Strangely (or is it, given that God ever works in mysterious ways) an event that theologians have often referred to as the Olivet Discourse keeps coming onto my horizons, in particular that part of it that begins with the words: “Just as it was in the days of Noah”.

According to Got Questions (see here) “The Olivet Discourse is the name given to the orderly and extended teaching given by Jesus Christ on the Mount of Olives. His subject is the end times. This discourse is recorded in Matthew 24:1 – 25:46. Parallel passages are found in Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:5-36. The record in Matthew is the most extensive”.

What I would like to do in this series is to focus on the Matthew account, referring to the Mark and Luke accounts as well as cross referencing other parts of the Bible where applicable, in order to determine what the Olivet Discourse was about and its significance at the time Jesus spoke, in the year 70 AD, and then to consider our own time, 1955 years later. I will do so in two Parts:

1. Part 1 (this part) –The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
2. Part 2 – The Day and Hour Unknown and the days of Noah

My recent delving into the four visions of Daniel we read about in Daniel 7-12 (which, interestingly enough, relates as we will show – see here) brought home to me that learned and genuine believers in Jesus are far from agreed when it came to interpreting the text. This could be seen when checking out from among the numerous sermons posted on YouTube. Without wanting to come across as a “know all”, I confess an overall disappointment as I sought to discover what learned minds have said on the subject I am about to discuss, even those who I broadly agreed with. My response is that I write as a Bible student on a journey of discovery and, in a strange way I only recently picked up on, the Olivet discourse is central to one’s understanding of Last Things. I see it as in effect the glue that holds together the various Bible teachings on the subject.

Differences when it comes to what to make of our subject, broadly speaking, can firstly be found between those who take the Preterist view of interpreting prophecy, that it was all fulfilled in Bible times, and those taking the Futuristic view – that when it comes to Bible prophecies, while many have been fulfilled, there are many prophecies yet to be fulfilled. A similar observation can be made when considering the Olivet Discourse. Then there are the differences that are to be found within each of the two camps. For example, Got Questions, a helpful resource I often refer to when trying to gain better understanding on some Bible related theme, reckons the Olivet Discourse is all to do with Israel and, as for the future when things hot up, the Church does not feature as it had been raptured. I am a prophecy futurist but do not believe the Church escapes the time of trouble affecting all the alive “saints”, found detailed in Daniel’s visions and Olivet Discourse passages.

The three Olivet discourse passages all begin similarly, describing a visit by Jesus and his disciples to the Temple during the final weeks of Jesus’ life. The Temple, it is worth noting, was then the centre of Jewish life that included religious. It was a magnificent edifice that had been rebuilt by Herod the Great at considerable cost, something Jesus’ disciples commented on. Jesus responded with His bombshell that would have been seen at the time as an unlikely prediction that the building would soon be completely destroyed. This indeed happened in 70 AD, an event well documented by historians. As far as different Bible commentators are concerned, the question concerning disagreement in interpretation is concerning whether the prophecy claims made by Jesus visiting the Temple concerning its destruction and other future predictions made just after would be completely fulfilled soon after then or whether this would finally happen later, including parts still to happen. My understanding is that there was a partial fulfilment around the year 70 AD but we await the final fulfilment, having made similar arguments when I wrote concerning the related four visions of Daniel.    

Shortly after, we find a question that would no doubt have arisen in the disciples mind, along with one that for many modern readers would likely not occur but, given Jesus’ response, is important in coming to an understanding of what He meant, for in the years that followed up to the present time have given rise to much difference in opinion among scholars, not so much concerning the destruction of the Temple but on end times events: “Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3 NLT).

Jesus continued: “Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:4-14 NLT). Arguably, all that Jesus said here did come to pass, even when it came to preaching the Gospel in all the then known world, by AD 70, but the question is begged 2000 years on why has the end not come and when is Jesus returning? It is worth noting though that every aspect of what Jesus said continues to happen, and with even greater intensity.

Jesus continues and raises points that some would argue are more likely applicable to our own time rather than the time of Jesus: “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones. “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time. “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near. “Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven. “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear” (Matthew 24:15-35 NLT).

The first contentious point concerns the Abomination of Desolation (24:15). According to Got Questions (as it makes the point well and ties in with my own understanding, I quote at length) (see here): “Jesus spoke of a coming “abomination of desolation” in the Olivet Discourse as He referenced a future event mentioned in Daniel 9:27 … Daniel’s prophecies about the abomination of desolation seemed to have at least a partial fulfillment in 167 BC when a Greek ruler by the name of Antiochus IV desecrated the temple in Jerusalem. Antiochus called himself “Epiphanies” (“illustrious one” or “god manifest”). He set up an altar to Zeus over the altar of burnt offering, and he sacrificed a pig on the altar. Antiochus went even further in his atrocities, slaughtering a great number of the Jews and selling others into slavery. And he issued decrees forbidding circumcision and requiring Jews to sacrifice to pagan gods and eat pig meat. What Antiochus did certainly qualifies as an abomination, but it was not a complete fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy. Antiochus Epiphanies did not enter a covenant with Israel for seven years, for example. And in Matthew 24 Jesus, speaking some 200 years after Antiochus’s evil actions, spoke of Daniel’s prophecy as having a still future fulfilment … We take the futurist view, which sees the abomination of desolation prophecy as still future. In our view, Jesus was referring to the Antichrist who, in the end times, will establish a covenant with Israel for seven years and then break it by doing something similar to what Antiochus Epiphanies did in the temple. The sacrilegious object Jesus called “the abomination of desolation” could be the “image of the beast” that the Antichrist’s right-hand man, the false prophet, will order to be set up and worshiped (Revelation 13:14). Of course, for Matthew 24:15 to be yet future, the temple in Jerusalem will have to be rebuilt before the tribulation begins. Those who are alive during the tribulation should be watchful and recognize that the breaking of the covenant with Israel and the abomination of desolation will herald the beginning of the worst 3½ years in history (see Matthew 24:21). “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36)”.

Regarding times of great calamity, arguably it has ever been thus, but if my understanding articulated above, this “will herald the beginning of the worst 3½ years in history” is correct it introduces the time some Bible pundits refer to as the Great Tribulation, under the rule of the Antichrist, and again I quote from Got Questions (see here): “the great tribulation, which refers to the more intense second half of the seven-year period (Matthew 24:21); “a time of distress” (Daniel 12:1); and “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7, NKJV). And we have this description of the tribulation that attends the day of the Lord: “That day will be a day of wrath— a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness— a day of trumpet and battle cry” (Zephaniah 1:15–16). The tribulation will be marked by various divine judgments, celestial disturbances, natural disasters, and terrible plagues (see Revelation 6—16). In His mercy, God sets a limit on the duration of the tribulation. As Jesus said, “Those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive” (Mark 13:19–20)”.

Another of Jesus’ words that I believe can only apply to the future when interpreting the events prophesied in the Olivet discourse culminating in the return of Jesus (and tying in with the questions the disciples asked that sparked off the discourse) concerns the Fig Tree. Again, I found Got Questions (see here), when it came to responding to the question: “What is the fig tree prophecy?” along with who is “this generation” that Jesus was referring to?

“Fig trees were common in Israel, and it could be that there was a fig tree nearby as Jesus used this illustration of the signs of the end times. The appearance of leaves on the fig tree heralded the onset of summer; similarly, the appearance of all the things Jesus had just described would herald the second coming and the end of the age. Note the wording of the fig tree prophecy: Jesus says that, when people see all the signs, then the end is near. What are all the signs? Here’s what Jesus had mentioned up to that point:

• many false messiahs will come (Matthew 24:5)
• there will be wars and rumors of wars (verse 6)
• nations will rise against each other (verse 7)
• there will be famines and earthquakes around the world (verse 7)
• Christians will face persecution and death (verse 9)
• many professed believers will turn away from the faith and betray each other (verse 10)
• many false prophets will deceive masses of people (verses 11, 24)
• wickedness will increase (verse 12)
• the love of most will grow cold (verse 12)
• the gospel will be preached to the whole world (verse 14)
• the abomination of desolation will stand in the holy place of the temple (verse 15; cf. Daniel 9:27)
• there will be a time of great distress, unequaled in the history of the world (verse 21)
• there will be signs in the heavens affecting the sun, moon, and stars (verse 29)
• the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven (verse 30)

According to the fig tree prophecy, “when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door” (Matthew 24:33, NLT). There were some present when Jesus spoke this that saw some of the things Jesus prophesied (false teachers and persecution, for example), but His return will not occur until all of those things are seen. We consider the events Jesus lists as corresponding to the seal judgments of Revelation 6. Jesus goes on to say, “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Matthew 24:34). The generation that Jesus speaks of “not passing” until He returns is a future generation, namely, the people living when the predicted events occur. They are the people alive in the future when all the events of Matthew 24—25 take place”.

Much more could be said, for example concerning the Great Deception that has now come on the earth that has affected genuine, even doctrinally sound Christian believers, the current set of crazy world events leading people to turn to false Messiahs and prophets, including those who exercise signs and wonders, as well as the one happening that both preterists and futurists are agreed on: the Second Coming of Jesus, at a future time that is not yet known. But we will close Part 1 here. As for the world being better or worse, the prospect of that changing before Jesus returns and what we can do about it are also big questions that I plan to partly cover in Part 2.

The rest of Matthew 24 (verses 36-51), which the NIV prefixes with the title “The Day and Hour Unknown” and I will title “The Days of Noah” (because it ties in with what I intend as the main thrust of this Olivet Discourse series) along with how we might best prepare, with reference to Matthew 25 and the sections that make up that chapter under the titles: “The Parable of the Ten Virgins”, “The Parable of the Bags of Gold” and “The Sheep and the Goats”, all of which I also plan to cover in Part 2.