Most People Miss This in Matthew 24; Did You?

Matthew 24 lays out a clear picture of a chronology of events that will occur in the end times. I think it would behoove us to take a look at this passage and see what important truth it reveals about an end times chronology. BTW; most people miss this important truth.

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.

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?

As we just read the apostles posed the following questions to Jesus;

1.   When shall these things be (the throwing down of all the stones of the Temple)?

2.   What shall be the sign of thy coming?

3.   What shall be the sign of the end of the world?

Jesus then proceeds to answer their questions in the following way.

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.

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.

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. Mt 24

The first thing Jesus tells them is that false Christs will arise, and there will be wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. If we look to the book of Revelation we see these same events described in the first 4 Seals—the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.

1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. Rev 6

Take note that Jesus called these first 4 Seals, sorrows. Now this is what He says will happen next.

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. Mt 24

Here Jesus tells us that after the first 4 Seals, which He calls sorrows, that a great persecution will arise, then the gospel will be preached to the entire world, and then the end will come. Jesus further elaborates on the persecution in the verses that follow.

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:

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. Mt 24

Jesus clearly and succinctly tells us that the persecution, which He calls the great tribulation, will come after the abomination of desolation occurs. This great persecution is mirrored in Revelation chapter 6 with the opening of Seal 5.

9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. Rev 6

There is more discourse in Matthew 24 about the persecution and deception of that time, and then starting in v. 29 Jesus says this will happen immediately after the persecution, which He calls great tribulation.

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. Mt 24

That is the RAPTURE!!! Immediately after the great tribulation, which follows the abomination of desolation, Jesus will appear in the sky for the entire world to see and the saints will be gathered together unto him at the rapture. Notice also what Jesus says will happen at the rapture, He says that the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

These exact events are described in Revelation 6 after the opening of Seal 6.

12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? Rev 6

Therefore Jesus succinctly tells us that after the abomination of desolation and immediately after the Seal 5 great tribulation that the Seal 6 rapture event will occur. This is further supported by the fact that in the Revelation 6 passage the people of the Earth say “hide us from the face.” They say that because they see Jesus in the clouds at the rapture event.

Thus a literal interpretation of Matthew 24 clearly tells us that the sorrows of Seals 1-4 will be followed by the abomination of desolation, which in turn will be followed by the great tribulation persecution. And after the great tribulation Jesus comes to rescue Christians after He appears in the sky after the opening of Seal 6 as depicted in the charts from The Coming Epiphany prophecy book. This is the truth that most people miss in Matthew 24—the Seal 6 rapture timing.

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Now the question is; why do many still not believe that the rapture will not happen until Seal 6 is opened? Let’s take heed to the rest of what Jesus tells us in Matthew 24.

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.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Mt 24

Are you ready for the return of the Lord? Are you spiritually, mentally, and physically prepared to live through Seals 1 to 5?

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Luke 21:36

Not sure that you will go to heaven? The end times are knocking on the door and so is Jesus. He wants to save you, will you let him in? Find out what you must do to be saved, click here.

Do you know what will happen in the end times and how to prepare for them? I wrote a book to help you. It is entitled The Coming Epiphany and will explain to you, in an easy to understand format what you need to know about the end times. The Coming Epiphany is available in paperback and as an eBook on Amazon.com. (If you cannot afford one please email me)

Note: I appreciate and want to thank all of you who have helped support this ministry by purchasing a book and or making a donation.

 

About the author: William Frederick; M.Div. has been preaching and teaching the Word of God for over 30 years. He has dedicated his life to serving God and helping others come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and understand essential end times Bible Prophecy truths. He is the author of several books including The Coming Epiphany and The Dollar Code. His articles are originally published on The End Times Forecaster Blog. From there, his articles are published and referenced on various prophecy news related websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free to do so, just please include the original link to the article. The more people that see this information the better, and we need to wake more people up while there is still time.