The chapter begins with Jesus teaching on the Mount of Olives. His disciples showed Jesus the building of the temple and Jesus responded to them by saying, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” The disciples came to Him privately, and asked when will these things be? They asked what will be the sign of His coming, and of the end of age. I love how the disciples asked Him what was on their mind, they weren’t afraid to ask Him questions. Often times, some may feel like they can’t go to God with questions. It is when we have questions though, that we can be led to seek God harder for the answer. Questions aren’t a bad thing so long as they lead you to seeking God for the answer. Jesus wants us to talk with Him freely and ask whatever is on our mind, He doesn’t want us to hold our thoughts back from Him.

            First, Jesus told them to take heed (in Greek translated to caution/regard/care) that no one deceives them. Many will come in His name and say that they are the Christ and it will deceive many. We need to always be on guard with this, that is why it is so important that we KNOW our bibles. Our bibles are how we can fact check things in life, God doesn’t contradict Himself, if it goes against His word then it is not from Him.

            Jesus then informs them that there will be many wars and rumors of wars, but not to be troubled for all these things must come to pass but is not yet the end. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places; which are all the begining of the sorrows ie birthing pangs.

            Jesus tells the disciples that then, ones will be delivered up to tribulation and killed, christians will be hated by all nations for His names’ sake. Many will be offended, many will betray one another and will hate one another. Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many with false messages. (When we hear messages from prophets we need to still match it up to scripture, fact check the message. Many will twist Gods words to deceive many. Always go to the word of God to fact check anything you are told by man. If you feel like the Holy Spirit is showing or telling you something, look it up to scripture as well. God won’t go against His word, we are so thankful that we have His word to refer to in life. This is one reason why we are to read His word day and night. It is imperative we know it.) Because lawlessness will be abound, the love of many will grow cold. Lawlessness is sin, living in sin separates us from God. Lawlessness can cause innocent bystanders who don’t fully understand the word to become lukewarm or cold as well. Lawlessness can have a trickle effect, but if we stay strong in our word and strong in Christ and who we are in Christ, our Godfidance (confidence in God) will carry us through and bring us closer to God. He who endures to the end shall be saved and this gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, then the end will come.

            Verse 15 says, ‘therefore, when you see the ‘abomination of desolation’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place then let those in Judea flea.’ Turn to Daniel 9:27, 11:31 and 12:11, read it all thoroughly. My notes in my study bible show me that in chapter 9 of Daniel there are three views to this verse 11, specifically. View one is that the prophecy was fulfilled din the past at the desecration of the temp by Antiochus IV Epiphanes from 168 to 167 B.C. View two is that it was fulfilled I the past at the destruction of the temple by the Roman general Titus in A.D. 70 when one million Jews were killed. View three is that it is still to be fulfilled in the future under the antichrist. If we move to verse 11:31 in Daniel my study notes indicate that this again could have been fulfilled when Antiochus IV would again invade “the south” but enemy ships caused him to retreat.On his way back he desecrated the temple and stopped the Jews’ daily sacrifices. The temple was desecrated when he sacrificed pigs (which were unclean) on an altar erected in honor of zeus ( a false God). In Daniel 12:11 my side notes indicate that some still believe this prophecy will be fulfilled under the antichrist. There is much debate over the numbers and the possibilities with the views. The temple was desecrated by Antiochus IV Epiphanes and it could very well happen again in the end times by the antichrist. Only God knows the answer on this, what we need to focus on is knowing God more and our relationship with Him. The closer we are to Him the better we will be able to have ears to hear Him guide us in times that only He knows the depths and details of.

            Jesus warns that in those days let those who are in Judea flee to the. Mountains. Let him leave and not go back to his house to grab his items, let him go; and sadness to the mothers who are pregnant and nursing babies in that time. Pray that your flight be not in winter or on the Sabbath. There will be great tribulation, there hasn’t been tribulation like this before. Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. God is in control. He then warns again on false prophets (the fact that He is warning again means we REALLY need to pay attention to this) and how many will claim to be the Christ. Yet, just as lighting comes form the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming if the Son of Man be. In times of persecution even strong believes will be temped and find it hard to become loyal. Staying in Christ is essential, spending time with Him in your secret place and reading His word to know Him more to build that sturdiness of a foundation that your relationship needs.

            Immediately after the tribulations of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the starts will fall from heaven and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Jesus’ return won’t be unmistakable, we have scriptures to assure us of that. If someone has to say to others that the Messiah has come because they can’t recognize; its because it isn’t Him. Jesus return will be unmistakable and obvious to everyone.

            Then the Son of Man will appear in heaven and all of the tribes on earth will mourn. They will mourn because unbelievers will suddenly realize they have chosen the wrong side; everything they ignored and denied would be happening and it will be too late for them. 

            He will then send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will go and gather His elect (believers) from the four winds; from one end of heaven to the other. To be a believer we need to be a follower of Jesus. (The definition of believer in Greek is follower). Jesus said that in order to follow Him we must first deny ourselves to pick up our crosses, to follow Him. If you haven’t surrendered all to God yet and you don’t know Him on a personal level, if you act now it isn’t too late. We don’t know when all of this will take place, we just know that it will happen. Don’t wait for it to be too late, don’t let time pass you by then you realized when you are out of time that you are on the wrong side. Act now.

            Of that day and hour no man knows, nor does any angles in heaven know. Only God Himself knows the day and hour. In the days of Noah, before the flood everyone was eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage til the day Noah stepped inside the ark. They didn’t know that a flood was coming till it came. Noah and his family knew that God told them to make the ark with exact measurements and materials, Genesis also states that Noah walked with God. Noah was close to God which plays a huge factor into why God chose Noah to build this ark. (We are supposed to be close with God, we need to walk with God too.) Hollywood has done many movies on this bible story showing that others made fun of Noah and called him crazy for making this ark. In Genesis it doesn’t state this, however. It doesn’t state that anyone knew about a flood till it came. The point of this is, no one knew the hour or the minute till it happened. No one will know the day or hour of the end time either. Jesus has given us information on what has to happen before the carrying away of the church happens. Sense no one will know the day or hour, what we need to focus on is how close are we with God? Because on that day, what will matter is who knows God and is known by God, and who has rejected Him. Make sure you are on the right side.