03- 17- 11 MI DAILY DEVOTION (Matthew 24:1- 12)
THE END TIMES… COMING SOON?
1- “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show 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? 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. 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.
Some of what the Lord was saying to the disciples during those times may not be as clear to them as well as to those who were with Him as He shared to them the end times and the sign of His coming. It was really beyond their imaginations as we see it the way it is- the real picture, the real thing. They don’t have any idea and we don’t have any idea when Titus the great marched down to Jerusalem and destroyed and burned the whole place with his army and with his followers. Notice what Matthew Henry said; “His disciples came to him, to show him the buildings of the temple, It was a stately and beautiful structure, one of the wonders of the world; no cost was spared, no art left untried, to make it sumptuous. Though it came short of Solomon’s temple, and its beginning was small, yet its latter end did greatly increase. It was richly furnished with gifts and offerings, to which there were continual additions made.” (The Bible Collection- Henry Complete)
We have a more clear account of the Lord’s conversations with the disciples in the Book of (Mark 13:1- 4) 1- “And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! 2- And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3- And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4- Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?”
With regards to what may happen in the future, Jesus showed His disciples the great and beautiful temple and what will happen unto it, but the Lord was I believe emphasizing of the worst to come. The destruction of the temple may not even be the introduction or the beginning of something really worst to come as concerning the sign of His coming. But we can picture already the worst that has to come as we ponder on the Lord’s Words about the sign of His second coming. We have to keep ourselves busy spreading and preaching the Word of God, so we could make Him (Jesus our Lord and Savior) come very soon. (Mark 13:10) “And the gospel must first be published among all nations.”
