The American Wisdom Series

Presents
The Olivet Prophecy
Matthew 24 & 25

Let us begin this exciting chapter by first recalling that in chapter 23 Jesus Christ had just informed the scribes and Pharisees that "their house shall be left desolate" and that they shall see Him no more until they say "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord (Mat. 23:39)." Observe now that Jesus "goes out" and "departs", as in removes Himself from the temple!

Matthew 24:1
And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and His disciples came to Him for to shew Him the buildings of the temple.

buildings, oikodome, oy-kod-om-ay', Greek 3619; feminine (abstract) of a compound of Greek 3624 (oikos) and the base of Greek 1430 (doma); architecture, i.e. (concrete) a structure; figurative confirmation :- building, edify (-ication, -ing).

oikos, oy'-kos, Greek 3624; of uncertain affinity; a dwelling (more or less extensive, literal or figurative); by implication a family (more or less related, literal or figurative) :- home, house (-hold), temple.

doma, do'-mah, Greek 1430; from demo (to build); properly an edifice, i.e. (special) a roof :- housetop.

1 Peter 2:4-6
To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

[5] Ye also, as lively (living) stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

[6] Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded.

olive, elaia, el-ah'-yah, Greek 1636; feminine of a presumed derivative from an obsolete primary; an olive (the tree or the fruit) :- olive (berry, tree).

Matthew 24:2
And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

blepo, blep'-o, Greek 991; a primary verb; to look at (literal or figurative) :- behold, beware, lie, look (on, to), perceive, regard, see, sight, take heed. Compare Greek 3700 (optanomai).

throne down, kataluo, kat-al-oo'-o, Greek 2647; from Greek 2596 (kata) and Greek 3089 (luo); to loosen down (disintegrate), i.e. (by implication) to demolish (literal or figurative); specially [compare Greek 2646 (kataluma)] to halt for the night :- destroy, dissolve, be guest, lodge, come to nought, overthrow, throw down.

Matthew 21:42-45
Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

[43] Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

[44] And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

[45] And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that He spake of them.

Note: If one is able to read and understand that the time frame spoken of in this entire 24th chapter concerns the events just prior to the return of Jesus Christ and the "end of the age" when He comes and pulverizes ALL the stones of the temple set up by the kenites, then any discussion of the fulfillment of the destruction of the temple (other than in type) having taken place prior to the final generation, such as in 70 AD by Titus the Roman general, would be nonsensical and an admittance to ignorance of the subject. Even if one doesn't know his stones from a hole in the ground, he or she would have to admit that the "wailing wall" still stands, meaning that there are still some stones standing upon another! Blepo!

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?

world = aion, ahee-ohn', Greek 165; from the same as Greek 104 (aei); properly an age; by extension perpetuity (also past); by implication the world; specially (Jewish) a Messianic period (present or future) :- age, course, eternal, (for) ever (-more), [n-]ever, (beginning of the, while the) world (began, without end). Compare Greek 5550 (chronos).

Rev. 1:1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John:

shortly, tachos, takh'-os, Greek 5034; from the same as Greek 5036 (tachus); a brief space (of time), i.e. with Greek 1722 (en) prefixed) in haste :- + quickly, + shortly, + speedily.

Matthew 24:4
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

[5] For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

2 Thes. 2:1-4
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him,

[2] That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

[3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

(Rev. 9:4), i.e. are knowledgeable of His Word and do not have their foreheads filled with fairy tales about snakes and apples and Ishtar bunnies and fly-away theories!

[4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

To that end, there is a point of logic to be made here!If Christ's words are true (and they are) and we can document that we are in the final generation (and we shall), then since the majority of professing Christian preachers, ministers, etc., shall be deceiving the majority of professing Christians by what they teach (traditions of men) and by what they don't teach (His Word chapter by chapter), then the probability is greater that your preacher or minister is among them than not!And if you believe what he or she is teaching as doctrine and have not checked it out to see if it is Biblical, then you could be in for a big surprise when the first supernatural entity comes performing miracles claiming to be God. Think about it! If it were not so, Christ would not have given such strong warning to His disciples! In fact, it is His number one warning and it corresponds to the First Seal of Revelation 6, the White Horse of false religion, even fake Christianity.

The question then remains, "Have you "taken heed" (blepo) to this deception?" Simply do not trust the teachings of any man, including this one, without first checking what he (or she) says to see if it aligns with God's Word. Keep in mind those rascally Bereans in Acts 17:11 who had the gall to check out the teachings of the apostle Paul to see if what he taught aligned with the scriptures. Is there any man today more worthy than Paul whose words should not be subject to accountability in God's Word? I think not! Then too, if one so easily believes a mere man or woman who claims to represent Christ without documenting what he or she teaches, think how easily that person shall "be had" by a supernatural entity who comes performing miracles in the sight of men!

Here is the next "thing" Jesus said the generation of the Baby Boomers would experience. This corresponds to the Red Horse of Rev. 6:4, the Hidden Dynasty of Politics.

[6] And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

However, world wars and the threat of world war did not signal the "end",(verese 6 above) which is "telos" in Greek and in this case means "the conclusion of" or the final events of the age.

telos, tel'-os, Greek 5056; from a primary tello (to set out for a definite point or goal); properly the point aimed at as a limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state (termination [literal, figurative or indefinite], result [immediate, ultimate or prophetic], purpose); specially an impost or levy (as paid) :- + continual, custom, end (-ing), finally, uttermost. Compare Greek 5411 (phoros).

But again, the end of the "wars" and the "rumours of wars" did not signal the end, which actually begins with the sorrows noted in verse 8 below! However, what follows in the next verse DOES, so we MUST understand what it means!

Matthew 24:7
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

So what does this verse mean, "nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom?" It is really quite simple and is made clear in the Greek from which it is translated. First, the word translated "against" is the Greek word "epi" which means "upon" or "up against", as "along side of". Just think of your outer layer of skin which is called the "epi-dermis" because it lies against your dermis, i.e. the inner layer of skin. "Epi" does not mean in "opposition to", as in antagonistically, but rather as touching, as in along side of. This is important so here is Strong's definition in its entirety:

epi, ep-ee', Greek 1909; a primary preposition properly meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution [with the genitive], i.e. over, upon, etc.; of rest (with the dative) at, on, etc.; of direction (with the accusative) towards, upon, etc. :- about (the times), above, after, against, among, as long as (touching), at, beside, × have charge of, (be-, [where-]) fore, in (a place, as much as, the time of, -to), (because) of, (up-) on (behalf of), over, (by, for) the space of, through (-out), (un-) to (-ward), with. In compounds it retains essentially the same import, at, upon, etc. (literal or figurative).

egeiro, eg-i'-ro, Greek 1453; probably akin to the base of Greek 58 (agora) (through the idea of collecting one's faculties); to waken (transitive or intransitive), i.e. rouse (literal from sleep, from sitting or lying, from disease, from death; or figurative from obscurity, inactivity, ruins, nonexistence) :- awake, lift (up), raise (again, up), rear up, (a-) rise (again, up), stand, take up.

agora, ag-or-ah', Greek 58; from ageiro (to gather; probably akin to Greek 1453 (egeiro)); properly the town-square (as a place of public resort); by implication a market or thoroughfare:- market (-place), street.

nations = ethnos, eth'-nos, Greek 1484; probably from Greek 1486 (etho); a race (as of the same habit), i.e. a tribe; specially a foreign (non-Jewish) one (usually by implication pagan) :- Gentile, heathen, nation, people.

kingdom = basileia, bas-il-i'-ah, Greek 932; from Greek 935 (basileus); properly royalty, i.e. (abstract) rule, or (concrete) a realm (literal or figurative) :- kingdom, + reign.

What is Jesus talking about? He is talking about "globalization"... about One Worldism, about the New World Order! He is talking about the One World Political/Economic/Social Beast of Revelation 13:1 which John saw rise up out of the sea. The "Sea" is symbolic of "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues (Rev. 17:15)." It is happening right before our very eyes, if you can see it. The kingdoms of Europe have further risen together with the implementation of the Eurodollar and the Americas, including Canada and Mexico, are swiftly being brought under "Dollarization".

You may recall just a few years ago the following event depicted in the picture below which took place when all the nations of the world, the third world countries (ethnic nations) as well as the G8 leading nations (kingdoms), all stood together at the Millennium Summit in the "Trading Capital of the World", yes, "the marketplace". It was the unprecedented largest gathering of kings and rulers in the history of mankind. Can you begin to see that the many false prophets Christ spoke of, the hearing of world wars and rumours of world wars, and globalization where both the ethnic nations and the kingdom nations rise together in globalization have "come to pass"? BLEPO!

Here's the picture:

Note for the deeper scholar: 1989 we spoke of earlier follows the 70 year yoke of bondage placed upon our brother Esau, that one king or dynasty of Tsar Nicholas and Alexandria who were murdered in 1918 following the Jewish Bolshevik revolution of 1917. It is written in Isaiah 23:15-16 that following those 70 years, "Tyre" would again sing as an harlot. You "see", Tyre, which means "rock" in Hebrew, was a "little rock" island off the coast of Zidon which was the world trading center of the ancient world. You can read about Tyre in Ezekiel 27. It was a type, a forerunner, of the globalization which would take place in these last days when the great harlot of Rev. 18 would sing and "all the nations of the earth would commit fornication with her"! Rev. 18:3 "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." Ezekiel 28 then reveals to us that Satan, that vile person, that little horn spoken of by Daniel the prophet, is the king of Tyre. And so it has come to pass that the decade of the 1990's was the most prosperous decade of all as globalization flourished on the scene while a type of the little horn, a little horn in his own right... being identified as such by P. Jones as well as having been seen playing his little horn on MTV... that vile perjurer who committed fornication with the harlot and tried to deceive the world into believing that "he did not have sex with that woman", presided over the greatest kingdom nation during the rising of nation alongside nation and kingdom against kingdom! There is much more that could said concerning this matter but the fact remains that this one from little Tyre (rock) stands in the picture above. A word to the wise.

Here is what Isaiah has to say concerning Tyre following the 70 years:

Isaiah 23:15-16
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

[16] Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

Matthew 24:7
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

[8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Amos 8:11
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

And what about earthquakes? The word "earthquakes" means "commotions" as in shake-ups! These shake-ups have been occurring in all sorts of divers areas, not meaning just geographically, but in such places as the financial markets both domestic and global, church and educational institutions, politics and courts of justice, etc., etc.These pestilences and commotions are called "troubles" in Mark 13:8 and Luke 21.

earthquake, seismos, sice-mos', Greek 4578; from Greek 4579 (seio); a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake :- earthquake, tempest.

Finally, the word "sorrows" in verse 8 means birth pangs or throes, literally "travail"!What Christ told us was that the labor pangs would begin when we see all the nations rise alongside of each other. He tells us in Luke 21 that there "shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring." Look up the words in this verse and understand how the beast rising up out of the sea causes the sea, which you will recall is symbolic of the peoples and multitudes and nations, and the waves, which are the actions or movements of the people to roar, which is to make a loud noise.

distress, sunoche, soon-okh-ay', Greek 4928; from Greek 4912 (sunecho); restraint, i.e. (figurative) anxiety :- anguish, distress.

perplexity, aporia, ap-or-ee'-a, Greek 640; from the same as Greek 639 (aporeo); a (state of) quandary :- perplexity.

aporeo, ap-or-eh'-o, Greek 639; from a compound of Greek 1 (a) (as a negative particle) and the base of Greek 4198 (poreuomai); to have no way out, i.e. be at a loss (mentally) :- (stand in) doubt, be perplexed.

We truly live in the most exciting time in the history of mankind, which is the final generation, the short season of time our Father has reserved to fulfill His plan at the end of this flesh age!True peace of mind, the opposite of the distress and anxiety many people are experiencing these days, comes from the knowledge of His Word. And that faith which is built upon the foundation of knowing His Word by having seen that it always has come to pass exactly as it is written, assures us of what tomorrow brings... for it too is written of and shall also come to pass exactly as it is written!
 

Did you know that there are two "works" of the servants of God in these last days during the final generation of the fig tree? One of those works began while the season was young and has been going on for some time now. That work is the great shepherding to the house of Israel which is the teaching of the visions of the prophets by the sons and daughters of Acts 2:17-21, who are those brothers and sisters of the church of Philadelphia (brotherly love) in Rev. 3:7-13 who love to study and share His Word with their loved ones. It is to that family of students (disciples, i.e. those disciplined in His Word) who serve Him and keep His Word, both male and female, to whom He has given the key of David (Rev. 3:7) and upon whom He has poured out His Spirit of Truth in these last days. Acts 2:18 "And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy." To prophesy means to teach the prophets which is what the "watchman" is instructed to do in the great Book of EZEK-I-EL whose name means "God is Strong" or "God is my Strength". Ezekiel was a type of the watchman of these last days.

Ezekiel 3:3-5
And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

[4] And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.

[5] For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;

While the many (most) preachers are teaching any-moment rapture theories and saying that Christ is going to return at any time to take up His church, the true servants and watchmen of God are teaching His Word to their brothers and sisters and declaring as it is written that the false messiah, the fake bridegroom, comes first to take them to wife and that most of them will be spiritually seduced by him. In other words, the false prophets who teach the traditions of men are sounding the alarms out of order, in the wrong sequence! They are sounding the alarm of the 7th Trump, which is when Christ returns, while the true teachers of God's Word are warning and sounding the alarm that the 6th Trump, which is the coming of the false messiah, must first take place before we gather back to Christ at the 7th Trump. Paul made this so clear in 2 Thes. 2 that anyone who will take the time to examine that which is written instead of allowing men to deceive and convince them with their soothsaying words and books and movies, can come to a simple understanding of the truth.

Nevertheless, there comes a time when the season of the final generation at the end of this flesh age waxes old and the Baby Boomers start to get gray hair, that the 6th Trump does finally sound and the abominable one is cast down out of heaven and comes defacto (Rev. 12:7-9) standing in the Holy Place claiming that he is God. Make no mistake about it dear Christian. It shall happen exactly as it is written no matter how popular those fly-away doctrines to the contrary may be!

2 Thes. 2:3-4
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

[4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Joel 3:9-17
Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

The message to the kings and rulers of the nations will be that their little LOVE AFFAIR with the harlot, the New World Order is about to end and it is now DECISION time for it is soon going to be JUDGMENT time in the Valley of Jehoshaphat when Yashua returns with His elect! So they can choose to either surrender and turn to YHVH who is GOD (JO-EL) or PREPARE to DEFEND THEMSELVES! Gather together all your mighty men and assemble even your weak and handicapped because your gonna need everyone you can muster and all the fire power you can harness, oh great little kings and rulers of the earth!

[10] Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

[11] Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

[12] Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

[13] Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

[14] Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

[15] The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

 [16] The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his Voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

[17] So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

Here is what Christ says to them:

Rev. 2:9-10
I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Here is that promise:

1 Cor. 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

This takes us right to the Book of Daniel where Christ Himself will direct us concerning the abomination of desolation. Matthew 24:15 "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)." Let him who reads the Book of Daniel the prophet understand what takes place during the time the abominable one stands in the holy place.

You "see", all the events that take place in Daniel, in the book titled "God is Judge", occur once the 6th Trump has sounded because the king of Babylon, even the king of Babylon of the Book of Revelation, is present as world leader and the one to be worshipped! To that end, we do not see line by line teaching in Daniel (an ensample to Smyrna) as we do in Ezekiel (an ensample to Philadelphia), but rather casting into prisons and lion dens, and delivering up before the king of Babylon, and witness and testimony given by some of God's elect, "certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes (Daniel 1:3)".

Here are their (spiritual) qualities:

Daniel 1:4
Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

Rev. 2:10
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

Earlier we talked about how Christ told us that once globalization takes place, then famines and pestilences and earth shattering events in all walks of life would begin to take place and increase like labor pangs as the One World Political System, the New World Order which is that First Beast of Rev. 13:1 setup by the sons of Cain, rises up from the sea (from among the people) and begins to make great waves. Then the false messiah shall enter in when Michael stands up and casts him out of heaven to this earth (Rev. 12:7-9, Dan. 12:1) and there shall be a great "Woe", "a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book."

With that background in mind, let us continue now and read about that time of trouble and what God's elect shall be doing.

Matthew 24:9
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

Daniel 6:4-5
Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

[5] Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

Daniel 6:7
All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

Daniel 6:10-11
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

Here is what Christ said concerning our flesh bodies:

Matthew 10:28-32
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Let us read what Paul has to say concerning God's elect.

Romans 8:33-39
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

[34] Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

[36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

[37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

[38] For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

[39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We find that written in Luke's account:

Luke 21:16-18
And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

[17] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

[18] But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

Daniel 3:27
And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

Matthew 10:29
 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

[30] But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

[31] Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

[32] Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Rev. 9:4
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

What went through the minds of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when they were delivered up to Nebuchadnezzar? Was their primary concern the fear of losing their flesh? How about Daniel when he was tossed into the lion's den? Yes, some of God's servants with eyes to see and ears to hear and who are rich in the knowledge and wisdom of His Word, having abstained from idolatry by fasting on the true bread of life and living water of His Word, shall be delivered up in these last days, in the days that lie just ahead. Blepo! Jesus Christ just said so! He also said to His disciples that they should neither be fearful nor anxious nor premeditate on what they shall say (Mark 13:11, Luke 21:14)!

Luke 21:14-15
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:

[15] For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

Matthew 24:10
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

offended, skandalizo, skan-dal-id'-zo, Greek 4624; ("scandalize"); from Greek 4625 (skandalon); to entrap, i.e. trip up (figurative stumble [transitive] or entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure) :- (make to) offend.

betray, paradidomi, par-ad-id'-o-mee, Greek 3860; from Greek 3844 (para) and Greek 1325 (didomi); to surrender, i.e. yield up, intrust, transmit :- betray, bring forth, cast, commit, deliver (up), give (over, up), hazard, put in prison, recommend.

hate, miseo, mis-eh'-o, Greek 3404; from a primary misos (hatred); to detest (especially to persecute); by extension to love less :- hate (-ful).

[11] And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

deceive, planao, plan-ah'-o, Greek 4105; from Greek 4106 (plane); to (properly cause to) roam (from safety, truth, or virtue) :- go astray, deceive, err, seduce, wander, be out of the way.

[12] And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

[13] But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

endure, hupomeno, hoop-om-en'-o, Greek 5278; from Greek 5259 (hupo) and Greek 3306 (meno); to stay under (behind), i.e. remain; figurative to undergo, i.e. bear (trials), have fortitude, persevere :- abide, endure, (take) patient (-ly), suffer, tarry behind.

Understand that the Lord cannot return at "any moment" because the next two verses tell us what yet must happen before the end (telos) comes, before Jesus Christ returns and destroys the stones of the temple and saints of the most high take the kingdom for ever and ever.

Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

[15] When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

noieo, noy-eh'-o, Greek 3539; from Greek 3563 (nous); to exercise the mind (observe), i.e. (figurative) to comprehend, heed :- consider, perceive, think, understand.

Daniel 11:31

And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.

Daniel 11:36

And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

2 Thes. 2:4

   Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

[5] Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

The 24th chapter of Matthew contains the seven seals that were opened and revealed by Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, in the great Book of Revelation pertaining to "the things" that must "shortly come to pass" (Rev. 1:1) during the final generation, the generation of the fig tree, the very time in (2010) which we are now living!

And if one understands that the final generation began on May 15, 1948, which we will document to be the case later in this chapter, and that "this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled", i.e. those things Christ is revealing to us in this chapter that tie in to the things He foretold us through the prophets, then it would behoove one to pay close attention and take heed to all that is written herein for the firstborn of the Baby Boomer generation are in their 60's, which is retirement age!

Matthew 24:34
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Rev. 13:11
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Daniel 9:27
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

confirm, gabar, gaw-bar', Hebrew 1396; a primitive root; to be strong; by implication to prevail, act insolently :- exceed, confirm, be great, be mighty, prevail, put to more [strength], strengthen, be stronger, be valiant.

covenant, beriyth, ber-eeth', Hebrew 1285; from Hebrew 1262 (barah) (in the sense of cutting [like Hebrew 1254 (bara')]); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh) :- confederacy, [con-]feder[-ate], covenant, league.

abominations, shiqquwts, shik-koots', Hebrew 8251; or shiqquts, shik-koots'; from Hebrew 8262 (shaqats); disgusting, i.e. filthy; especially idolatrous or (concrete) an idol :- abominable filth (idol, -ation), detestable (thing).

consummation, kalah, kaw-law', Hebrew 3617; from Hebrew 3615 (kalah); a completion; adverb completely; also destruction :- altogether, (be, utterly) consume (-d), consummation (-ption), was determined, (full, utter) end, riddance.

2 Thes. 2:3-4
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; [4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Matthew 24:15
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of byDaniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

[16] Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

So make haste and flee to the mountains to commune with Him and stay away from the abominable filth emanating from the holy place. Why? Because the crowd that gathers there are about to receive the same fate as Sodom and Gomorrah... now you see them... now you don't!

To help us understand this better, Christ tells us in Luke 17 that it will be just like the days of Lot when those fornicators who burned in their lust for one another were eating and drinking, and buying and selling, and planting and building up!  We are to "see" this ensample as an analogy of the spiritual filth which is happening today, even in the holy place, and yet will wax even worse when Satan and his angels arrive! Jude 1:7 "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." To wit, that "great city" where the abomination of desolation is set up is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt. Rev. 11:8 "And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." Christ was crucified in Jerusalem in the land of Judea! Here is the analogy in Luke 17 giving us the link to the days of Lot:

Luke 17:28

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

[29] But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

[30] Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

[31] In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.

[32] Remember Lot's wife.

Genesis 19:26

But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

looked back, nabat*, naw-bat', Hebrew 5027; a primitive root; to scan, i.e. look intently at; by implication to regard with pleasure, favor or care :- (cause to) behold, consider, look (down), regard, have respect, see.

salt, melach, meh'-lakh, Hebrew 4417; from Hebrew 4414 (malach); properly powder, i.e. (specific) salt (as easily pulverized and dissolved :- salt ([-pit]).

Genesis 19:17

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

Matthew 24:17
Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

[18] Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

[19] And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

2 Cor. 11:2-3
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. [3] But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

The point is, when Christ returns to take up His virgin bride (His church/Christians) but discovers that she is already pregnant or is nursing a baby, spiritually, of her own, that is where the WOE comes in because He will not be too happy with her! Would you? Therefore do not be the first woman "taken" in the field... because if you turn back you will be seduced and lose your virginity!

[20] But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

[21] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Daniel 12:1
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Rev. 12:7-9
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

[8] And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

[9] And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

And you know what else?Christ tells us in the next verse that the Father has shortened the time Satan will be here standing in the holy place, spreading his abominable lies and taking away communion to the true Christ by deceiving the people into believing he is Christ and receiving it unto himself.

Matthew 24:22
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Daniel 12:8-10
And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?

[9] And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

[10] Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Nevertheless know this! When Satan is cast out unto this earth with his angels, his locust army, he knows he has but a short time and he is extremely irate over it!

Rev. 12:12
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

[23] Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

[24] For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

false Christs, pseudochristos, psyoo-dokh'-ris-tos, Greek 5580; from Greek 5571 (pseudes) and Greek 5547 (Christos); a spurious Messiah :- false Christ.

So Christ has told you how it is going down just before the "telos" when He comes to destroy the stones of the temple!

[25] Behold, I have told you before.

[26] Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

1 Corinthians 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1 Thessalonians 4:13  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Know this!If you are therefore still in the flesh...,i.e. still have your flesh and blood body on, then the true Christ has not returned!It is as simple as that! Study God's Word and quit listening to stories and fables that cannot be documented in the Word of God.

[27] For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

[28] For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

What an exciting time in which we live! No wonder the prophets and the disciples wanted to know what it would be like in our day!  We are witnessing things and shall yet witness things that no other generation in the history of mankind has ever imagined.So take heed and prepare now to take a stand against the fiery darts of the wicked one by putting on the whole gospel armor of God (Eph. 6). Study His Word and check out what you hear taught by men to see if it aligns with what Christ has foretold you. That way you remain a wise virgin. Otherwise, you might find yourself attending the wrong wedding feast and thus be on the receiving end of a "Woe" when the true bridegroom returns!

One of the questions the disciples asked Jesus Christ when they went to Him in private while He was on the Mount of Olives was "what shall be the sign of your coming"? Do you know the sign of Christ's return, in other words, not just what happens in the period leading up to it, but what exactly happens when the true Messiah returns to this earth at the sound of the 7th Trump? Well, if you do then by default you will know what hasn't taken place when someone who claims to the be the Messiah shows up on the scene "doing great wonders" and "performing miracles in the sight of men".

Earlier we learned that Satan and his dirty birds, those angelic, sweet, and soft spoken religious vultures who will prey on anything that is spiritually dead or dying, are coming like a swarm of locusts to devour and seduce all those who have not the seal of God in their foreheads (Rev. 9:4) and gather them to "Jesus"... only the Jesus they gather them to will be the abominable one, the spurious messiah who makes desolate the hearts and minds of our people while standing in the holy place and sitting the temple of God claiming to be God.

Yes, the whole world with the exception of God's elect will believe that Jesus Christ has returned because the Instead-of-Christ shall come and heal the big crisis, the deadly wound (Rev. 13:12) to the confederacy, i.e. to the New World Order, and cause peace and prosperity and religious revival to abound. Quite frankly, if you have not been foretold and forewarned that this spiritually abominable false messiah comes first and you are not able to "tell the difference between the holy and the profane and discern between the clean and the unclean", then you will love this guy and the good times he and ministers appearing as angels of light bring with them.

So let's read and understand what Jesus Christ has to tell us about what happens immediately after Satan and his vultures, who appear pretending to be Jesus and His angels, gather their crowd together in the land of Judea.Remember we are still on the Mount of Olives receiving personal and private instruction from the Word of God.

Note: There is a figure of speech used in the following verse known as a polysyndeton which is simply the repetition of the word "and" at the beginning of successive clauses, each independent, important, and emphatic, with no climax at the end. In other words, great emphasis and importance is given in the following verse concerning how it shall be immediately AFTER the tribulation we just learned about, i.e. the tribulation of spurious messiah who COMES FIRST with his wicked angels (vultures) to prey on the spiritually dead and cause them to come to his wedding feast. But make no mistake about it and do not be deceived into following after Satan's crowd, because no matter how spectacular Satan as the spurious messiah may appear, when the true messiah comes the following happens... else He has not come!

Matthew 24:29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days...

shall the sun be darkened,

and the moon shall not give her light,

and the stars shall fall from heaven,

and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

shaken, saleuo, sal-yoo'-o, Greek 4531; from Greek 4535 (salos); to waver, i.e. agitate, rock, topple or (by implication) destroy; figurative to disturb, incite :- move, shake (together), which can [-not] be shaken, stir up.

At that moment in time we will be in the spiritual dimension that flesh and blood cannot enter (1 Cor. 15:50). In other words, we will no longer walk in the flesh under the sun because at the sound of the 7th Trump all who are alive and remain unto the "coming of the Lord" shall be instantly, in the twinkling of an eye, changed from their flesh bodies into their spiritual bodies (1 Cor. 15:51-52). If you therefore look up and the sun and the moon and the stars still give their light, that means Jesus Christ has not returned because, you "see", the brightness of His coming (2 Thes. 2:8) will far outshine them all! Remember earlier we read a description of how the true Messiah returns. Let's review that verse:

Matthew 24:27
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Luke 17:24
For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

Furthermore, we read in verse 29 not only of the brilliance of Jesus Christ when He comes, but that He comes with "power and great glory", as King of kings and Lord of lords to exercise all power in both heaven and earth which has been given to Him. Matthew 24:30 "...and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

Matthew 28:18
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Students of God's Word know that these things pertaining to the day of the Lord are all contained in the Old Testament as well as the New. When Jesus said in Matthew 24:25 "Behold, I have told you before", He meant not just before they happen but also aforetime, i.e. of old.To that end, He quotes from both the Law (Deut. 4) and the Prophets (Isa. 13, Dan. 7, Zech. 12) to let us know that these things are already written for those who have been to school in the Old Testament. For instance, in Mat. 24:29 that we just read Christ is quoting from the great Book of Isaiah in chapter 13 concerning the Day of the Lord:

Isaiah 13:6-10
Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

[7] Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:

[8] And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

[9] Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

[10] For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

Rev. 13:13-14
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

[14] And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Let us continue with the sign of Christ's coming which we now know happens AFTER the false-Christ has gathered his crowd in Judea, the "place of the gathering", which is called Armageddon in Hebrew.

Matthew 24:30
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:

and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,

and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Rev. 1:7
   Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.

We also read of Christ's coming in the Book of Daniel.

Daniel 7:13-14
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

[14] And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Zech. 12:11-14
In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.

[12] And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

Matthew 24:31
And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

That great sound of a trumpet in verse 31 is the 7th Trumpet, the last trumpet, for there are only seven! By this time the four winds will have been released upon the earth and all those who do not have the seal of Godin their foreheads will have been taken by storm and swept away in the flood of lies and deception and gathered unto the false messiah.( See phamplet #1081)

You can read about the four winds which bring about the final events and the return of Jesus Christ in both Daniel 7 and Rev. 7.

So there you have it. Just as there are two Jesus Christs, the false messiah and the true Messiah, there are two tribulations caused by their respective advents to this earth. And contrary to popular tradition, the tribulation of Satan, when he come posing as Christ, is a time of peace and prosperity when the world will believe that the messiah has come. The picture book analogies of locusts devouring men, etc., that scare people into believing they are going to be tortured, etc.,are symbolic of spiritual warfare where the hearts and minds (not the flesh) of our people are made desolate by the spiritual onslaught of the abominable one, the king of Babylon of these last days, i.e. Satan posing as Christ.

You "see", it is because we are in flesh bodies that we cannot "see" things that are spiritual. For example, we cannot take an "attitude" and place it under a microscope and observe it. Nor can we measure "love" using the three dimensions of L x W x H. We can however see the physical sword of the king of Babylon slice through a man's heart, but we cannot see Satan's spiritual sword slice through the heart of a man's soul. So Father has given us pictures and types and analogies to enable us to conceptualize the spiritual warfare and the spiritual desolation that takes place in these last days. For example, if we tell someone that God's Word declares that the majority of our people are near death at this time because of the great famine and drought we are experiencing in the land, people would immediately think of a famine for food and a thirst for water and because they look out across the land do not see that taking place, they would wonder what in the world we are talking about. However, that is exactly the spiritual condition of our people, even at this time.

Remember Amos told us what the famine of these last days is: Amos 8:11-13 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

If one does not eat bread (physical food) he or she will starve to death, right? Well, if one does not eat the bread of life (spiritual food from the Word of God)he or she will also starve to death (spiritually).

And our people are starving to death for there are few churches in the land that teach His Word chapter by chapter and verse by verse thereby feeding the bread of life to the people. Most preachers would rather follow the easy traditions of men and just teach the milk of salvation and baptism and get on with conducting praise and worship services where the basket of the people's sacrifice can be passed.

[12] And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

[13] In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

Let us recap what we have learned so far in this most informative 24th chapter of Matthew. Jesus Christ has been responding to and answering the three questions His disciples asked Him in relation to His statement that there would not be one stone of the temple left standing atop another when He returns. They wanted to know what events we should look for leading up to His second coming, what would take place at His coming, and how we would be able to identify the season, the final generation, when all these things would take place.

He began to answer those questions by first warning us that the majority of Christians in this final generation would become deceived by those many who would come in His name claiming to represent Him as Christian preachers, teachers, ministers, priests, etc. He then told us that the world wars we grew up hearing about and the rumours of world war would cease and all the nations, both small and great, would begin to rise up alongside one another in the market place, which is the globalization we are seeing take place right before our eyes, which is that beast system John saw rising up from among the people in Rev. 13:1. This would signal the beginning of the final labor pangs which would result in "famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places", which are not those of nature but rather those of society and the world.

All this would lead to the ushering in of the false messiah, the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, who would come stand in the holy place and take the world by storm with his feats of great wonders and by performing miracles in the sight of men all of whom, except those with the seal of God in their foreheads, will become convinced that he is Jesus Christ, even the God of all nations and peoples and tongues.

Then, immediately AFTER the great tribulation of those days (Mat. 24:9), which, contrary to the traditions of men that have already deceived the multitude of Christians, will be a time of peace and prosperity while at the same time men and women are spiritually slaughtered and their hearts and minds are made desolate, the true Messiah, Jesus Christ in all His brilliance and power and glory, shall come with all His saints and consume away (destroy) all the wickedness and idolatry. He shall come as King of kings and Lord of lords and subdue all nations and execute His justice with a rod of iron, which means He shall exact strict adherence to the righteous ways of the Word of God.

These are the two tribulations and the order thereof. So make no mistake about! Let no man deceive you by any means! The abominable one, the false messiah COMES FIRST, and then immediately AFTER he has reigned defacto, in person, on earth for his short season (a period of 5 months as per Rev. 9) the true Messiah shall return. The apostle Paul made this so plain and so simple to understand in 2 Thes. 2 that it is beyond refute .Jesus Christ is NOT going to return and we are NOT going to gather back to Him until AFTER the false messiah has come and gathered his crowd, as in harvested all those who will allow themselves to be seduced by him and his sweet talking angels (vultures).  Let's read it again, for one cannot overemphasize the importance of this chronology because of the very deceptive but very popular "any-moment Christ is going to return and rapture (gather back) His saints theory" that has already infected and deceived so many of our beloved brothers and sisters and has them set-up for the great fall!

2 Thes. 2:1-4
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him,

[2] That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

[3] Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

[4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Now on to the third question as to how to determine when the final generation begins. Jesus Christ, the Word of God, gives us the set of instructions on how to know and fix the beginning of the final season. Here is His command!

Matthew 24:32
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

You see, the time would come in the last days when that wicked branch of Cain's descendants would begin to gather in the holy place, in the land of Judea... you know... where the abomination of desolation is set-up! Hello!

Jeremiah 24:1-3
The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

[2] One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

[3] Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.

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Note: You can read the rest of the chapter on your own. We also have a study called "The Parable of the Fig Tree" which goes into more detail than we are afforded in this short summary of the parable. You can read it by loging unto The Parable of the Fig Tree right here on this web site.

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To that end, if you have the wisdom spoken of in Rev. 13:18, such as knowing the Parable of the Tares and the Parable of the Fig Tree, then you can also easily "count the number of the beast", which means to enumerate or trace by using "stones worn smooth through service" over a long period of time. Those are the "stones" Christ spoke of who shall be toppled and destroyed. By the way, the pictures and types we are given in scripture of the beast and the image he sets up, have 6's stamped all over them. Read God's Word and get a clue... as in get clued in on what is happening in this final generation.

For example, the beast sent forth to challenge and intimidate the army of Israel was named Goliath and he had on 6 pieces of armor, he was 6 cubits and a span tall, and his spear's head weighed 600 shekels of iron.

1 Samuel 17:4-7
And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. [5] And he had an (#1)helmet of brass upon his head , and he was (#2)armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. [6] And he had (#3)greaves of brass upon his legs, and a (#4)target of brass between his shoulders.[7] And the staff of his(#5)spear was like a weaver's beam; and his (#6)spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

Daniel 3:1
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore (60) cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

One final note on the fig tree. We are not only to learn what it is and when it germinated, in other words when his branch was planted in the land of Judea, the fact of which we know by seeing it come to pass, but in Luke's gospel Christ tells us we are supposed to behold (as in observe) the fig tree, and all the trees as well.  Observe how ? ? ?

Luke 21:29-30
And He spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;

[30] When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.

shoot forth, proballo, prob-al'-lo, Greek 4261; from Greek 4253 (pro) and Greek 906 (ballo); to throw forward, i.e. push to the front, germinate :- put forward, shoot forth.

Matthew 24:33
So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

Note: The word "it" in verse 33 should be translated "He". In other words, it is He, Jesus Christ, who is "even at the doors"!

[34] Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

[35] Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

[36] But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Now here is an historical type which will help us do just that... i.e. understand and observe!

[37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

[38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

Genesis 6:2-4
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

You "see", it was after Satan's attempt to destroy the woman in the fig grove and prevent the seed of Adam from bringing forth Messiah, that these fallen angels came to earth and took to wife Adam's daughters in order to do the same thing, i.e. corrupt the seedline through which Messiah would come. In fact, you will find the scriptures replete with Satan's attempt to destroy Christ, all the way up to His death on the cross where he finally bruised His heel as per Gen. 3:15.

[3] And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

[4] There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

And so it is written in Rev. 12:7-9 that Satan and his angels will be cast out of heaven to this earth when Michael gets the go ahead to stand up and boot them out. Though they shall appear as angels of light, i.e. angels of God, they shall come and spiritually seduce women (virgins) and take them to wife! Note: We're talking spiritual seduction this time, not physical as in the garden!(Virgins are symbolic of Christians, both men and women.) Remember what Christ said regarding this time... "And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! (Mat. 24:19)?" He was referring to the seduction by these vultures. Paul also warns us of these angels in 1 Cor. 11:8-10.

So, do you want to know what will be taking place just before Christ returns? Then understand how it was in the days of Noah and "see" the picture of the big wedding party that was taking place with the fallen angels, the "eating and drinking and marrying". You "see", the spiritual analogy is that they were not eating the bread of life, nor drinking of the pure water of God's Word, nor remaining virgins! They were eating idolatrous meat and drinking of the wine of fornication and being "taken" (seduced) in the field!

Matthew 24:39
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

[40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

No, you really don't want to be the first one taken in the field, for if you are already "taken" when Jesus Christ comes, you are in big, big, trouble!

[41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

If you are one of God's elect, then you are to be a watchman and remain a faithful laborer in the field until such time as your Lord doth come. What Christ is teaching us now pertains to the wise verses the unwise servants who labor in the field. Make sure when you see the abominable one standing in the holy place that you do not allow yourself to be caught up in his storm and taken to wife out of wedlock to the true Messiah. Remember, Satan and his vultures come first to gather and feast on the spiritually dead.

[42] Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

[43] But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

[44] Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

[45 ]Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

You "see", there are two types of servants in the field! One is going to be taken by Satan, the spurious messiah, and attend his wedding feast,and the other is going to remain in the field faithfully doing the will of his or her Father... watching and warning and teaching His children the truth and the meat of His Word. And that servant shall be well blessed when Jesus Christ returns at the sound of the last trump!

[46] Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

[47] Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

Here is the other type of servant who claims to serve Christ.

[48] But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

[49] And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

1 Thes. 5:1-9
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

[2] For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

[4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

[5] Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

[6] Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

[7] For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

[8] But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

[9] For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Matthew 24:50
The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

[51] And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus Christ is about to close His teaching on the Mount of Olives with a parable and a lesson of discernment. He has now addressed the questions His disciples asked Him concerning the events of the final generation and has included among the seven seals detailed explanations of both tribulations and the chronological order in which they occur. They are:
(1) the tribulation of SATAN, the false messiah who is that abomination of desolation who comes first and stands in the holy place claiming to be God at the sound of the 6th Trump, and
(2) the tribulation of Almighty God when our Lord comes at the sound of the 7th Trump, the last trump, and His cup of wrath is poured out upon the ungodly and His justice is executed in all the earth.

It is written concerning the great falling away, the great apostasy, that most of our Christian brothers and sisters are going to be "taken" by the first messiah who comes to this earth, for they shall be deceived by his great wonders and the miracles he performs in the sight of men (Rev. 13:14). It is precisely because they will believe he is who he claims to be, i.e. Jesus Christ, that they shall attend the wrong wedding and be wed to that imposter, the false bridegroom. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 24:19 "And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!" He was speaking spiritually concerning those Christians who did not remain faithful but rather lost their virginity to the false bridegroom, the "other Jesus", the first supernatural entity who comes and stands in the holy place. You "see", that profane and abominable one who comes to the earth (Rev. 12:7-9) is the Instead-of-Christ, a fake, an imposter, but as the Word of God declared unto us in the 24th chapter of Matthew, he is the first one to do the "taking" in the field and gather a crowd unto himself. To that end, Christ warned us to get away and stay away from that place so as not to become one of those he gathers and weds unto himself.

Actually, most Christians are surprised to hear that there is another Jesus, i.e. that there are two who will claim to be Jesus Christ. For sure the one is holy and the other is profane and yet sadly, most people are so Biblically illiterate that they will not be able to tell the difference. After all, common sense tells us one cannot determine the difference between two things when he or she believes there is only one, never even suspecting that there are two. That in itself is the basis of the great deception. Christians have been falsely taught by traditions that Satan (the devil) is going to be a wicked evil man who kills and slaughters people. That is only true spiritually speaking (except for the two witnesses of Rev. 11) because the warfare in these last days is a spiritual warfare, which is why we are to don the whole gospel armor in Eph. 6! However, few Christians have been taught how beautiful and intelligent and charismatic this one (Satan) really is. (Ezk. 28) He shall bring peace and safety to the world while appearing as an angel of light to heal the deadly wound (Rev. 13)!

In fact, mother Eve just loved this same charming super preacher who was so brilliant and knowledgeable and such a good teacher that she listened to him explain the Word of God to her. That's right! Satan explained to Eve what God meant by His words "Thou shalt surely die" in Gen. 2:17. However, by the time he was done "spinning" the truth by misquoting, twisting, adding to, and taking away from God's Word, he was able to convince her that what God meant was "Ye shall not surely die!" Incredibly, Satan actually speaks on behalf of God, as one knowing God, telling Eve what God had on His mind when He told her "Ye shall surely die!" Check it out!

Genesis 3:4-5
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [5] For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Many are also so steeped in traditions and fairy tales about upright snakes and apples that they are shocked to learn that Eve lost her virginity to this smooth talking preacher in the garden (i.e. Satan, that old serpent the devil), and the apostle Paul uses her example of being "beguiled", which is to be "wholly seduced", to give us strong warning concerning the "other Jesus"!

Let us review the warning of Paul in 2 Cor. 11:2-4 as concerning the ten virgins.

2 Cor. 11:2-4
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

[3] But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

[4] For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

That is what this study is all about as Jesus Christ, the Word of God, gives us a parable to teach us the difference between a wise virgin (Christian) and a foolish virgin.

Matthew 25:1
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

Of course to understand a parable one must first be given the keys or legend to know what the symbols stand for, else the analogy makes little or no sense or at least the in-depth lesson intended to be taught is missed altogether. We will discuss the "lamps" when we get to verse three, so for now let's understand who it is these ten virgins are symbolic of? For openers, a virgin is simply one who is unadulterated and has not been "taken", as in one who is chaste and waiting to be wed to a husband. We have already seen from Paul's writing that symbolically a virgin is a Christian, either male or female, one who is espoused to one husband, Jesus Christ, and is therefore waiting for the bridegroom to come and marry her. We also see that this parable concerns "ten" virgins because Christ is speaking here to "True Israel", to the 10 tribes who basically comprise the Christians nations of the world, who is to be His bride when He returns.

Will He find them to be virgins when He comes or will He find most of them have already been taken (seduced) by the other Jesus, the false messiah? How about you? Will you "endure unto the end and be saved (Mat. 24:13)" or will you be "raptured away" and taken in the field by the first Jesus who comes? Again, that depends on how wise you are!

[2] And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

wise, phronimos, fron'-ee-mos, Greek 5429; from Greek 5424 (phren); thoughtful, i.e. sagacious or discreet (implying a cautious character; while Greek 4680 (sophos) denotes practical skill or acumen; and Greek 4908 (sunetos) indicates rather intelligence or mental acquirement); in a bad sense conceited (also in the comparative) :- wise (-r).

Main Entry: sa·ga·cious
Pronunciation: s&-'gA-sh&s, si-
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin sagac-, sagax, from sagire to perceive keenly; akin to Latin sagus prophetic -- more at SEEK
Date: 1607
1 obsolete : keen in sense perception
2 a : of keen and farsighted penetration and judgment: DISCERNING<sagacious judge of character> b: caused by or indicating acute discernment <sagacious purchase of stock>

1 John 4:1-3
Beloved, believe not every spirit (wind of doctrine), but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

John now gives the most basic of examples to show us how it works:

[2] Hereby know ye the Spirit of God : Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

Therefore, if someone claims that Jesus Christ was not the Messiah and has not yet come, that teaching is stubble, rubbish, for is NOT Biblical, is it? Therefore, that teaching is NOT of God... for it does not align with His Word! See how simple it is?

[3] And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

foolish, moros, mo-ros', Greek 3474; probably from the base of Greek 3466 (musterion); dull or stupid(as if shut up), i.e. heedless, (moral) blockhead, (apparently) absurd :- fool (-ish, × -ishness).

musterion, moos-tay'-ree-on, Greek 3466; from a derivative of muo (to shut the mouth); a secret or "mystery" (through the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites) :- mystery.

You see, though there is still some daylight, it is getting dark out fast and the "hour" is soon upon us when spiritual darkness shall cover the whole earth at the sound of the 6th Trump when Satan and his angels are cast out of heaven to this earth as per Rev. 12:7-9. If one cannot determine the difference between the two Jesus' because he or she has no foundation in the Word of God then that one shall not make it through the night until the coming of the Lord.He or she will attend Satan's gathering in the holy place believing that he is the bridegroom who has come to sweep them off their feet and take them up to cloud nine! In Rev. 9:4, having that strong foundation in the Word of God is called having the "seal of God in your forehead" which means to have His truth etched in your mind! Those who have that seal of God in their foreheads shall not be harmed nor deceived by Satan and his locust army.

Now Christ is going to tell us what it is the "moros" fail to do that causes them to stumble and fall in the night and miss the wedding of the true bridegroom.

[3] They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

Exodus 27:20-21
And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.

[21] In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

Zech. 4:1-2
And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,

[2] And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:

[3] And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

Now let's go to the Book of Revelation and "see" what these seven lamps are!

Rev. 4:5
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fireburning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Rev. 5:11
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

[12] Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive (1) power, and (2) riches, and (3) wisdom, and (4) strength, and (5) honour, and (6) glory, and (7) blessing.

Let us also look at the Greek word translated "oil" in Matthew 25:3 and the next verse. It is the neuter of the word "elaia" which is pronounced "el'-ah'yah"! Amazing, isn't it? That is if you are a student of God's Word and know His names. "El" is the Creator and "Yah" is His covenant name, i.e. Yahveh, YHVH.

Oil, elaia, el-ah'-yah, Greek 1636; feminine of a presumed derivative from an obsolete primary; an olive (the tree or the fruit) :- olive (berry, tree).

[4] But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

[5] While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

The point to understand right now is that it is very late in the day and those who wish to attend the wedding of the true bridegroom need to wake up and stay awake and continue to pump that golden oil of truth, i.e. prayerfully study His Word and rightly divide it, because when the true bridegroom comes... it will be too late to prepare for the wedding!

[6] And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him.

Note: Anyone who has used a kerosene lamp with a wick knows what it means to adjust or trim the wick up or down to keep it from giving off soot or burning poorly.

[7] Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

[8] And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

[9] But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

Rev. 13:16
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

[17] And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Matthew 25:10
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

[11] Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

If you are a Christian, then you are to be a laborer in the vineyard for the householder... remember? And to be a laborer you must be approved as one, i.e. as a workman. Do you know how to do that? Paul tells us in 2 Tim. 2:15: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. If you let men and their traditions divide the Word for you, you shall end doing the will of Satan, not your Father's, by following traditions and teaching commandments of men which make void the Word of God... because they are NOT OF GOD! Then, because you have been a "moros" Christian, because you never got to know Jesus Christ, the Word of God, you will end up on the outside looking in for an entire Millennium!

Matthew 7:21-24
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

[22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

[23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Again, here is what Jesus Christ will say to those foolish virgins whose lights have gone out and yet who try to cash in all their good works.

Matthew 25:12
But He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

[13 ]Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

All wisdom comes from our Father's Word. Be a wise virgin and prepare yourself while it is still day!

Addendum to today's lesson: A Type!

On September 11, 2001, now known as "911", there was what many still term a "great wakeup call" that went out to this nation and to all nations. Immediately following that "wakeup call" the flags waved and the churches in our land filled to capacity like never before as people shouted "God Bless America" and reconsidered their life's priorities and what is really important to them. However, now, not very long after that great shakeup and wakeup call went out to both the wise and foolish virgins, a reputable poll has shown that church attendance has fallen below even that which was before 911! What happened? Did everyone go back to sleep? As they say, "A word to the wise is sufficient"!

The next question is: As a wise Christian, do you know why you are here at this time? Would you consider yourself a servant of the Living God, one who has been sent by the householder to do some work and labor in his vineyard or is there nothing you need to do to please Him other than to say you love Jesus and go around being sugar-sweet to everyone? Well, that is the subject we are going to study as Jesus Christ now shows us the difference between servants who willfully labor and produce fruit for the kingdom and a servant who is so concerned only about his or her own salvation that he or she is too lazy to produce anything worthy of His reward. Is Christianity a "free ride"?

Once again, Jesus is going to use an illustration, a symbolic analogy, to paint a picture in our mind's eye to give a basis on the first level to enable us to "see" His point on the higher, spiritual level.  Once again however, you must have the key to understand what and who the symbols represent. To that end, there are but a few symbols which we need to understand to see what He would have us know. And like the Parable of the 10 Virgins where He showed us both the reward for the wise and stiff recompense for the foolish, He is going to show us the reward of the happy productive servants verses the punishment of the wicked and slothful and unprofitable one. So grab your oil vessels and let's once again go up to the Mount of Olives and let His oil flow into the buds of our minds that we might be illuminated by His Spirit!

Matthew 25:14
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

John 14:12-13
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

[13] And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Matthew 25:15
And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

ability, dunamis, doo'-nam-is, Greek 1411; from Greek 1410 (dunamai); force (literal or figurative); specially miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself) :- ability, abundance, meaning, might (-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle (-s), power, strength, violence, might (wonderful) work.

However, it is not the degree nor the measure of goods He gives to you that determines your worth or your reward for He knows that if you are faithful in that which is least, you will be faithful in much and vice versa, i.e. he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. So never complain concerning what God has given you. Then too, you might overload your own donkey till your legs buckle under the self imposed pressure or load, but He will not do it to you. On the other hand, if you demonstrate that you can faithfully handle the talents He has given you, He will give you more as exampled in this study.

So one servant received five talents, another two talents, and another only one talent.

[16]Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

traded, ergazomai, er-gad'-zom-ahee, Greek 2038; middle from Greek 2041 (ergon); to toil (as a task, occupation, etc.), (by implication) effect, be engaged in or with, etc. :- commit, do, labor for, minister about, trade (by), work.

[17] And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

[18] But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

went, aperchomai, ap-erkh'-om-ahee, Greek 565; from Greek 575 (apo) and Greek 2064 (erchomai); to go off (i.e. depart), aside (i.e. apart) or behind (i.e. follow), literal or figurative :- come, depart, go (aside, away, back, out,...ways), pass away, be past.

hid, apokrupto, ap-ok-roop'-to, Greek 613; from Greek 575 (apo) and Greek 2928 (krupto); to conceal away (i.e. fully); figurative to keep secret :- hide.

So this servant who received just one talent went astray and did not even try to work with what God gave him. Ok, let's move to "payday" which is when the Lord returns at the sound of the 7th Trump. Oh, bring your record book with you so the Lord can reckon (settle up) with you!

[19] After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

[20] And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

[21] His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

And you know what else? If you truly are a servant of God and you are not laboring with whatever measure of treasure God has given unto you, be it great or be it small, then you are not a happy camper. Think about it! Again, don't overestimate that which He has given unto you to labor with, but be a wise virgin and always use wisdom and common sense.

[22] He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

[23] His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Now guess who is last in line? This ought to be good!

[24] Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

hard, skleros, sklay-ros', Greek 4642; from the base of Greek 4628 (skelos); dry, i.e. hard or tough (figurative harsh, severe) :- fierce, hard.

Do you remember the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13? If you are a wise virgin and you have been instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, then you have work to do! Trade with His goods, His treasure, in loving your brothers and sisters!Matthew 13:52 "Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old."

Seems some are more concerned about themselves and flying away into the clouds than their brothers and sisters who are steeped in traditions and have need of His truth to set them free of their bondage. Again, we have already learned that our Father's labor is not grievous for He does not give us more than we can handle.

[25] And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

[26] His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

[27] Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

Nevertheless, if a servant is not going to produce anything with the talent God has given unto him, do you think He is going to keep him on the payroll? Hardly! He is going to take his talent from the non-producer and give it to someone who is not only capable but has demonstrated that he is trustworthy and will use it to produce fruit for the kingdom.

[28] Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

[29] For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

[30] And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus Christ came to this earth to pay the price for our sins and show us the way by bringing the light of truth whereby men and women could absorb that light and become the children of light (day), thereby separating themselves from darkness and the children of darkness (night). That was God's Plan from the beginning when He sent the Light into the world which had become "dark" after the rebellion of Satan when he drew 1/3 of God's children away from our Father's truth and justice (Rev. 12:4). It is always good to review the beginning.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

[2] And the earth was (became) without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

[3] And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

[4] And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

[5] And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

[2] The same was in the beginning with God.

[3] All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

[4] In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

[5] And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

[7] The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through Him might believe.

1 Thes. 5:2-5
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

[3] For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

[4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

[5] Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Rev. 11:15
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.

Rev. 11:18
And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Joel 3:11-15
Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

[12] Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

[13] Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

[14] Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

[15] The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

Matthew 25:31-46
When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of his glory:

Matthew 19:28
And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Rev. 20:4
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Matthew 25:32
And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

[33] And He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Joel 3:19
Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence  against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

Now Jesus is going to show us the difference between the RIGHT and the LEFT, the JUST and the UNJUST, the RIGHTEOUS and the UNRIGHTEOUS, the BLESSED and the CURSED!

Matthew 25:34
Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

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"foundation of the world" doesn't mean what you think it does! G2602
?????????
katabole?
kat-ab-ol-ay'
From G2598; a deposition, that is, founding; figuratively conception: - conceive, foundation.

G2598
??????????
kataballo?
kat-ab-al'-lo
From G2596 and G906; to throw down: - cast down, lay.

G906
??????
ballo?
bal'-lo
A primary verb; to throw (in various applications, more or less violent or intense): - arise, cast (out), X dung, lay, lie, pour, put (up), send, strike, throw (down), thrust. Compare G4496.

G4496
???????
rhipto??
hrip'-to
A primary verb (perhaps rather akin to the base of G4474, through the idea of sudden motion); to fling (properly with a quick toss, thus differing from G906, which denotes a deliberate hurl; and from ?????? teino? (see in G1614), which indicates an extended projection); by qualification, to deposit (as if a load); by extension to disperse: - cast (down, out), scatter abroad, throw.

The "foundation of the world" is the "katabole" in Greek which means the "casting down" of that first earth age.

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The "foundation of the world" is the "katabole" in Greek which means the "casting down" of that first earth age. God's elect, the blessed children of light from that "world that then was" (2 Pet. 3:6) were chosen before that "katabole" (Eph. 1:4) and predestined to conform to the image of His Son and inherit the kingdom.By the way! Do you know what brings the blessings of our Father upon His children. Pay close attention... for here it is:

[35] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Jesus is not talking about humanitarian acts even though God's elect certainly are generous in helping those who are down and out and need a helping hand... which does not mean they support entitlement programs that give people a free ride for life. Those who sit on His right hand know the principle of the old adage which says "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed for a life time." Think of the fish as Christianity because on a spiritual level it works the same way. Give a man a loaf of bread and you feed his body for a day. Teach him how to eat the Bread of Life and you feed his soul for all eternity.

You "see", it is the true manna, the "bread from heaven" which came down from heaven and the "living water" which flows from the Rock, Jesus Christ, the Word of God", that gives one eternal life and the promise of His inheritance. Have you read the ensamples (1 Cor. 10:11) and what He gave to the children of Israel?

Neh. 9:15
And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

Let's continue.

Matthew 25:36
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

It is the work, the labor, of those blessed brothers and sisters who follow Jesus Christ to plant seeds of truth and do their part in helping to bring His salvation to those who are blind and in need of "eyes to see" whereby they can "see the light", to those who are naked and are in need of the gospel armor to cloth and protect them, to those who are sick because the spiritual famine and drought (Amos 8:11-13), to those who are imprisoned by the traditions of men and thus are held captive by man's religion. Jesus Christ came to heal the blind, the lame, the sick, and to set at liberty those who are bound in prison. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Remember what it was that Jesus Christ said was fulfilled by His first advent when He stood up in the temple and read from the Book of Isaiah (see Luke 4)?

Isaiah 61:1-2
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

[2] To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,...

He then stopped in the middle of verse two... for the second part of that verse shall be fulfilled at His second coming.

...andthe day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

And so it is that when one feeds the truth to his or her brothers and sisters who are in dire spiritual condition, they do so unto Christ because they help build up and add to the body of Christ.

Matthew 25:37
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

The word "righteous" means "just" as in the "just ones".

[38] When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

[39] Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

[40] And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

You know James ("Jacob" in Hebrew), the brother of Christ, defined what "pure religion and undefiled before God" is:

James 1:27
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

The "fatherless" James is talking about are the lost, orphaned, children of the house of Israel. Can you show them the way back home to their Father's house? Can you bind and espouse those widows who have no husband to the true bridegroom as Paul did in 2 Cor. 11? Such are the "good works" of those who have helped the least of these His brethren and so shall they sit on His right hand!

And now here is what is LEFT!

Matthew 25:41
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

"Everlasting fire" is simply that eternal fire that consumes until there is nothing left, as in whatever or whoever it is perishes and is gone for ever and ever. You "see", our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29"). Remember, fire has the unique ability to purify gold while at the same time consuming away stubble. To wit, Satan has been sentenced to perish by fire and when he does he will "be no more"! Ezek. 28:18-19 documents both his sentence (vs. 18) and his everlasting demise (vs. 19) which has been prepared for him at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:14).

Ezekiel 28:18-19
Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

When something is turned to ashes, it's gone for ever and ever and thus shall be no more (next verse)!

[19] All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

Likewise Satan's angels, those fallen angels of Gen. 6 who left their first estate and came to this earth and took to wife the daughters of Adam, are reserved to perish! However, we know from Rev. 11:13 that they shall be slain at the sound of the 7th Trump when Jesus Christ comes to the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Yahveh Judges).

Jude 1:6-7
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

They shall be just like those wicked fornicators and idolaters of Sodom and Gomorrah... now you see them, now you don't!

[7] Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

The point is, you never want to hear the words "Depart from me, you cursed" spoken by He who has all power in both heaven and earth. The "cursed" do the exact opposite of the "blessed". All you need to do to document that is to review the 8 Beatitudes of the "Blessed" in Mat. 5 and compare them against the 8 Woes of the "hypocrites" in Mat. 23.

Matthew 25:42
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

Instead of feeding our people they withhold from them the true life giving bread and living water. Matthew 23:13 "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in."

[43] I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

They actually "bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers (Mat. 23:24)". Welcome to the LEFT! Welcome to liberalism and socialism whether it's in politics, economics, education, or religion! It is soon going to STOP when the King of kings and Lord of lords come to this earth.

[44] Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

[45] Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

[46] And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

When the 7th Trump sounds and the world sees the two witnesses in Rev. 11 rise from the street of the great city Jerusalem, which is spiritually called Sodom (symbolic of spiritual abominations and idolatry) and Egypt (symbolic of captivity and oppression), and be blessed by the Lord, in contrast with the already cursed fallen angels who shall be slain and perish at His coming (Rev. 11:13), it will get the Millennium started with the proper perspective. It will now be decision time... and there shall be many "dead" (i.e. spiritually dead) that shall walk through that Valley of Decision for 1000 years. Hopefully they will get their act together and be blessed and enter into life at the second resurrection, else they shall be cursed and experience the real death, the second death, the death of the soul in the lake of fire.

Joel 3:9  Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
10  Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
11  Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
12  Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
13  Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
14  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15  The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
16  The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17  So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

The good news is that the True Light is with us now, for those who have eyes to see, and shall be with us from the sound of the 7th Trump throughout all eternity for those who choose to walk in His ways.

Rev. 7:16-17
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

[17] For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Where do you stand now in relation to the true Light? The answer to that is key to where you will be when Jesus Christ comes at the sound of the 7th Trump... on the Right or on the Left?