Pastor Dave wrote:
> Mat 24:29 - Immediately after the tribulation, etc. -
> Commentators generally understand this, and what follows,
> of the end of the world and Christ=EF=BF=BDs coming to judgment:
> but the word immediately shows that our Lord is not
> speaking of any distant event, but of something immediately
> consequent on calamities already predicted: and that must
> be the destruction of Jerusalem. =EF=BF=BDThe Jewish heaven shall
> perish, and the sun and moon of its glory and happiness
> shall be darkened - brought to nothing. The sun is the
> religion of the Church; the moon is the government of
> the state; and the stars are the judges and doctors of both.
> Compare Isa_13:10; Eze_32:7, Eze_32:8, etc.=EF=BF=BD Lightfoot.
>
> In the prophetic language, great commotions upon earth
> are often represented under the notion of commotions
> and changes in the heavens: -
>
> The fall of Babylon is represented by the stars and
> constellations of heaven withdrawing their light, and the
> sun and moon being darkened. See Isa_13:9, Isa_13:10.
>
> The destruction of Egypt, by the heaven being covered,
> the sun enveloped with a cloud, and the moon withholding
> her light. Eze_32:7, Eze_32:8.
>
> The destruction of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes is
> represented by casting down some of the host of heaven,
> and the stars to the ground. See Dan_8:10.
>
> And this very destruction of Jerusalem is represented by
> the Prophet Joel, Joe_2:30, Joe_2:31, by showing wonders
> in heaven and in earth - darkening the sun, and turning
> the moon into blood. This general mode of describing
> these judgments leaves no room to doubt the propriety
> of its application in the present case.
>
>
> Mat 24:30 - Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man -
> The plain meaning of this is, that the destruction of
> Jerusalem will be such a remarkable instance of Divine
> vengeance, such a signal manifestation of Christ=EF=BF=BDs power
> and glory, that all the Jewish tribes shall mourn, and many
> will, in consequence of this manifestation of God, be led
> to acknowledge Christ and his religion. By "tribes of the
> earth" (of the land, not the planet), in the text, it is
> evidently meant here, as in several other places, the land
> of Judea and its tribes, either its then inhabitants, or the
> Jewish people wherever found.
>
>
> Mat 24:31 - He shall send his angels - His messengers,
> the apostles, and their successors in the Christian
> ministry. - With a great sound of a trumpet - Or,
> a loud-sounding trumpet; the earnest affectionate call
> of the Gospel of peace, life, and salvation. - Shall gather
> together his elect - The Gentiles, who were now chosen
> or elected, in place of the rebellious, obstinate Jews,
> according to Our Lord=EF=BF=BDs prediction, Mat_8:11,Mat_8:12,
> and Luk_13:28,Luk_13:29. For the children of the kingdom,
> (the Jews who were born with a legal right to it, but had
> now finally forfeited that right by their iniquities) should
> be thrust out. It is worth serious observation, that the
> Christian religion spread and prevailed mightily after this
> period: and nothing contributed more to the success of
> the Gospel than the destruction of Jerusalem happening in
> the very time and manner, and with the very cir***stances,
> so particularly foretold by our Lord. It was after this
> period that the kingdom of Christ began, and his reign
> was established in almost every part of the world.
>
> To St. Matthew=EF=BF=BDs account, St. Luke adds, Luk_21:24,
> They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shalt be
> led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall
> be trodden down by the Gentiles, till the times of the
> Gentiles be fulfilled. The number of those who fell by
> the sword was very great. Eleven Hundred Thousand
> perished during the siege. Many were slain at other
> places, and at other times. By the commandment of
> Florus, the first author of the war, there were slain at
> Jerusalem 3,600, Josephus. War, b. ii. c. 14. By the
> inhabitants of Caesarea, above 20,000. At Scythopolis,
> above 13,000. At Ascalon, 2,500. At Ptolemais, 2,000.
> At Alexandria, 50,000. At Joppa, when taken by Cestius
> Gallus, 8,400. In a mountain called Asamon, near Sep****is,
> above 2,000. At Damascus, 10,000. In a battle with the
> Romans at Ascalon, 10,000. In an ambuscade near the
> same place, 8,000. At Japha, 15,000. Of the Samaritans,
> on Mount Gerizim, 11,600. At Jotapa, 40,000. At Joppa,
> when taken by Vespasian, 4,200. At Tarichea, 6,500.
> And after the city was taken, 1,200. At Gamala, 4,000,
> besides 5,000 who threw themselves down a precipice.
> Of those who fled with John, of Gischala, 6,000. Of the
> Gadarenes, 15,000 slain, besides countless multitudes
> drowned. In the village of Idumea, above 10,000 slain.
> At Gerasa, 1,000. At Machaerus, 1,700. In the wood of
> Jardes, 3,000. In the castle of Masada, 960. In Cyrene,
> by Catullus the governor, 3,000. Besides these, many
> of every age, ***, and condition, were slain in the war,
> who are not reckoned; but, of those who are reckoned,
> the number amounts to upwards of 1,357,660, which
> would have appeared incredible, if their own historian
> had not so particularly enumerated them. See Josephus,
> War, book ii. c. 18, 20; book iii. c. 2, 7, 8, 9; book iv.
> c. 1, 2, 7, 8, 9; book vii. c. 6, 9, 11; and Bp. Newton,
> vol. ii. p. 288-290.
>
> Many also were led away captives into all nations. There
> were taken at Japha, 2,130. At Jotapa, 1,200. At Tarichea,
> 6,000 chosen young men, who were sent to Nero; others
> sold to the number of 30,400, besides those who were given
> to Agrippa. Of the Gadarenes were taken 2,200. In Idumea
> above 1,000. Many besides these were taken in Jerusalem;
> so that, as Josephus says, the number of the captives taken
> in the whole war amounted to 97,000. Those above seventeen
> years of age were sent to the works in Egypt; but most were
> distributed through the Roman provinces, to be destroyed
> in their theatres by the sword, and by the wild beasts; and
> those under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves.
> Eleven thousand in one place perished for want. At
> Caesarea, Titus, like a thorough-paced infernal savage,
> murdered 2,500 Jews, in honor of his brother=EF=BF=BDs birthday;
> and a greater number at Berytus in honor of his father=EF=BF=BDs.
> See Josephus, War, b. vii. c. 3. s. 1. Some he caused to
> kill each other; some were thrown to the wild beasts; and
> others burnt alive. And all this was done by a man who
> was styled, The darling of mankind! Thus were the Jews
> miserably tormented, and distributed over the Roman
> provinces; and continue to be distressed and dispersed
> over all the nations of the world to the present day.
> Jerusalem also was, according to the prediction of our Lord,
> to be trodden down by the Gentiles. Accordingly it has never
> since been in the possession of the Jews. It was first in
> subjection to the Romans, afterwards to the Saracens,
> then to the Franks, after to the Mamalukes, and now to
> the Turks. Thus has the prophecy of Christ been most
> literally and terribly fulfilled, on a people who are still
> preserved as continued monuments of the truth of
> our Lord=EF=BF=BDs prediction, and of the truth of the Christian
> religion. See more in Bp. Newton=EF=BF=BDs Dissert. vol. ii.
> p. 291, etc.
>
>
> Mat 24:32 - Learn a parable of the fig-tree - That is,
> These signs which I have given you will be as infallible
> a proof of the approaching ruin of the Jewish state as
> the budding of the trees is a proof of the coming summer.
>
>
> Mat 24:33-34 - So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these
> things, know that it is near, even at the doors. This
> generation shall not pass - houtos genea, this race; -
> i.e. the Jews shall not cease from being a distinct people,
> till all the counsels of God relative to them and the
> Gentiles be fulfilled. Some translate houtos genea as
> this generation, meaning the persons who were then living,
> that they should not die before these signs, etc., took
> place: ...this was true, as to the calamities that fell upon
> the Jews, and the destruction of their government, temple,
> etc... I think it more proper not to restrain its meaning to
> the few years which preceded the destruction of Jerusalem;
> but to understand it of the care taken by Divine providence
> to preserve them as a distinct people, and yet to keep them
> out of their own land, and from their temple service.
> ...it is literally true in reference to the destruction of
> Jerusalem. John probably lived to see these things come
> to pass; compare Mat_16:28, with Joh_21:22; and there
> were some rabbins alive at the time when Christ spoke
> these words who lived till the city was destroyed, viz.
> Rabban Simeon, who perished with the city; R. Jochanan
> ben Zaccai, who outlived it; R. Zadoch, R. Ismael,
> and others.
>
> The war began, as Josephus says, Ant. b. xx. c. 11. s. 1,
> in the second year of the government of Gessius Florus,
> who succeeded Albinus, successor of ****cius Festus,
> mentioned Act_24:27, in the month of May, in the twelfth
> year of Nero, and the seventeenth of Agrippa, mentioned
> Acts 25 and 26, that is, in May, a.d. 66.
>
> The temple was burnt August 10, a.d. 70, the same day
> and month on which it had been burnt by the king of
> Babylon: Josephus, Ant. b. xx. c. 11. s. 8.
>
> The city was taken September 8, in the second year of
> the reign of Vespasian, or the year of Christ 70. Ant.
> b. vi. c. 10.
>
> That was the end of the siege of Jerusalem, which began,
> as Josephus several times observes, about the fourteenth
> day of the month Nisan, or our April. See War, b. v. c.
> 3. s. 1, c. 13. s. 7; b. vi. c. 9. s. 3.
>
> Dr. Lardner farther remarks, There is also an ancient
> inscription to the honor of Titus, =EF=BF=BDwho, by his father=EF=BF=BDs
> directions and counsels, had subdued the Jewish nation
> and destroyed Jerusalem, which had never been destroyed
> by any generals, kings, or people, before.=EF=BF=BD.
>
> On this occasion, a medal was struck with the following
> inscription round a laureated head of the emperor: -
> IMP.erator J.ulius CAES.ar VESP.asianus AUG.ustus.
> P.ontifex M.aximus, TR.ibunitia, P.otestate P.ater P.atrice
> CO.nS.ul VIII. - On the obverse are represented a palm tree,
> the emblem of the land of Judaea; the emperor with a trophy
> standing on the left; Judea, under the figure of a
> distressed woman, sitting at the foot of the tree weeping,
> with her head bowed down, sup****ted by her left hand,
> with the legend Judaea Capta. S.enatus C.onsultus.
> at the bottom.
>
> This is not only an extraordinary fulfillment of our Lord=EF=BF=BDs
> prediction, but a literal accomplishment of a prophecy
> delivered about 800 years before, Isa_3:26, And she,
> desolate, shall sit upon the ground.
>
JERRY
So, just out of curiousity, since I'm not a Preterist, who does this
fit into the question posed by the disciples in verse three when they
ask about the events to come and Jesus' return *and the end of the
world?*
We know the world didn't end cause....check it out.
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