The Strand Study Bible

MATTHEW 24:8

MATTHEW 24:31

1545

world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. P 22 And except 4 those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be 7 saved: but for the 15 elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. P 23 4 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is 11 Christ, or there; believe it not. P P 24 4 For there shall arise 11 false Christs, and 3 false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very 15 elect. P PP 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 4 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, 11 he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. P P The promise of Wrath when CHRIST returns (Fulfilled - Rev 19:11-21) 27 16 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the SON OF MAN 9 be. P 28 For wheresoever the carcase is, 17 there will the eagles be gathered together. P The promise of the sun, moon, and stars to be darkened (Fulfilled - Rev 6:12-17) 29 Immediately after the 4 tribulation of those days 18 shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: PP 30 And then shall appear the sign of the 9 SON OF MAN in heaven: 19 and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the 20 SON OF MAN coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. P 31 And 9 HE shall send his angels with a

8 1 All these are the beginning of sorrows . P The characteristics of the last 3½ years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Dan 9:24-27) (Called the Great Tribulation; DAY OF THE L ORD ) 9 2 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. P 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall 2 betray one another, and shall hate one another. P 11 And many 3 false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. P 12 4 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. P 13 4 But 5 he that shall 6 endure unto the end, the same shall be 7 saved. P 14 4 And this gospel of the kingdom 8 shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; 9 and then shall the end come. PP The promise of an Antichrist (Fulfilled - Rev 13:5,6) 15 When ye therefore shall see 10 the 11 abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, 12 stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) P P 16 4 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: P 17 4 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: P 18 4 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. P 19 4 And woe unto them 13 that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! P 20 4 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: P 21 For then shall be 4 great tribulation, 14 such as was not since the beginning of the

1. Fulfilled - Rev 6:1-4 (First 3½ years of Tribulation) 2. Fulfilled - Rev 6:9-11 (Martyred Tribulation Saints) 3. Fulfilled - Rev 13:11-16 (False Prophet) 4. Fulfilled - Rev 6:5-8 & 13:5 (Great Trib; Day of the Lord) 5. that is, “he that is saved” 6. or, “make it alive without being martyred” 7. or, “saved alive, from the persecution of the Antichrist” 8. Rev 12:17 9. Fulfilled - Rev 19:11-21 (Christ’s Second Coming) 10. Quoted from the OT - Dan 9:27 & 12:11 11. or, “Antichrist”- Fulfilled - Rev 13:5-6 (Antichrist as God) 12. II Thess 2:3-4 13. Lk 21:23 & 23:29 14. Dan 12:1 15. that is, “those who were saved during the Great Tribulation Period” 16. Lk 17:23-24 17. Fulfilled - Rev 14:14-20 & 19:17-21 (Armageddon) 18. Fulfilled - Rev 6:12-17 (Sun, Moon, Stars Darkened) 19. Zech 12:10-12 20. Rev 1:7

24:8 Jesus compared His own return, which includes the DAY OF THE LORD (Jere 30:5-7 and I Thess 5:1-3), to birthing pains ( the beginning of sorrows ). The closer jesus’ return gets, the greater the contractions (false Christ’s, international wars, famines, and earthquakes). William E. Anderson in Rapture? Sure… but when? notes: Precision demands that we take Jesus’ words about our knowledge of the time of His coming exactly as He spoke and meant them, and His exact words are “day” and “hour,” not “week” or “month.” We may well know the general time frame, assuming we know the precise moment of the “abomination” and yet still not know the precise moment of His return. All that is in perfect accordance with His illustration of a woman bearing a child. We can know the approximate time of her delivery in advance but neither the day nor the hour. 1 NOTE –There are two facts about a woman in labor: (1) When the birth pains start, they don’t stop until the baby is born; and (2) The birth pains become more severe and more rapid as birth approaches (the Great Tribulation - Rev 6:5-8) Without a doubt, the Antichrist’s peace initiative (vs 5) is but the beginning of sorrows (Dan 9:27). 24:21 The “ great tribulation ” here (Rev 7:14), known also as the “ DAY OF THE LORD ” ( I Thess 5:2 ), is always in reference to the last 3½ years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week ( Dan 9:24-27 ). 1 Anderson, William E. Rapture? Sure… but when? , Holiday, FLA, Green Key Books, 2003. Print.