Matthew 24: A Commentary

4-14 – And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The Lord tells the disciples that many will try to deceive, that wars, famines, and earthquakes would abound, and that nations would rise against nations, and all of these would be but the beginning of “sorrows”, or birth pangs. Looking at this wording it is easy to see that Jesus is talking about something future, and global in scope. Nothing approaching this ever happened in the context of Jerusalem in the lifetime of those who were hearing this message. So, this one sentence is enough to destroy the preterist and historist prophetic views of this text. Many dispensational prophecy teachers rightly recognize the future scope of this verse, and the tone it sets for the rest of the narrative, however, since it is clearly a global scope, it is incredible that they then miss the global aspect of it at the same time, by saying all that follows is only for the Jews!!!!

Of even more importance, in my view, is that Jesus tells the disciples that when this time of sorrows comes, they would suffer “afflictions” or tribulations, which is the Greek word [thlipsis]. Are they told to worry about this? The implication is that the world will get progressively worse, as the lawlessness abounds, and the love of many grows cold. This is what produces the angst against the people of God. Surely, this is not only the disciples, or the Jewish believers that are to come, for He goes on to say the gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world. Are the Jews the only ones preaching the gospel? It has been a primarily Gentile Church who has carried the Gospel into the whole world, not the Jews. Once again, this basic, contextual reading is a death blow to those who claim Jesus is only talking to Jewish people in this passage, yet it persists, and the vast majority of teachers who “teach” on Matthew 24 just skirt over this stuff, because it doesn’t fit their theological presuppositions.

A quick note on the use of pronouns is necessary here, because it will help solidify Jesus’ audience once we come to the end of the whole passage. In addressing the disciples, Jesus switches from second-personal pronouns in vs. 4 and 9, which seems to suggest that he was addressing the disciples directly, to third-person in verse 13, which suggests an audience OTHER THAN the disciples! 

13-14 – But he who endures to the end {“the same” [hoytos]} shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and THEN THE END WILL COME.

 “Hoytos” is a conjugate of the definite article “ho” and the third person pronoun “autos” {these are all transliterated Greek words, not the actual Greek letters}. The NKJV, the translation I am using here, doesn’t have “the same” in the text. The KJV does. However, the pronoun is there in Greek. This changing of pronouns adds tremendously to the confusion of the entire discourse, and happens again, as we shall see. It is not something that is normally done in Greek or in English, because of the confusion that it causes the reader of a text. You don’t really know who the audience is that is being addressed! We will get to this later, but let’s move on. What is important right now is noting that Jesus said that all the aforementioned “signs” were but the beginning of things, and that only when the Gospel was preached to all nations, would the end come! This is important, because at no time before the modern era could it be said that the gospel had been preached to all the world, or all nations. Hence, this is a huge clue to the reader that there is a definite timeframe for when we might expect the return of Christ, and it would be after the Gospel was preached everywhere.

15-21 – “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation [thlipsis], such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.

In these verses we see Jesus give THE sign for the beginning of events that will immediately precede His Coming. It was the abomination of desolation mentioned in Daniel. Whatever one’s opinion about that (I am of the view that it is the Antichrist standing in the Temple and declaring himself God), it would be something that will be seen by everyone. It is NOT an ambiguous event. It can’t be. Because Jesus goes on to tell people who see it to flee! Get out of Judea. Prepare for the greatest calamity in history. It is this contextual setting of the abomination that pre-tribulation teachers glom onto to support their notion that this is all for the Jews. This is nonsensical, logically speaking. Let’s take an example. Suppose I tell a group of people, gathered in New York, to prepare for the coming dissolution of the financial system, and say, 

• “The sign will be the Carolina Panthers holding the Lombardi Trophy in New York”,

then proceed to say to those there,

• “When this happens, great economic distress is coming upon the whole world. Get out of New York, get your money out of the banks, get into gold currency, get food and water, because trouble, like never seen before is coming upon that City and the whole world, like never before seen.”

Would anyone conclude that I am speaking only to the people of New York? Would anyone conclude that this prophecy was only for those who are physically in New York to see the Carolina Panthers celebrating having won a Super Bowl? Of course not! The reason Jesus speaks to those gathered is because He is talking about Jerusalem, and the Temple specifically (remember the initial questions from the disciples?), and the Abomination of Desolation will occur there. Those closest to the events will be the ones immediately affected, but they are not the only ones affected. People on the other side of the world will not have nearly the urgency to act as those in Jerusalem when this happens! However, they will be impacted by it, and thus, it is clearly not just for Jewish people. The reason Jesus specifically mentions winter and Sabbath is because, since it will be mostly Jews at the epicenter of trouble, they don’t want this event to occur during a time it is harder to travel. It is far easier to travel when it is not cold outside, and if it’s a Sabbath, many forms of transportation are shut down! Jesus is only adding these details as examples to how earnest it will be for people to get moving out of Jerusalem once this sign takes place.

As to the Abomination itself, nothing like what is described following it has ever happened. Those who say the events of 70 AD are what is being referred to ignore the fact that the Holocaust, was far more destructive to the Jewish people, in terms of death, than what occurred in 70 AD. Not only that but we are also told that what would result from it would be worse than anything since “the beginning of the world”. Noah’s Flood was FAR WORSE of a calamity than what occurred in 70 AD, yet this is going to be even worse than that, according to Jesus. You have to believe that Jesus was speaking in hyperbole to believe that what is being described has already occurred. It hasn’t.

 Of note again as to the audience, in between these verses, Jesus seems to “confuse” matters by once again changing pronoun usage, seemingly obscuring who He is speaking to. Vs. 17, and 18 use third-person language, describing people going into their house, or grabbing their clothes (indicating this is for a general audience), while vs. 20 uses second-person language (indicating His specific audience, the people in Jerusalem)!

 22 – And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the [c]elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

This scripture has never made any sense to me, and I have not seen a single prophecy teacher make any sense of it either. Most do not even address it. However, when studying the calculation of God’s prophetic time and His calculation of years, I think there may be an answer, which I lay out in detail in my book, The Rapture and Return of the Lord Jesus Christ: Biblical Timeline Revealed. In short, depending on when the harvest is ready, in conjunction with the new moons that flank the spring equinox, the Jewish high priest could extend a year or shorten a year! As a result of this biblically prescribed way of measuring time, there can be 354 or 355, and in leap years, you can have 383 or 384 days in a Jewish year.

Thus, you can have a year shortened, or lengthened depending on the cycle of the moon, in relation to the movement of the earth around the sun, and their relation to the beginning of harvest season. Jesus is our high priest (Hebrews 7:11–22). And of course, He has total authority on when a new year begins, and He is never wrong. So, we can trust that these years will fall in a cycle that will be the shortest number of physical days possible on the Jewish calendar model. The Jewish model is in fact the only calendar model that would allow for something like this.

 23-26 – “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. “Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.

Once again, Jesus stresses being on the look out for deception, but specifically for false Christs, or the Christ has returned. In context of the Abomination having occurred, this makes total sense since that event will be the Antichrist declaring himself to be God in the flesh! Who is Jesus speaking to here? In these verses, He switches tense yet again using and later 23, 25 and 26 use second person language in verses 23, 25 and 26 indicating a general audience, rather than just the specific people in His immediate context.

27-28 – For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

These verses spark a lot of debate. This comes from what is being said. Why would Jesus speak about His coming, and then follow it up with an illusion to judgement? To fully understand this, let us first look at the same conversation between Jesus and His disciples that occurs in Luke 17, and then other parts of Scripture to help us determine what is going on here. There are some who try to argue that Luke 17 is a different discussion, but the context makes it clear, that the material under purview is the same. In those verses He is specifically addressing the establishment of His kingdom, which He says will not be in physical form until AFTER His generation rejects Him.

 Luke 17:22-37 – Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even so, will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed?

“In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise, the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken [paralambanō] and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.” And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?” So, He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”

I have italicized the portions that are exactly the same in both passages for the reader. In the Luke passage, Jesus places the mention of eagles (vultures) in response to being asked directly about the taking of people from the earth, while others are left. This evokes all the imagery of the Rapture. But, taken where? A study of the Greek word paralambanō shows that it is the exact word used by Jesus to describe His “receiving” the saints to Him after He has built their eternal homes in heaven, John 14:3! This Scripture verse is a favorite for pre-trib believers but whereas its use there is clearly positive, its usage in Luke 17 seems to be negative! In the Matthew dissertation, the mention of the vultures comes immediately following the mention of Jesus’ Coming. I think the obvious solution is that what Jesus is saying, is that the taking of believers is simultaneous to the judgment! There is not a huge gap of time here. And, the place they are taken, with Jesus, is also the place where the bodies of those to be judged will be, but on the earth!

Revelation helps tie this together.

Revelation 19:11-21 – Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

It is obvious that at the Battle of Armageddon, the great host of birds is called upon to feast upon the bodies of the Antichrist and his armies. Meanwhile, all those who have been taken to Heaven, are coming back with Jesus. Same place. And it occurs at His Coming! Where then can you have a massive amount of time? You can’t. However, you can have a small one, in earthly terms, that has all of these events of judgement happen within the “day of the Lord”. For what starts the day, and the initial gathering of the righteous, and the leaving of the wicked? Matthew 24 will tell us, it is His appearing in the clouds! It is not His actually, physically touching down. That happens, at the end of the prophetic day, when He comes back, with us, to Armageddon, where the “eagles” have gathered to feast on those left behind

29-31 – “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

In this verse, Jesus clearly let His audience know that His return would occur AFTER the Great Tribulation that was described in the previous verses. There are those who argue this point, but to do so is to be willfully dishonest with the text. This was the answer to the disciples’ original question!

This was the thing the disciples wanted to know about specifically. These verses give a clear reference point to WHEN Jesus’ Second Coming and the gathering of the saints will occur: post-tribulation. Some will not accept this, so they ignore it, or apply it to some group that doesn’t include the Church! The context DOES NOT ALLOW THAT. Whoever the audience is, the disciples, along with the “elect from the four winds” are clearly a part of it, as the use of pronouns proves decisively, though there is some confusion to be addressed on that still. To any honest reader of these verses, it is clear that the resurrection of the righteous, and our gathering to Him, is what is in view. However, what of the living? What of the Rapture of those who are not dead? Where is that in this text? That teaching comes specifically from Luke 17, which, as has already been stated, is the same information, but with different details given by the author. It also appears later in this chapter. When describing those who are taken, while others are left, Jesus is clearly talking about the Rapture! It can’t be anything else. It is when He comes back, and “receives us” [paralambanō] to Himself!

32-35 – “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So, you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

In v. 32, Jesus references the fig tree’s blossoming as an analogy to being able to spot when His return will come, and then gives us a huge clue as who His audience has been the entire time. He says those who “see all these things” are the ones who are going to be the terminal generation. Now, I believe that the term generation can and does hold a deeper prophetic meaning regarding prophetic timescales, but one does not need to appeal to that to see that Jesus is clearly indicating that it is whoever sees everything just recounted that will be the generation that sees His return. 

This is provable from the use of the pronoun “hoytos”. As we saw its use earlier in the discourse, this is a third-person pronoun! Yes, it refers to the “generation” in the sentence, but we know that that generation is the one that sees everything described. The disciples were NOT that generation. This is simply a fact, not an opinion. The reason Jesus switches from second person to third person in His discourse is because, like with other teachings of His (The Sermon on the Mount), it wasn’t just the immediate audience that His words were for. The disciples suffered affliction, so have other generations of believers, and their time was the start of the period known as the “beginning of sorrows” we are still currently in. However, the use of the third person by Jesus illustrates throughout was an appeal to a larger, more general audience. In this verse, Jesus uses it in telling us that there was going to be a generation that was NOT necessarily that of the disciples, which would be dealing with the immediate issues created by the Great Tribulation. Since no one knew the exact time, all they could do was look for the signs, and that could be at any time, including in their time, possibly. Thus, we continue to await those signs to be fulfilled that show us if we are indeed the final generation who will see ALL things predicted by Christ. Until then, we watch and wait.

36 – “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

It always amazes me that pre-tribulation teachers can say Matthew 24 is not for the Church, and then quote this verse about the Coming of the Lord as a Rapture verse that proves the made-up doctrine of imminency (the idea Christ can return at any moment). If the Church is not anywhere being spoken to in Matthew 24, then why would this verse be applicable to the Rapture, an event that, in their theology, is for the Church? It’s totally illogical! The not knowing the day or the hour is applicable, contextually, to the Coming of the Son of Man referenced earlier. The Rapture language doesn’t appear here until much later. While I agree the Rapture is being referenced, since it happens at the same time as the resurrection of the dead, in context, it happens after the Tribulation, and thus, there are definitely signs before the Rapture, and it is definitely post-tribulation.

37-39 – But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

The references to the “days of Noah” in the context of Jesus’s treatise on the end-times is something that has had much speculation made of by Bible prophecy teachers. Many think it refers to a return of giants, or some sort of biological manipulation, etc. I believe the context tells us that none of that is what Jesus had in mind. Jesus specifically mentions the behavior of those living at the end times and juxtaposes it onto that of Noah’s. In short, Jesus is saying that when the time of His coming arrives, life will be continuing as normal, and thus, no one will know that the time of His coming is here. It is instructive to note exactly what is said. Pre-trib teachers say this is proof that Jesus cannot be referring to His physical touching down at Armageddon, rather, it must be the Rapture, seven years prior because when you look at the level of destruction upon the earth in the book of Revelation, it is said, there is no way that anyone could just be living their lives! 

I would like to point out that in both the story of Noah and Lot we are told that people are violent and given to murderous impulse. Just because the world was in WWII, did people stop getting married? Stop living their lives? Only those directly impacted by events didn’t keep trying to live their lives as normally as possible. Revelation tells us, much that Jesus did earlier in Matthew 24: the world is going to be a violent, bloody place! That doesn’t mean people aren’t going to still be doing other normal things. The point Jesus is making is that people are just living their lives. They aren’t expecting the total destruction of the world’s wicked by the appearance of Jesus Christ!  

The other thing that pre-trib teachers miss here is the timing of when Noah is said to go in, and how that is representative of what will happen at the end. Jesus points to the day Noah entered the Ark. His entrance to the Ark came seven days before the Floods hit the earth. Pre-trib teachers (who don’t even believe Matthew 24 is about them, remember?) say this is proof that the rapture happens seven years before the Second Coming. Let’s forget that the immediate reference is specifically to the Coming of the Son of Man, not the Rapture, what these teachers miss is that Noah DID NOT go to heaven! He was just sitting in the Ark. Nothing bad happened for seven days. If their view was correct, the Flood should happen on the day Noah entered the Ark, because they claim the entire seven years is so bad and destructive that Christians must be saved from it all. Noah’s entrance into the Ark seven days before the Flood, is a perfect analogy though for describing a world that will enter Daniel’s final seven years, when all the signs start being fulfilled, and only the believers are getting into the Ark, preparing for the coming Flood! 

Another thing to note about Jesus referencing the days of Noah is that his is a perfect example fo God telling us when the day of His coming is about to commence! Consider that Matthew was not the only Gospel to record this analogy of the days of Noah. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus uses the exact same language to describe the consummation of the age. 

• And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:26–30)

Here, Jesus not only connects the days of Noah with His second coming, but He also connects the story of Lot being delivered from Sodom before it and its sister city, Gomorrah, were destroyed by fire from heaven. In both situations, what is important for a discussion about determining the return of the Lord is that both Lot and Noah were told when salvation would come! Genesis 19 relates how God told Abraham what He was about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah. It did not come as a surprise to the believers when fire and brimstone rained down from the skies. Most prophecy teachers see Lot’s deliverance from Sodom before it was obliterated as evidence for the Rapture yet overlook that it is a magnificent proof that God does NOTHING without first telling His people, which included the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 

What of Noah? Much the same thing happened, and God got awfully specific here. With Lot, because of the intercession of Abraham, the angels could DO NOTHING until Lot was safely out of the city. God’s time clock was held back in some small measure until Lot was safe. With Noah, God gave the exact day when He would send the flood; and Noah was in the ark, waiting for the rains to come. 

In Genesis 6, the Bible records that God looked down on the out-of-control wickedness of man and determined that He would destroy the whole world. However, He says exactly when He will do this. 

• And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” (Genesis 6:3) 

Some might wish to say God was not telling this time frame to Noah, but lest you think me reading into the text too much, God later clearly told Noah the exact day when the rain would fall and precisely when to get inside the ark. 

• Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation…For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” (Genesis 7:1,4) 

If the Lord saw fit to let both Noah and Abraham know exactly what He was going to do when it came to devastating destruction upon the inhabitants of the earth and Sodom respectively, why would He suddenly change His pattern of behavior? Especially in the light of the fact that the Lord tells us He “changes not” (Malachi 3:6), should we expect the Lord to keep silent and not reveal to His servants when the day of His return is near us? The obvious answer is we should not. When we see the signs converge, we know it’s time to get in the boat of salvation that is Jesus and await His return to the earth.

40-44 – Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken [paralambanō] and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch, therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

As with Luke 17, Matthew specifically describes the taking of believers here with the Greek word [paralambanō], the same word used by Jesus to “receive” believers to Himself in John 14:3. The admonition to the disciples and anyone else who reads the words of Chris is: be ready and watching for the signs. If the Rapture were a signless event, it literally makes zero sense for Christ to say “watch”, “be alert”.  The fact is, there are a lot of things that will tell us, with one main one that will seal the deal: the Abomination of Desolation. When all of them happen, no matter what generation lives to see it, then that generation will know it’s time for the Coming of the Son of Man. Thus, our house had better be in order.

45-51 – “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 24 ends with Jesus reaffirming the need to be alert, indicating that the terminal generation will be loaded with so-called believers who have decided that Jesus has delayed His coming, or that He’s not coming back at all. Thus, these so-called Christians will begin to live decidedly ungodly lives, because they no longer believe the words of Jesus. This kind of thinking is going to directly lead to the Great Apostasy.

I want to point out one final thing that absolutely proves the point that Matthew 24 is for the Church. Matthew 25 is a part of the same long dissertation. There is no chapter cut-off in the discussion. It’s all one answer to the original questions posed by the disciples. In Chapter 25 Jesus finally gets to the part about establishing the kingdom. This was specifically part of what He was asked in Luke 17 as well. Chapter 25 opens with two analogies about the kingdom of heaven. The first, The Parable of the Virgins, lays out how the arrival of the bridegroom, Jesus, will find two contrasting “believers” waiting for Him. Those who are ready, and those who are not. The ones who are ready, the wise virgins, are compared to women with oil in their lamps. This is a perfect analogy of having the Holy Spirit. In other words, they are born-again believers. The five unwise virgins don’t have any oil, because though they claim to be Christians, they are actually false, and they will not be ready when Christ appears. 

The second parable is that of the Talents. This is a longer version of the first story that distinguishes between good servants and bad servants. Both of these reinforce the previous teachings about watching and waiting and working faithfully for the Lord. Then it moves to these verses.

Matthew 25:31-36 – “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

What is happening is the final, promised arrival of Jesus to rule the earth. Revelation 19 told us that we, the saints, return with Him. If the Church is not to be found in Matthew 24, then you cannot argue that the Church is to be found here! Thus, the Church is not in the millennial kingdom! Such a thought is totally preposterous of course, but if the pre-trib teachers view of Matthew 24 is correct, then that is the only logical conclusion one can make of the events of Matthew 25. But we know that the believing saints that make up the Church ARE coming back to rule and reign with Christ, and thus, they are going to be going through the Great Tribulation, but will be rescued from the wrath of God poured out upon the wicked at the very end of age, a time that will be known to those who are looking for the signs that foretell their arrival.