The Church in heaven    Christ's
           The     Jerusalem   The Mystery Age  ^                      return
           Cross   destroyed    (see ch. 13)    |                      to earth
              _|_  70 AD       ('the age', v.3) |Q.#2b      Q.#2c      Q.#3   
_______________|___|____________________________|___________|__________|____
              |    | - - - - -  v.4-8 - - - - - |           | v.15-25  | 
Jesus gives the    Q.#1         Q.#2a           | v.9-14               |v.26-31
Olivet Discourse   |-the Beginnings of Sorrows- |-- Jacob's Trouble -- |

• you {3x}... shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake...- cp. Rev 12:13
  Remember, Jesus is speaking to the Jewish nation.
  These afflictions inflicted by other nations describe intensifying antisemitism, against Israel.
• many offended... hate one another...- cp. Mat 10:21-36
  There will be divisions within Israel, especially concerning the identity of the Messiah.
• false prophets... deceive many...- cp. Mat 7:15; Rev 13:11-14; 19:20
  As false teachers characterize the Christian era; false prophets characterize the Jewish era.
• iniquity abounds... love of many grows cold- cp. Jam 4:4; 5:1-5; Rev 3:15,16
• the Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached... to all nations- cp. Rev 11:15; 12:17; 14:6,7
  This message, preached by John the Baptist (Mat 3:2) and by Jesus during His early ministry (4:17), was set aside when Israel rejected the King. During the Tribulation period, it will be preached again, because the second coming of the King will be near. [During the present age, we proclaim the Gospel of the Grace of God in Christ Jesus (Acts 20:24,25), which enables entrance into His spiritual kingdom (Col 1:5,6,12-14). The Gospel of the Kingdom relates specifically to the arrival of Christ's earthly kingdom.]

• the Holy Place (v.15)- is the Temple in Jerusalem. The Church has no earthly Temple.
• those who are in Judea (v.16)- refers to Jewish people living in the land of Israel at that time.
• the sabbath (v.20)- restricts Jewish travelers, but would have no such effect on the Church.

• This is emphatic of the severity of the Great Tribulation. In three and a half years, the population of the world will come very near self-extermination.
• should be shortened - This is stated in the past tense in Mark 13:20:
  ''except the Lord had shortened those days...'' - implying that the time is fixed and limited at a specific length (ie., a period of 'three and half years', '42 months', or '1260 days'; eg. Rev 11:1-3; 12:6,14 ). These limits were established in Dan 9:24, 'seventy weeks are determined...'.

1. Where?
   1. as the lightning...- v.26,27
      His coming will neither be isolated geographically, nor hidden.
   2. where the carcass is...- v.28; cp. Job 39:27-30
      He will come to judge moral corruption wherever it is found.
2. When?
   • immediately after the tribulation... then... - v.29,30
   • the sun darkened... the powers of the heavens... shaken- cp. Isa 13:9-11; Rev 6:12-17
3. How?
   1. then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man- ie., His 'power and great glory',
      cp. v.30; Mat 16:27; 26:63,64; Acts 1:9-11
      sign- GK=semeion, a sign, mark, token, that by which a person is distinguished from others and known [OLB]
   2. all the tribes of the earth {ie., the land} shall mourn... shall see... - v.30
      The word for 'earth' is GK=ge, land, country. Cp. 'land' in Mat 2:6,20,21
      This describes the response of the twelve tribes of Israel to His coming in glory.
      cp. Zech 12:10-14; Rev 1:7
   3. He shall send His angels... they shall gather... His elect...- v.31
      • Note that this is not the Rapture of the Church.
        At the Rapture, ''The Lord Himself'' (not the angels) will catch the Church away at the sound of His voice (a voice like that of an archangel, and like that of a trumpet). cp. 1The 4:16,17; Rev 1:10; 4:1
      • This is the gathering of the remnant of Israel into His earthly Kingdom.
        • Israel is called God's elect. Isa 45:4; Deu 7:6
        • They were scattered to the four winds, because of their rebellion. Ezek 5:10; Zech 2:6
        • The believing remnant will be regathered, when Christ returns to earth.
          cp. Isa 11:12; 27:13; 43:1-7; Jer 16:14,15; Mat 13:40-43,49-50

• With the 'greening' of Israel (ie., the re-establishment of the nation in the land, in 1948 AD) we know that the season approaches. Just as following the Babylonian captivities, Israel had to be restored to her land before Messiah's first advent, so, she must be in her land prior to His second coming to His Temple.
• But the sign is not the greening of Israel, but ''when you shall see all these things'' (v.33; cp. NIV trans. of Mark 13:29 and Luk 21:31: ''when you see all these things happening'') ie., the things described in v.9-25 concerning the end of the age.

1. the word for 'taken' in v.40,41 {GK=paralambano, to take alongside}
   suggests tender protective care (cp. Mat 2:13,14,20,21).
   However, this word is not always used in a pleasant context.
   The question is 'taken alongside of whom?' Examples of unpleasant uses of 'paralambano' -
   • Mat 4:5,8; 12:45 (re: the Devil and demons);
   • Mat 27:27; Joh 19:16 (re: Jesus taken to judgment);
   • Luk 17:34-37 (...taken... Where?...)
2. the word for 'took' in v.39 is a different word {GK=airo, to carry away}.
   However, the word choice is determined by the mechanism.
   In v.39, an impersonal force, the flood, 'carries them away'.
   In v.40,41 the angels 'gather them'. But in either case the destination is judgment.