Study of Jesus' conversations during his final week of earthly Life
focus is on the human connections. The emotions and clarifying expressions of the Mission and His Final Week
Chapter 24: INTRODUCTION--
The Discourse of the Destruction of the Temple
End of the Age: vv. 3-14
Things to watch for--
a. many will fall away
b. some will be put to death
c. False Prophets will be on the rise and be effective
d. lawlessness will increase
e. the “love of many” will grow cold
f. the Gospel of the KIngdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all nations.
The Abomination of Desolation
What is this Abomination of Desolation?
Phrase used in Daniel, 1 Maccabees, Matthew, and Mark to designate a destestable object of pagan idolatry so loathsome to God that his people would feel desolate and devastated in its presence.
Jesus used the phrase “abomination of desolation” in answering the disciples’ questions concerning the destruction of the temple and the general course of the age until his return (Mt 24:1–31; Mk 13:1–27; Lk 21:5–28). In alluding to the Daniel passages, Jesus predicted that something analogous to the destruction by Antiochus would reoccur. Jesus applied the prediction and fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in part to the coming Roman desecration which did take place in AD 70. In Luke 21:20, the words “surrounded by armies” were perhaps an allusion to the capture and sack of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC. Jesus’ point was that in rejecting him, Israel again had chosen the road which would end in disaster. To refuse his mercy was to choose destruction.
Jesus warned that the erection of the abomination of desolation (desolating sacrilege, RSV) was a signal to flee the city of Jerusalem (Mt 24:15; Mk 13:14). The phrase “let the reader understand” shows that the enigmatic phrase symbolized an appalling and complete devastation of the sanctity of the temple.
The Greek version of the Book of Ezekiel sometimes used “lawlessness” in place of abomination, leading to association of “man of lawlessness” (man of abomination) with the detestable sacrilege of the antichrist (2 Thes 2:3). A similar theme is reflected in the Book of Revelation, where the image of the creature or beast from the sea symbolizes the power of the forces of evil demanding obedience and submission (Rv 13:1–10).
Abomination of desolation is thus a symbol for the most devastating activities through which the hostile forces of evil make their attack, whether upon the Jewish people in Maccabean times, upon Jerusalem in the first century AD, or upon the people of God in a final assault of evil at the end time.
The Coming/Returning of the “Son of Man”
VV. 29-31
The Tribulation of “those days” in order of events.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree-
33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates
Summary of the Lesson:
Remember the Disciple’s question that began this conversation/lesson:
“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?