Many Christians don't have a proper understandng of the Olivet Discourse. With that in mind I would like to address the matter.
The Olivet Discourse is presented in
Matthew 24:1 - 25:46; Mark 13:1-37; and Luke 21:5-36 and was given just three days before Jesus was crucified.
What Jesus said in the Olivet Discourse in response to the questions asked of Him by four of His disciples, Peter, James, John and Andrew
(Mark 13:3) concerns Israel, not the church. The church-age wasn't to begin until 50 days after Jesus was resurrected. The disciples had asked Jesus three questions. Jesus had just said that the temple was going to be torn down. And in response to this, the disciples wanted to know when this would occur. In addition, they asked Jesus what the sign of His coming would be-that is, when the kingdom would be fulfilled, and of the end of the age leading up to His coming.
(Matt 24:3). They were asking about the end of the age of Israel. It is important to understand that the age of Israel was temporarily put on hold in order that the church-age could be ushered in. The church-age was actually inserted into the age of Israel, therefore interrupting it. When the church-age is terminated by the rapture, the last seven years remaining to Israel, and known as the Tribulation, will begin.
And this is what the disciples were concerned about. In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus is addressing their concerns. The answer to their first question, ''when will these things be,'' is recorded in
Luke 21:20-21. In 70 A.D. the armies of Rome destroyed the temple and Jerusalem in fulfillment of the prophecy that Jesus made and which was recorded in
Matt. 24:2, Mark 13:2, and Luke 21:6. Jerusalem will again be in a similar situation at the end of the Tribulation
(Zech. 14:1-2). This is when Christ will return at the Second Advent to rescue Jerusalem from her enemies. This is the armegeddon campaign in which the Gentile armies led by the antichrist come against Jerusalem in order to destroy her. But the Lord returns and defeats them.
Now, the second and third questions posed by the disciples were 'what would be the sign of His coming and of the end of the age?' This has absolutely nothing to do with the rapture. It has to do with the end of the Tribulation and of the Second Advent of Christ.
Matthew 24:15 - 25:46 records the answers to these questions. As does Mark.
Taking the specific sign of the Lord's return at the end of the Tribulation first, that is addressed in
Matthew 24:15 and is the sign of the abomination of desolation which takes place at the midway point of the Tribulation. This is where things get really bad. The antichrist will have broken his promise of peace which he had made at the beginning of the Tribulation and kept for about three and a half years. The first half of the Tribulation is actually peaceful. It is the second half of the Tribulation when things start happening. When the Jews see the abominatin of desolation, they are warned to flee to the mountains, and at this point they know they have to hold out for the next three and a half years, at which point the Messiah will appear.
Prior to all this though, there are general signs which are recorded in
Matthew 24:4-14.
Matthew 24:4-14 And Jesus answered and said to them, ''See to it that no one misleads you.
5) 'For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
6) And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
7) For nation wil rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8) ''But all these things are meerly the beginning of birth pangs. (Now again, the events mentioned do not have anything to do with the rapture of the church, but with the Second Advent of Christ.) 9) ''Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name.
10) ''And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another.
11) ''And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.
12) ''And because lawessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.
13) But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.
14) ''And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations (The 144,000 Jewish witnesses and the angelic witnesses proclaiming the Gospel), and then the end shall come. (The end of the Tribulation.)
Now it is possible that some of the General signs described in
Matthew 24:5-13 do find their fulfillment in the church-age, but ONLY as general signs, and not of the rapture but of the second Advent of Christ. It must be remembered that the
'last days' cover the entire period between the first and second coming of Christ which includes the church-age as well as the Tribulation.
(Hebrews 1:2)
And to clear up a misconception, Jesus didn't say that earthquake activity would increase in the last days. Indeed, the earthquakes and the other general signs are only the
beginning of the birth pangs. As time goes on, earthquakes do become more serious because there are more people on the earth which are affected by the quakes.
Revelation 16:18-20 records that during the Tribulation there is going to be an earthquake so powerful that it is going to destroy the cities of the nations. This earthquake will be more powerful than any other in all of the recorded history of man. It is one of the many judgments that will take place in the Tribulation.
Here is a link which will be of help...
What is the Olivet Discourse?
So what about the rapture?
Israels existence as a nation is very significent. When Christ returns at the Second Advent, He returns to rescue an existing nation Israel. God could have restored the nation Israel at any time in history. He did do so in 1948. Israel was partially restored in a state of unbelief and is now awaiting the events of the Tribulation to awaken the Jews to the fact that Jesus Christ is the Messiah that they rejected. And when Christ returns, He will fully restore Israel in a state of belief.
Here is a link concerning the significance of modern-day Israel.
https://www.city-data.com/forum/chris...rael-back.html
I'm not really a prophecy buff and this is only a brief explanation of the Olivet Discourse, but because of another thread on this forum, I thought it a good idea to post this. I hope someone finds it useful.
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