How many of you have played "show and tell"? Do you know what I’m talking about? When we were children, we would bring something to school that we liked or found interesting, and we would show it to our classmates. Then we would tell them all about it. This game, this learning experience, was called "show and tell". This may sound like a children’s game, and it is, but God has used the simplicity of it in order to communicate many of His deepest mysteries to us. Let me tell you what I mean.

In my first presentation I stated the premise that Jesus is the greatest of the prophets. He intentionally re-enacted Israel’s history and replaced it with His holy history. He saw Himself as the fulfillment and the anti-typical fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies. Jesus understood that it was His role to interpret, explain, and even recapitulate the prophecies of the Old Testament. Having understood the goal of God, He saw that it was His role to bring the purpose of God to fruition. The destruction of Satan’s kingdom, the raising up of His own kingdom and the consequent salvation of His people required that He complete and replace the salvational metaphors of the past and place His own unique stamp on the salvific and eschatological actions of God. The Gospel writers understood and recognized that God had acted in Christ. They understood the centrality of the cross event, and have skillfully presented it as the place in which God has soverignly acted to save His people. But more than that, the Gospel writers have also used the cross event to lay out the prophetic view of the future for the people of God. After much meditation and reflection on the words and actions of the Master Prophet, they came to see and understand what Jesus meant in Mark 13v23 when He said, "Behold, I have told you everything in advance". The real question is, how or in what way has Jesus told us everything in advance?

I would now like to consider the "abomination of desolation" in the context of the Olivet Discourse. Who or what is this "abomination" that desolates? How would we go about finding out? Remember "show and tell"? Jesus has used the same teaching tool but He has reversed it. What do I mean by this statement? What I mean is this. The activities of Jesus that immediately follows on the heels of the Olivet Discourse is the explanation thereof. And what is it that actually does follow the Olivet Discourse in all of the 3 synoptic gospels? It is the anointing of Jesus by Mary, it is the Passover, it is the time of distress and trouble of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, it is the betrayal, it is the trials, it is the crucifixion, and it is the resurrection. To encapsulate it, we could call it the "cross event".

In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus has given us the "tell" part. It is here that He told us what the future holds. At the cross event, He has shown us what the future looks like.

Some people might immediately ask the question. How can what happened to Christ tell me what my future looks like? How? In this way. In the genius of God, Jesus has chosen a simple but profound method to communicate and demonstrate spiritual realities. It is this. What happened to the Head in microcosm is a picture of what will happen to the body in macrocosm. Jesus Himself said; "A disciple is not above his Teacher, nor a slave above his Master. It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his Master. If they called the Head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of His household. Matt.10v24,25. Jesus repeated the same theme throughout Matthew chapter 10. It is noteworthy that John recognized the same principle and utilized it in Rev.11.

As we continue our consideration of Matthew chapter 10, we will see that there are many connections between Matt.10 and the Olivet Discourse. In Matt.10v17, Jesus said; "Beware of men, (in other words watch out for men) for they will deliver you up to the courts, and scourge you in their synagogues". The words "betray" and "deliver up" come from the same word in the Greek which is "paradidomi". The many times that this word is used in the gospel of Matthew give us an indication of how significant and central it was in regards to what Jesus was desiring to tell the disciples and us. "Betray" is used 3x, "betrayed" is used 4x, "betraying" is used 3x, "betrays" is used 1x, "deliver" (up) is used 8x and "delivered" is used 6x in the book of Matthew.

In Matt.10v18, Jesus went on to say; "you shall even be brought before governors and kings for My sake". In Matt.10v21; Jesus said that "brother will deliver up brother to death". In v22, Jesus said; "you will be hated by all, but it is the one who endures to the end who will be saved." We need to remember that Jesus said these same words in the Olivet Discourse in Matt.24v9 & 13; "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated …. But the one who endures to the end will be saved". The connections between the Olivet Discourse and Matthew chapter 10 are decisive.

But we are not finished with Matthew 10 yet. Remember, we are considering the statements by Jesus regarding the future of the church. In Matt.10v23, Jesus said; "but when/whenever they persecute you". This means that they will persecute you. In Matt.10v36, Jesus said; "a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household".

Who are the ones doing the persecuting? It is the members of ones own household and ones own family. Only a brother, only a friend, only a compatriot can betray. Significantly, in Matt.10v4, Judas Iscariot is mentioned by name. He was the friend and spiritual brother who betrayed Jesus. It was also the leadership of the "house" of Israel who brought Jesus before their own trial and subsequently delivered Him up to the Romans (the state) for crucifixion and death. The passage is proleptic. It not only anticipates the future of the church but looks ahead to the persecution and betrayal of Jesus, first to the religious leaders who hatred Him, and then the betrayal and delivering up of the Messiah by the house of Israel to the state for crucifixion. This persecution and betrayal is at the hands of pawns of Satan who have infiltrated the covenant community. In all of these warnings of Jesus to His disciples, their in the admonition to be faithful to the end. Matt.10v22. Jesus repeated the same warning in Matt.24v13 and this once again helps us to recognize that these two passages are inter-connected. In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus elaborated on "the end" in the context of the Son of Man coming in glory and power.

Jesus has taken a giant key off the shelf and placed it in our hands. With this key in our hands we are now able to open the doors of the future. So what does the future of the church look like? In Matthew chapter 10 and Matthew chapter 24, Jesus has told us about the future, about His future and ours. Remember the children’s teaching aid, "show and tell"? At the Passover, in His betrayal, in His passion, in His crucifixion and in His resurrection, He will show us what the future looks like.

If we were to pick up the Book of Matthew and rapidly read it from the beginning to the end, we would discern a noticeable pattern. What pattern? We would notice the escalating animosity and hatred of the religious leaders against Jesus. We would notice two different philosophies, and two different kingdoms on a collision course with each other. A battle is raging, escalating, and rushing up to a climax. The Gospel account is marked by confrontation after confrontation with the scribes, the chief priests, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees on one side and Jesus on the other. But behind the scenes, an even more deadly battle is being fought. It is the battle between Christ and Satan for the dominion of the world.

Even when Jesus was a baby, Satan tried to kill Him. Satan inspired Herod to kill every boy 2 years of age and under in the environs of Bethlehem. Just after Jesus began His ministry, Satan attempted to quash the mission of Jesus. If Jesus had given into any of Satan’s temptations, the cause of Christ and His people would have been lost. Satan’s key temptation and deception was to tempt Jesus to think that He could regain the kingdom without the cross. He tempted Jesus to think that He could regain the dominion as long as He submitted to and would allow Himself to be ruled over by Satan. As we move through the gospel, every time that Jesus exorcises a demon, it is just another confrontation with Satan. In Matt.10v32; Jesus said; "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth; I did not come to bring peace but a sword."

As we continue through the Gospel of Matthew, we hear Jesus repeating the same statement. Jesus said; "I must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day. Matt.16v21; 17v9,12,22,23; 20v18,19. In the mind of the King, He must do battle and defend Jerusalem. A Prophet cannot die anywhere but at Jerusalem. Luke 13v33.

But what is the response of the disciples to this statement? It ranges from outright antagonism to apathy. On one hand, to go to Jerusalem in light of the fact that the religious leaders are desiring to kill Jesus and possibly even them, doesn’t make going to Jerusalem seem to be the wisest decision. On the other hand, how would it be possible for Jesus to declare Himself King and them as His co-regents if they don’t make the announcement in Jerusalem? But not even the misunderstanding and unbelief of His disciples was going to deter Jesus from His mission.

Jesus understood that His mission was to do battle with Satan at Jerusalem for the dominion of the world and to die for the sins of His people. He understood that the climax of His mission was crucifixion and resurrection. Satan knew it too. Satan had already infiltrated the religious leadership of Israel. For centuries, he had been preparing them to act as a pawn in his hands to do his bidding. Satan also attempted to infiltrate the disciples through Peter. He was successful with Judas. When we consider the characteristics of the disciples before the resurrection, we begin to realize that they really weren’t much different than the scribes and Pharisees.

The Gospel writers spent an inordinate amount of time documenting the last events in the life and experience of Christ. That is because they are the most important events. After they had eaten the Passover meal, the disciples went out in the darkness to the garden of Gethsemane. When they arrived at the place, Jesus said to them; "pray that you may not enter into temptation". Then He knelt down and began to pray. "And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground." Luke 22v40,41,44.

As Jesus was finishing His prayer, He said, "behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand. Then Judas, one of the twelve, came up, accompanied by a great multitude with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, Whomever I shall kiss, He is the one; seize Him." Matt.26v46-48.

It is Jesus’ own people, the Jews who have come to arrest Him. It is one of the twelve, a disciple and friend, who would betray Him. The thing that Jesus warned His disciples about in Matthew chapter 10 is now happening to Him. We know the story. This group of ruthless wicked men had conspired against Jesus and formed a confederacy whose sole purpose was to kill Him. They did not realize it but they were but pawns in Satan’s hands.

Satan attacked Jesus through the High Priest and his cronies at the mock trial and kangaroo court that they convened in the middle of the night. The next day, Satan attacked Jesus through the multitude who the chief priests had influenced against Him. They cried out to Pilate for the release of Barabbas (the son of the father), and kept shouting, "Let Jesus be crucified". Matt.27v22. Ironically, Barabbas’ crime of insurrection against Rome was the very charge that the chief priests brought against Jesus. Mark 15v7. Satan attacked Jesus through the Roman soldiers who beat Him so bad that His face could barely be recognized, and who tore the flesh off His back with whips, and who pounded the nails into His hands and feet. And while He hung on that instrument of torture, Satan attacked Jesus through the criminals that hung beside Him, and through the Jews who hurled abuse and sneered at Him as He hung there naked, and through the high priest who mocked Him.

The entire mission of Jesus was culminating at the cross. Why torture Jesus? Why not just kill Him? Why drag it out? This raises many questions. In many respects, it seems that Satan did not really want Jesus to die on that cross. He just wanted to shame Him so bad, and torture Him so bad, and psychologically damage and traumatize Him so bad, that He would willingly come down from that cross and concede defeat. No wonder that Satan screamed out at full throttle through his abusive pawns, "if you’re the Son of God, the one who is able to destroy the temple and rebuild it in 3 days; if you’re the Savior and King of Israel, if you trust in the God who delivers those that He takes pleasure in, then save yourself and come down from that cross. Matt.27v39-44.

What indeed are we witnessing here as we in our minds eye behold the spotless sinless undefiled harmless Lamb of God being set upon by a pack of blood thirsty wolves? We are witnessing the "abomination of desolation" that apostate Judaism had become. We are witnessing the desecration of the temple of Jesus’ body. We are witnessing an all out assault by Satan for the dominion of the world. Since Cain and on down through time, Satan has used one apostate religious man or religious institution after another to fulfill his purpose which has been to take his seat in the temple of God, to proclaim himself as God, to receive the worship and service of all as if he were God, and to rule as God. The nation, the kings, and the priesthood of Israel had time and time again been his servant and pawn in the matter.

The Christ of God, however, did not concede the battle. He would not come down from that cross and save Himself. He would not concede defeat. Satan and his pawns did not know who they were dealing with.

Did Satan understand the overwhelming sadness of Jesus as revealed in the garden when Jesus said, My soul (My heart, My mind, My psyche) is deeply grieved to the point of death? Did Satan understand that the separation of the Father from the One who became sin for us placed Jesus in a weak and vulnerable position? I believe so. But what Satan didn’t understand was the love of Christ for His people. And Satan didn’t understand the determination in the mind of Jesus to fulfill His covenant promise to rescue and redeem mankind from Satan’s clutches.

Now let’s consider the Olivet Discourse and see if the "cross event" actually sheds light on it. It is important to recognize again, that in all 3 synoptic gospels, the Olivet Discourse is placed strategically and immediately before the cross event. We also need to keep in mind that the 3 parables of Matt.25 are part of the Olivet Discourse and are a continuation of the words of Jesus from Matt.24.

So why did the synoptic gospel writers place the Olivet Discourse directly before the Passover, the passion, the crucifixion and the death and resurrection of Christ? It is because the cross event is the explanation thereof. Consider for a moment the enigmatic statement of Jesus in Matt.16v28, when He said; "Truly I say to you, there are some who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming (in glory and power) in His Kingdom. What on earth does Jesus mean here? For starters, the disciples should have expected "life" and not "death" when the Son of Man comes in His kingdom.

Many Bible students, and I’m one of them; believe that the next event, when Jesus went up the mountain with the inner three (Peter, James, and John); spoke with His Father, communicated with Moses and Elijah about His departure, and was transfigured before their eyes when His garments became white as light and His face shone like the sun, and was revealed in glory; is the explanation of the prophecy that He had just made prior to this in Matt.16v38. This is the same pattern that is followed when the Gospel writers used the cross event to explain the words of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse.

The Olivet Discourse is a private conversation that Jesus had with His disciples on the Mount of Olives. He had just left the temple, never to return. Jesus was re-enacting Ezk. 10v18,19; 11v23 in which the glory of the Lord departed from the temple and from the city. God had visited His people and found that the temple was full of abominations. He would consequently use the Babylonians to tear down the temple and the city and burn it with fire. Jesus was signaling that God was about to act again in the same way.

It is not as if Israel had been without warning. Since the transition point in Matt.19, Jesus had repeatedly warned the religious rulers in one parable after another, in one statement after another, in one enacted parable after another, that their system was going down. His cursing and subsequent withering of the fig tree, which represented Israel, and His cleansing of the temple while quoting Jer.7, Isa. 56; and Mal. 3. were especially poignant actions. Matt.21. In the parable about the vineyard, which was the house of Israel, Jesus gave the religious leaders the clear message that God was going to bring the present vine-growers to a wretched end and rent the vineyard out to other vine-growers because they had taken the Son, the Heir, and killed Him. Isa.5. This Son, this Stone was to be the foundation Stone of the New Sanctuary that God was about to erect. In fulfillment of Dan.2v35, this Stone was about to scatter them like dust. This was reminiscent of what happened to the idolatrous sons of Ham when they tried to build a city and a temple that reached to heaven. Matt.21v33-46. Gen.11v4-9.

The New Moses not only announced the covenant blessings in Matt.5 but proclaimed the covenant curses, (as the True and Faithful Witness), upon the religious leaders of Israel in Matt.23. They had taken their seat in the chair of Moses. They loved the place of honor and chief seats in the synagogues. They saw themselves as lords and not as servants. They saw themselves as mediators, and in some sense as messiahs who had the authority to shut off the kingdom of God from men and not to allow those who were entering to go in. Appearing righteous on the outside, they were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness on the inside. They have manifested the character of Satan and possessed remarkable similarities to the "man of lawlessness" of 2 Thess.2. See Matt.23v2,6,10,11,13,28. 2 Thess.2v3,4.

Jesus, in cursing this wicked and adulterous "generation" that has been with us since religious Cain murdered his brother Abel and on down to the ones who shed the blood of Zechariah, was declaring that this lawless class of murderers will be with us until the Day of the Lord. Jesus then pronounced the final curse, "Behold, your house is left to you desolate". Jesus was going to tear down their house, their temple, their system, and their kind. The words of Matt. 23 through to Matt.25 are the almost unbroken words of Jesus. They are all part of a package and they need to be considered as such.

In Matt.24; the private words of Jesus to his disciples are words for His church. After publicly speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus has shifted gears. In Matt.24; Jesus used the words "you" and "your" 18x in reference to His disciples. This is in contrast to the words "many" and "them" which He used in regards to the ones who would seek to deceive them and who would persecute them. They will hate you. Matt.24v9. They will persecute you. Matt.23v34. They will scourge you in their synagogues. Matt.23v34. They will try to mislead/deceive you. Matt.24v4,5,11,24. They will betray/deliver you up; to tribulation. Matt.24v9,10,21. They will kill you. Matt.24v9.

We know that this is exactly what they did to Jesus as is revealed in the chapters that follow. Jesus said in Matt. 10 and in Matt.24 that all these things were going to happen to the church and they all ended up happening to Him. Jesus was hated and persecuted. Satan even tried to deceive Jesus through the accusations of his pawns that gathered around their prey on the cross. Jesus was betrayed and delivered up by the religious leaders to the state who in turn killed Him.

We are now able to see with clarity where the hatred, the persecution, the deception, the betrayal, the tribulation, and the murder comes from. It comes from the apostates. It comes from those who have fallen away. When Jesus said to beware, to watch, and to be alert; He’s warning the true believers that it is the false ones who will turn on them. Only a friend, only a brother, only a compatriot can betray. As we have already seen, the words "betray" and "deliver up" flow through the Olivet discourse and are especially utilized in the account of the Passover, and the trials and passion that follows.

It is also incumbent for us to recognize that in the latter part of the Matt. 24 and in all of Matt.25, the Great Shepherd and Pastor of the sheep not only continued to warn the true believers to be alert but He told them what to watch out for. The 5 foolish virgins, the wicked and lazy slave, and the goats of Matt.25 are not benign. They are the apostates within the church, they are the accursed ones who Jesus tells to depart from Him. They may call Him Lord, but He will state that He never knew them. Matt.25v12,41,44. These are the ones who beat their fellow slaves and eat and drink with the drunkards. Matt.24v49. It is here that we see that the ethical statements in the Sermon on the Mount and the principles outlined in the parables of the sower and the seed and the wheat and the tares, are very helpful in terms of discerning between the righteous and the wicked. Matt.5v10-22; 7v15-27; 13v1-50.

In Matt.24v3; the disciples came to Jesus privately on the Mount of Olives and asked Him; "Tell us, when will all these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming/presence and of the end of the age?" The answer of Jesus that immediately follows seems out of place. Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you". v4. In the context of the passage, we see that it is the ones who come in the name of Christ, the ones who say that Jesus is the Christ, it is the false prophets, who would mislead and deceive you. This is a "Christian" deception. What we don’t want to miss is that Jesus was actually giving them the "sign". The "sign" is apostasywithin the church. Jesus revealed that the ones who will hate you and deliver you up are the ones who fall away, the ones who will apostatize. Math.24v10. John 16v2 records the words of Jesus when He said; "They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God." John wrote his gospel somewhere between 80 and 90 A.D; which was long after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70A.D. He was speaking of a crisis in the future. For him to reiterate the same point that Jesus was making in the Olivet Discourse leaves no doubt in the matter of who Jesus was talking about. Without question, Jesus was talking about a future apostasy in the Christian church.

What Jesus was telling the nucleus of the Christian church and us on the Mount of Olives is this. The unbelieving religious ones murdered the prophets during the entire Old Testament era. The nation of Israel will fill up the cup of her iniquities and will not only murder you; she will murder Me. But you must be alert because the apostasy that has been brought to fruition in Judaism will again be repeated and mirrored inside the Christian church. The "sign" of the end is apostasy and betrayal. Judas, one of the twelve will betray Me into the hands of the apostate religious leaders. The nation of Israel will in turn betray their Messiah into the hands of unbelievers, i.e. the state. Before the end comes, My gospel of the kingdom must be preached tothe whole world as a witness to all the nations and only then shall the end come. The "sign" of the end is when you again see the apostates, (the ones who have the same wicked adulterous murderous mindset as the Jewish leaders who are about to kill Me), that is the "abomination of desolation", set up/standing in the holy place which is the Christian church. When you see this "sign", flee.

This statement regarding the "holy place" is multifaceted. In the first case, Jesus was warning His disciples that the wicked leadership of Israel had filled the Sanctuary in Jerusalem with abominations. Jesus had spoken of it as a temple made with human hands. Mark 14v58. Acts 7v48. A temple "made with hands" is an idol. Psm. 115v4; 135v15-18. The temple had become an idol. As in the days of Ezekiel, the priesthood had so filled it with abominations and idolatry that God Himself had to tear it down. Ezk. 8. The once faithful city had become a harlot, a lodging place for murderers. Isa.1v21. The temple had not only failed to fulfill God’s purpose but had become a habitation of demons. Rev.18v2. It was only after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus that the disciples and the early church came to recognize the temple for what it had become. Consequently, they fled from Judaism and temple worship.

This passage in Matt.24v15 means all of this and more. Jesus was also speaking about the way that Israel’s apostasy would be mirrored in the Christian church. As Satan had moved into the temple through the wicked power hungry priesthood, he would also infiltrate the Christian church and do the same. Acts 20v28-30. Paul, in 2 Thess.1 & 2, utilized the Olivet Discourse to demonstrate that the same principles that were active in apostate Judaism would be replicated in the church. This statement by Jesus in Matt.24 is therefore multifaceted and duo-directional. The greatest of all prophets looked down through time and saw that history would repeat itself. In His statement regarding the "abomination of desolation standing/set up in the holy place", Jesus simultaneously encapsulated and summed up everything that this statement meant in the past, identified and explained what it meant in the then present, and held it out as a "sign" that would alert the true believers to the fulfillment of this prophecy in the future. The situation that swirled around Jesus would swirl around His church. When this took place on a worldwide scale, the end and the consummation would be imminent. Therefore, the various aspects of the then present situation are a type of the end of the world.

It is interesting to note that when the disciples saw Judas come and identify Jesus with a kiss, as he led that threatening multitude to arrest Jesus, that they all fled. When they flee, "they are not even to turn back and get their cloak". Matt.24v18. As we know, Mark left the sheet that he had covered himself with and fled naked. Mark 14v50,51. The ones on the "housetops" are not to go down and get the things that are in their houses. Matt.24v17. These are the true believers who have been proclaiming the gospel from the housetops. Matt.10v27. Their flight is likened to the call in Rev.18v4 to come out of Babylon which is a code name for the Jerusalem that killed Christ and also for the apostate Christian church who would become a mirror image of Jerusalem of old. They are to pray that their flight might not be in the winter. It is in the winter that the Jews celebrated the feast of Hanukkah. This is reminiscent of Daniel’s prediction of the "abomination of desolation" that found a fulfillment in Antiochus Epiphanes who then became a type of the subsequent manifestations. Matt.24v20. John 10v22,23.

Matt.24v9 & 21 speak of "tribulation". Did Jesus experience tribulation? Did Jesus experience a time of trouble? Matt.26v37,38 says about Jesus’ experience in Gethsemane; "And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, My soul is deeply grieved, tothe point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me." How could Jesushave expressed His grief in any stronger terms? He couldn’t have. He used the strongest terms possible. And His tribulation is a picture in microcosm, of the church’s tribulation in macrocosm. Let us compare this with Matt.24v21, which says; "for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor evershall." In this statement of Jesus, in which He predicted the tribulation that the disciples will endure, He has used the strongest terms available. How could He have said it in any stronger terms? Herein do we see the link between Christ’s tribulation and time of temptation in Gethsemane and on the cross being compared to the tribulation that the church will go through. We have already recognized the principle that what happens to the Head is a foreshadowing of what will happen to the body. The disciples will drink the cup, the same cup, as Jesus did. Remember what Jesus said to James and John in Matt.20v23; "My cup you shall drink". The church will have her crisis as Jesus had His crisis. This is just another element in the expanding pattern that demonstrates that the statements of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse are repeated and explained in the Passion narrative that follows. This is because they are the primary fulfillment and the explanation thereof.

Just before the Passover, a woman come with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume and she poured it over the head of Jesus. Matt.26v7. John say that it was Mary, the sister of Lazarus. Jesus said that she poured it over His body to prepare it for burial. Matt.26v12. Matthew records that she poured it over His head but Jesus said that she poured it over His body. Once again we are seeing the connection between the Head (Jesus) and the body (the church).

When she finished this act of service, Jesus responded by saying; "Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of in memory of her." Doesn’t this sound very much like Matt.24v14 which says; "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come." We are seeing the same language here. We are seeing the connection between the Olivet Discourse and the explanation that follows. It is also important to recognize how the statement in Matt.24v14 of the gospel being preached to the whole world before the end comes is followed by the manifestation of the "abominationof desolation" in v15. In Mary’s case, when she finished anointing Jesus for His burial, Jesus spoke the similar statement about the gospel being preached to the whole world. Matt.26v13. The very next verse says this; "Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, what are you willing to give me to deliver Him up to you …. and from then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Him." Judas, one of the twelve, the one who John called the "son of perdition", and Paul alluded to as the "son of destruction" is himself a type of the final manifestation of the "abomination". John 17v12. 2 Thess.2v3. Remember, Jesus has told us everything in advance.

What a contrast we see between this humble woman and the indignation of Judas and the rest of the disciples. This woman was in touch with spiritual realities. The disciples were oblivious to them. The disciples were on the edge. This proved to be the turning point for Judas. It was on this occasion that he decided in his mind to betray Jesus. The ideas of grace and sharing and submission were foreign to him. He was into money, power, influence, and control. In Mary and now in Jesus, he saw only weakness. In his indignation, he had come to hold Jesus and His philosophies in contempt.

This woman stands as a representative of the faithful church. Judas, on the other hand, represents the apostates. She is the true witness of Jesus. Judas is the false prophet. His betrayal of Jesus stands as an enacted prophecy. The statement of Jesus in Matt.26v13 regarding the gospel being preached to the whole world is in the immediate context of Judas going out to betray Jesus. So also is it in Matt.24v14 & 15; where the manifestation of the "abomination of desolation" is once again juxtaposed to the statement of Jesus about the gospel being preached to the whole world. Satan will again infiltrate the church as he did through Judas in order to use one on the inside to betray her, in the same way as Jesus was betrayed.

The next event in Matthew’s Gospel is the celebration of the Passover by Jesus with His disciples. It is fitting that the Passover will initiate the final conflict between Jesus and Satan. Remember that first Passover? The children of Israel were in Egyptian bondage, much in the same way as the nation of Israel was presently under Roman bondage and house arrest. God had remembered His covenant of the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He would send a deliverer to set His people free. Exod.2v23,24. Luke 1v67-79. Moses (God’s man) and Pharaoh (Satan’s man) engaged in a mighty battle. Pharaoh had the baby boys of the Israelites put to death. He would not allow the Israelites to go into the desert and worship their God. God responded and plagued Egypt. Now, after 9 plagues, God went out to slay the first born of the Egyptians. God separated the righteous from the wicked. In the context of God’s wrath, we see Him rescuing the people of faith. It was imperative to place the blood of the Lamb on the door. To neglect to do so meant death. This was the last plague in Egypt. It was the climax. So also was the cross of Christ which the Passover is in type. There is therefore a connection between the Passover and what follows. The crucifixion that follows is the explanation of the Passover.

The Passover that was observed in Egypt was one of the final elements in the momentous struggle between Moses and Pharaoh. It preceded the final battle at the Red Sea. The Passover that Jesus ate with the nucleus of His New Covenant community preceded the final battle between Christ and Satan at Calvary. Jesus, as the nation of Israel before Him, would Himself pass through the waters of death and come out the other side. Satan and all who followed him in his desire to kill God’s son would perish, in the same way as Pharaoh and his armies perished. This same struggle will be repeated in the momentous struggle between the apostates and the true believers culminating in the coming of the Son of Man. It is interesting to note how the book of Revelation uses the language of the past, including the Exodus, to outline the future for the people of God. John handled the material in a "Christian" perspective when he interwove the experience of Christ at Calvary into his picture of the 7 last plagues and final end of the world. Rev.16.

At the Passover, Jesus, having taken the cup, said this; "Drink from it all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Matt.26v28. This statement sounds somewhat like Matt.20v28 which says; "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many". This passage does more than blend the prophecies of Daniel and Isaiah. It blends the concepts of eschatology and soteriology. Think about what the term "covenant" means. We know that the entire book of Matthew is written in the covenantal structure.

We first have the preamble which identifies the covenant partners and includes past relations. We have a description of covenantal continuity and covenantal solidarity. We have the blessings and the curses. At Calvary, we will have the blood of the covenant, and the sign and memorial of the covenant. We also have the "relationship" that being party to the covenant symbolizes for those who in faith partake of its symbols. Those who partake of the covenant will also have the benefit of the Senior Covenant Party’s protection.

In this statement, "this is the blood of My covenant"; Jesus was telling Satan and us that the Seed of the woman had come to crush Satan’s head and thereby regain the dominion and set His people free, in fulfillment of the Adamic covenant. He was telling everyone to separate yourself from the world or to be destroyed with it, as He had destroyed the world with the flood in the days of Noah. This is the fulfillment of the Noahic covenant. Jesus was saying that if you want to have covenant fellowship with Me, you must leave where you are and come and follow Me as faithful Abraham did. This had important implications for the Jews who Jesus was calling to leave apostate Judaism and the idolatrous worship that was then taking place in the temple and to follow Him. In the provision of the forgiveness of sins that this covenant offered, Jesus was rehearsing the provision of the Mosaic covenant. He was also recognizing that He was about to raise up the True Sanctuary where the New Covenant community would congregate and where God Himself would dwell in the midst of His people through the resurrected Jesus and the indwelling Presence of the Spirit. In this statement in Matt.26v28, Jesus was also declaring His role as the Covenant Mediator, thereby demonstrating that He was replacing all past mediators. This is the role of the King, and is reminiscent of the Davidic covenant. It is the King who would raise up the Sanctuary and build a house for God to dwell in.

The role of covenant therefore continues but intensifies in the Kingdom of Christ. The preaching of the gospel by the church is the proclamation of the announcement that the covenant keeping God of Israelhas acted in Christ to fulfill His covenant. All the spiritual blessings of the covenant are ours now in Christ. Satan, the enemy of Christ and His church has worked tirelessly to obscure the gospel and to replace the truth about Jesus the true Sanctuary and His church with a false gospel and a false church. This is the "abomination of desolation".

Recognizing the centrality of the theology of covenant as it relates to the Passover also gives us insight into the wars/sword, famine, pestilence’s, and tribulation spoken of in Matt.24v6-9. John alluded to the covenant curse of Lev.26 in his explanation of the Olivet Discourse in Rev.6, especially v8. The covenant curses contained in the Olivet Discourse are multifaceted. First they speak of the disciplinary warning in terms of the curse falling on Jerusalem in the hope that she would repent. Israel’s history from 31 A.D. to 70A.D. reveals that it was a time of great civil unrest, wars, rumors of wars, famines and pestilence. Then they speak of the wrath of God being poured out on an unrepentant Jerusalem in 70A.D. Then they are again used as warnings, similar to the warnings expressed by Jesus in His messages to the 7 churches in Rev. 2 & 3, to repent. In their final phase, they will describe the falling of the covenantal curse on the entire world who have conspired together with the apostate church to do away with the true believers. The only hope for Israel of old and for the church will be to continue to celebrate the feast and to remember His death until He comes again. For those who reject their Passover Lamb, nothing remains but the curse.

After they ate the Passover, Matt.26v30 records how, after singing a hymn, (possibly Psm. 115-118) they went out to the Mount of Olives, to a place called Gethsemane. Matt.26v36. Significantly, Jesus would now go to the Mount of Olives in the darkness to show His disciples the meaning of the things that He had told them on the Mount of Olives in the daylight. Psalms 115 through 118 first contrasts the building of idols, the works of man’s hands, with trusting in the Lord. This is followed by the supplications of One who is encompassed by the cords of death. It is a prayer of distress and sorrow. The Servant of the Lord depicted here will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving in the midst of Jerusalem. The suppliant called on the name of the Lord in His distress because He was surrounded. Nevertheless, he will cut off his enemies. The Stone that the builders rejected will become the Chief Corner Stone. Psalm 118 then ends with the verse that Jesus quoted regarding His mission. "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord." If these Psalms were indeed sung as they left that upper room, how appropriate they would be for that very moment in terms of describing the very events that were then transpiring.

In the garden, Jesus prayed. He became grieved, deeply grieved and distressed to the point of death. With the Father’s cup trembling in His hands, with the future of the world in the balance, the disciples are sleeping. Sleeping. This reminds us of the 10 virgins of Matt.25 who are all sleeping. Remember, Matt.25 is part of the Olivet Discourse. This reminds us of the experience of the inner 3 disciples up on the Mount of Transfiguration when they were sleeping.

Suddenly, an ugly mob with swords and clubs in their hands, led by the traitor Judas, burst into the garden. He then gave the mob a "sign" and identified Jesus with a kiss. Matt.26v47-49. Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple, and the elders who had come out against Him; "this hour and the power of darkness are yours". Luke 22v53. The priesthood had aligned themselves with Satan and were about their father’s business. John 8v44. The chief priests and officers of the temple then arrested Jesus. In the meantime, all the disciples left Him and fled. Mark 14v50. We remember that Jesus said in Matt.24v15 & 16; "When you see the "abomination of desolation" …. "flee". They saw the "abomination" that was about to desolate Jesus and they fled. It is interesting to note that a pattern is developing. The chapters that follow the Olivet Discourse continue to produce verbal and thematic links with the Olivet Discourse. This is not accidental. It is the intention of the authors that we see these links and come to the reasonable conclusion that the enacted history of Jesus is the explanation of the prophetic Discourse.

The subsequent actions of the chief priests, the high priest, and the elders of Israel are almost incomprehensible in light of the fact that these men claimed to be righteous followers of God. Jesus was dragged from pillar to post throughout the night. He was led to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. "Now the chief priests and the Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus in order that they might put Him to death; and they did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward, and said, this man stated, I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days." Matt.26v59-61. It is at the trial of Jesus that we are seeing another powerful connection between the Olivet Discourse and the experience of Jesus that follows. Remember how Jesus, in commenting on the temple said; "Truly I say unto you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down". The key charge, the one that the chief priest actually had a basis for, was that Jesus had been heard uttering these words just days earlier after leaving the Sanctuary for the last time, and just before He privately told His disciples what He had meant. Any attack on their temple, any threats against their icon, any disrespect for the centerpiece of their existence and their raison d’etre was to be regarded as blasphemy.

In Mark’s account, Jesus was accused of saying that in three days He would build another temple made without hands. Mark 14v58. The fact that Jesus was calling their temple an "idol" was not lost on them. The next thing that the high priest did was to put Jesus under oath and ask Him if He was the Christ, the Son of God. This was the next logical question. He knew that the only One who could rebuild the temple was the Messianic Priest/King that was prophesied to come in Zech.6v12,13. The high priest believed that he had just trapped Jesus and exposed His Achilles heel. He knew that he would have a basis for putting Jesus to death if he could just get Him to confess that He was the Messianic King. He could then charge Him with blasphemy.

Jesus, upon hearing the question replied in the affirmative, "Yes He indeed was the Christ". Not only that, He was the "Son of Man" who was going to judge the high priest. He was about to take the throne and rule as King over Israel right now. "You shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven". We might in our minds eye wish to rush ahead to the second coming in order to make sense of this statement of Jesus, but there is no need to do so. Jesus was telling the high priest then and there that he would see this Jesus, that was standing right in front of him, taking His seat on the throne in the immediate future and that He would raise up a new temple in the immediate future.

At that moment, in a frenzy of indignation, the high priest tore his robes, accused Jesus of blasphemy, and condemned Jesus to death on the spot. What Caiaphas did not understand was that Jesus’ own resurrection would simultaneously be the raising up of thatNew Temple and the coming of the Son of Man in glory. It is here that we see the explanation of the statement of Jesus that "not one stone upon another would be left that would not be torn down". It is the cross where the action will take place. Certainly the temple in Jerusalem was torn down in 70A.D. but that is not the central focus of the gospel writers or should it be the central point of our focus. The cross, thedeath and resurrection of Jesus should be the central point of our focus. It was here that Jesus tore down the idolatrous abomination that a man made system of religion had become and replaced it with something far better. He replaced it with His own Person, His own body, and subsequently His own church. It was at His resurrection that He achieved the goal and purpose of God and initiated the Kingdom of God in Himself.

Jesus has here identified the little horn power of the book of Daniel that would magnify itself to be equal with the Commander of the host. It is ironic that the leadership of Israel were not only guilty of the blasphemy that they charged Jesus with but they were guilty of everything else that they accused Jesus of. It was they themselves that had desecrated the Sanctuary of God and had trod under foot the saints. It was they themselves that had defiled the Sanctuary by bringing all their idolatrous abominations into it. They had flung the regular sacrifice and the truth of the gospel to the ground. It was because of them that the Sanctuary was desolate of the Presence of God.

When Caiaphas tore his robes, he was disqualifying himself as high priest. In his white hot anger and indignation (Dan.2v12, 8v19, 11v36) at the words of Jesus, his self righteous response marked his demise as high priest. Lev.10v6; 21v10; Exod.39v23. It is significant that the moment that Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit, that the hands of the Father would tear the veil in the temple that separated the Holy from the Most Holy Place from top to bottom declaring that not only the priesthood but the temple was finished. Matt.27v50,51. In the very way that Matthew has placed the death of Jesus in the immediate context of the tearing of the veil in the temple is a literary device to show the inter-connectedness of the two events. Once again we are seeing that from God’s perspective, the priesthood and temple in Jerusalem had no significance in the eyes of God after the death of Christ. He had tore them both down.

The subsequent destruction of the temple in Jerusalem 40 years later was not the significant act. It was only the consequence of God’s retributive justice on the "abomination of desolation" that Judaism had become. In Matt.22 v7, Jesus laid out the future in a parable about a King who gave a wedding feast for His Son. The invitees (Israel) not only rejected the wedding invitation but killed the King’s slaves. Matt.22v7 says in this context; "But the King (the Father) was enraged (because they had rejected the wedding invitation and killed His Son) and sent His armies (the Romans) and destroyed those murderers (the Father destroyed Jerusalem in 70A.D. because they rejected and murdered His Son) and set their city (Jerusalem) on fire. Many have mistakenly concluded that Roman armies that destroyed Jerusalem in 70A.D, were the "abomination of desolation". No, they were just God’s agent to desolate the desolater. When you see who God desolates,you have then identified the "abomination of desolation". In Luke 21v20, it says; "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize (know, understand, see) that her desolation is at hand." "These are days of vengeance". v22. Whose vengeance? It is God’s vengeance. "For there will be great distress and wrath upon the land, and wrath to this people". v23. Whose wrath? It is God’s wrath. Because they had not only murdered His son and subsequently not repented when they had ample time to do so, and had only hardened their hearts revealed in their persecution of the Christian church, God used the Romans, as He had used the Babylonians before, as a tool in His hands to desolate the desolater. It is important to understand this because to make the destruction of Jerusalem the center of one’s focus is to neglect and negate Calvary. This is where Christ acted to identify and to destroy the "abomination of desolation, which at the deeper level is the very person of Satan who has been at war with His people.

It is 31 A.D. and not 70 A.D. that is the significant date. Rev.12v9 & 10 record the time and nature of Christ’s decisive victory over Satan that was happening behind the scenes. It was at Calvary that Satan, the ultimate apostate insider and false prophet was revealed for who he was and was cast out. It was then that Christ, through His own blood, regained the dominion of the world.

In John 2v19,21 &22 Jesus said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. He was speaking of the temple of His body. When He was raise from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this." We remember that the main piece of testimony that the chief priests had brought against Jesus was that He had said that He was able to destroy the temple and raise it up in three days. Everything revolves around the temple. At His death, Jesus obliterated the temple and every other corrupt icon that was possessed by apostate Israel. At His resurrection, He raised up a New Temple. Jesus is the cornerstone and embodiment of that New Sanctuary. The Christian church is made up of living stones that are placed on the foundation of Jesus and the apostles. 1 Cor.3v11. Matt.12v6. Eph.2v20-22. 1 Pet.2v4-10. Rev.21v22.

None of the gospel writers made the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70A.D. the central point of their focus. They made the cross event the center of their focus. Significantly, John, writing only 10 to 20 years after the fall of Jerusalem, doesn’t even mention its destruction in his Gospel. If he had indeed seen the Romans as the "abomination of desolation", why then didn’t he mention it or even give us an explanation of the event as he had ample opportunity to do so? Instead, he focused in the most important thing; Jesus Christ and His cross.

Caiaphas recognized the implications of what Jesus said in His reply to him. Jesus had taken on the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the lawyers and had won on every occasion. He had worked many acts of healing and power. He had even raised the dead. He had a huge following. The multitude were going after Him and they were losing their influence over the people. They were jealous of Him and hated Him. He felt that they were in a crisis. The high priest felt that it was expedient that One Man should die rather than for the entire nation to perish. If they were to let things go on like this, the Romans would come and take away both their place (temple) and their nation. John 11v47-52.

This is reminiscent of the way that Ahab accused Elijah of bringing trouble on Israel when he was guilty of it himself. 1 Kings 18v17. It will be the same at the very end of time when it will be expedient to kill the true Christians rather than allow the demise of a system of religion that will be teetering on the edge of extinction. John 16v2. At that moment Caiaphas was so angry that he couldn’t see straight. Caiaphas and the rest of the conspirators convicted Jesus of blasphemy and sentenced Him to death on the spot. At this point, they vented their anger on Him. They spat in His face, beat Him with their fists and beat Him with rods.

In the morning, they brought Him to Pilate. They persuaded the multitude to ask for the freedom of Barabbas instead of Jesus. When you think about it, they would have been much happier with a "messiah" that acted like Barabbas. The religious leaders mirrored Barabbas’ heart in their own rebellion and insurrection against God. They insisted that Pilate crucify Jesus. Pilate wanted to release Him finding no fault in Him, but the Jews replied with extortion. "If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar, everyone who makes himself out to be a King opposes Caesar. John 19v12. The Jews continued to cry out; "crucify him". Pilate replied; "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered; "We have no King but Caesar, his blood be on us and on our children". In this statement, they said it all. Herein they had publicly rejected their King and their God. John 19v15. Matt.27v25.

The "abomination of desolation" was bent on killing the true King of Israel. In this act, they have revealed the ugliness of their wicked hearts. Pilate was compelled to pronounce the death sentence on Jesus. The Roman soldiers then took out Jesus and whipped Him 39 times. After whipping Him, they dressed Him in purple and put a crown of thorns on His head. As they bowed down to Him in mockery, they kept beating Him and spitting on Him. They then took Him to Golgotha and crucified Him. The passers by and the multitude continued to hurl abuse at Him. As He hung dying on the cross, the chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked Him. "You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." Matt.27v40. The irony of the situation is rich. Jesus was fulfilling this very statement right in front of their eyes andthey did not even understand what was transpiring.

In the meantime, as He hung there suffering and dying, what was Jesus doing? In His last words, Jesus was taking care of His mother’s future welfare. He was forgiving those who were committing this heinous act of injustice. He was busy offering salvation and eternal life to a repentant criminal. He was impressing a Roman soldier that He indeed was the Son of God.

Consider the contrast! On the one hand, we have the dishonest, disgusting, vicious, conspiratorial, jealous, arrogant, indignant chief priests and scribes who are in fact a bunch of murderous lawless criminals. On the other hand, we have the gentle, kind, compassionate, thoughtful, unselfish, forgiving, righteous Jesus.

Before Calvary, the common people and the disciples saw the chief priests, the scribes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees in shades of gray. In fact the disciples themselves thought and acted very much like them. It was only at the trials and at Calvary that the disciples were ableto see, to discern, and to understand the radical difference between the apostate religious leaders and Christ. It was only then that they were able to "see" and "understand" the identity of the "abomination of desolation". Matt.24v15. The crucifixion was certainly the turning point for Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. They then saw the priesthood for what it had become, and it was in contrast to seeing Jesus for who He was.

Apostate Israel and its leadership had become the "abomination of desolation". This wicked leadership had corrupted the nation. They had taken Satan’s side in the battle against God. They were willing to kill God’s Son, the rightful Heir to the throne of Israel, in order that they might retain their power, their authority, their temple, and their religious system. At Jerusalem, at the city of the Great King, they had taken their stand against theLord and His Christ. In their quest for power, control. And wealth, they had taken their seat in the temple of God and they were not willing to relinquish it to the true Heir.

Jesus said in the Olivet Discourse, "when you see the abomination of desolation set up in the holy place …. flee". And this is exactly what the sincere Israelites did, who had witnessed what Satan in all his ugliness had done to Jesus through the hands of the religious leaders. They fled from Judaism. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea who were both prominent members of the Sanhedrin threw away their careers and their positions when they publicly declared their allegiance to their New King. So also did 3000 Jews from all around the then known world do likewise on the Day of Pentecost when they left Judaism and joined the church of Christ. Acts 2. So also did a great many of the priests who believed as recorded in Acts 6v7.The whole pastoral theme of the book of Hebrews is to admonish them not to go back to Judaism and the temple. For them to sin willfully in this matter after coming to a knowledge of the Truth would place them in line for the same wrath that was soon to be poured out on Jerusalem. Heb.10v26-31.

The warning of Jesus to flee was multi-faceted. It was also a warning to physically flee from Jerusalem when God’s agents of destruction surrounded the city. The false prophets may have been prophesying inside Jerusalem and telling the people that God was going to deliver them from the Romans, but it was not to be. They had not recognized the time of their visitation by the Christ, they had refused to believe and repent. The only thing that awaited them was the curse. God Himself was about to move in judgment and lay the city and the temple waste.

Has the death and resurrection of Christ filled up the prophecy of the Olivet Discourse? No, it has not. This gospel of the Kingdom must first be preached to the whole world for a witness to all the nations. Only then shall the end come. Only then will the last manifestation of the "abomination of desolation" be manifested. Matt.24v14 & 15. It is not enough that the True and Rightful King has already taken His seat at the right hand of God. The proclamation and announcement of it must be first preached to the whole world. Rev.10v9 &10 reveals the disappointment of the believers that even in 95 A.D; Christ had not yet returned. But the admonition is given, "you must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings." Rev.10v11. There must be a universal witness by the church before Christ can come again. Matt.28v18-20. Only when what has happened to Christ in microcosm is fulfilled in the church in macrocosm will the end come. The prophecy of Olivet will only be fulfilled when the body experiences and replicates what has happened to the Head. John, in Revelation chapter 11 symbolically illustrates this very point. It will only be when the fullness of the "abomination of desolation", following in the footsteps and pattern of Israel of old, takes its seat in the new "holy place" which is the Christian church and seeks to desolate the true followers of Christ, that the end will come.

When the Christian church falls away, apostatizes, and degenerates to the place where she is willing to bring the same tribulation on the true believers that the apostate leadership of Israel did on Christ; then the end shall come. The true believers will have their own time of trouble, their own Gethsemane experience. The apostate church will seek to use the state to fulfill its ugly plan for world domination. The people of God, the true followers of Christ, the so-called troublers of the people, who have been tormenting the unbelievers through their preaching of the true gospel of the cross, will be persecuted on a world wide basis by the last manifestation of the "abomination" that would seek to murder and desolate them. Rev.11v10.

In the church’s time of trouble, in the church’s "hour" of distress, the Covenant keeping God of Israel, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, will return with His mighty angels in power and glory, to pour out His wrath on the unrepentant. 2 Thess.1 & 2. He will separate the sheep and the goats, the wheat and the tares, the wise and the foolish virgins. When He pours out His wrath in a worldwide judgment that is reminiscent of the days of Noah, the days of Lot and the days when He destroyed Jerusalem; He will Passover and rescue those believing and faithful ones who have put the blood of the Passover Lamb on the door, and are about their Father’s business of preaching the gospel to the very end. Matt.24v37-39. Luke 17v26-32.

In Matt.24v3, the disciples asked; "when will these things be?" In Matt.24v15, Jesus answered them; "when you see the "abomination of desolation" standing in the holy place". In Matt.24v33, Jesus said; "even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right art the door." At Calvary, we saw it all. When we see it again, we will know and understand with clarity that the end has indeed come.