Matthew 24 - The Great Tribulation
Looking for Hope in Uncertain Times
We have waited for weeks and weeks to assemble together, and I have to tell you—even with your faces covered—you sound pretty good! It is so good to worship together. It has been such a strange season, has it not? Some of you thought it was strange just coming today because you actually had to put pants on; home church attire is a little bit different! But we are really thankful to be opening our gatherings.
True confession: I am wrestling personally with what submission to governing authorities looks like right now because my patience is running a little thin. But we are here, and we are going to worship the Lord. If you are a guest joining us, welcome to The Well Community Church. It is a strange thing to consider, but when shelter-in-place happened, when COVID-19 hit, and when all the division in our country began boiling over, people started looking for hope. If you have come here looking for that, I want you to be encouraged. We have an incredible hope. His name is Jesus. He loves you, He has done so much for you, and He wants a relationship with you.
Today, we are going to talk about the end of the story. If you read through your Bible, when you get toward the end, there are some truly incredible things. And for those of you joining us for home church in your living rooms in your PJs, welcome to you as well.
Understanding Prophecy and Eschatology
If you have your Bibles, open to Matthew 24. We are continuing our series in Matthew, and we find ourselves in what is called the Olivet Discourse. The name of this section comes from chapter 24, verse 3, where Jesus takes His disciples onto the Mount of Olives.
Matthew 24:3 (NASB)
As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen, and what [will be] the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’
The disciples essentially ask for an insider-trading Bible study: “Since You’re here with us, give us a little more insight into what’s coming.” Jesus begins to explain what will take place in the end times. Theologically, the study of the end times is called eschatology, from the Greek word eschatos, meaning “last” or “end.” Chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew are intensely eschatological.
To understand what is to come, we have to understand how to interpret our Bibles. We introduced a term last week: hermeneutic. That is just a fifty-cent word for your method of Bible interpretation. When we approach Scripture literally, grammatically, historically, and with Christ at the center, the end times come into clearer focus. That is not to say there are no debated issues where Jesus-loving people disagree, but this approach brings the future into focus.
When you look through that grid, you find over 300 Old Testament prophecies about the person of Jesus Christ, all fulfilled literally. Mathematically, that is impossible by accident. For just 24 specific prophecies to be fulfilled by chance, the probability is equivalent to filling the entire state of Texas two feet deep with silver dollars, marking one red, flying you in a helicopter blindfolded, and having you pick that single red coin on your first try. That is just 24 prophecies. When you reach 300, chance becomes an absolute absurdity.
So if Jesus fulfilled all 300 prophecies literally in His first coming, is it not reasonable to believe He will fulfill the prophecies of His second coming just as literally? Based on our hermeneutic, the answer is an emphatic yes.
The Grand Arc of Redemption
The Bible begins in eternity past. God is preexistent; Jesus is preexistent. Jesus did not merely come into being in the manger. God existed before Genesis 1:1, where He spoke the world into existence: “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:1 (NASB)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Then comes Genesis 3—the Fall. Temporal, finite, created creatures decided they had a better agenda for life than the almighty, sovereign Creator. Sin entered the world. Yet tucked into Genesis 12 is the most important covenant in your Bible: the Abrahamic Covenant. It is an unconditional covenant that God swore by Himself to complete. It was given in Genesis 12, ratified in Genesis 15, and signified in Genesis 17.
Genesis 12:1-3 (NASB)
Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’
There are three core components to the Abrahamic Covenant: land, seed, and blessing. God promised the land in Deuteronomy 30, the seed through the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7, and the blessing through the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31. God essentially said, “I promise to give you land, seed, and blessing, and I swear by Myself I will do it, regardless of your behavior.” We spend the rest of our Bibles watching that promise unfold toward fulfillment.
As the Old Testament progresses, there is an intense anticipation of the Coming One. In Daniel 9:25, Daniel states that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there would be 69 weeks of years—483 years, or precisely 173,880 days.
Daniel 9:25 (NASB)
’So you are to know and discern [that] from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince [there will be] seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
In Nehemiah 2, the decree to rebuild Jerusalem was given. If you count out 173,880 days, you land squarely at Matthew 21 on the day of Jesus’ triumphal entry. You cannot make this up! Daniel called his shot like Babe Ruth five hundred years in advance.
Daniel 9:26 then prophesies that the Messiah would be cut off and have nothing. Sure enough, Jesus went to the cross.
Daniel 9:26 (NASB)
’Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end [will come] with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
On the cross, Jesus did the heavy lifting: He died in our place and saved us from our sins. After His resurrection, He ascended to glory and sent the Holy Spirit, inaugurating the Church Age. Colossians 1 calls this a mystery previously unrevealed in the Old Testament: Christ in you, the hope of glory, uniting Jew and Gentile under the headship of Jesus.
Colossians 1:27 (NASB)
to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
According to 1 Thessalonians 4, the Church Age culminates when the Lord descends from heaven and believers are caught up to meet Him—an event commonly called the Rapture.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NASB)
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of [the] archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
When the Church is removed, 2 Thessalonians tells us the “restrainer”—the Holy Spirit indwelling the body of Christ—is also taken out of the way. This opens the door for the Tribulation period, known in Daniel 9:27 as the seventieth week of Daniel.
Daniel 9:27 (NASB)
‘And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations [will come] one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.’
The Antichrist will make a firm covenant for one “week” (seven years). Halfway through, he breaks it, commits the abomination of desolation, and claims to be God. That launches the final three and a half years: the Great Tribulation. At its conclusion, Revelation 19 depicts the return of the King. Jesus establishes His throne in Jerusalem and reigns for a literal thousand years, fulfilling the land, seed, and blessing of the Abrahamic Covenant. Finally, Satan is judged, the new heavens and new earth are created, and we step into eternity future.
The Seal Judgments and the Beginning of Sorrows
In Revelation 4 through 19, we find three sets of judgments: the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments, and the bowl judgments. They increase in severity and catastrophe. They come in sets of seven, where the seventh judgment unfolds into the next series like nested dolls.
The seal judgments take place in the first three and a half years of the Tribulation. The first seal brings the Antichrist and his false prophet, deceiving the world with counterfeit signs and claiming deity. The second seal shatters peace with global war. The third brings devastating famine. The fourth brings death across a quarter of humanity.
Revelation 6:8 (NASB)
I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
A fourth of the earth dies through the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts. That represents nearly two billion people wiped out. The fifth seal reveals the martyrs in heaven crying out for justice, and the sixth brings massive cosmic and natural catastrophes.
Revelation 6:15-17 (NASB)
Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’
The kings, commanders, rich, and strong will crawl into mountain caves crying, “Fall on us and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb!” That provides a striking contrast to the gentle, soft-spoken portrait of Jesus many grew up with. Revelation reveals the holy wrath of the Lamb.
Yet, as Matthew 24:8 reminds us, these seal judgments are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
Matthew 24:8 (NASB)
’But all these things are [merely] the beginning of birth pangs.
Years ago, I sat with an Israeli tour guide at Helix, my favorite little shawarma shop on the Sea of Galilee. It was just the two of us, so I asked him, “What are your thoughts on Jesus? Do you think He’s the Messiah?” He shrugged and said, “Well, if He returns, then He is. We’ll find out.”
I thought, Buddy, you are rolling the dice on eternity.
Do you know people like that? Maybe you have seen that person in the mirror. People say, “I’ll do my own thing now and deal with God later.” But nearly two billion people perish in the seal judgments alone, before the Great Tribulation even begins.
James reminds us of the folly of presumption.
James 4:13-14 (NASB)
Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are [just] a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
Acts 17 tells us that God gives us life and breath, and Psalm 144:4 says man is like a passing shadow.
Psalms 144:4 (NASB)
Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.
Oh, the arrogance of humanity to tell the sovereign Creator of the universe, “I’ll send You to voicemail and settle up later!”
Psalms 32:6 (NASB)
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
Right now, in the Church Age, we live under God’s marvelous grace. But if you enter that Tribulation without Jesus, you step out of grace and directly into wrath poured out in full measure.
The Abomination of Desolation and the Great Tribulation
Look at Matthew 24:15.
Matthew 24:15-21 (NASB)
’Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ’Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. ’Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ’But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ’But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ’For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.
Jesus warns that when the abomination of desolation occurs in the holy place, there will be no time to pack a bag. If you are on the roof, do not go inside for your coat; if you are in the field, run.
When this Great Tribulation begins in Revelation 8:1, heaven falls silent for half an hour as the cosmic weight of God’s wrath is contemplated.
Revelation 8:1 (NASB)
When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
The trumpet judgments unleash unfathomable destruction: a third of the earth burned, a third of the sea turned to blood, fresh waters poisoned, the sun and stars darkened. Demonic forces are released, and a massive eastern army invades. Yet Revelation 9:20–21 notes that the survivors still refuse to repent of their idolatry, murders, and wickedness.
Revelation 9:20-21 (NASB)
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.
Why does this unfold this way? Because the kingdom of God is an “already and not yet” reality.
When Jesus taught us to pray, He said, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Is Jesus currently reigning? Yes, at the right hand of the Father. Is He reigning visibly on earth? Not yet. When Satan tempted Jesus in Matthew 4, he offered Him the kingdoms of this world. In Ephesians 2, Paul calls Satan “the prince of the power of the air.” But when the seventh trumpet sounds in Revelation 11:15, heaven proclaims that the kingdom of this world has finally become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.
Revelation 11:15 (NASB)
Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become [the kingdom] of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.’
In His first coming, Jesus paid for sin. In His second coming, He returns to conquer and rule.
Revelation 16 details the final outpouring of God’s wrath in the bowl judgments. Malignant sores strike the wicked, the oceans turn to blood and every sea creature dies, water sources vanish, scorching heat blazes from the sun, and thick darkness blankets the beast’s kingdom.
Revelation 16:1 (NASB)
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.’
Finally, the armies of the world assemble in the Jezreel Valley at Megiddo for the battle of Armageddon. Scripture describes bloodshed so catastrophic it reaches the bridles of horses. It is a terrifying scene of judgment.
Sovereign Grace and the Elect
Notice what Jesus says in Matthew 24:22.
Matthew 24:22 (NASB)
’Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
“Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
That word elect can make people uncomfortable, but our theology fits together like Lego blocks. Your view of God connects to your view of man, your view of sin, and your view of salvation.
If God is sovereign and omnipotent, and man is spiritually dead in sin—not just drowning, but dead on the bottom of the lake—then salvation was never our idea. God, by His grace, breathes life into us. People ask, “Are you telling me God chose me and I didn’t choose Him?” Yes! And when you ask, “Why would God choose me?” you finally grasp the gospel. It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Romans 9:22-23 (NASB)
What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And [He did so] to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
Had God not sovereignly intervened for the sake of His elect, no human life would survive the Great Tribulation.
Matthew 24:23-28 (NASB)
’Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There [He is],’ do not believe [him]. ’For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. ’Behold, I have told you in advance. ’So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, [or], ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe [them]. ’For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. ’Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
Jesus warns us: do not be deceived by false messiahs or secretive claims. His coming will not be hidden in an inner room. It will be like lightning flashing across the entire sky—undeniable, visible, and absolute.
Turn to Christ: The Blessed Hope
Why is this passage here? It is not merely to frighten us; it is here to assure us that divine justice is real. When we look at our broken world, we often wonder if God sees the injustice. He does. Judgment is coming, and God will drop His plumb line of righteousness across human history.
Secondly, this text reminds us of the terrible reality of God’s wrath so that we might flee to His mercy today. There is salvation in no one else. Politicians cannot save you. Governing authorities cannot save you. Only Jesus, who conquered death and rose from the grave, can rescue your soul.
If you sense a desire in your heart to know God, recognize that dead people do not care about God. If you care, God’s Spirit is actively stirring your soul. Respond to Him!
I remember sitting in a room in college, far from God, attending a meeting just to get a free meal. I had heard the gospel a thousand times growing up—I had awkward junior-high camp moments at Hume Lake, dealt with my own embarrassing struggles as a kid, and sat through countless sermons. But that night over a bad meal at the old Piccadilly University, a man shared the gospel, and God suddenly awakened my heart. For the first time, I saw Jesus for who He is.
1 John 5:11-13 (NASB)
And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Do you have the Son of God in your life? It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. If you stand before God without Christ, there is no other name that can save you.
But if you know Jesus, what an incredible, blessed hope we share! We are delivered from the wrath to come. When Christ returns in triumph, He does the fighting for us.
Titus 2:11-14 (NASB)
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation and training us to live godly lives as we wait for the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. What a Savior we have.
Pastoral Prayer
Father, what a privilege it is to understand the full scope of the gospel—that You not only save us, but preserve us from the wrath to come.
When we look at the cross, we see that the undiluted wrath of God was poured out upon Jesus. He absorbed the blow. He became the propitiation for our sins; He stepped in front and took the shot for us so that we might live.
Lord, we pray for our friends, our neighbors, and our family members who do not yet know Jesus. Awaken their hearts. Do a mighty work in their lives. Equip us to share the reason for the hope within us with gentleness and boldness. Thank You that even in the midst of sobering judgment, Your message is overflowing with hope. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.