Differences between the Olivet discourse passages in Matthew 24 and Luke 21.

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Matthew 24:
"As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6 You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. 14 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

15 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 27 For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

29 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."

1. The question in bold is asking when Jesus would be revealed as King and come into His Kingdom. While on Earth, He was a servant. He had emptied Himself of all that which made Him clearly King. Satan tempted Jesus to reveal Himself by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple, and letting the angels catch Him before He hit the ground. This would have instantly ended the persecution Jesus faced from His people, as they questioned Him at every turn, and said that He was not who He claimed to be. They would immediately know He is the Messiah/King, and would therefore be accepted as such, no need to experience the rejection of the people. No. His purpose was to be the suffering servant, and to be our substitute.

2. Notice how it kicks off here. When you see the abomination of desolation in the temple. That is when they are to run. What does it mean if they see the abomination of desolation in the temple? It is the kickoff of the last 3 1/2 years of the 70th week of Daniel. If you look at the other mention of the abomination of desolation, in its multiple fulfillment form, it is more clear.

Daniel 11
" 31Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation."
This prophecy deals with a time before Jesus was on Earth, however, since Jesus brings it up again, that means that it is a multiple fulfillment prophecy, and the next fulfillment will be similar to the first. Hence you have the desecration of the sanctuary fortress, and doing away with the regular sacrifice. What do we see in the 70 week prophecy?

Daniel 9
"27And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”"

Consider more of the Daniel 11 prophecy:
"36 "Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. 37 He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all." [italics them present in text.]

So it appears that in Matthew, Jesus is speaking of a future time, after AD 70. (See Luke in continued comment for full reasoning. Consider though that God's dealings with Israel ends at the end of the 70th week. If you look at the world today, Israel is still here, and it appears that there is still unfinished business there.) Jesus then says, as soon as the 3 1/2 years are over, the Great Tribulation is over, immediately the sign of the Son of Man appears in the skies, and Jesus is visibly seen by all, in the clouds with all power. (He left and was received by the clouds, His sign is seen in and His return is with/in the clouds. The young men told the disciples the truth.) He then gathers up all the elect from all the corners of the Earth. It's over. The King has come. And He goes to Jerusalem (Zechariah), where He is recognized as King, for He says in Matthew 23 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! 39 For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”"

So basically, they will see Him again, but it won't be until the receive Him as King, since saying "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" is recognizing God's King, as they did during the Triumphal Entry, but then turned and rejected Him. They didn't truly receive Him as King at that time.

-- Continued - Luke next

 

[TMSO]

Luke 21

"They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” 8& And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them. 9 When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.”

10 Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, 11 and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

12 “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. 13 It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; 15 for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. 16 But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, 17 and you will be hated by all because of My name. 18 Yet not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. 21 Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; 22 because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."

Here the next bit is not preceded by, immediately after:

"25 “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”"

This is different then Matthew. This is speaking of AD 70. When the armies are near, RUN!!! Not, when you see the abomination of desolation. How many Christians were in Jerusalem at AD70 when the Romans destroyed the city/temple. Not many if any. Why? Josephus says that the Christians listened to the words of the prophet and fled before the destruction. The abomination of desecration would not be before the armies came. So, in what listening to the prophet did they react? Luke, or Matthew?

Note that Jesus speaks of these as days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. If all things written are to be fulfilled, which parts are not going to be fulfilled? Zechariah? Hosea? Joel? God promised that this would happen if they did not follow Him. Yet we also have promises/prophecies of a restored Israel. Is God going to fulfill what He said, or has He decided not to? If you believe in the sovereignty of God, in the control of God, in His knowledge and preeminence, can you believe that God made empty promises because He didn't know what Israel was going to do? I mean, He told Moses all the great things He had planned, gave all kinds of blessings in the Covenant, but he also told Moses and Joshua, and all of Israel, that they would reject. He made it clear that He didn't feel or believe they would, He said that as soon as they got to where they were going, the promised land, they would reject Him. Not might. Yet God still gave all these promises. He even said blessings are in store for after all the blessings and curses are done.

"“So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you, 2 and you return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, 3 then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. 5 The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.

6 “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. 7 The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 8 And you shall again obey the Lord, and observe all His commandments which I command you today. 9 Then the Lord your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; 10 if you obey the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

How many times has this been fulfilled. God raises up nations to attack Israel, and then God turns arounds and destroys those nations he used to punish Israel. Is that not the same thing seen in Revelation 19? All God has said will be fulfilled. Even in Daniel's prophecies, the one who brings the abomination of desolation is destroyed. This is just to give into consideration that there is no reason to allegorize or change what God has said, but to weigh and balance it in light of what we see, history, etc. Daniel is a book of predictive prophecies that were fulfilled to the point that it was obvious. This is the reason scholarship keeps attacking the book of Daniel. If it is what it claims to be, written when it claims to be, by the one who claims to have written it (Daniel, inspired by God), then that proves God. If it doesn't, or any of these things can be disproven, then it isn't a witness of God at all. If any of the prophecies fail, then it isn't a witness of God.

I am not here to say who is right or who is wrong, but to present these things for consideration, for weighing and balancing. There is A LOT in scripture, from the very beginning, that makes up the whole history of God's creation, from beginning to end. A lot of the old testament is prophecy of Israel's future in the world up to Christ, including Christ, and the eschatological future. We should keep presenting and hammering away as we watch and observe what is happening in the world. Don't neglect the Church's business/responsibility, but keep watching so as not to be caught off guard like the foolish servant.

Consider that even as direct as the 70 weeks prophecy is, the Israelites still missed the entry of the Prince at the Triumphal Entry, though Daniel prophesied it to the day. They also missed the birth of Christ as prophesied in other scriptures. They missed a lot of what the Old Testament had said about Christ because they did not agree with what was present in the prophecies. They created their own construct of the Messiah, and Jesus, and all that was happening there, did not fit in their construct. Not even when Jesus read the prophecies, and said they were fulfilled in their midst, did they get it. They were completely lost in their own interpretations. But the prophecies He read were quite direct.