The preceding verses in Chapter 24 are quite scary - the abomination of desolation .

They call it the Olivet discourse - two days before the Passover, and he is telling them of the story of the church. From this point on, Jesus' parables and talk are all centred around being ready for a day - a specic time, a day and an hour when the Lord will return. He says also not to be deceived as to when this hour is. Like a thief in the night - ppl fall into the trap of predicting, but the burden of what Christ is saying in these next two chapters is that it WILL be sudden, it WILL come unannounced. THIS right here in fact is the announcement and we are called to serve and remain faithful, not in the last hour but as if this is our last hour. Not knowing but loving him enough to love him through it all.

Jesus answered: Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, I am the Messiah, and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. tribulation And then he
He actually talks about tribulation. 4 says all these are the beginning of the birth pains - so the signs we see, we know that it is coming. Actually, God's pretty smart on the money AND AND I think he has a sense of humour. Every time I struggle with staying faithful and hearing him - in the little things I am not perfect, no one is. (If I am not perfect who is?!) I know that I have to keep at it - I cannot walk away from a covenant. I think you'll also nd that each of these things have happened in history. In verse 34, the Bible says 'this generation will not pass away' until all these things have happened. Now the most literal interpretation, which we do always have to take into account rst to see if it ts is the people alive will not face the rst bodily death before these things come to pass. Nation against nation, famine and earthquake. Persecuted, put to death, false prophets, abomination of desolation. And then he goes on to say people will say here he is, there he is - don't believe it. And then there's a bit of a shift in v 27 when he begins to talk of the second coming, a very specic obvious second coming - as lightning in the east is seen in the west. You see it across the sky. Well, you'll see it then and no one will need to tell you he's coming, and you're going. He is the one you love, and he will come in glory. And then in v 32, it shifts again and God says 'Now learn this lesson'. So actually I'm cheating. I'm talking about the exhortation Jesus gives to both learn from the signs for his generation, but also I don't want to lose out on the lesson there is for us. So these things - nation against nation, earthquake, happened in the rst century and in AD 70 Jerusalem was laid siege to and they sacked the temple and

destroyed Jerusalem. But these things happen now too and they really are a sign of the end times. They happened in that generation, and they happen now. And sometimes very specic things happen, as the Bible says it will, and makes your hair rise just a little bit! But God's actually saying - don't get comfortable. Don't predict either - don't decide I'm coming next year, and get your house in order for that supposed event. But don't let go and lose your rst love either. Read the signs - know that it is coming. These are the signs I will give you - and they were for that generation surrounding him then, but also for us who live in His fullness now. There is a word that is translated 'these things' - tauta. And in v 36, Ekeine - that day and that hour - these two are different meanings and it helps clear this up. TAuta is this, that, - it is the demonstrative adjective equivalent in English. You point. Ekeines - in Homer too, prop. belongs to the more remote, in time, place, or thought when it's used in conjunction with another time word. So this text covers the now and what is to be. As Matthew Henry puts it - temporal and eternal judgements, both. To be aware, - v 39 - they didn't know it until the flood came. Can you imagine judgement like that? And in this and the next chapter, this is what God is saying. Watch and be ready. You know the things I have prophesied, and you see them come to pass. Don't close your eyes. This is a more serious warning tone that there is. For those who continue to love the Lord, actually though it is just common sense. And yet we need reminding of it over and over again. Sometimes God kinda says to me: 'Do you love me?' Of course I do. Then act like it! Here is the thing: The

beginning of the working of second causes assures us of the progress and perfection of it. Thus when God begins to fulfil prophecies, he will make an end. There is a certain series in the works of providence, as there is in the works of nature. The signs of the times are compared with the prognostics of the face of the sky
I, personally, maybe because I'm a girl ;) like to imagine this in the metaphor the bible gives us about the marriage/engagement even relationship. You don't turn it on and off - you know that the last days are coming, you know that it is a period of waiting. You don't stop loving him and serving him and remaining faithful. You continue to spread the gospel. In v 14 - and this gospel will be preached as a testimony and THEN the end will come. You don't tire.

Though we are faithless, yet he is faithful. But he is encouraging us, enjoining us to be faithful. To watch, to be aware - not to be foolish and simple in our faith, but to be vigilant. To understand and divide his word rightly, to APPLY that in our lives and love him because we know he's coming to call us his own.