The Lord's Discourse

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Mathew 24:14

In order to understand the Olivet discourse of our Lord to the full, one has to compare all three versions of it, from Mathew, Mark and Luke. Those of Mathew and Mark are very similar but Luke's account shows some significant differences. The discourse by the Lord was triggered by questions from his disciples, after they had left the temple compound, and set themselves opposite the temple, facing the light of the sun that was setting in the West. While leaving the temple behind, Jesus had made a staggering remark about the temple buildings: 'Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down' (Mathew 24:2)

So the disciples wanted to know:

(1) When shall these things be (destruction of the temple)

(2) What shall be the sign of thy coming

(3) What shall be the the sign of the end of the age (aion = age, not world).

 

One has to understand that the first of these questions is not  being answered in Mathew and Mark. Only Luke tells us of armies that would compass Jerusalem, bringing desolation upon the temple buildings. Only Luke tells us of the treading down of Jerusalem 'until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled'. The name of the city 'Jerusalem' is not even mentioned in the accounts of Matthew and Mark. The scope of Luke is the first age and the testimony of the believing Jews towards their fellowmen and the enmity they would endure from the Jews because of their leaders' stubborn rejection of Jesus Christ.

 

Mathew and Mark have a much wider scope and their prophecies concern the Endtime, which we are now approaching. In their accounts the words of  the Lord are not circling around the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD. Central in the accounts of Mathew and Mark is the 'abomination of desolation' in a holy place, which now exists in the heart of Jerusalem. This would not just lead to the destruction of Jerusalem but to a 'great tribulation', never before seen on the face of the earth. The term 'tribulation' does not appear in Luke's account of the Lord's discourse because he confines himself to the first age, with the scope on Jerusalem and Judea.

 

Preterists have tried to mold the accounts of Mathew and Mark into their narrow preterist view that everything in the Bible must have gone into fulfillment in the first age. Therefore they had to reverse the order of events. In the Year 70 AD about 3.5 years of enormous military violence by the Roman legions ended in the taking of Jerusalem and the burning downs of the temple. While temple was set on fire, the Romans offered to their gods in the temple precincts. So in the year 70 the desecration followed the 3.5 years of desolation. But in the Endtime, the order will be reversed. The 3.5 years of desolation will follow the abomination. Therefore, in first age the sign to leave Judea and Jerusalem was not the 'abomination' but the encirclement of Jerusalem by armies. But in the Endtime, the sign to flee the city is not the advancement of armies but 'the abomination'. We expect to be almost within a year of this becoming an ugly reality.

 

The abomination of desolation is at the center of the Lord's discourse, therefore the discourse largely covers the 3.5 years Endtime. The Lord's discourse and the book of Revelation run parallel. The first and foremost lesson the Lord want to understand his followers is not to be deceived by anyone. The Endtime would be characterized by people trying to lead Christ's followers astray in order to use them for their own evil purposes. In order to do so, they would (1) pretend to come in Christ's name or (2) pretend to be Christ themselves - saviors of humanity, bringers of peace and prosperity. Some claim that this deception would be identical to the white horse of Revelation. We reject this notion for multiple reasons of which we here name two:

(1) The false prophets and false teachers are mentioned throughout the Lord's prophetic discourse (Mt.24:11, 23-26) and not just in the beginning. The Lord starts with the notion of deception because that is the main point for which one has to be on the watch in the Endtime.

(2) False prophets and false christs, promising a better future under their guidance, have been around fore a long time, certainly from the 1800's. The lies are only becoming more preposterous.

 

Then Jesus mentions 'wars and rumors of wars' people would hear about. But He mentions these as something NOT YET part of the Endtime. 'The end is not yet', He says. It is the period leading up to the Endtime, the period we are living in since about 9/11/2001 and perhaps for more than a century.

 

Then, in verse 7, Jesus denotes the beginning of the Endtime with what we would call World War III - 'Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom'. That is exactly what we see happening under the red horse of the second seal of Revelation 6: 'and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another' (Rev.6:4)

 

The Lord then, in verse 8, also indicates calamities, that will start under the seals 3 and 4, with the black and the pale horse: 'and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.' With 'earthquakes in divers places' He could be hinting at the great earthquake of the sixth seal. He defines this as 'the beginning of sorrows. This term, 'the sorrows' or 'birth pangs' or 'woe's', is an exact description of the 3.5-year Endtime. The sorrows reach a climax once the eagle will announce the last three trumpets, with the words: 'woe, woe, woe' (Rev..8:13).

 

In the verses 9 and 10, Jesus warns of severe persecution of his followers, which in Revelation is seen at the fifth seal in the martyrs under the altar, screaming for vengeance. So verses 7-14 point to the  Endtime. This is clear from what the Lord states at the end of this part: 'But he that shall endure UNTO THE END, the same shall be saved' (Mathew24:13) and 'This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and THEN SHALL THE END COME.' (Mathew24:14)

 

Further, one has to bear in mind that the 'you', in the Lord's discourse is addressed to different groups of people. While Jesus is speaking of a period now still future, He cannot have meant his disciples with 'you'. Of course He was answering their questions while speaking to them, but behind them He saw his followers far in the future, followers of the church and followers of the tribulation. The church followers are meant in verse 6, the ones hearing of wars and rumors of wars but not yet living in  the time of 'the end'. They live in the decades before the start of the Endtime. Then the 'you' is absent in verses 7 and 8. The total world would be plunged into war and calamities. Out of this there would come a new body of believers, the 'tribulation saints'. They would be severely hated and persecuted. There would also be much distrust among them because of traitors that would have infiltrated.

 

In verse 11 Jesus warns for false prophets, that would do their deceptive work, deceiving many (verse 11). This is parallel to verses 23-26, where Jesus warns for false Christ's and false prophets. Here there seems to be a difference with the book of Revelation, that only speaks of one beast (posing as Christ, leader of the world) and one false prophet (posing as the one speaking the will and word of God). The reason for this difference is that Jesus speaks of persons while the book of Revelation speaks of complete empires or structures of evil. The empire does not consist of only one man. The president is informed, guided and supported by an enormous team of secretaries and officials, which all spew the same narrative that the empire wants the world to believe. So the one 'antichristian beast' is composed of many antichrists. This is seen in Revelation 9, where demon possessed false prophets, break loose upon humanity, pressing everyone to go along with the technocratic strategy of the empire.This strategy will be demanding submission to a full control by completely giving up every bit of privacy in the taking of the mark of the beast.

 

In verse 12, the Lord mentions the core of evil: iniquity or lawlessness. This does not mean that there would be no laws or that people would not abide by the laws. No, the lawlessness of the Endtime does not primarily concern ordinary people. Endtime lawlessness would concern the laws, the lawmakers and the judiciary system themselves. All governments, institutions and organizations would be totally infiltrated by people that serve their own selfish interests, while posing as protectors and benefactors. They would use and twist the law in order to serve their own private goals. Words and actions of politicians would become opposites. It would become common to accuse one's adversaries for one's own evil actions. This evil behavior would trickle down through the hierarchy of the world like a cancer, making human society rotten to the core. This slow process of corruption won't have started at the beginning of the Endtime. It started a long time a go and will reach its ugly climax in the last 3.5 years before the return of the Lord.

 

Like the book of Revelation, the prophetic discourse of the Lord looks at the 3.5 years Endtime from different perspectives. In verses 7-14 the viewpoint is that of every day circumstances one can read about in newspapers and which one can experience within one's own sphere of influence - just like in Revelation 6-9. In verse 15 the Lord again turns to the beginning of the 3.5-year Endtime and focuses his teachings on the starting point. He point at 'the abomination of desolation', as the desecration of a religious site. That indicates a religious perspective of verses 15-26, which is underlined by his speaking of many false Christs and false prophets performing great signs. This religious aspect is also the perspective of Revelation 11 and 13, where we see the two evil empire-structures within which these false prophets function. As stated above, the false prophets themselves are presented in Revelation 9 as evil locusts of the fifth trumpet, spreading their evil venom through their 'tails', subjecting humanity to the satanic beast system.

 

With the term 'abomination of desolation', Jesus points to a significant religious sign, that will kick off the Endtime, a sign 'in the holy place'. Mark's gospel speaks of 'the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong.' And the Lord adds: 'let the reader understand' (both in Mathew and in Mark). This is the only admonition to 'understand' in the whole discourse, which makes it of utmost importance. The question is: why do Mathew and Mark not call this place 'the temple'? The word 'temple' is absent from the text in Daniel that the Lord quotes from (Daniel 9:27). The words 'at the temple' of the NIV is a translation error. The  word 'temple' is absent in most of prophecy on 'the abomination of desolation'. It appears in 2 Thessalonians 2:4, where the word 'naos' is used, a word that is more broadly applied to other holy places besides the Jewish temple, the body of the believer or even any heathen temple or shrine. This word 'naos' is also used in Revelation 11:2, which also concerns the 'abomination of desolation'.

 

That both Daniel and the Lord leave out the word 'temple', the Lord explicitly asking us to read it diligently for ourselves, made us drop any expectancy of a temple that would be built in Jerusalem before the return of the Lord. The temple narrative that has been coming out of the state of Israel for years is one of those tricks of 'the false prophet' to lure the orthodox Jews and the evangelical part of Christianity into a zionist-supportive mindset. The plans don't seem to be serious. Year after year, the start of the ceremonies is postponed because of spots on the skins of the red heifers, that were selected.

 

What however is very serious is the desecration of Muslim sites at the 'Haram Al Sharif'. This was started by Ariel Sharon on September 28 of 2000 and gave rise to the second intifada, which lasted until 2005. A total capture of holy Muslim sites by Israel and the world empire behind it, has come much closer off late, with the Palestinians on the verge of being ethnically cleansed all over Palestine, in Gaza and in the West-Bank. With the Palestinians gone or made powerless, the last barrier for the desecration of a Mosque at the temple precincts is gone. It was out of protection of the Al Aqsa Mosque that  the Palestinians executed the events of October 7, 2023, which they named 'Al Aqsa Flood'. Since then however the Al Aqsa Mosque has become an easy prey for the enormous military power that the West has invested in its colonial state of Israel. It only takes a narcissist like Trump, acting like a ludicrous emperor that is in danger of losing his empire and in sore need of a great world war as the last straw of regaining world control, that would set himself in a Mosque, demanding worship from all over the world. Would the great friend of the Jews do such a thing to a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, Trump praying at the wailing wall? No of course not. But the Muslim world has again and again been harassed by the empire, through its proxy in the Middle East, the state of Israel. The regular visits to the temple mount by Israels national security minister Ben-Gvir in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 have provoked a flood of criticism in the Arab world. In 2024 it led to a US condemnation. In 2025, under Trump, there is a deafening silence on the Israeli provocations.

 

The term 'abomination of desolation' means that the desecration of a holy site on the temple square in Jerusalem would invoke enormous devastation. As we said earlier, this is why we think this 'abomination of desolation' will coincide with 'nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places', which is nothing else than the red, black and pale horse, the apocalyptic horsemen of Revelation 6. The abomination of desolation will coincide with the start of the 42 months of tyrannical behavior by the beast out of the sea of Revelation 13. This period is about the same  as the 42 months of treading under foot of the holy city in Revelation 11.

 

The desolation would eventually become so complete that the Lord says: 'For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved' (Math 24:21,22). When saying this, He might have looked forward to the last part of this 3.5 year Endtime, seeing the enormous military power unleashed against all of mankind at the sixth trumpet, in which all militarism of the foregoing four empires is zealously present and combined with military equipment of the 21st century, 'the four angels, bound at the Euphrates', which will be loosed. Together with enormous military might, humanity will also be faced with enormous religious deception in the form of false prophets and antichrists, that act on behalf of the two eminent powers of the Endtime, the beast out of the sea (the USA) and the false prophet (zionist Israel). They will defend their evil behavior by lies of acting by order of Christ, who would already be on earth 'somewhere'. Jesus makes it very clear that his return would not remain unnoticed by anyone on the face of the earth, denouncing each lie that He would already have come down in secret. 'For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Mathew 24:27)

 

The performing of many signs and wonders by false christs and false prophets corresponds with what is told about the false prophet in Revelation 13, the beast out of the earth, the zionist state of Israel: 'And he does great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven to the earth in the sight of men and deceives those that dwell on the earth by those signs which were given unto him to do in the presence of the beast' (Rev.13:13,14). These are not the wonders of healing and feeding people and of silencing storms that Jesus performed. These wonders, worked by satan, based on human technology, are wonders of awe and destruction and massive death. The coming down of fire from heaven is what we see happening in the Middle East since 9/11/2001, all instigated by zionist Israel, including 9/11, the evidence for which is buried in archives and suppressed by mainstream media, which are all controlled by the empire and its zionist colony. The official narrative which journalists have to abide by, is all part of the great deception of zionism, that has been unfolding for more than a century.

 

The overwhelming clarity of the Lords return, visible for the whole world, like the lightning, shining from one end of heaven to the other, is followed by a strange sentence: 'For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together'. (Mathew 24:28) This sentence presents the brightness of the Lord's return from another perspective: that of a total victory over all his enemies, which will be reduced to 'carcasses'. And just as the carcass itself is not visible but the eagles around it are clearly pinpointing its spot, so it will be at the return of the Lord, when all birds of the skies will come to the meal that will be prepared for them by the Lord, as stated in Revelation 19: 'And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that flew in the midst of the heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat flesh of kings and flesh of captains, and flesh of mighty men and flesh of horses and of those that sit on them and the flesh of everyone, free and bond, both small and great.' (Rev.19:17,18)

 

The climax of the prophetic discourse is the coming of the Lord in the clouds with power and great glory (Mt.24:30). Directly before that, great signs will fill the heavens, the sun and the moon darkened, meteorites falling from the sky and the powers of heaven shaken, which could very well be the 7th vial, an enormous worldwide earthquake, destroying all cities of the empire and its vassals, blowing up mountains and sinking islands, ending in devastating hail (Rev.16:17-21). It will make a definite end to 'Babylon the Great' (Rev.18:21,  the empires that have dominated the earth since the fall of Jerusalem in 600 BC, the last of which is the USA. The sequence of empires even goes back to the world soon after the flood, when the tower of Babel was built (Gen.11:4).

 

Besides the darkening of the sun and moon and meteorites, there will be another sign in the heavens: 'And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn'. Which sign is 'the sign of the Son of man'? What else could it be than the way He was rejected by the people that are set to mourning by seeing the sign: the cross of Golgotha. From the first of November until about the 13th of November 2029 the clear form of arms that are being stretched out on a cross are to be seen toward the South. However, the sun needs to be darkened in order to see it. Perhaps this darkening will last several days in order for people to notice the sign in the sky, to realize the meaning of it and to be brought into the state of mind that will set them mourning about what was done to Messiah almost 2000 years before.

 

Once the Lord has returned, He will first gather his faithful servants, that brought the gospel of the kingdom all over the world, until the end (verse 14). In verse 31 we read: 'And He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.' The elect, the true Israeli's that have testified of Jesus during the Endtime, will be gathered by angels. This will be a second (or even a third) rapture (one could say a post trib rapture), not of the church but of the elect out of Israel, probably the 144,000, which were sealed by the angels: 'Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.' (Rev.7:4). These sealed 144.000 Israeli's will be with the Lord in Jerusalem at the end of the Endtime: 'Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.' (Rev 14:1)

 

We here skip the series of short parables, the Lord gives in order to warn his followers to keep watchful: The fig tree, the days of Noah, the owner of the house, the two servants, the ten virgins, the talents. Verse 31 of Mathew 25 continues the story of the Lord's return, that ended in Mathew 24 with the gathering of his elect from all over the world. Then the prophecy continues with:

^'When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. (Mathew 25:31-33)

 

With the Lord at the center of the world, in Jerusalem, having his 144,000 Israeli evangelists around Him, all nations will have to give account of how they treated the evangelists. They are 'the brothers of the Lord' of Mathew 25. The Lord will consider his faithful servants brothers, not just because of their ethnicity but because of their testimony, as was the case at Jesus first coming: 'For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.' (Mathew 12:50)

 

'Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:' (Mathew 25:34, 35)

When they then ask: 'Lord, when saw we thee an hungry and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?

'The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Mathew 25:40)

 

That is what He will say to the sheep, that will have treated his evangelists well. On the contrary, the goats will have neglected them or even harmed them. Therefore their fate is the following: 'Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels' (Mathew 25:41)

 

In the fate of the goats, we again see a parallel with the book of Revelation. Like the goats that are being sent into everlasting fire, likewise the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth are thrown in the lake of fire (Rev.19:20). Again, it were the goats that were operating the corrupt Endtime structures, the USA-empire with all its affiliates and the zionist state of Israel. So in 'the beast and the false prophet' we don't have just two people. We have two clusters of people, that could count thousands or even millions.