We
have finished the discussion of the signs themselves which the Lord
gave us in Matthew 24:4-31. The rest of chapter 24 and the whole of
chapter 25 are given over to a discussion of the practical significance
of these signs; that is, the Lord does not merely give us these signs
for our information, but He adds to the signs that a knowledge of these
signs requires of us a life different from the world in which we live.
Peter
talks about the same thing, when in II Peter 3:11, after telling us
that this present world will be destroyed when the Lord comes again, he
says, “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner
of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation (manner of life) and
godliness?”
Our
Lord, Who is coming again to take us and all His church into heaven,
says that while we wait for Him to come, we must live a life different
from the wicked people who want only this present world; we must take a
different attitude towards the things of this world, seeing that we are
going to receive a new heavens and a new earth.
And so we are going to spend, the Lord willing, a few articles in discussing the rest of Matthew 24 and the whole of Matthew 25.
In
this articles, I intend to comment on Matthew 24:32-35. I will quote
them, although it is better for you to look up these verses and follow
along.
The
verses read: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is
yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So
likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near,
even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass,
till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
But my words shall not pass away.”
Jesus uses the fig tree as an earthly parable of our calling to pay attention to the signs of His coming.
The
fig tree produced its ripe fruit in Palestine in May or June. By that
time the tree was covered with thick bunches of leaves. This is why our
Lord expected fruit in a fig tree that had an abundance of leaves, but
proved to have no figs. It was the time of the feast of the Passover and
was, therefore, May. He cursed the tree and it died (Mark 11:12-14,
20-21).
By
the way, Jesus did not curse the fig tree because, in a fit of pique,
He was disappointed that it had no fruit. The fig tree was a picture of
the nation of Israel. It looked nice on the outside, for the Pharisees
enforced and kept God’s law outwardly. But when one looked closely, the
nation bore no fruit. Jesus cursed the fig tree because the nation was
cursed, and would presently be destroyed.
The
sign was simple enough: when the tree was full of leaves, it must have
had fruit hidden beneath the leaves, and that meant the summer was near.
It is sort of like our country here in Michigan. When the trees start
pushing out new buds and new leaves, we know that summer cannot be far
behind. Sometimes the trees begin budding in May; sometimes it is early
May before they start budding. But when they do, summer is quickly here.
When
I was in high school (secondary school) our biology professor required a
leaf collection for passing the course. But the spring was very cold
and by the end of May there were still no buds on the trees. So, because
the end of the school year was the first of June, he required us to
make a collection from the pine family only, because these trees kept
their needles the year around. But the trees did bud and summer soon
followed.
This
is a parable of the coming of the Lord. When we see the signs of His
coming, we know that His coming will soon follow. “So likewise ye, when
ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door.”
The
end of the world was so near in Jesus’ day that the generation living
then would see the coming of Christ – but only typically.
This
has proved a puzzling text to some who want to take it literally. But
the text shows us that in the whole of Matthew 24 Jesus is talking about
both the end of the world and the final destruction of the nation of
Israel when Jerusalem was sacked and burned by the Roman legions under
Titus. This terrible event took place in 70 AD about thirty years after
our Lord spoke these words.
With
the destruction of Jerusalem, the dispensation of types and shadows
came to an end, the Lord was in heaven and He was working all things to
come again. The whole new dispensation is the dispensation of the coming
of Christ.
At
the very beginning of these articles, I pointed out it is not really
correct to say, “Christ will come.” It is more accurate to say, “Christ
is coming.”
Maybe
a figure will help. In the former days when train travel was common, if
one would be in a depot prior to a train’s arrival, no one could as yet
see the train. But there were many signs that it was coming. Porters
and conductors began running around so that they would be ready to help
passengers with their luggage; people began collecting at the gates; if
one was near the tracks, one could feel the tracks begin to vibrate; one
could hear in the distance the whistle of the train as it neared the
station; and finally it would appear. The train was on its way and near.
When
we lived in Montana, our main shopping area was in a town called
Bozeman. Its train station was just west of a high range of mountains,
called, The Bridger Range. The train had to come over a high pass in
those mountains. In order to get the train cars over that pass, two
double-drive engines (twice as long as normal engines) were hooked on
the front of the train and one double-drive engine was at the back. All
three were huge steam engines.
When
the signs of its coming could be noticed, everyone on the streets in
Bozeman would run to the train depot. A hustle and a bustle would take
place in the station to make ready for passengers getting off at that
station. Mail had to be bagged to put on the train and preparations had
to be made to receive incoming mail.
As
the train neared, one could feel the vibration in the rails’ on the
platform. Mighty bursts of steam could be seen approaching the station.
Then it came: whistles blowing, wheels rumbling and engine roaring;
steam coming from the valves and the top; the engine reaching three
times higher than we could reach; almost like the engines had just won a
victory, the train roared and whistled into town while the engineer was
hanging from the engine window high above us waving and smiling at the
crowds. It was impressive and never failed to fill us with excitement.
That
is the way it is with the signs of Christ’s coming. And because the
destruction of Jerusalem was a type of the end of the world, we learn
from Josephus (an ancient Jewish witness to Jerusalem’s destruction)
that some of the signs that Jesus mentions in Matthew 24 also took place
prior to the appearance of the Roman legions. Many of the believing
Jews, members of the church, fled to Pella in obedience to the Lord’s
command in Matthew 24:15-20. There a Christian community was
established. It was East of the Jordan in an area where the Romans did
not come.
Literally,
the “abomination of desolation” was set up in the temple, for the Roman
commander set up the emblem of the imperial eagle in the holy place and
forced the Jews to worship it. Those who refused, Josephus tells us,
were frequently crucified. There were so many crosses made that the
Romans could no longer find wood to make more.
That was the type; the reality is yet to come.
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