Let's study Matthew 24

[HehasmagnifiedHisWord]

Who wrote the book of Matthew?

Who was this chapter written to?

When was the book(chapter) written?

What do you personally get from this chapter?


I think, that this could be a great blessing and I want to allow those who are more seasoned members of this board to go first. This does not mean the newbies cannot join.No, this is meant for all even the moderators! May we share what the Lord has personal shown us and those who know the greek can enrich our study too.

[Heartstorm]

Well I am NOT one of the seasoned :) BUT you did invite the noobies also ... So I will take a stab at it. Matthew was written by Matthew. It was written about 50 to 70 AD, The purpose of the book I think was to prove to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah, The heir of David, Also to teach the church " Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you "

[graceforme]

Keep in mind that Jesus was not teaching the church (the Body of Christ) in the 4 gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He was teaching the Jewish nation. Jesus was born under the law (Gal. 4:4) and taught the law. So we must be careful and not take all the teachings of Christ as doctrine, for this will surely place us back under the law.

Each of the four gospels shows Christ in a different way.

Matthew shows Him as King.
The kingly lineage of Christ is shown in Zechariah 9:9. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king comesth unto thee: he is just, and having salvation: lowly, and riding upon as ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

The book of Mark shows Christ as a servant. There is no lineage given - none is needed according to Zechariah 3:8. "Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH."

The book of Luke shows Christ as Man. His earthly countenance.

John shows Christ as God. John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

In Bible study, clearer understanding is easier when we compare Scripture with Scripture. Also, compare book with book. If you compare the four gospels with the books of 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon, there are many parallels.

Back to Matthew, specifically. Matthew was surnamed Levi and before his conversion was a publican or tax collector under the Romans at Capernaum. The contents of this gospel show that it was probably written primarily for the use of the Jewish nation. The Jews required signs, the fulfillment of prophesy by Christ was given as a sign to them. The Jewish nation needed to be made aware of their sins, to quiet their expectations of an earthly kingdom, to eliminate their pride and self-conceit, and to teach them the spiritual nature and extent of the gospel. Also, to prepare them for the salvation opportunity of the Gentile nation. Remember that grace had not come about at this point, the Law was still very much observed. Blood sacrifice for sin was still required.

And, we need to understand that, even though the four gospels are grouped with the books we call the New Testament, based on the fact that they are still teaching law, they are technically part of the Old Testament.

Hebrews 9:16 tells us that a testament has no effect till the death of the testator. Christ did not die till the end of each of the gospels. I think this causes much confusion among Christians today. We try to apply the laws of the 4 gospels to our own lives, and this puts us back under the law. Romans clearly states that we cannot live under the law - if we break one law, we have broken them all. Living under the law is a hopeless situation.

I think it necessary to study more than just one chapter of a book in order to understand how that chapter fits with the rest of the book and not take it out of context.

Based on the fact that Matthew 24 is talking about future events, we probably would need to study the parallels in both Daniel and Revelation to fully understand the context and meaning for us - the Body of Christ today. There are many different interpretations of this chapter of Scripture. Some people see the fulfillment of most of these predictions in the destruction Jerusalem, A.D. 70. Other folks think this is descriptive of the church age, and think that it describes a tribulation that the Church must go through before Christ returns. Others believe that this passage parallels heavily with the description of Daniel's seventieth week - also found in Revelation; therefore a study of both these books would be beneficial.

The book of Luke records the intervening chruch age with his section beginning, "But before all these .........." Luke 21:12-24.

There are very few books in Scripture that we can study effectively individually. Always comparing Scripture with Scripture gives understanding. It all goes together.

God Bless.

[tom_roberts]

Well I am NOT one of the seasoned :) BUT you did invite the noobies also ... So I will take a stab at it. Matthew was written by Matthew. It was written about 50 to 70 AD, The purpose of the book I think was to prove to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah, The heir of David, Also to teach the church " Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you "

I agree

[jikoklol]

I would say that the book of Matthew, written by the disciple himself, was more than likely written pre-70A.D. It was a private discourse(Mt 24:3 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mt%2024:3;&version=31;)) between Jesus and the disciples, specifically Peter, James, John and Andrew (Mark 13:3 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=48&chapter=13&verse=1&end_verse=3&version=31&context=context)) regarding the end of the age (aion) not world (cosmos, oikoumene). Their question was related to Jesus seven woes that He pronounced on the Pharisees in the preveious chapter specifically v38. Look, your house is left to you desolate

As they were leaving the temple, the disciples came up to him to call his attention to the temple and its associated buildings. This was all due to Jesus' statement in 23:38. This response by the disciples prompted Jesus to further clarify His statements by saying "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." From this point Jesus provides them with anticipatory signs of the temple’s coming destruction.

[HehasmagnifiedHisWord]

Sounds like we are on the right track in this study. I agree that Matthew is the author of this book. Most of the audience of the Bible would be Jewish,but don't we think that Matthew is addressing Jewish believers?And I am with you on when this book was written somewhere around 50-70AD.

Now what do you believe is the meaning of this chapter? I have been reading the commentary of Matthew Henry on this particular chapter and have been greatly blessed.

Shall we start with the first verse here in Matthew 24? Anyone want to comment further on this verse?

[LaMontre]

Looks like everyone's been waitin on me??

I appreciate that.....:heh j/k.

Actually this was written to Jewish believers (namely the disciples) which is evident by the first person pronouns throughout:

....verily I say unto you....

....Take heed that no man deceive you....

....And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled:....

....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....

Question: Does anyone else find this odd considering Jesus knew that the events he described would be years in the future, quite beyond the deaths of his audience??

And

Doesn't this fact play havoc with the historical grammatical method of biblical interpretation??

[Mike]

Clearly it is written to the Jews.

One thing I will put forward from my study of the chapter is that I think our Lord is talking about the end times as an event. He is not dividing it up like we do. He is talking about it like one event.

We tend to divide it up and debate about the order and timing of all the different events, but as Jesus refers to the second coming He talks about it happening at the same time as a lot of different things that happen during the whole end times picture.

One example of this is the rapture. He talks about the rapture in connection with His second coming. That was confusing to me because I know that the rapture happens before the start of the trib, not at the second coming. But my confusion cleared up when I realized that Jesus is talking about the whole end-times and referring to it as one event.

Kind of like if I were referring to the next Olympic games and I talked about a lot of the different events as if they happened at the same time. All I would be meaning by that is that they happen during that time of the Olympics.

We Christians have this habit of debating a lot about the order of the events. So when we talk about the 'Second Coming' we are referring to a specific point at the end of the trib when Jesus returns and places His feet on the mount of olives.

But that is not how Jesus is referring to the 'Second Coming'. He talks about it as happening at this time when all this other stuff is happening, like the rapture without separating out all the different events, just looking at them as the 'End times' and referring to them as one big event.

That was an eye opener for me and helped me understand the chapter.

[jikoklol]

I would agree with Mike and LaMontre. The primary audience is the disciples with the secondary audience being believers alive before the events described in this passage transpired. In His discourse, Jesus continually uses the personal pronoun ‘you’. If the events were to be in the far future he could have used ‘they’ or ‘them’ instead of ‘you’. In Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius states that none of the Christians in Jerusalem died during the siege by Titus.


“But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation, vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called Pella. And when those that believed in Christ had come there from Jerusalem, then, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men.
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm



As for verse one of chapter 24 it continues where chapter 23 finishes. The disciples called Jesus’ attention to the temple and its associated buildings because of His statement in 23:38 regarding the temple’s destruction. This response by the disciples prompted Jesus to further clarify His statements by saying "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." From this point Jesus provides them with anticipatory signs of the temple’s coming destruction.


To answer your question HehasmagnifiedHisWord, I believe the chapter is about the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70

[HehasmagnifiedHisWord]

When the disciples asked Jesus questions concerning the future. We see that Jesus answered their question concerning the 'now" the destruction of Jerusalem. But in verse 4 Jesus warns His disciples concerning deception.I am sure that you RRmembers can practically things that we need to be careful about concerning deception in a spiritual sense.

Notice the first few verses Jesus left the temple and His disciples followed him out of the temple. They were showing that they were truly followers of Jesus.

See if you can share with us a lesson that you get from these verses.