Matthew 24
Matthew 24:1
Yeshua went out from the Temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the Temple.
The Talmud says,
“It used to be said: He who has not seen the Temple of Herod has never seen a beautiful building. Of what did he build it? Rabbah said: Of yellow and white marble. Some say, of blue, yellow and white marble. Alternate rows [of the stones] projected,15 so as to leave a place for cement. He originally intended to cover it with gold, but the Rabbis advised him not to, since it was more beautiful as it was, looking like the waves of the sea.”
Bava Batra 4a, Soncino Press Edition
Matthew 24:2
But he answered them, “You see all of these things, do not you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.”
Matthew 24:3
As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?
Matthew 24:4
Yeshua answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray.”
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way.”
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, ESV (Modified)
Matthew 24:5
For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah’, and will lead many astray.
“For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”
2 Thessalonians 2:3, ESV
Matthew 24:6
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.
“R. Isaac taught: In the year in which the king Messiah reveals himself, all the kings of the nations of the earth will be at strife with one another. The king of Persia will make war against a king of Arabia, and this king of Arabia will go to Edom to take counsel from the Edomites. Thereupon the king of Persia will again lay the whole world waste. All the nations of the world will be agitated and frightened, they will fall upon their faces, and the y will be seized with pangs like the pangs of a woman in labor.” Pesikta Rabbati 36.2, translated by R’ William Braude, Yale University Press, pg. 681-682
Matthew 24:7
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places.
This seems to echo the words of Isaiah,
“And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.”
Isaiah 19:2, ESV
Genesis 14 speaks of the First World War,
“It happened in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Kedarlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goyim, that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar). All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea). Twelve years they served Kedarlaomer, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled. In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emimin Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to Elparan, which is by the wilderness. They returned, and came to En Mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar. The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim; against Kedarlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.”
Genesis 14:1-9
The Midrash comments,
“And it came to pass in the days of Amraphelking of Shinar’: this alludes to Babylon; ‘Arioch king of Ellasar’: that alludes to Greece; ‘Kedarlaomer king of Elam’: that is Media; and ‘Tidal the king of Goyim [lit. ‘nations’]’: this alludes to the wicked Power [i.e. Rome] which levies troops from all the nations of the world. R. Eleazar b. R. Abina said: When you see the Powers fighting each other, look for the coming [lit. ‘feet’] of the King Messiah. The proof is that in the days of Avraham, because these Powers fought against each other, greatness came to Avraham.”
Genesis Rabbah 42:4
Matthew 24:8
But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.
The birth pains of the Messiah, called Chevlei Mashiach.
Matthew 24:9
Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my names sake.
Matthew 24:10
Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another.
Matthew 24:11
Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray.
Matthew 24:12
Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.
Matthew 24:13
But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.
Matthew 24:14
This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 24:15
When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
Matthew 24:16
then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Matthew 24:17
Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out things that are in his house.
Matthew 24:18
Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes.
Matthew 24:19
But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days!
Matthew 24:20
Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on a Sabbath,
Matthew 24:21
for then there will be great oppression, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.
Matthew 24:22
Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
Matthew 24:23
Then if any man tells you, ‘Behold, here is the Messiah’, or, ‘There’, do not believe it.
Matthew 24:24
For there will arise false messiahs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.
“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”
2 Thessalonians 2:9, ESV
Matthew 24:25
Behold, I have told you beforehand.
Matthew 24:26
If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness’, don’t go out; ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms’, do not believe it.
Matthew 24:27
For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.”
2 Thessalonians 2:8
The “lawless” one is Armilus, the Antichrist.
Matthew 24:28
For wherever the carcass is, there is where the vultures gather together.
Matthew 24:29
But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken
Matthew 24:30
and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
Matthew 24:31
He will send out his angels with a great sound of a shofar, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
Matthew 24:32
Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near.
Matthew 24:33
Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Matthew 24:34
Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all these things are accomplished.
Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Matthew 24:36
But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Matthew 24:37
As the days of Noach were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:38
For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship,
דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל לֹא נִמּוֹחוּ מִן הָעוֹלָם עַד שֶׁכָּתְבוּ גִּמּוֹמְסִיּוֹת לְזָכָר וְלִבְהֵמָה.
“The generation of the Flood was not wiped out from the world until they wrote gemom’siot for (the union of a man to) a male or to an animal.”
Genesis Rabbah 26:5
Matthew 24:39
and they didn’t know until the flood came, and took them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:40
Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left;
Matthew 24:41
two women grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one will be left.
Matthew 24:42
Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes.
“It is not yet God’s will that the date of Moshiach’s arrival be revealed to man, but when the date draws near, even children will be able to make the calculation and it will be revealed to all.”
Zohar, B’resheet 118a, Cited in Talking about the End of Days, R’ Pinchas Winston
Matthew 24:43
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
“For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. For when they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape. But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief.”
1 Thessalonians 5:2-4
Matthew 24:44
Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.
Matthew 24:45
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them their food in due season?
Matthew 24:46
Blessed is that servant whom his lord finds doing so when he comes.
“What can a person do to be spared the travail of the Messiah? And he responded: One should occupy himself in the study of the Torah and in acts of kindness.”
Sanhedrin 98b
