An Interpretation of Matthew 24-25 (Part 21)

Dr. Thomas Ice

"Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. But immediately after thetribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not giveits light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavenswill be shaken." -Matthew 24:28-29

Upon stating thefact of His sudden, bodily, and glorious return, Christ parentheticallycomments upon the judgment aspect of this advent. Then, verses 29-31 provide a more extended description ofHis future return to planet earth. The statement of His return in verse 27 concludes a discussion in whichJesus contrasts the coming of false messiahs with His genuine return. When He returns, there will be nodoubt. One will not have to have asubscription from a special news source that reports information the mainstreammedia leaves out. No media will beneeded at Christ's coming since His return will include a grand and gloriouspublicity feature.

Corpses and Vultures

The phrase inverse 28 is also found in Luke 17:37, but not in Mark 13 or Luke 21. No doubt this is a judgment slogan ofsome kind. Interestingly inRevelation 19:17-19, we have a similar, though not verbatim, statement inconjunction with Christ's return.

And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried out with aloud voice, saying to all the birdswhich fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble forthe great supper of God; in order that you may eatthe flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men andthe flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, bothfree men and slaves, and small and great." And I saw the beast and the kingsof the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat upon thehorse, and against His army. . . . And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Himwho sat upon the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh."(Rev. 19:17-19, 21)

Revelation 19clearly paints the picture of the birds coming to feast upon the corpuses ofthose who are about to be slaughtered by Christ at His return. This is a clear judgment use of thisterminology. Since the contextsare similar in Matthew 24 and in Luke 17, I think that consistency of contextdemands a judgment interpretation. Robert Gundry explains:

Thepreceding context determines that the saying be taken as a figure of judgmenton the wicked when the Son of man has his day. The body stands for the wicked, the vultures for judgment,and the saying means that wherever the wicked are, the judgment willstrike. They cannot escape; onlythe righteous will.[1]

Taken in context,verse 28 completes the section (verses 23-28) by noting that when Jesussuddenly appears at His return, it will result in not just judgment upon thefalse prophets and messiahs, but doom for all in opposition to His will. However, we should not be surprised tolearn that preterists think differently.

The Romans in a.d. 70?

Preterists, likeGary DeMar and Kenneth Gentry, believe that this passage was fulfilled in a.d. 70. DeMar says, "The Jerusalem of Jesus' day, because of itsdead rituals, was a carcass, food for the scavenging birds, the Roman armies."[2] Gentry agrees and declares, "This seemsto speak of the dreadful devastation Rome wreaks upon Israel. The furious soldiers who cruelly ravagethe people will destroy national, political Israel."[3]

This view isuntenable because the context supports a still future event that did not occurin the a.d. 70 destruction of Jerusalem-namelythe bodily return of Christ. AlanM'Neile tells us that this passages "does not describe the Messiah descendingfrom heaven upon the nation dead in sins, nor the false Messiahs and prophetsmaking the people their prey, nor the eagles on the Roman standards in theattack on Jerusalem; the last is not the subject dealt with either in Mt. orLk."[4] Gundry further explains as follows:

Somehave thought that [the vultures] refers to the eagles of the Roman legionsswooping down on Jerusalem during the first Jewish revolt (a.d. 66-73); but the context in Luke hasnothing about the destruction of Jerusalem, and Matthew focuses attention onthe Son of man's coming rather than on the destruction of the city.[5]

Matthew 24:28 issurrounded, before and after, with a context of a future return of Christ, notan invisible coming through the Romans in a.d.70. Thomas Figart aptly notesthat, "This means that these two similar statements refer to the judgment tocome upon the unbelievers who are not prepared to meet Him. They will be judged as swiftly and assurely as vultures pounce upon dead bodies."[6]

Immediately after theTribulation

As Christ'snarrative transitions into a new emphasis, we move from events relating to thetribulation to an event that will follow the tribulation. Even though Jesus has already commentedon the manner of His second coming in verse 27, He now focuses upon it inrelation to the tribulation. Hehas been speaking previously about tribulation events (see verses 9, 21 and Mark13:19), but now shifts to something that will take place "immediately" afterthe tribulation of those days. That event is the future, bodily return of Christ to planet earth, whichis know as the second coming (verse 30). What Christ describes in a few verses (verses 29-31), John explains ingreater detail (Rev. 19:11-21). Sowe see that the second-advent immediately follows the events of thetribulation.

Eutheos is a Greek adverb usually translated"immediately," as in the New American Standard Bible which I always use, or"straightway, at once, directly."[7] Moulton and Milligan, in examples fromthe Greek papyri, emphasize that the use of this word means "at once."[8] Since "an adverb usually modifies theverb closest to it,"[9] immediatelyrelates directly to the verb "to darken." Thus, the events of verse 29 will follow the tribulation immediately, atonce, without any other events intervening, or without a time delay.

This would meanwithin the expanded chronology of the events of the tribulation found inRevelation 4-19, that Matthew 24:29-31 will follow immediately the final bowljudgment found in Revelation 16:17-21. This explains the parenthetical warning in the next-to-the-last bowljudgment which reads as follows: "Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walkabout naked and men see his shame" (Rev. 16:15). It won't be long from the time in which the sixth bowljudgment takes place, until Christ returns. Revelation 17-18 is an overview of the judgment uponBabylon, which surveys items that will take place throughout the tribulationand second coming. Thus, from achronological aspect in Revelation, chapter 16 is followed in time by chapter19.

Of furtherinterest, is the fact that the word "immediately" is used in Luke 21:9 to saythat during the events of the tribulation, "the end does not followimmediately." It is only later, inLuke 21:27-28, when "they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with powerand great glory," that they are "straighten up and lift up your heads, becauseyour redemption is drawing near." This passage speaks of the physical deliverance that will occur forJewish believers at the second coming. Physical deliverance will occur at Christ's return for all believers,but the context is speaking specifically to Jewish believers who are undergreat peril during the tribulation.

Of the parallelpassages on the Olivet discourse, none have the word "immediately." Luke 21 really does not have a parallelstatement like verse 29 in Matthew. However, Mark 13 does have a parallel statement which reads asfollows: "Butin those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moonwill not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and thepowers that are in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son ofMan coming in clouds with great power and glory" (13:24-26). Mark drops out the pressing term"immediately," for the less urgent phrase "in those days," but then provides asimilar statement to Matthew's in the things that follow. This demonstrates that both speak of asimilar event and that event is the future second coming of Christ.

Preterist Protest

Preterists DeMarand Gentry do not explain how "immediately" in verse 29 relates to their firstcentury fulfillment view. Gentrydoes not even deal with the term "immediately" in verse 29.[10] DeMar spends over a page talking about"immediately" and then concludes that all the events of Matthew 24 had to takeplace in a.d. 70.[11] The reason this is important to thepreterist interpretation is that preterists teach that Christ's coming in a.d. 70 was a "judgment-coming" thatoccurred through the Roman army as they assaulted and eventually destroyedJerusalem and the Temple. Gentrycalls it "a spiritual judgment-coming, rather than a bodily coming."[12] Gentry specifically links verse 30 withthe overall judgment of the passage when he says the following: "Christ specifically applies that verseto the first century. . . . Christcomes in judgment upon Jerusalem in the a.d.67-70 events."[13] So Gentry describes Christ coming, asspecifically mentioned in verse 30, with the events of a.d. 67-70, which is their understanding of "thetribulation."

Such a viewcreates a big contradiction with the text of Matthew 24 spoken by ChristHimself. When one reads thepreterist interpretation of Matthew 24 it is discovered that they an blendevent that is said by Jesus to take place immediately after the tribulationwith those that were said to occur during the tribulation. If Christ's coming in Matthew 24:30 isa judgment-coming, as taught by preterists, then the judgment events would havehad to have occurred during what Jesus called the tribulation part of Matthew24 (verses 4-29). Yet, verse 30 issaid by Christ to occur immediatelyafter "the tribulation of those days." Randolph Yeager explains:

The attempt to show thatJesus' prophecy had its fulfillment between a.d.33 and a.d. 70, disregards vss.29-31. None of these events tookplace ("immediately after") the troublous times connected with Titus' invasionand sack of Jerusalem in a.d. 70.. . . These drastic disturbancesin the heavens will highlight the second coming of Christ. . . . How frantic the efforts of many commentatorsin dealing with this passage because they are prejudiced against a futuristview.[14]

In spite of theexercise of near genius imaginations by preterists and others, we have seen andwill continue to see, as we progress through this passage, that Christ speakshere of yet future events. We willnot have anyone rob the Church of our wonderful hope in the glorious return ofJesus Christ to this earth, as this passage so beautifully teaches. Maranatha!

(To BeContinued . . .)

Endnotes

[1] Robert H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on His Handbook for aMixed Church under Persecution,second edition, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), p. 486.

[2] Gary DeMar, Last Days Madness: Obsession of the Modern Church (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 1999), p. 127.

[3] Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., Perilous Times: A Study in Eschatological Evil (Texarkana, AR: Covenant Media Press, 1999), p. 74.

[4] Alan Hugh M'Neile, The Gospel According to St.Matthew (London: MacMillan, 1915), p. 351.

[5] Gundry, Matthew, p. 487.

[6] Thomas O. Figart, The King of The Kingdom ofHeaven: A Verse by VerseCommentary on the Gospel of Matthew(Lancaster, PA: Eden Press, 1999),p. 447.

[7] G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of TheNew Testament, 3^rd.ed. (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark,1937), p. 186.

[8] James Hope Moulton and George Milligan, TheVocabulary of the Greek Testament: Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-Literary Sources (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1930), p. 261.

[9] Wesley J. Perschbacher, New Testament GreekSyntax: An Illustrated Manual (Chicago: Moody, 1995), p. 23.

[10] See pp. 75-79 where he deals with the passage butnot with the term "immediately" in Gentry, Perilous Times.

[11] DeMar, Last Days Madness, pp. 141-42.

[12] Gentry, Perilous Times, p. 71

[13] Gentry, Perilous Times, p. 112.

[14] Randolph O. Yeager, The Renaissance NewTestament, 18 vols. (BowlingGreen, KY: Renaissance Press,1978), vol. 3. p. 312.