VI. Key Words Defined.

imNow let us go back to the Mount of Olives and the answers Jesus gave to the disciples’ questions about Jesus and His teaching, which teaching they listened to for over three years, regarding the many things that had to happen before His return and the gathering together (often referred to as the Rapture) of the elect.  As we compare Matthew 24 to Revelation 6, it is imperative that we also understand that Revelation is also the teaching of Jesus, revealed from God the Father, to Jesus, through an angel, to the Apostle John. (Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.)

In Matthew 24:3, the disciples asked Jesus to reveal to them the timing of all these things that Jesus had been telling them about, and what would be the sign (singular) of Your coming (singular, one) and of the end of the age. (Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”)  (See XVIII.  TIMELINE STUDY) 

The first underlined word above is “sign.”  Jesus confirmed that there would be a “sign,” in Greek, “semeion.”  It is defined as: 1, that by which a person or a thing is distinguished from another and is known; 2, assign prodigy, portent, i.e. an unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature; 3, of sign or portending remarkable events soon to happen; and 4, of miracles and wonders by which God the Father authenticates the men sent by Him, or by which men prove that the cause they are pleading is God’s.  The word “sign,” which Jesus used in verse 30, is the same word the disciples used in verse 3.  Pre-tribulation teachers say there is to be no sign, but Jesus makes it clear that this sign, which will be described to you at length as to just what it is, and the exact moment it appears, will come “before the coming” when He gathers His elect. (Acts 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And Matthew 24:30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.)  It should already be obvious to everyone reading this that either pre-tribulation teachers or Jesus are teaching us an untruth.  Again, they both cannot be correct.  

Before we look at the other three underlined words above, let me draw your attention to the word “elect” in the preceding paragraph.  Once again, nearly all pre-tribulation proponents teach that the book of Mathew is written to, and only for, the Jewish people, and not for the Church, and therefore these teachers erase the elect, i.e. us, from the teaching in Matthew 24.  In Matthew 24:9, Mark 13:9, and Luke 21:12, Jesus specifically taught that “you,” the elect, His church, would be hated by all nations, and brought before rulers, because of your defense of my names sake, the name of Jesus. (Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake, Mark 13:9 “But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them,” and Luke 21:12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake.)  Today, in the whole world, there exist some 15 million Jews, 6 million of which live in the United States.  Can you believe that 15 million Jews could be hated so passionately by an overwhelmingly 1.3 billion Muslims and Arabs?  This is David and Goliath all over again, but the Jews have the winner, God the father, on their side. This writer’s residence is surrounded by some two million of these Jewish people, and there is one thing which I have learned, and can assure you of, that no Jewish person alive, other than those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and are a part of the elect, would ever, ever, ever be caught defending the name of Jesus.  That word is stricken from their vocabulary, so therefore Matthew 24:9 could not have been written only for and to the Jews.  So now you can be certain of this, that the Mount of Olives teaching by Jesus is positively directed to “His elect”, His church, just as Matthew recalled and wrote. 

Let us examine the use of the word elect as used in Matthew, and other New Testament books.  This is the Greek word “eklektos,” and the definition is: 1, picked out; 2, chosen; 3, chosen by God; and 4, to obtain salvation thru Christ.  It is translated “elect” 16 times and “chosen” 7 times.  Matthew uses it three times as elect in chapter 24 in verses 22, 24, and 31 (in verse 31, the elect are referred to as “His elect” who would be gathered by the four angels from the four winds), and Mark uses the same word three times in chapter 13.  This is the same word used by Jesus Himself in “many are called, but few are chosen”. Paul used it in Romans, Colossians, I and II Timothy, and Titus, and Peter used it four times in I Peter, and all used it to describe those chosen of God, predestined in eternity past to spend eternity future with Him. 

The Holy Spirit caused what Jesus taught the disciples on the Mount of Olives to be recalled by Matthew, Mark and Luke as they wrote their accounts in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. (John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.)  It was no happen-stance that Matthew and Mark, as the Holy Spirit recalled it to their memory just exactly what Jesus taught them, distinctly recalled that Jesus used the word elect at least three times.  Jesus wanted to make sure that the disciples understood that He was referring to the church, His elect, as He described the events that had to take place before he would gather, or Rapture, His chosen ones.  This gives positive confirmation that these three chapters were written to, and for the benefit of, His elect, His precious church. 

Yet, Christendom has been taught for many years that Matthew was written only for the Jewish people, and this teaching does not apply to us.  Jesus, in previous teaching, also referred to “His church,” and “the church,” the elect, in Mathew 16:18 and Matthew 18:17. (Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it and Matthew 18:17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.)  Also, no more than two days after the Olivet discourse, Jesus met with the 12 disciples and instituted the observance of the Lord’s Supper when they had their Passover meal, very much an observance established for the elect, and for the church, and still observed regularly. (Mathew 26:26-28, 26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.)  When we finish this study, you will have to make up your own mind as to how much faith and credence you want to put in the teaching of Jesus, and/or the teaching of man.    

The second underlined word above is “coming,” in Greek, “parousia”.  It is defined as: 1, presence; 2, the coming, arrival, advent; and 3, as the future visible return from Heaven of Jesus, to raise the dead, gather the elect, hold the last judgment, and set up formally and gloriously the Kingdom of Heaven.  As used in the question by the four disciples, it is used 24 times in the New Testament and means coming with a presence.  It is translated 17 times as “coming,” referring to the coming of Christ, three times as “coming” in Corinthians when it refers to Paul’s fellow workers returning to him and spending time with him, one time in Philippians as “coming,” when Paul refers to his coming to the Philippians again to spend time with them, and two times as “bodily presence.” One other time, in II Thessalonians 2:9, it is translated “coming,” when it refers to the Antichrist and his coming and presence for seven years. (II Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.)

When we refer to the first coming of Christ, it is understood by everyone that it refers to His virgin birth and His entire time on earth.  Likewise, his second coming refers to his coming in the clouds to gather His elect, immediately followed by His continued presence as He directs His war against the surrounding nations and the Day of the Lord trumpet and bowl judgments.  His presence will be continual around, near, or on earth as He directs His forces and judgments to accomplish His purposes, as He pours out and directs His indescribable trumpet judgments of wrath against the people on earth.  Then He directs the horrible bowl judgments against the nations of the earth, and purges the earth of sin.  Then Jesus wins the battle against the armies of the people on earth at Armageddon, followed by His directing His Angels as they capture the beast (Antichrist) and the false prophet and sends them forever into the lake of fire, and then His Angel captures Satan and binds him with a chain and puts him in the bottomless pit for one thousand years.  This would mark the beginning of His millennial reign.  This summarizes His coming and ongoing presence, His Parousia.        

The third word underlined above is “end,” in Greek, “sunteleia”.  It is used six times in all of scripture, and is defined as: 1, completion; 2, consummation; and 3, end, and each time in conjunction with the phrase “end of the world.”  The word “end,” as used by the disciples in Matthew 24:3, is the very same word Jesus used in Matthew 28:20, when He addresses His disciples and gives them the often quoted “great commission” verses. (Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” and Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen)  Jesus tells them, and all future disciples, to go and make disciples in all nations, baptize them, and teach them to observe all things He had commanded and taught them for some 3+ years.  Then He gives them an additional promise, that no matter what, He would always be with them, and to those who follow, even to the very “end” of the age. 

At the consummation, or completion of the age, the church age, He comes in the clouds of the sky and He gathers together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.  His elect are gone from earth, and the “age” has ended. (Matthew 24:31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.)  Another word “end” is also found in Mathew 24:6, 13, and 14, but this “end” is the Greek word “telos,” and is defined as: 1, end; and 2, termination, the limit at which a thing ceases to be (always of the end of some act or state, but not of the end of a period of time). (Matthew 24:6,13,14, 6  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet, and 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved, and 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.)  “End” in these verses means the end is not yet because there are still some things that have to happen, happenings and events that must be completed and finished before the “end of the age.”  The timing of when this “sign” and the “end” occurs on God’s calendar takes on tremendous importance, and we will see that Jesus told us exactly when this will happen.

And then there is the fourth underlined word above, “age,” which is the Greek word “aion.”  This word has the definition: 1, period of time; and 2, age.  We have discussed this at considerable length in the paragraphs above.  In checking eight different translations of this word the disciples used in Matthew 24:3 (see above), the Greek word for age, “aion”, was translated world four times, and age four times.  It is my understanding that age is the more correct translation.  Then the question arises, what age?  In Matthew 29:19-20, Jesus spells it out very clearly. (Matthew 29:19-20, 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen)  His use of the word age in Matthew 28 is referring to the church age.  Jesus instructed the eleven disciples to go into all the world and make new disciples, and that He would be with all the new disciples, right up to the end of that age, the church age.  It would be my understanding that Jesus was referring to the exact moment of the Rapture, the end of the church age, when His angels gather His elect from the four winds, His bought ones. 

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