Bible Study on Matthew 24, verses 32 to 51, Watch therefore

 

Matthew 24:32 ¶  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40  Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41  Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  42  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49  And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51  And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

For verse 32 see;

 

Song of Solomon 2:11  For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 12  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 13  The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

 

The destruction of the city and the temple will tell them that the things Christ told them about are ready to come to pass. The destruction of the temple signifies the time of the Gentiles which will end with the translation of the Church, the thousand-year reign of Christ, and the judgment of the unsaved dead. Every event of history since then has been simply a reshuffling of the deck chairs on the Titanic. Nations are being prepared, empires swirl around the drain, and all will be ready for their last stand against Christ in the millennium.

 

The generation that sees the rapture, the translation of the Church happen, will live to see it all happen. No man on earth knows when these things will happen. It will be like the days of Noah until the Flood came. The rhythms and celebrations of life will continue until the wrath of God is revealed. Then, as Jesus describes in detail the elect shall be removed. What will He find us doing when this time comes? The implication in 48 is that this is a false Christian, one of the tares mentioned in a previous parable, who while claiming to be a servant is not truly a servant and what could have been theirs is granted to others he would not deem worthy. There will be plenty of people who are not raptured or translated who will cry out, “why did I not go with them?”

 

And don’t think that, oh, things are so bad now, this must be the end, because they will not be as we think.

 

…for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

 

1Thessalonians 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

 

2Peter 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.