Probably no other chapter of the Bible speaks more fully, and more definitely, upon the subject of the second advent, than Matthew 24, in Christ's own words. We invite the attention of the candid reader to a brief explanation of the entire chapter.

Jesus had been addressing the multitude, in the presence of his disciples. He had reproved the scribes and the Pharisees for their sins, and had declared, in the previous chapter, the doom of the Jews, their city, and their temple. The disciples supposed that the temple would stand forever, and they called the attention of Christ to its magnificence and strength, and to the great stones that entered into the structure. On this point the historian of those times, Josephus, says: “Now the temple was built of stones that were white and strong, and each of their lengths was twenty-five cubits, their height was eight, and their breadth about twelve.”—“Antiquities,” book xv, chap. xi. If we compute a cubit at twenty inches, we shall be able to gain some idea of the size and “manner” of these stones.

This statement from the Master could not but deeply interest the disciples. And it matters not whether they supposed that the destruction of the temple, the coming of [pg 012] Christ, and the end of the age, would all occur at the same time, or at different periods, since Christ, in his answer in this chapter, has distinctly spoken of each separately, and has given each its place in the prophetic history of events. If it were their impression that the overthrow of the temple and the end of the world would occur at the same time, it by no means proves that this would be the case. As the Scriptures show, up to the time of the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, their ideas upon many points were crude and inaccurate. Take as proof of this the parable which the Lord spake when he was going into Jerusalem. Luke 19. They thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. To correct this impression, the parable of the nobleman was spoken. If they understood the parable at the time when it was spoken, it did not fully eradicate the impression from their minds, as is proved by what they did when they entered Jerusalem. We cannot believe that they would have hailed him as the Son of David, and rejoiced before him as a King in his triumph, if they had realized that he was going into the city to be condemned and crucified as a malefactor. Palm branches and shouts of triumph did not attend the steps of the lowly and the condemned.

John admits for himself and Peter, after they had seen the empty sepulcher, that “they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.” John 20:9.

Again, after his resurrection, Jesus reproved two of his disciples, who, though they had trusted that he would redeem Israel, were then sad and disheartened. They did not then understand that Christ ought “to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory.” The suffering part was still a mystery to them. And some of the apostles were so slow to realize that which he had spoken to them, [pg 013] that they could hardly be persuaded that he was indeed risen from the dead. And after he had been with them full forty days, speaking to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom, they did not yet understand “the times and the seasons,” and therefore asked him, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”

However the matter may have been entertained in the minds of the disciples, it is evident that their query consisted of two distinct questions in the mind of the Saviour. These questions relate, first, to the destruction of Jerusalem; and, second, to Christ's second coming at the end of the world or age. They were distinctly answered by our Lord; not, however, before the promiscuous multitude; but on the occasion of a private interview with his disciples. Christ here speaks to his disciples; hence his words in this prophetic discourse are addressed especially to the church.

Jesus knew the hearts of men, and that many impostors would arise, and deceive multitudes. He here warns his disciples, and guards them against the deceptions of corrupt and ambitious men. Such was the general expectation of the appearance of the Messiah among the Jews, that many would set up the claim that they were the Christ, to carry out selfish purposes, or to gain notoriety, and the credulous people would be easily led into the deception, and then be destroyed for sedition. We are informed that in the days succeeding those of Christ, impostors arose in great numbers. Josephus tells us of an Egyptian false prophet who led 30,000 men into the desert to show them [pg 015] signs, and then brought them to Jerusalem as if to attack the city. He caused great pillage and destruction in Judea, but in the time of battle, ran away, leaving his followers to the exasperated Romans.—“Wars of the Jews,”book ii, chap. xiii.

In the former part of the second century Cazibee set himself at the head of the Jewish nation and proclaimed himself their long-expected Messiah. To facilitate the success of his bold enterprise he changed his name to that of Barchocheba, alluding to the Star foretold by Balaam. Adrian raised an army, and sent it against him. He retired into a town called Bither, where he was besieged. Barchocheba was killed in the siege, the city was taken, and a dreadful havoc succeeded. The Jews themselves allow that, during this short war against the Romans in defense of this false Messiah, they lost five or six hundred thousand souls.—Buck's Dictionary.

Dr. A. Clarke says, on the authority of Josephus, that “a few years afterward, under the reign of Nero, while Felix was procurator of Judea, impostors of this stamp were so frequent that some were taken and killed almost every day.” And at intervals since then the Jews who are all the time expecting the appearance of the Messiah have been repeatedly the victims of cruel deception.

It is proper that we should consider what is meant by the term “the end,” used in this verse; in verse 14, “then shall the end come;” and in verse 3, “the sign of thy coming, and the end of the world.” In the first place, it may be unhesitatingly claimed that the term does not refer to the end of the Jewish dispensation, which terminated at [pg 016] the crucifixion, nor to the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred about forty years later. Because, first, Jesus treated the question concerning the destruction of the temple and that referring to his coming and the end of the world as relating to two distinct events, widely separated in time. Second, the signs which were to be premonitory of the end did not transpire before the destruction of the temple. Third, the second coming of Christ, the close of probation, the judgment, the resurrection, and the end of sin, death, and mortality, are frequently and prominently associated together in the Bible as constituting the most important epoch in human history. To limit this thrilling discourse to the local and long past destruction of Jerusalem would be to rob it of its force and grandeur. Not only would the twenty-fourth of Matthew which we are now studying be stultified, but very much of the life and power of the Scriptures would be sacrificed by such a course.

As to the meaning of the phrase, “the end of the world,” it may consistently be translated “the end of the age,” and in the margin of the Revised Bible it is rendered “the consummation of the age.” For an inspired definition of the term, let the reader turn to Matt. 13:38-40 and its context, where the same words are used and repeated in the original:—

From Rev. 14:14-16 we learn that the harvest of the earth and the second coming of Christ are identical. [pg 017] So that by no possible means could it be established that the “end of the world” means the destruction of Jerusalem. Further evidence is found in Matt. 28:20 where the same expression, both in the original and in the translation, is used: “Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” But no one would have the audacity to claim that this promise expired in a. d. 70, as it must have done if those questions of the disciples and the subsequent discourse of Christ related only to the impending doom of the temple and city.

Wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes have occurred all along since these words were spoken. Therefore, these, as they have ever existed, cannot be regarded as the especial signs of the end. It may be claimed, however, with a good degree of consistency, that the Scriptures teach that these calamities would abound in the last days to such an extent as to constitute a sign of the approaching Judgment. We wish to keep the important fact distinctly before the mind, that the sacred Scriptures do teach when men may not, and when they may, look for the second appearing of Christ.

The sacred writers have so uniformly associated such judgments as war, famine, pestilence, and earthquake, with the last Judgment, that the disciples would be in danger of concluding that the end would immediately follow the first appearance of these calamities; hence the caution given: “These things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Here the disciples were clearly taught that they should not expect the end in their day. This fact is worthy of the [pg 018] candid attention of those who object to the proclamation of the second advent of Christ in the form of an especial message. These sometimes assert that it was right for the disciples to look for Christ in their day, and that it has been scriptural and right for all Christians to look for the second appearing of Christ in their time, from the days of the chosen twelve to the present time. And they decide that no more can be learned and believed upon this subject in our time than by the Christians of past generations, and that the public mind should not now be moved upon this great question, any more than in all past time since the first advent of Christ.

We have seen that this position is incorrect so far as the early disciples were concerned. They are directed to the distant future as the time when their Lord should come. They are assured that they need not be troubled at hearing of wars and rumors of wars; “for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Our Lord then guides the minds of his disciples, as we shall see in the examination of this chapter, down over the time of the great apostasy, and the long period of the rule of papal Rome, before mentioning a sign of his second advent. He does not intimate that his people during these long periods may expect the end. No, not once. But when he comes to a later time, the Lord names signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars, and adds: “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.”

Mark this: Our Lord does not mention wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes as signs of his second advent; but rather as events of common occurrence all the way through the Christian age, which must exist before the end. And history attests the fact that these calamities have [pg 019] covered at least seventeen centuries. The following is from a work of Noah Webster, LL. D., published in 1799:—