Study Page – Lessons 46 – 48

Lesson 46: The “Now” of Matthew 24:7 – 8

“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matthew 24:7 – 8 NIV)

I am a believer in biblical end-time prophetic writing as a “now and not yet” or a “Soon and not yet” kind of fulfillment. For example, a famous prophecy by Isaiah was used by Matthew as the fulfillment of the coming of the Messiah – “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 NIV)

The original context surrounding this prophecy was given to King Ahaz from the Lord through Isaiah and concerned the fact that the Lord would prevent Ephraim (Israel) and Aram from coming against Judah (Jerusalem). The Lord, through Isaiah, instructs King Aram to ask for a sign. Aram refuses to “put God to the test.” To which, Isaiah makes his famous pronouncement.

Bible Gateway has these notes about this verse. 1) The “you” here in “give you a sign” is plural – not just for King Ahaz. 2) the “virgin” here can also mean “young woman.” Isaiah was standing with his son, Shear-Jashub, when he spoke to King Ahaz – so Isaiah’s wife was not a “virgin” as we understand the term as she had already birthed one son.

In one sense, this prophecy was fulfilled “Now or soon” with the birth of Isaiah’s next son. Neither Israel nor Aram came out against Jerusalem.

However, the “not yet” fulfillment of this prophecy is recorded by Matthew in Chapter 1 where he quotes this passage as ultimately fulfilled by the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus. (See Matthew 1:20 – 23)

In the same way, an argument can be made for a “now or soon and not yet” interpretation of the Olivet discourse. Remember that the initial question about the disciples concerned the coming destruction of the temple. We know this was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. In that respect, nation really did rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. In end time study, this fulfillment of prophecy is part of what is known as the “Preterist” view.

As for earthquakes and famines, an earthquake was recorded in Scripture circa AD 31 during the time of Christ. I’ve actually walked the ground at Pompeii which was destroyed by volcano circa AD 63. Famine occurred within Judea as recorded in Acts. Rome also suffered famine about AD 51 as recorded by Tacitus.

“These are the beginning of birth pains.”

In William Barclay’s interpretation of verses 6 – 8, he indicates that these prophecies are only symbolic and not to be taken literally but the symbolism points to the fact that God is sovereign in all things and that he never abandoned the world. (See Volume 2 of his Matthew commentary.) Although I agree with his statement of the sovereignty of God, I believe he is incorrect in his assessment of only a symbolic interpretation related to Nations rising against Nations and earthquakes and famines.

I think the only symbolism here is “the beginning of birth pains.” Noted preterist, R.C. Sproul uses the New King James Version when he quotes scripture in “The Last Days according to Jesus.” On page 39 of his book, this passage is quoted as “All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

To be sure, as we read further in Matthew 24, Jesus mentions the coming persecution of believers. We don’t even have to look that far in Acts to see the stoning of Stephen, the arrest of Peter and John, and the death of James – the “Beginning of Sorrows” indeed.

However, I think the NIV version follows the Greek better (even though it is a thought-translation) – “the beginning of birth pains.” I know enough about childbirth to know that it is a painful undertaking and no other pain is quite like it. In the first century, when Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable, helped only by Joseph, I’m sure she endured such pain. In the first century, when Jesus ascended and persecution of the believers began, pain was also involved.

But what was born through the sorrow of such a time was also the church. Even Saul, the great persecutor of believers, converted to Christianity and was known as Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. Through the church, the gospel traveled the known world.

In the next lesson, we will examine the “not yet” of Matthew 24:7 – 8.

Lesson 47: The “Not Yet” of Matthew 24:7 – 8

As of this writing, we are celebrating the advent season of the birth of Jesus Christ. This historical event foreshadows the prophesied second advent of Jesus. As we have been studying the passages of Matthew, it is only fitting that we continue to discuss the “not yet” of Matthew 24:7-8. In October of this year, one of the most anticipated peace overtures was the Gaza-Israel cease fire and the return of hostages living and dead. Problems still remain and the BBC reports that one dead hostage has not yet been returned.

This still echoes in the prophecy in Matthew 24:7 – 8: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matthew 24:7 – 8 NIV)

Would that peace in that region were permanent (as well as everywhere). However, it’s naive to think that sinful nature in mankind between peoples that have enmity for each other would bring about a lasting peace. Instead, what will bring about the lasting peace will be the second coming of Jesus Christ when He comes in his glory.

“All these are the beginning of birth pains.” The partial-preterist viewpoint of NT prophecy believes that most of the prophecy of the future is fulfilled – especially as it comes to the destruction of the temple by the Romans in AD 70 which Jesus talks about in His Olivet discourse. The dispensational view of NT prophecy is that a third temple will be built because of an agreement brokered by the Anti-Christ between Israel and the world after the rapture of the church.

It’s important to understand that the Bible is the source of the prophecy. I believe that it’s important to lean on that source using the whole Bible as the context for any part that we try to interpret. So, what happens after the “birth pains?”

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:9 – 14)

To be sure, the partial-preterists were correct. Persecution occurred in the early church: from the Biblical accounts of the death of James and the stoning of Stephen recorded in Acts, to the historical executions of Paul and Peter in Rome, until the exile of John at Patmos. However, the end has not yet come.

Look at what has happened recently such as the atrocity perpetrated against the Christians in Nigeria. A woman was arrested in Birmingham, UK for standing on a sidewalk near an abortion clinic and silently praying on December 17, 2025. (She had previously been arrested and subsequently cleared for the same activity elsewhere.) In October 2025, China started a major crackdown on Zion Church nationally by arresting leaders and members from Beijing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai.

In the United States, we don’t hear much about persecution locally. Freedom of Religion as enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution is pretty well upheld. That doesn’t mean that an amount of animosity does not exist. The Annunciation Catholic School shooting in Minneapolis, MN on August 27, 2025 wounded 29 and killed two of the children.

Here is the rest of that passage. “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:9 – 14)

Faith is always tested. Think of the testing of Abraham as he is commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac. Will he continue to have faith in God and obey His command? (He does, but God had other plans for Isaac.)

Will love grow cold because of the wickedness of the world? Remember the charge of Jesus against the church of Ephesus in the Book of Revelation. “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Revelation 2:4-5 NIV) (The Ephesian church disbanded in the 14th century as Ephesus also faded.)

Granted all of these are “now” or in the past. But, the coming animosity against Christians and Christendom will be worldwide, focused, and potent. That is a truly future event.

When I was a boy, I read the Book of Revelation and it was scary. I prayed that the Lord take me before the tribulation began. Now, if Jesus tarries in His coming return and I am faced with the coming difficulties of worldwide persecution, I pray that He gives me the strength to stand firm and see the gospel preached to the whole world.

Lesson 48: God’s sovereignty in Matthew 24:15 – 22

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:15 – 22 NIV)

To understand this part of the prophecy that Jesus is giving, we must first turn our attention to the prophecy recorded in Daniel 9:26b-27 and 11:31.

“The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” (Daniel 9:26b – 27 NIV)

“His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.” (Daniel 11:31 NIV)

Jesus refers to the “abomination that brings desolation” referenced in Daniel. From a “now” perspective from Daniel, the “abomination that brings desolation” is Antiochus IV Epiphanes during the Intertestamental period between the Old and the New Testaments.

in Desmond Ford’s book, Daniel and the Coming King, Appendix 12 has an excerpt from the Robert Dick Wilson’s book Studies in the Book of Daniel (Vol. 2) which stated that the importance of the ruler, Antiochus IV, who sets up an “abomination” of that period cannot be overestimated. Unlike Nebuchadnezzar who razed Jerusalem and the Temple but did not destroy the writings of the Old Testament, or the Persian kings who were friendly to the Jews, Antiochus IV intended to completely eradicate the Jewish culture. If he had succeeded, there would have been no foundation for Jesus to come to “save his people from their sin.” (Matthew 1:21b NIV)

However, Jesus pointed to a future event when he talks about the “abomination that brings desolation” in Matthew 24. In the now and not yet of Jesus prophecy, Titus is the one who comes in AD 70 and sets up an “abomination” and ultimately destroys the Temple in 70 AD. Josephus captures this in his Antiquities of the Jews.

But, based on the context within Matthew 24 and the context of Daniel 9, an even future event which has not occurred is also in view. This is the AntiChrist which is also mentioned in Revelation 13. That’s why I put a picture of Lucifer as the beginning of this lesson. He is the spiritual epitome of THE AntiChrist and the source from which the final AntiChrist springs. The AntiChrist, as foreshadowed by Antiochus Epiphanies IV and Titus from a biblical perspective (and an argument can be made for so many other evil human antiChrists such as Hitler who tried to exterminate the Jews), will also come and setup an “abomination that brings desolation.” This same future AntiChrist will be the last and the worst one.

Mike Winger, in his discussion of Daniel 9 (from pt 9 of his video series, Evidence for the Bible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK5RsOaVy4U) does not touch much on the “abomination that brings desolation” in his Youtube video (link); however, based on the context of his teachings, he indicates that a third Temple (Solomon built the first Temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; Zecheriah, Ezra built a second Temple which is later refurbished by Herod the Great and destroyed by Titus in AD 70 which means that the next temple, if built, would be the third temple).

I tend to agree with this assessment, not the least of which, I believe that Jesus prophecy of the end times includes events which have not yet occurred which would necessitate a third temple should be built.

Here’s the rub, as a Christian, I recognize that a third temple is completely unnecessary and irrelevant to the plans of God. Jesus even said to the Samaritan woman in John 4, “A time is coming when you will not worship God in Jerusalem or on this mountain.” because we will worship God within the temple of our own hearts as the Holy Spirit will come to dwell within us as recorded by the Apostles.

A third temple will be an erroneous edifice (probably based on the plans from Ezekiel) for the daily sacrifice offered unto God under the OT law which is no longer needed as Jesus has now become the final sacrifice needed for our redemption to God. Personally, a “covenant between the antiChrist and Israel for the construction of the Temple won’t matter to him for two reasons – 1) he knows that Christ’s death and resurrection is the end of the sacrificial system and animal sacrifice in the new temple is nothing more than a distraction and 2) he intends to stop the daily sacrifice and put in an “abomination that brings desolation” (and possibly destroy) the temple any way.

So, what was Jesus warning when these events occurred? Well, when Titus came to destroy Jerusalem his word was “FLEE!” When the antiChrist, His word is again, “FLEE!”

But what else we know about those times from Daniel’s prophecy, from Jesus prophecy both near and far: God will cut short those terrible days so that the elect will endure. We also know something else.

“Immediately after the distress of those days

‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth^[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:29 – 30 NIV)

Praise God. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.