But could he Satan, ever have stopped the gospel from going out
Matthew 24 tells us that for the sake of the elect, the days of tribulation were cut short, which meant that Satan could not stop the gospel going out. It was because Jesus warned the disciples to look out for the abomination of desolation that they were able to escape and take the gospel out.
ok, let's say that's the correct interpretation of Matthew 24:15-22:
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
My question would then be, when did this happen? :
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 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. 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.
Because our Lord appears to be saying that these things will happen 'Immediately after the tribulation'.
Hi 2Corrie
Hopefully TW won't mind if we digress a bit.
A straightforward reading, to me, says that this is talking about the fall of the temple spoken of at the beginning of the chapter, and that soon after this would be the second coming, the end of the world and the judgment day. That's what confuses a lot of people, because the world didn't end then, as we know.
In the past I've toyed with the idea that the whole passage refers to AD 70, as preterists teach. But this passage was preached on in our Church earlier this year. The man said that verse 36, "But about that day or hour no one knows" is talking about the future second coming, whereas the first part of chapter 24 talks about AD 70.
At the time, I didn't really see how he arrived at this conclusion, because as I said above, it seems as though the second coming was to follow immediately after the tribulation (AD 70 and the preceding persecution).
After TW put this thread up, I was browsing the web on the subject, and I'm now seeing a possible explanation- that 'these things' in verse 34 refers to the fall of Jerusalem and the temple; and 'that day or hour' in verse 36 is referring his second coming, after that event. In other words, 'no-one knows about that day or hour' is referring back to verses 29-31.
This would mean that, having predicted the fall of Jerusalem within the disciples' lifetime, Jesus then clarified what he meant when he said his return would follow 'immediately after that'. His return would be at some unknown day and hour after the fall of Jerusalem. In other words, it is still future.
Hope that makes sense. I recall reading this interpretation on the website of St Helens church in London, of which I was a member at one time.
