Matthew 24:1-2 (TS2009)
And going out, YHWSO went away from the Set-apart Place, and His taught ones came near to point out to Him the buildings of the Set-apart Place. And YHWSO said to them, “Do you not see all these? Truly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, at all, which shall not be thrown down.”

The Son of God talks about the destruction of the physical temple in Jerusalem. It would be completely destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans.

Matthew 24:3 (TS2009)
And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the taught ones came to Him separately, saying, “Say to us, when shall this be, and what is the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

The disciples ask about His second coming in the future. The disciples are God's chosen ones and the expectation was of course for God's Kingdom ruled by the Son of God which would happen in the future at the time of the end. The age until the Messiah's first coming is about God's people consisting of the 12 tribes of Israel. The age until His second coming is about all the nations in the world. With the completion of that age comes the completion of the Kingdom of God.



Matthew 24:4-5 (TS2009)
And YHWSO answering, said to them, “Take heed that no one leads you astray. “For many shall come in My Name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they shall lead many astray.

The Jews were expecting the Messiah in those days. Many Jews rejected the true Messiah. At that time many false messiahs arose (1 John 4:1, 2 Corinthians 11:13, Galatians 2:4, 2 Peter 2:1, Acts 13:6). But the Son of God likely talks about the false messiahs close to the time of the end. The time when Satan is thrown out of heaven to earth and knows he only has a short time to deceive God's people and His remaining chosen ones (Revelation 12:9-13). Satan's deceit will be at an all-time high.

Matthew 24:6-8 (TS2009)
And you shall begin to hear of fightings and reports of fightings. See that you are not troubled, for these have to take place, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and reign against reign. And there shall be scarcities of food, and deadly diseases, and earthquakes in places. And all these are the beginning of birth pains.

In 66 AD the Jerusalem riots took place, massive unrest in the center of Roman Judea, which became the catalyst of the Great Revolt in Judea. In 66 AD the First Jewish–Roman War began. In 69 AD the Year of the Four Emperors took place. Scarcities of food took place (Acts 11:28, Josephus). Deadly diseases took place (Acts 28:9, malaria). Earthquakes took place (Acts 16:26). But wars, rumours of wars, hunger, deadly diseases and earthquakes always took place throughout history.

Probably the beginning of birth pains refers to the symbolic woman in Revelation 12 who is about to give birth to the symbolic male child (Revelation 12:13). The wars, rumours of wars, hunger, deadly diseases, and earthquakes are going to happen in the world close to the time of the end. Events in the time of the end will be truly global in scale.



Matthew 24:9-13 (TS2009)
Then they shall deliver you up to affliction and kill you, and you shall be hated by all nations for My Name’s sake. And then many shall stumble, and they shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise up and lead many astray. And because of the increase in lawlessness, the love of many shall become cold. But he who shall have endured to the end shall be saved.

The Messiah is clearly talking to His disciples, God's chosen ones. They will be persecuted and killed. From Jerusalem to Greece and Rome the disciples of the Son of God were persecuted, imprisoned and killed (Acts 7). But during the time of the end the remainder of God's chosen ones will be persecuted and killed in order to complete the Kingdom of God in heaven (Revelation 12:17). Those who shall have endured to the end shall be saved, they will be taken up into heaven after their deaths. The Messiah told them: “He who has found his life shall lose it, and he that has lost his life for My sake shall find it. (Matthew 10:39)

Matthew 24:14 (TS2009)
And this Good News of the reign shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.

Before the end the Good News of the Kingdom of God will be proclaimed in all the world. From the viewpoint of God's people in the time until the Messiah "all the world" meant all the lands inhabited by the descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel. After the Messiah's death and resurrection His disciples spread the Good News of the Kingdom of God throughout the Greek and Roman Empire to the descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel, the lost sheep of Israel. With the death of His disciples that work was completed. The age since then encompasses the whole world, because God turned from the Israelites, who kept refusing God, to all people in the world. The Good News of the Kingdom of God still has to be proclaimed in literally the complete world in the time of the end.

Matthew 24:15-20 (TS2009)
So when you see the ‘abomination that lays waste,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, set up in the set-apart place” – he who reads, let him understand – then let those who are in Yehudah flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the house-top not come down to take whatever out of his house. And let him who is in the field not turn back to get his garments. And woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing children in those days! And pray that your flight does not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.

See Daniel's vision of the Ram and Goat for the abomination that lays waste. It seems that this abomination is reflected in the image or statue of king Nebuchadnezzar's dream. In the time of the end the last little horn or the false prophet will force all people to worship the image of the beast. From the viewpoint of the people at the time of the Messiah it may seem like a direct and literal warning for those who lived in Jerusalem to flee to the surrounding mountains when Jerusalem would be surrounded by the Romans around 70 AD. But from the viewpoint of the people close to the time of the end it is a warning to flee to the spiritual mountains of God. In the Old Testament for example Zion and Jerusalem are likened to mountains of God (Psalms 2:6, Daniel 9:16). The phrase pray that your flight does not take place in winter or on the Sabbath implies that the Son of God does not know when exactly this will take place. In Mark 13:32 He says that concerning that day and the hour no one knows, not even the messengers in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. I think this is another indication that He talks about the time of the end that will bring about the Kingdom of God, not the time of the end of the first age of the physical temple in Jerusalem which became irrelevant since His death and resurrection.

Matthew 24:21-22 (TS2009)
For then there shall be great distress, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the sake of the chosen ones those days shall be shortened.

Before the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD there was a civil war between different Jewish factions. The Romans built a trench and a wall around Jerusalem. Everybody that tried to escape was crucified on top of the wall as an example for those inside. According to historian Josephus more than 1 million people were killed because a large crowd was gathered for the festival of Passover. Those who managed to escape the city were persecuted by the Roman army and executed. The Romans killed the armed and elder people, 97,000 were enslaved, of which thousands were forced to become gladiators and eventually expired in the arena. This is how the Romans dealt with rebellious people.

But the Messiah points to the time of the end, when God's remaining chosen ones will be persecuted and killed in order to complete the government in heaven. The great distress on earth will be much greater than ever before and ever shall be. This points to the great tribulation in the time of the end. The phrase if those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved points to the time of the end. Probably no flesh would be saved because of Satan, who leads all the world astray (Revelation 12:9) and who will be thrown to the earth. If God would not intervene humanity would be destroyed under Satan's influence, but God will intervene in the time of the end.

Matthew 24:23-26 (TS2009)
If anyone then says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe. For false messiahs and false prophets shall arise, and they shall show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones. See, I have forewarned you. So if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe.

Satan's deception will reach its peak on earth.

Matthew 24:27 (TS2009)
For as the lightning comes from the east and shines to the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of Adam be.

In a time of great spiritual darkness in this ever more Godless world ruled by Satan, the Son of God will shine His spiritual light of truth. See also Psalms 97.

Matthew 24:28 (TS2009)
For wherever the dead body is, there the vultures shall be gathered together.

Likely this saying is to emphasize the certainty of His second coming. It is also possible that there is a reference to the fall of Babylon the Great close to the time of the end...

Revelation 18:1-2 (TS2009)
And after this I saw another messenger coming down from the heaven, having great authority, and the earth was lightened from his esteem. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, “Babel the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, and a haunt for every unclean and hated bird,

Maybe His second coming takes place at the same time.

Matthew 24:29 (TS2009)
And immediately after the distress of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

The stars shall fall from the heaven confirms that Satan and his fallen angels will be banned from heaven and thrown to the earth. This happens close to the time of the end. They will be thrown to earth after they loose the war with Michael and his army (Revelation 12:7-9). Satan and his fallen angels will try everything to deceive as many people as possible in the short time they have left on earth. See also Revelation 6:12-14, Joel 2:10,31, Joel 3:15, Isaiah 13:10, Ezekiel 32:7.

Matthew 24:30-31 (TS2009)
And then the sign of the Son of Adam shall appear in the heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Adam coming on the clouds of the heaven with power and much esteem. And He shall send His messengers with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

In the time of the end the messengers of the Son of God will gather God's chosen ones, the 144,000 (Revelation 7:1-4). They will be gathered from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. In Mark a parallel is given...

Mark 13:27 (TS2009)
And then He shall send His messengers, and assemble His chosen ones from the four winds , from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.

The phrase from the farthest part of earth confirms that some of His chosen ones are still on earth in the time of the end. It also indicates that the four winds refers to the whole earth.

Matthew 24:32-33 (TS2009)
And learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that the summer is near. So you also, when you see all these, know that He is near, at the doors.

In Luke 13 we also find a parable of a fig tree. It is about a barren fig tree not producing fruit. God wants to cut down the tree because it is waisting nourishment, but His Son pleads for more time. The tree represents God's unfaithful people. It is about God's patience. In Matthew 21 the Son of God curses a fig tree which produces no fruit and it withers immediately. In regard to the literal Jerusalem it means that the warnings would one day stop and righteous punishment executed, which was likely accomplished or sealed with the complete destruction of the second temple in 70 AD.

Matthew 24:34-35 (TS2009)
Truly, I say to you, this generation shall by no means pass away until all this takes place. The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words shall by no means pass away.

In a literal sense this could mean that Jerusalem would be destroyed during the disciples' generation. The second temple was destroyed in 70 AD. The 12 apostles of the Messiah died within a timespan of roughly 44 AD to 100 AD. When talking about the great tribulation in the time of the end all this will take place within the timespan of one generation.

Matthew 24:36 (TS2009)
But concerning that day and the hour no one knows, not even the messengers of the heavens, but My Father only.

The Son of God will come like a thief in the night (Revelation 16:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, 2 Peter 3:10). Although we can see the signs of His second coming, and know when the time is near, we cannot know the exact time. This also means that all the people and religions throughout history that attempted to predict the year in which it would happen were false prophets who ignored the Word of God.