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Analyzing the Symbolic Language of Matthew 24

Many people struggle with Jesus conversation with His apostles in Matthew 24 and understandably so. It gives strong suggestions of some things which cannot be, in this case, taken literally. But first we must understand the full setting of this  conversation and what brought it about.

Although the Jewish nation had been under bondage of the Roman empire after they successfully conquered the Grecian empire in 64 BC. After the first emperor was poisoned, Herod the Great took command. He realized that his life would be much easier if he befriended the Jews who were known to have caused previous rulers much grief, in some instances. So, knowing the strong attachment to their religion, to Jerusalem and to the then destroyed temple, he built them an enormously lavish temple.

One must realize the feelings the Jews had towards Jerusalem. It was their home. It was from this city that David ruled, it was indeed the city of their religion, where pilgrimages were made from afar to worship. This city, and this temple were sacred to them. And it is often used as a title for their way of life in scripture.

A full lesson could be written and be beneficial on the strong connection of the Jews and the city of Jerusalem. After Jesus had spent two-plus years in his ministry, teaching in the synagogues and all over Galilee, and the bulk of the Jews had rejected him, and sought to kill him, here is a very important portion of scripture to let us see what Jesus himself felt. 

Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Matthew 23:34-39 emphasis added-jhh)

This is a prophetic statement that was directed to the Jews for the treatment they had given the prophets and what they would do to him and the apostles later and that recompense was about to be forthcoming. With this in mind, let us proceed to the 24 chapter and see what occurred between him and the apostles. Follow the verses closely.

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.

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.

This may not seem like an exaggerated or unlikely statement to be made. But remember this, there were no explosives available, no cranes or bulldozers, etc. Every thing was done by men. The only help they had was oxen, horses or pack animals. Plus, historians tell us that many of those stone was as large as a Greyhound bus, or city streetcar. What would cause each one to be removed from any other? Keep that in mind.

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?

Here the apostles asked 2 questions of the Lord. At that time they had not received inspiration of the Holy Spirit and they possibly did not know that their questions were not closely related. Keep them in mind and separated in your thoughts.

Now read  from verse 4 through verse 14 where Jesus is advising his apostles of what the circumstances for them would be in the approaching years and that they should pay no attention to them.

But beginning with verse 15, he tells them of the coming of the destruction of Jerusalem. Essentially he tells them that when they see the siege begin that they should make haste and flee to the hills away from the city. The method of war against a city in those days began with a siege, or surrounding of it and forming what is now more often referred to as a blockade. They allowed no one in or no one out until food ran out and the people began to starve.

The history of the destruction of Jerusalem was a most horrible thing to read of. Jews were slaughtered by the thousands. The Roman soldiers were so frenzied and filled with hatred of the Jews that even their commanders cold not stop the carnage and destruction. The wood portion of the temple was burned and the soldiers, through great effort, moved each of the massive stones to retrieve any gold that melted and ran between them.

The temple, so revered by the Jews was totally destroyed, all Jewish records were destroyed with it, It ended a religion which had already been replaced by Jesus, but until this, its followers would not allow it to die. Now page back up and read Jesus statement again in Matthew 23:34-39.

In Matthew 24:27-32 is Jesus speaking symbolically of his returning and taking vengeance upon those who had heard him, had seen his miracles and actually knew who he was but refused to accept it. It was to remove the primary obstacle which was holding them in their reverence to the Mosaical  law. He refers to the Roman soldiers as Eagles (That was their emblem) and the carcase (carcass) was that of a dead religion which they were desperately trying to keep alive.

But he seals it as in to what time is under discussion when he says:

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

Now if we insist these things were intended for the end of time, we will have to concede that Jesus lied or made a mistake. Neither of which is correct.

» left by robert melaccio sr (1 year 181 days ago.)

Joel I suspect you meant to add that Jesus refers to the prophesy of the end times with the sign of the rebirth of Isreal 1948, 2000 years after all of this and a key sign of the age we are in and substantiated throughout the Word. ROBERT MELACCIO SR.

» left by Joel Hendon⁽¹⁷⁹⁾ (1 year 181 days ago.)

No, I don't read that anywhere Robert. What he says about the end of time is that no one knows when that is except the Father. Israel was not reborn in 1948. Some of them were given back a little of their original land. They don't even know to which trtibe they are descended anymore since their temple and all their records were destroyed. It would be impossible for them to have priests anymore since they were required to be descendents of Aaron. and also Levi.  No matter what one can come up with, there is no prediction of the time of the end of the world, in the Bible. It only says that it will come as a thief in the night.

Jesus Christ is now sitting on the throne of spiritual Israel. It is now for all who will accept it, not just the Jews.

The age we are in is the last days, but they have been in existence since Christ's law, and his kingdom, came into effect on the Pentecost after his resurrecton. Acts 2..  Hebrews 1:1

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