Matthew 24:1-14

¹ Jesus was leaving the temple and walking away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.

² But he answered them, “You see all these buildings, don’t you? Honestly, I am telling you, there will not be left here one stone connected to another that will not be thrown down.”

³ As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign that you are coming and that the age is ending?”

⁴ And Jesus answered them, “Make sure that no one leads you off course.

⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many off course.

⁶ And you will hear of wars and reports of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end of the age is not yet.

⁷ Because nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in different places.

⁸ All these signs are only the beginning of the birth pains.

⁹ “At that time they will arrest you, persecute you and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because you accept me.

¹⁰ And at that time many will rebel and betray one another and hate one another.

¹¹ And many false prophets will appear and lead many off course.

¹² And because disorder will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end of the age will come.

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Don’t get sidetracked

The disciples assumed that the destruction of Jerusalem would be the end of the age. Jesus taught that the age would last a much longer time, with many signs appearing and disappearing throughout the age, like labor pains. Comparing all four synoptic Gospels, those labor pain signs include:

• False Messiahs
• Wars, rumors of wars, revolutions
• International strife
• Famines, earthquakes, pestilences
• Fearful events, great signs from heaven
• Apostasy and schism
• Persecution, false prophets
• Martyrdom
• Increased wickedness
• Love grows cold, family betrayal
• Gospel preached to all nations

We are living in that age now. The signs do not point to the age’s end, and they will not increase in intensity just before the end. The whole point of the signs is that they come and go throughout the age, just as labor pains throughout labor. They merely show that the labor is happening.

LORD, when these things happen around us, give us the wisdom to not get sidetracked with last-days speculation, and to keep preaching the gospel, because we do not know how long we have, and there is a world to reach.