realize that people will be trying to claim to be anointed and even claim to be the Messiah, Moshiach or Mahdi. We should not fall for these claims, and later on in Matt. 24:23-26 Yeshua tells us explicitly “do not believe” these people and their claims, even if they perform many signs and wonders. If someone is claiming to be the Messiah, but they do not come riding on the clouds of heaven, then don’t believe it (I am getting ahead of myself and we will cover this in more detail another week).

Persecutions

To cover the persecutions, we will read from Matt. 10:17-22 which Yeshua spoke this to his Talmidim when he was sending them out 2-by-2.

Matthew 10:17–22 TLV

But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings because of Me, as a witness to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you should say, for it shall be given to you in that hour what you should say. For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against their parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end shall be saved.

Yeshua repeated this warning on the Mount of Olives, as recorded by both Mark and Luke. John recounts in his Gospel how Yeshua reminded his disciples one final time on the night he was betrayed: John 16:1-4

John 16:1–4 TLV

“I have spoken these things to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. They will throw you out of the synagogues. Yes, an hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. They will do these things because they have never known the Father or Me. But I have spoken these things to you so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.”

The reason why Yeshua is telling us that we will go through persecution, is so that when it happens we will be encouraged instead of discouraged. We will be kept from stumbling, and as Mark 16:11 recounts, we should not be anxious or fearful.

To all nations

Yeshua points out another milestone for our timeline, In Luke 21:12 He says that “Before all this” before all the earthquakes, wars, etc., we (the followers of Yeshua) will witness to governors, kings, councils and synagogues. And before it is all done, we get another milestone in Mark 13:10,

Mark 13:10 TLV

The Good News must first be proclaimed to all the nations.

On 08 Jan 1956 Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming and Roger Youderian gave their lives in order to take the message of Yeshua to an unreached tribe in Ecuador, the Waorani. It is this verse in Mark that spurred them on, and encouraged them to take Yeshua to all of the unreached people in the world. It should also be noted that the word for “nations” is “ethnos”. In other words this is a declaration that the message of Yeshua will impact all ethnic groups in the world before the end comes.

Don’t be anxious

Yeshua then encourages his Talmidim that they need not rehearse what they will say when they are arrested for the sake of Yeshua. In Luke 12:11-12 it states:

Luke 12:11–12 TLV

And when they bring you to the synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, because the Ruach ha-Kodesh will teach you at that time what is necessary to say.”

We are promised that the Ruach HaKodesh will give us in that hour what we need to say. This does not stop the hatred toward Yeshua and toward all of us who follow Him, but it means we can live our lives from a place of trust, and not a place of fear.

Endure to the end

In Mark 13:13 we once again see that we “will be hated by all because of [Yeshua’s] name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Endurance does not mean enjoyment. In 1 Cor. 4:12 Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 4:12 TLV

We toil, working with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless. When we are persecuted, we endure.

We are called to live from a place of sacrificial love. We choose to bless those who curse us, and we need to choose to patiently endure any persecutions that we face. Once of the most encouraging passages that speaks to this is in Heb. 12:1-3

Hebrews 12:1–3 TLV

Therefore, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also get rid of every weight and entangling sin. Let us run with endurance the race set before us, focusing on Yeshua, the initiator and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame; and He has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and lose heart.

The only way that we can endure persecution with patience, is when focus our attention on Yeshua, and not on ourselves. We can run with endurance because Yeshua has already endured the cross.

Summary

To close lets have one more look at the Timeline. All of these events have occured, and in great quantities, except for the proclamation to all nations. The Proclamation is something that continues to grow and get closer and closer as the Bible is translated into more and more languages and as missionaries continue to go to unreached ethnic groups.

Let us close in prayer for all of the followers of Yeshua who are taking the Gospel into all the earth.