When Will These Things Take Place  Matthew 24:3

Matthew 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

As said in an earlier post, the disciples may have thought the destruction of the temple, the return of Christ, and the end of this age would all take place simultaneously. Christ knew the temple would be destroyed hundreds of years before the “end of the world." Thus, he answers their question with 18 signs. These are signs, which tell his disciples “when” the destruction of the temple would take place, when he would return, and when Gentile domination over Israel would end. Do all 18 signs refer to the destruction of the temple, or do all 18 signs refer to the time Christ returns back to earth? I have come to believe the answer to these two questions is yes. We have a distinct advantage over the disciples. We know the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, and we also know that Christ did not return at that time. Thus, we can presume that the 18 signs which follow, either refers to just one of the events, all the events, or some of the signs refer to one, and some of the signs refer to another. However, maybe there is another alternative explanation. Research the 18 events, and decide which sign refers to what event.

1.   Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ;

2.   Many shall be deceived.

3.   Ye shall hear of wars.

4.   Ye shall hear of rumors of wars.

5.   Nation shall rise against nation.

6.   Kingdom shall rise against kingdom.

7.   There shall be famines.

8.   There shall be pestilences.

9.   There shall be earthquakes, in divers places.

10. Then shall they deliver you to be afflicted.

11. They shall kill you.

12. Ye shall be hated of all nations for my names sake.

13. Many shall be offended.

14. Many shall betray one another.

15. Many shall hate one another.

16. Many false prophets shall rise and deceive many.  

17. The love of many shall wax cold because iniquity shall abound.

18. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world

Christ made it clear that specific events would take place before the temple was destroyed and before the end of the world. I believe some of the 18 events mention above relate merely to the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD and other of the events refer just to the end of the age. However,  I remain open to the possibility that all 18 events may both apply to the time before the destruction of Jerusalem, and to the time before Christ returns to set up his kingdom. All of these signs may have been partially fulfilled before the temple was destroyed, and they will all be completely fulfilled before the return of Christ.