Of all the great prophets, the very greatest was
not Daniel, nor John, neither Ezekiel or Zechariah.
The greatest prognosticator of all prophecy was Jesus Christ
himself. Jesus expounded heavily into the realm of Bible
prophecy with his Olivet Discourse. Matthew chapter
24, Mark chapter 13, and Luke chapter 21 record the
detailed accounts of Jesus prophetical messages.
In Matthew 24:37, Jesus literally weeped over the
city of Jerusalem because it had killed the prophets
that had been sent of God to foretell of impending
events. God sends his prophetical messages into our
time zones for the purpose of effecting a change in
our actions. Jesus chastised the religious leaders of his day for
ignoring, or being unable to discern Bible prophecy, and even demanded; “How
shall you escape the coming desolation if you refuse
the message.”
Jesus "Day of Visitation" had been foretold by
several earlier prophets in the Old Testament, and because Israel dispelled
the value of Biblical Prophecy, the citizenry of the
city of Jerusalem therefore missed him altogether and thus
stood at the threshold of desolation. In Matthew 23
verse 38, Jesus pronounces beforehand that their
house ( temple-nation ) shall be left desolate until
they had learned to cry out in their despair for the
Lord to save them.
Zechariah 13:10 indicates that Israel will finally
turn their eyes to the Lord and mourn for Him,
whom they pierced, and He will save them.
After observing events in the Temple, Jesus then
departed from the city and crossed over to the Mt.
of Olives. There, in this secluded garden location, at least
four of his disciples came unto him to ask him in
private certain questions about his pronouncements
back on the temple mount.
Peter, James, John and Andrew were taken aback
by the comments concerning the magnificent temple super-
complex built by Zerrubabbel, and enhanced by the
King of the Jews; Herod. Jesus informed them that
the glorious temple in Jerusalem would not survive another four
decades of time. Now, the temple was a master-
piece of engineering and construction, and built with the intention of
withstanding many centuries of endurance. Jesus not
only predicted its demise, but even went so far as
to that "Not one stone of it would be left placed
on top of another"...a bold statement indeed, or else
the raving words of a raving lunatic.
So, with this in mind, the disciples came to him
away from listening ears (privately) asking three specific and
direct questions. Remember, the disciples were eager
to initiate the Kingdom; and perhaps thought that
Jesus was about to embark upon a plan of insurrection
to topple the Romans and the chief priests of the
Scribes-Pharisees as well, because he had just chewed
them all out for their mismanaging of the temple.
Listen closely to their questions: 1.) When will all
these things be? 2.) What will be the sign of thy
coming? and 3.) When shall the world come to an
end?
Suffice it to say that their questions involve different
events. Jesus reflects on the totality of all the aspects of their three different
questions, and draws parallels concerning future history in answering their questions.
But notice, the disciples were asking questions
about the future, first the immediate future with
regards to the Temple ( which Jesus just condemned
to desolation ) and then questions regarding his return, and then finally
about the end of all things (world). These are
questions about prophecy! All of these things were
future events to James, John, Peter, and Andrew.
They wanted to know about the future!
Now, if prophecy were unimportant, or a little bit
insignificant, Jesus could have stopped right then and
there and reprimanded his crew for asking stupid
questions or he could have said; you can't possibly
understand it anyway, or he could have said that your concerns about the
future are a waste of effort; but he didn't do that.
Look at Jesus response in Matt 24:4. It says "And
Jesus answered and said unto them," so then, Jesus begins
immediately to answer their barrage of questions dealing with prophetic
themes.
The point is this: 1.) The disciples had inquiring
minds about prophetic events. Jesus commended
them for their interest in prophecy. That's why he
commenced with an expositional analysis of the last days.
2.) Also too, notice that he fully appreciated the fact that
they asked him, not someone else., such as a soothsayer, an
astrologer, etc..
The disciples asked the right person didn't they?
If anybody wants or desires to understand prophetic
themes they must ask the right source. Prophecy is
a Big Business with many profiteering contenders, and it is the
one field of study that Satan hates the most. Why?
Because it reveals the devils ultimate destination. (See Rev 20:
2,10) Also because Bible prophecy gives undeniable positive
proof of the authenticity of the prophet (Jesus).
This is the reason that Bible prophecy has been so much
maligned down through the years. Satan knows it is
his biggest challenge in recruiting people into his spherical
domain. Truth given beforehand is evidence of total
knowledge. There is only one source capable of that.
Daniel knew that back 700 years earlier (Dan 2:28
and Dan 4:7,18).
Notice that Jesus answers their questions, as they were asked,
in a sequential fashion, and begins with a warning, "Take heed,
let no one deceive you", indicating many deceivers come to
deceive you. In Revelation 6:1-3 John saw these
deceivers culminating in a last days world-class imposter. He
comes riding upon a White Horse exactly as the description
Jesus foretold in Matt 24:5 saying "I am Christ".
(See also John 5:44)(Mark 6:6)(Luke 21:8).
He then reveals that there shall be many wars, even
rumors of wars (conflicts, conspiracy, cold wars,
intimidation, etc) but responds that all these things
is not by themselves indicative of the end. The end of time was
the 3rd question, so he confirms he is still answering
the 1st question. But on the other-hand, lets leap ahead
again to Rev. 6:3-4 and there we see the Red Horse rider of
warfare. Here this indication is imparted because warfare routinely
follows deceptive peace-making attempts. Indeed the White horse rider will ride forth
on the world stage conquering many nations through
Peace initiatives; then in comparing the verse in Matt
24:7 (MK 13:8)(Luke 21:7) with Rev 6:5-6 we find
wars bring economic and agricultural failures; once again
in a natural sequential order. The analysis given by Jesus in his
Olivet Discourse matches exactly the scenario revealed by the prophet John
In Revelation chapter six.