This week Mike Huckabee had as one of his guests, Ann Graham Lotz, Billy Graham's daughter. One of the topics they discussed was the end of the world, which she believes will be in this generation. She said she came to that conclusion by applying Matthew 24 to the events in the world today. The problem with that is Matthew 24 was not written about events of today. Applying Matthew 24 to today is faulty theology.
I have already written about Matthew 24 in another article. Here is what I wrote in part:
But, now we come to Matthew 24. Jesus had just been in the temple in Jerusalem condemning the scribes and the Pharisees, for all their wickedness down through the years. And at the end of this diatribe, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." - 23:36. Now, when Jesus said, "this generation," do you suppose he was referring to some far off distant generation? He just got finished condemning them for all their wickedness, and then He says, their punishment wouldn't occur till some far off generation. Yeah right. 23:37 established that they were in fact in Jerusalem. And that is where Matthew 24 begins.
Matthew 24 starts with Jesus and the disciples leaving the temple. Jesus showed them the temple, and told them it would be destroyed. They asked this question, "when will these things be ? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?" Jesus then told them of unprecedented great tribulation that would befall Jerusalem. Not, America. And, IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS, the sun would be darkened, etc. Then you will see the sign of the Son of Man... then they will see the Son of Man COMING IN HIS KINGDOM, not thousands of years later, but immediately after the great tribulation that would befall Jerusalem. Well, that great tribulation did occur just as Jesus foretold, culminating in the desecration and destruction of the temple in 70 AD.
In verse 16 Jesus said, "
then let those that are in Judea flee to the mountains." Notice, who were to flee to the mountains? The people of New York City? The people of Atlanta, Georgia? The people of San Francisco? Maybe the people of Japan? Or maybe the people of Joplin, Missouri? What about Baghdad, Iraq? No, none of those places. It was the people of Judea. GET THAT! JUDEA! Not America, or any other place in the world today. When were they suppose to flee to the mountains. Jesus said in verse 15, "
Therefore, when you see the 'abomination of desolation' spoken of Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place." Daniel 11.31 states, "
And forces shall be mustered by him and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation." Whatever the abomination of desolation was, it would happen in the sanctuary fortress, which indicates the temple. It would be a little hard for that to happen today since the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, and has never been rebuilt to this day. And who was Jesus telling this to? Was he not answering the disciples questions in verse 3?
All this indicates where and when all these events would take place. In Judea, and Jerusalem while the temple was still standing. And the temple, as I stated was destroyed in 70 AD. So all the events Jesus talked about in Matthew 24 had to have happen in Judea up to and including the time when the temple was destroyed.
Matthew 24:29-31, Jesus said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give it's light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
All those things that Jesus told his disciples had already occurred, including the coming of Christ as Matthew 24:29-31 shows us. They are not going to occur again. They can't, because the temple has been destroyed and never rebuilt, which is one of the contentions in present day Israel. They want to rebuild the temple so it can be destroyed and usher in the coming of the Messiah, and that can't happen if there is no temple. The problem is, there is an Islamic Mosque where the temple once stood and where they want to rebuild the temple.
So what Ann Graham Lotz said on Huckabee this week is just plain poppycock. Matthew 24 was written to a specific people about specific events that have long since occurred, culminating with destruction of the temple in 70 AD.
All Scripture quotations are form the New King James Version of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
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Study to show yourself approved unto God a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.
