The Vision Of The Future (PT--1)

Matthew 24:3  

"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?"  

    In Chapter 1 Matthew gathers together things that Jesus said about the future and gives us the vision of things to come. Matthew put together sayings of Jesus about different aspects of the future; and it will make this difficult chapter much easier to understand (if) we spiritually focus and look at them one by one. It will be best if, first of all, we look at these verses as a whole; next, we set down the various aspects of the future with which they deal; and last, we try to assign each section to its place in the pattern. We cannot claim certainty but, the general vision will become clear. 

    There is the composite vision of the future which Matthew collects for us; lets now try to understand the various parts in it. Some verses which foretell the terrible days of the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, the Roman general, a siege which was one of the most terrible in all history, (Matt. 24:15-22). Some verses tell of the ultimate complete destruction of Jerusalem and its reduction to a heap of ruins, (Matt. 24:1-2).  

    Some verses gives us a picture from the Jewish conception of the Day of the Lord. The Jews divided all time into two ages, this present age, and the age to come. The present age is wholly bad and beyond all hope of human reformation. It can be mended only by the direct intervention of God. When God does intervene the golden age, the age to come, will arrive. But in between the two ages there will come the Day of the Lord, which will be a time of terrible and fearful sudden violent, change like the birth-pangs of a new age. (BSB).

    In the Old Testament itself there is many visions of the Day of the Lord; and in the Jewish books written between the Old and the New Testaments these visions are further developed and made still more vivid and still more terrible. It will be a time of terror. "A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness" (Zeph. 1:14-18).  It will come suddenly. "The Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night" (1Thess.5:2).  The universe will be shattered to pieces. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood (Joel 2:30-31; Is. 13:10; Is. 13:13). 

    My Friends, It will be a time of moral chaos, when moral standards will be turned upside down, and when even nature will act contrary to herself, and when wars and violence and hatred will be the common atmosphere of life. We must look around and see these signs that God is given us! Prepare for Jesus Christ return!!  

Amen!

Reading:  Matt. 24:1-31

Devotional Scriptures

Ref: KJV, HGSB; DSB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry