Matthew 24:3 - 8

3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.

5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

6 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.

7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows

Jesus disciples had learned from the teaching of Jesus the world would someday come to an end. Some references of this teaching are:

Matthew 11:22 - 24(22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”)

Matthew 12:41 – 42(41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.)

Matthew 13:39(9 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.)

The disciples mistakenly understood the temple would be destroyed at the end of the world, when Jesus comes again. So they ask Him about the destruction and His returning.

We know the two times do not correspond because Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. And the end of the world has not occurred yet.

This chapter is going to cover all of these events. The explanation is broken down as this.

Verses 4 - 26 will regard the destruction of Jerusalem

Verse 27 the second coming of Christ

Verse 28 the destruction of Jerusalem

Verses 30, 31 the second coming of Christ.

Verses 34 – 35 the destruction of Jerusalem

Verses 36 - 51 the second coming of Christ.

In verse 4 Jesus warns His followers not to be fooled by false teachers because there would be individuals who would teach confusing and false doctrines to Christ's followers about these subjects. Jesus gave his followers signs which would allow Christians to expose the false teachers.

Many would assume the name of Christ but teach false doctrines in His name. Just because an individual claims to be teaching the doctrine of Jesus, there teachings need to be compared with the words of Jesus to see if they align. If they do not align then they would be exposed as false teachers.

The destruction of Jerusalem was brought about by the rebellion of the Jews against the Roman Empire. But the war did not begin near Jerusalem. So the residents of Judea, and the city of Jerusalem would hear of the war before the conflict would come to Jerusalem. So Jesus was cautioning His followers not to be extremely worried when the first news of the war reached their ears. It would not mean the end of Jerusalem was at hand.

The Roman Empire was composed of many nations so when the war against the Jews broke out it threw the entire empire into commotions. The various smaller countries and provinces were thrown into chaos and many of them began fighting against each other.

Earthquakes were never caused by warfare but God did bring them about at certain times to mark His concern for the conditions. In this case it would be one of the signs given to Jesus' followers so they could see the approaching storm.

The word which “sorrows” comes from is defined by Thayer as: “the pain of childbirth, travail-pain, or birth-pang.” These signs given by Christ would be like the early pain caused by the contractions a mother feels as she is nearing birth. It does not mean the birth is imminent, but it means it is not far off. The signs Jesus gave the disciples means the destruction of Jerusalem is not imminent but it is not far off.