Read Matthew 24.
As Jesus pointed to the massive Temple and declared its destruction, the disciples immediately thought such a catastrophe must signal the end of the age. They were not thinking of Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension, with this interlude that has already lasted 2000 years and the return of Christ. They held out the hope that the Messianic Kingdom was going to be established now, and thought this must herald it—so they sought an answer.
Remember, in reading this, that the church is not in view here. Christ’s church will be built on His finished work of His crucifixion and resurrection and birthed after His ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This was a mystery—a hidden truth, that these twelve knew nothing about at the time. The mystery awaited its explanation in the epistles and Revelation. The content of Matthew 24 and 25 is, therefore, Jewish in focus, and the church is not mentioned.
The signs of the end of the age, mark all the “last days,” which began with Christ’s work on Calvary. If you read Revelation 6 for instance and compare it with Matthew 24, you will find a synthesis of these signs that happen with the opening of the seven seals.
Some will argue, “Haven’t false messiahs, wars, famines, disease, earthquakes, and religious persecution, marked the last 2000 years?” Yes! But, the key is to note Jesus called these “birth pains,” (the meaning of “sorrows” in v.8). A pregnant woman will feel twinges of pain all during her term, but as the time for birth draws near, the labor pains escalate in frequency and intensity. So, it will be in the last days, until the climactic pain of the Great Tribulation and the birth of the New World with Christ’s return.
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