Matthew 24: The King Knows the Future

Jesus reveals his divine foreknowledge by accurately predicting both the near-future destruction of Jerusalem and his eventual return, demonstrating that while future events may surprise us, they never surprise God.

• Jesus predicts the temple's complete destruction, fulfilled in 70 AD when Roman forces demolished Jerusalem
• The Olivet Discourse addresses both the imminent judgment on Jerusalem and Christ's future return
• Jesus stands outside of time and space, viewing all of history simultaneously
• God never leads us into difficulties without walking alongside us through them
• When we don't understand our circumstances, we can trust the One who already knows the outcome
• Our present troubles don't mean God has lost control—He's already prepared the way through them

If you're going through something difficult right now, remember that God will never lead you into something that He will not walk with you through. On the other side, He's not only going to bring you through it, but He's going to make you better because of it and give you the strength you need.

Contact us-

Ask a Question
Send Encouragement

Take a Next Step-

SOAP Bible Study Method.
Bible Reading Plan.
Free Weekly Newsletter.

Socials-

Facebook.
Instagram.
X.
YouTube.

The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Introduction
• 1:31 Jesus Predicts Temple Destruction
• 6:48 Signs of the End Times
• 9:53 Stay Alert and Ready
• 11:37 Understanding Two Different Events
• 15:16 God Knows Your Future

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, matthew, chapter 24, and today's title is the King Knows the Future. The King Knows the Future. One of the great things about chapters like this is that, even though a lot of people will look at them as fearful and something really to bring kind of just this worry and this fear, I think the great thing is that it's the King who's telling us what we're going to read today, which means nothing surprises the king. He knows the future, he holds it all in his hand, and so my hope is, after we read this, instead of having fear and worry and concern, we're going to have joy because the king knows the future. So we'll get to all that in just a moment. If you have your Bibles, open up with me to Matthew, chapter 24. While you are doing that, make sure you take just a moment to like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast it doesn't cost you anything, but it really helps us get the word out there and make sure you dig the more we find you can get all the links to all the things we're talking about at thebiblebreakdowncom.

Speaker 1: 1:33

Well, if you've been with us over the past couple of weeks now, we have been talking about King Jesus. That's the overall theme of Matthew's gospel is in chapter one. He just is like waving his receipts and he's saying I can prove to you definitively that Jesus is at least the rightful king of the nation of Israel. But he's so much more than that and he spends chapter 2 through 28 just telling the story of how Jesus walked among his people and he proved over and over and over again that he's not just the king and Messiah over the nation of Israel, but he's the king of kings and the Lord of lords. And today he is going to talk about something that I know I've been saying in the past few chapters. You know I'll introduce the chapter saying one of the most controversial chapters and all of this.

Speaker 1: 2:19

Well, chapter 24 is one of the most talked about chapters in the Gospel of Matthew, especially from the more prophecy-driven thing, because this is what's happening is, at this particular moment, to kind of give you a bit of a history background the nation of Israel is under subjugation to the Roman Empire and they are not good subjects. I mean, there are people who, for political reasons, are doing these different things, but the nation of Israel is known as troublemakers and they are constantly causing fusses and fights with their overlords, the Romans, and it's just getting worse and worse and worse and it's kind of coming to a head. Really is what's happening and that's one of the reasons why the Pharisees and Sadducees did not like Jesus Is he is telling the people that he is the rightful king and that he has come to do more than they realize, and all this kind of stuff. And they are worried that Jesus is going to upset this very tenuous kind of stalemate that they've got with the Roman Empire. And what's happening is, as it is getting worse and worse and worse, it's going to come to this kind of line in the sand and Jesus, in this particular chapter, is going to talk about what that's going to look like.

Speaker 1: 3:35

You remember, in the Old Testament, over and over and over again, the prophets would warn the nation of Israel and say, hey, listen, you've got to repent, you've got to turn back to God. If you don't, then Assyria or Babylon are going to overwhelm you, they're going to destroy you and all this stuff. And they don't do it, and so then the enemy comes in and destroys them. That's what this chapter is all about. Jesus is telling his disciples and he is saying that, because the people of God are not willing to see who I am, destruction, judgment is coming. And here's the reason why this is kind of a controversial chapter is it's called the Olivet Discourse and it's because he's on the Mount of Olives when he's telling about the future judgment that is on its way to the nation of Israel. And some people like to take the Olivet Discourse, chapter 24, to talk about the tribulation, the second coming of Christ and all of that, and another podcast will talk about all the future ramifications for what's going on. That is one of those kind of prophetic things of the already, but not yet type of prophetic structure that you can look into this. What I want to look at is I want to look at the immediate meaning of what this would have meant to the disciples at the time. What Jesus is going to be talking about is going to be talking about what is just about to happen, about 30 years after he says this, in 70 AD, when Jerusalem is destroyed and the temple is destroyed. He is talking directly about the temple destruction. We're going to see this at the very beginning. And what is amazing about this is Jesus knows. Jesus knows what's going to happen. So if you're ready, let's dive into this.

Speaker 1: 5:12

Chapter 24, verse 1 says this as Jesus was leaving the temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various temple buildings. But he responded Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another.

Speaker 1: 5:32

Later, jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world? Jesus told them Don't let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming I am the Messiah, and they will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of war. But don't panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end will not follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of Verse 1. Each other, many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the good news about the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world. So the nations will hear it, and then the end will come.

Speaker 1: 6:45

The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet, spoke about the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the holy place. Reader, pay attention. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the hills. A person out on the deck of the roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath, for there will be greater anguish than in any time since the world began, and it will never be so great again. In fact, unless the time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive, but it will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones.

Speaker 1: 7:31

Then, if anyone tells you look, here is the Messiah or there he is, don't believe it, for false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time. So if someone tells you about this ahead of time, so if someone tells you, look, the Messiah is out in the desert, don't bother to go and look, or look, he is hiding here, don't believe it. For as lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of man comes. Just as the gathering of vultures shows that the carcass is nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near. Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then, at last, the sign that the Son of man is coming will appear in the heavens and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the son of man. The sign that the son of man is coming will appear in the heavens and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth, and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he will send out his angels with mighty blast of a trumpet and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world, from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

Speaker 1: 8:49

Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. I tell you the truth this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear. However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. When the Son of man returns, it will be like in the days of Noah. In those days, before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings. Right up until the time Noah entered his boat, people didn't realize what was going on until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of man comes.

Speaker 1: 9:45

Two men will be working together in the field. One will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the field. One will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the meal. One will be taken, the other left. So you too, must keep watch, for you don't know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this If a homeowner knew exactly when the burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of man will come when least expected.

Speaker 1: 10:15

A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth the master will put the servant in charge of all he owns. But what if the servant is evil and thinks my master won't be back for a while and he begins beating the other servants, partying, getting drunk? The master will return unannounced and unexpected and he will cut the servant into pieces and assign him to have a place with the hypocrites, and in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Speaker 1: 10:55

Wow, well, there's so much going on that, honestly, you need to go to the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook to even come close to diving into a little bit of this. I want to bring up two things that have caused a lot of confusion in the past. I want to bring up two things that have caused a lot of confusion in the past. Number one is notice how he says, on one end, this generation will not pass until you see these things fulfilled, but then on the other side, he's obviously talking about a far future event. That means Jesus is talking about two different events. The first one is a destruction of the temple he was standing close to at the time and what was going to happen in 70 AD, and it is absolutely eerily accurate, so much so that there were people who wanted to come out against the Bible and they tried to say that Matthew wrote his gospel before the temple destruction, because what happened in 70 AD was so accurate, so similar to what happened. It wasn't until after doing some further study and some of the record of the early church fathers that helped us realize that he most likely wrote his gospel in the 60s, like 62, 64 AD. The temple wasn't destroyed until 70. And so it was so many things, even things such as this Roman general called Titus went into the temple and he sacrificed a pig to the god Zeus, which would have been that desecration that Jesus was talking about. It's all of that stuff that's going on, but at the same time, he's also talking about a far future event. What's amazing about that is that Jesus knows both what's happening now and what's going to happen in the future. That should bring us great hope.

Speaker 1: 12:36

The second thing is there is this confusion because he says that only the Father knows, and so some have speculated that that means that somehow that the Father is greater than the Son, all this kind of stuff. Well, in the Trinity you have three Father, son and Spirit that are same in essence, different in office. So you have the Father, you have the Word, the Son, and you have the Spirit, and so they are equal, co-equal, co-eternal. However, they have different roles that they play in the kingdom of God and in the redemption process, and so what he's saying is he's saying my job is to come to earth, live a sinless life, die on the cross, rise again, all that stuff. The Father's job is the timetable, the Holy Spirit's job is the one who brings the power to it, and so it is not in any way saying that the Father is greater and the Son is a lesser being, that they are co-equal, co-eternal in all things. It is more a difference in their role in the plan of redemption. And so here's the bottom line of all of this, and that is this that judgment comes in life. There are seasons of great joy, of great wonder, of great blessings. There's also seasons of difficulty and struggle and trouble and toil. And here's the thing they may surprise us, but they don't surprise God.

Speaker 1: 14:07

God knew what was coming, because here's the thing God stands outside of time and space. God is not inside time and space, only the way we are. He is separate from his creation. Yet he can move into time and space as he wants to. He can come in and out of it. But he looks at time and space the same way we would look at a book. We look at a book, we see the beginning, we see the end, we see everything in between, because we're looking at it. That's the way time works for God, so he is able to look ahead and able to see oh wow, in chapter 12, there's going to be some trouble, but look at that. In chapter 14, it's going to get better. And what's even more amazing is he wrote it. So he can do that. Therefore, god knows, and so he's already there with us.

Speaker 1: 14:52

What does this have to do with us. That is this In your life, you're going to have trouble, you're going to have difficulty when you go through trouble. When you go through difficulty, that does not mean that God lost the plot. It doesn't mean that God no longer knows what he's doing. It means that he has actually already provided a way through all that trouble and already provided a way in it. So here's the thing Nothing surprises God. Therefore, when you don't understand what's going on around you, that's okay. Just keep trusting in the Lord.

Speaker 1: 15:23

And so, right now, if you're going through something you didn't plan, something you didn't want, something you wish that maybe you could have avoided, god will never lead you into something that he will not walk with you through it. And on the other side, he's not only going to bring you through it, but he's going to make you better because of it and he's going to give you the strength that you need to do it. We can trust in the Lord because he knows it. He knows all that's going to happen. He knows all that's going to happen. He knows the future and he's going to walk through us, through it all. Let's pray together right now, god. Thank you so much for today. God, the future.

Speaker 1: 15:55

The unknown is so confusing for us. We don't know what's going to happen and for many of us, where that brings us fear and worry, because we want to know. We want to know what's going to happen, we want to know why and how and all of that. And sometimes it can be difficult to trust you, god. We don't always understand why you will allow us to go through difficult times. I pray you'll help us to remember that the one who loves us the most is the one who leads us. Therefore, if you lead us into trouble, you have a plan and we can trust it. We trust you today. We trust you, lord, that you will lead us and you will guide us every step of the way. We're thankful, god, for all you're doing in our lives. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. God's word says in Matthew 28, verse 19,. He says all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Matthew, chapter 25.