Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, we methodically teach verse by verse, even phrase by phrase.
We have completed many books of the Bible and offer free lesson plans for teachers. If you want to browse our entire library by book or topic, see our website www.ReasoningThroughTheBible.com.
We primarily do expository teaching but also include a good bit of theology and apologetics. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity must address both the ancient truths and the questions of the people today. Join Glenn and Steve every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S50 || When Lightning Strikes: Why You Won't Miss Jesus' Return || Mark 13:21-27 || Session 50 || Verse by Verse Bible Study
Jesus' Olivet Discourse stands as one of Scripture's most profound prophetic teachings, delivered from the Mount of Olives as He gazed across Jerusalem during His final week before crucifixion. Today we continue to wade into these deep waters, examining a critical section of Mark 13 that points toward Jesus' glorious return.
At the heart of our discussion is the question: which portions of Jesus' prophecy were fulfilled in the first century, and which await future fulfillment? The answer emerges through careful attention to the sequence Jesus provides. "After that tribulation," He declares, cosmic signs will appear, the Son of Man will come in the clouds, and angels will gather the elect from earth and heaven.
We explore why false messiahs can be identified by their secretive or limited "appearances," while Christ's true return will be unmistakable—like lightning flashing across the sky. The deeply Jewish context of Jesus' teaching becomes evident as He quotes directly from Isaiah's prophecies about judgment on all nations, not just Israel.
Most compelling is the realization that the events described—cosmic disturbances, Christ's visible return in glory, and a universal gathering of God's people—simply don't align with what happened when Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. There was no dramatic sign in the heavens, no visible appearance of Christ, and no gathering of believers that hadn't already been occurring.
For listeners wondering about the timeline of end-time events, this passage offers clarity: the tribulation period will conclude with Christ's unmistakable return in glory, accompanied by angels who will gather His chosen ones from across earth and heaven. What a glorious day that will be! Join us as we continue unpacking this profound teaching.
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
Sometimes in the Word of God we have passages that are easy and quick and sometimes we have passages that are deep and profound.
Speaker 1:Well, today we are in the Olivet Discourse, and it's deep enough to where I think we need our life jacket, because it's going to be quite profound and quite deep and wide. We're in Mark, chapter 13. If you have your copy of the Word of God, turn there. We're in what's called the Olivet Discourse, because Jesus is giving a message in the days before he is killed on the cross from the Mount of Olives, and he is speaking there as he looks over the city of Jerusalem and his disciples have asked him questions about when the city is going to be destroyed and when he will come and when will be the end of the age. As we saw last time, part of this section in the Olivet Discourse was fulfilled in the first century, and today we're going to get into some sections and we're going to explain why that we believe that other parts of it are only fulfilled in the future. Steve, this is going to be quite an adventure and I hope we can really get through it, but it's a little complicated, but I think it's very interesting.
Speaker 2:It is very interesting, especially when you go through it verse by verse and go through it in detail. There's a lot of little things in here to be able to pull out of the text. It's a little bit curious that Mark doesn't go into as much detail as Matthew does, and it seems like we have spent a little bit more time on this than we did with Matthew. But yeah, there's still a lot of things to go through here. I'm looking forward to going through this session.
Speaker 1:As a reminder, just prior to this Olivet Discourse, jesus has come into Jerusalem. He spoke the things that occurred in Matthew, chapter 23, where he very directly confronted the Jewish leaders and called them hypocrites, called them dens of snakes. He overturned the tables of the money changers. He let loose the animals that were being sold. He prevented people from treating the place like it was an area of commerce and he challenged them to make it a house of prayer. He very clearly taught parables that was against them, that said that their power would be taken away and their position would be taken away. Jesus is forcing the hand of these leaders and today he's giving some advice to his disciples on when the end of the age will come. Steve, can you read Mark, chapter 13, starting in verse 21 and going down to verse 27?
Speaker 2:Then if anyone says to you, behold, here is the Christ, or Behold he is there, do not believe him, for false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But take heed, behold, I have told you everything in advance. But in those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers that are in the heaven will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. Then he will send forth the angels and will gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven, in verse 21 and 22,.
Speaker 1:He's talking there about people coming along saying well, here's the Christ, or there he is, steve. What do you find interesting about those verses, as he says a little bit later.
Speaker 2:He's telling them these things in advance. He's saying that there's going to be many Christ or Messiahs that are going to come and claim that they're in one place, or claim that they're in another place and that they're not to be deceived. We see that many times that Jesus tells them, before he gives them warnings don't be deceived, don't be deluded. And we're seeing the same thing here. He's not saying if. Here he's saying when you see these Christ that say they're one place or the other, don't follow after them, because obviously Jesus is the Messiah. There's not going to be any other Messiah after him.
Speaker 2:I think, glenn, that this possibly comes from the teaching that the rabbis had that there were going to be two Messiahs. There was going to be first come a Messiah that was the suffering Messiah. Then there was going to be a second Messiah that was going to come later. That was going to be the conquering Messiah. So I think that Jesus is telling them I am the one and only Messiah. I am about to go and suffer. He's already told them that before he began teaching them that the Messiah must suffer. But I think here he's saying I am the only one, I'm going to come back, but I'm also going to come back and be that conquering Messiah. There's not going to be any other Messiah. I am the only one.
Speaker 1:What he's saying here is that when Christ comes back, it's going to be very clear to everyone. Over in Matthew in the Olivet Discourse, he says it's going to be as clear as if you were standing outside at night and lightning flashed all the way from one end of the sky to the other. No one can miss it. It's going to be very obvious. So if there's ever a time when somebody comes along and says, oh, the Christ is here, but you missed it, then you'll know that person's a false prophet.
Speaker 1:There's people such as the Jehovah's Witnesses have claimed that Jesus returned invisibly. There was people a few years back that said that Christ has returned, but he's hidden, he's not going to reveal himself yet. He's been waiting. All these people are false teachers and that's what this passage is telling us is that when he comes back, everyone will know believers, non-believers. There's not going to be any doubt that Christ has come back. So if anybody comes along and says, oh, jesus has returned or the Messiah is here and people are in doubt about it, then that's a false teacher, because when he does come back, it's going to be very clear. The next thing he talks about in here is that false Christ doing false wonders, steve, can false prophets do false?
Speaker 2:miracles. Yeah, we saw that when we went through Exodus the sorcerers that were Pharaoh's sorcerers. They mimicked some of the early signs that Moses did throwing down the staff and it became a snake and some other things. Now Moses' snake swallowed theirs up to prove that God, yahweh, was more powerful than theirs. But yeah, I think that there are certain things that the demonic world or Satan can do that will appear to be signs or miracles. They're not like the ones that God or Jesus does, but we have some examples of that here. He also says that there'll be signs and wonders in order to lead astray. So I think that there's some that are going to be falsified, made to look like actually a sign or a wonder. I think there might be some other ones that will seem more legitimate, but in any case, it's. What do they say afterwards? Are they leading the people to God, the Father, jesus, or are they all leading people astray and away from Jesus? It's the context around those signs and wonders that people need to pay attention to.
Speaker 1:That last part you mentioned is exactly correct. The question is who gets the credit? Does the Lord get the credit or all the attention falling on the man up at the platform? Many of these people I see, the people that gets glorified is the person on the sign. It's the person up at the front of the church building or in front of the service. The people that get the glory are the ones that are getting the attention and that means that we need to be careful.
Speaker 1:Just because somebody's doing a miracle doesn't mean they are a true prophet. They could be false prophets and this passage says that, that they can be lying wonders and false miracles Just because there's miracles and there's people running around the countryside claiming to do miracles. Some of them are fake, some of them could be legit, but this says that false prophets and false Christ will show signs and wonders. So just because they're speaking religious language and doing signs and wonders doesn't mean they're true prophets. They could be false prophets. Verse 22 also implies that it's impossible to deceive the elect, because that's what it implies there to deceive, if possible, even the elect. It implies that you can't. Next thing, we have a major switch, or at least a major indication of a time frame here, starting in verse 24 and 25. Steve, what does it say? These things will happen after what?
Speaker 2:After that tribulation, things will happen after what? After that tribulation? That means that there is going to be a period of tribulation that's going to be specific. It's not going to be an extended persecution or a time of tribulation that's going to last centuries. It's going to be a specific tribulation. That's what Jesus is saying After that tribulation. The one that he said before is that the sun's going to be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and et cetera. In this, passage.
Speaker 1:It's giving a rather clear sequence. If we look at verse 24, after that tribulation, verse 26, then they will see the Son of man, verse 27, then he will send forth the angels to gather the elect. Very clearly, jesus is giving a sequence and it starts with after the tribulation. Therefore, we can tell some things about when things are going to happen, at least a sequence not the year, but the sequence, if we just follow what's clearly written down here. The sequence does not fit a fulfillment in the first century, as held by many preterists, amillennialists and postmillennialists that claim that many of these things were fulfilled in Jerusalem, and specifically they talk about 70 AD, when the Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem. First of all, the sequence here again starts out after the tribulation, the Son of man will come and the angels will gather the elect from the four winds. First of all, when it says the angels are gathering the elect from the four winds. First of all, when it says the angels are gathering the elect from the four winds, that didn't change in 70 AD. If we say it's the saved people being gathered by the angels, which is what the preterists are claiming, well, that was happening prior to 70 AD, at least from the day of Pentecost and really all of history, people were saved by grace, through faith, so God's chosen one were being brought into fellowship with him. That didn't change in 70 AD. It didn't start after 70 AD.
Speaker 1:Also, the Son of man was seen. Was Jesus. He was seen prior to 70 AD. It didn't change, some of these people claim. Well, once Jerusalem was destroyed, then it was the leaders of Jerusalem that saw Jesus now as being oh, we were wrong all along. We're seeing Jesus as the Messiah now. That didn't change. That didn't happen. Basically, there was no mass conversion of Jewish leadership in 70 AD. They were just as lost as they were prior to that. None of these things happened in 70 AD. Even figuratively, coming in the clouds the Son of man coming in the clouds does not mean, as some said, coming into heaven. That's been one interpretation that we saw. It means Jesus returning, that we saw. It means Jesus returning Steve six times in this chapter alone. Mark, chapter 13, mentions Jesus return or his coming six times. Well, it can't be talking about his first coming, because he was at the end of his ministry when he's giving this message and he was already there at the time and by the time 70 AD happened, the church had been in existence for many decades.
Speaker 2:We have to have something else, simply because the sequence of history that's clearly given after the tribulation of those days just does not fit the first century and, to add what you were just talking about, glenn, that tribulation that's mentioned there in that verse harkens back to verse 19 that says For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now and never will.
Speaker 2:We spoke a little bit about this in our last session when we went through this. But there have been other times of persecution of the Jewish people throughout history. But there have been other times that have been worse than 70 AD. Especially mid-20th century was the greatest one, which actually led to them becoming a nation and being reconstituted as a nation itself. That tribulation that he mentions there in verse 27 is hearkening back to the one that he mentioned in 19, and it goes right along with everything that you said. Nothing really changed after 70 AD. In fact there were some times that were a little bit worse, but it's nothing that 70 AD wasn't a pinnacle of persecution or tribulation for the Jewish people.
Speaker 1:Then we must deal with. What do these apocalyptic phrases actually mean? In verses 24 and 25, it mentions the sun was darkened, the moon did not give light, the stars falling from heaven, the heavens will be shaken, son of man coming in the clouds. What does this descriptive language really mean? Well, he's in this passage. When he mentions those things, he's directly quoting the Old Testament. He is directly quoting Isaiah 13.10.
Speaker 1:In Isaiah 13, god is judging the nations plural, not just Israel. If we go back and we look at the quotation from Isaiah 13.10, the next two or three or four verses immediately after that deal with God judging the whole world. Isaiah 13.11,. The exact next verse says Thus I will punish the world for its evil. The next verse, 13.12,. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold. Isaiah 13.14, quote they will each turn to his own people and each one flee to his own land.
Speaker 1:The context of what Jesus is quoting here is in God judging all the nations of the earth, all the nations. Again, they will each flee to his own land. This was a God pouring out his wrath on the whole world. Stars falling from heaven is a quote from Isaiah chapter 34, which also talks about the vengeance of God the day of vengeance. In Isaiah 34, the verses immediately prior to the one about the host of heaven talk about the Lord being against all the nations. The context of each of these quotes is about God judging the entire world, not just Israel. Therefore, we cannot say that the apocalyptic language in Mark 13, verses 24 to 26, is only talking about judging Israel in the first century. It just doesn't fit. The people listening to him would know these passages in Isaiah quite clearly and when he quotes that they would know oh, that's that time when God's going to judge the whole world.
Speaker 2:There's a term that Jeremiah uses about this tribulation that's going to come on Israel. He quotes it as saying the time of Jacob's trouble and of course, jacob is a synonym for the nation of Israel. I think people have taken that and some other things about the tribulation Glenn throughout the centuries and they have applied that, this tribulation Glenn throughout the centuries and they have applied that this tribulation period, the seven-year period, and especially the last three and a half years. Because, again before in our last session, jesus says when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of in Daniel, well, in Daniel, that's at the midpoint of this 70th week of Daniel, this week of tribulation, these seven years, that they feel that this tribulation is only specific to Israel. But it's not. You just got through saying that in Isaiah that talks about all of the nations being judged, and this time period is all of the nations coming against Israel. They are persecuting. The tribulation of Israel is from all the other nations that are being led by a satanic person. God actually comes to save Israel, just like he did back in the time of Judges I've mentioned before.
Speaker 2:I think that this tribulation period, the time of Judges, was a shadow of this. What happened. They were oppressed until they got to a point that they called out for God to save them. He sent a judge that defeated the oppressors and then they had a time of peace. I think that was the shadow of this. They're going to be so oppressed in this tribulation period from the other nations. They're going to call out to God for deliverance and Jesus is going to come and they're going to look and see Jesus and notice him and mourn, as Zacharias says, on the one whom they had pierced, and then they will finally recognize that Jesus was the Messiah. We have this collection of the elect, from the angels, from all of it. You have so eloquently described that 70 AD just doesn't fit this time period of what is being discussed here and said and explained by Jesus during these verses.
Speaker 1:The sequence therefore, if we just read Mark 13, is quite clear. Mark 13, 14 begins talking about the abomination of desolation, as mentioned by Daniel, that is, in the middle of the Great Tribulation period. Mark 13, 24 begins talking about after the Tribulation that's what it says when everyone are going to see Jesus return on the clouds with great glory. That's the theme and the sequence. That's just clearly presented here. If we just go back and look at the quotes in Isaiah and the context for that and we don't try to read New Testament systematic theology back into the Old Testament context, then all the pieces just kind of fall out very clearly. Verse 26, question Steve what does that verse say about the return of Jesus? What will it be like when he comes back?
Speaker 2:It says that he'll be coming on the clouds, but he'll be coming with great power and great glory. It's going to be something that I think everybody's going to see. It's not going to be something that's going to be limited to just the Jerusalem area. There's going to be a cataclysmic event in his return.
Speaker 1:The way we know. That is the phrase there coming in the clouds, the Son of man coming. Well, he was already there on Mount of Olives when he said that He'd already come the first time. But coming in the clouds is a phrase that's used several times in the Bible Daniel 7.13, revelation 1.7, mark 8-38,. Already in this exact book he's talking about him coming in his glory. The cloud is the glory of God. That goes all the way back to wandering in the wilderness and in the tabernacle and in the temple. We had talked about that several times. The cloud is the Shekinah glory of God that is ever-present around the Lord. He's coming in his glory. That's the key here. The second coming will be in his glory. The first coming was not in his glory.
Speaker 2:Now, Glenn, I think that you recently saw a teacher that was trying to attribute this coming into the clouds as Jesus coming into the throne room as he ascended, but that just doesn't make sense does it?
Speaker 1:No, it doesn't. We research these things, trying to get different perspectives, make sure we didn't miss something. Some people again. If you've already decided that many of these things are fulfilled in the first century, well then, what do you do? Because it clearly says after the tribulation, then Jesus is coming in the clouds? Well, some, what do you do? Because it clearly says after the tribulation, then Jesus is coming in the clouds? Well, some of them try. Well, maybe he means coming into heaven. It's just a strange teaching that takes going into heaven and turn it into coming.
Speaker 2:It's also odd that how can Jesus ascending and going away from the earth be the same thing as him coming, as it says here, coming back? Of course, the angel that was standing there with the ones that were looking up said he's going to be returning the same way that he left, so that just doesn't make sense to me either.
Speaker 1:Then we have in verse 27, this phrase here where he says he will send forth the angels, gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of earth and the farthest end of heaven. What do we do with that? Well, the elect there people's mind automatically go to passages in the New Testament epistles that talk about the elect, but the elect are merely the chosen. If we take this again, this language, we have to look at what it says. It's not really complicated. There's several clues here in this that tell us where this is from. First of all, he says very clearly here in verse 27, the gathering includes gathering from not just the earth but from heaven. He's gathering the elect from the earth and from heaven. And we also know this gathering begins after the tribulation, verse 24. If we say, does this fit New Testament evangelism, where people will go out and lost sinners will hear the gospel and repent and become a chosen one, so to speak? Well, it really just doesn't fit One, because angels are never said to go out and gather lost people and gather the elect during the church age. That's never spoken of. Mark 8.38 Jesus says the Son of man will come in glory and with angels with him. Then, most importantly, in the context again, he just got through quoting we told you the Old Testament. This is yet another quote from the Old Testament.
Speaker 1:Several times in the Old Testament speaks of gathering Israel back to the land of Israel. For example, deuteronomy 30, verses 3 through 6,. If any of Israel are scattered to the farthest parts under heaven, god will gather them back to the land. Ezekiel 36, verse 24,. Israel disobeyed and God judged them by scattering them amongst the nations. In that verse, ezekiel 36, 24, god is going to gather them back from where he had scattered them and bring them back to the land. Isaiah 11, 12,. God will gather the Jews from the four corners of the earth. Isaiah 31, 8,. God will gather Israel from the ends of the earth. Isaiah 43, 5 and following. God will gather Israel from all directions. God will gather Israel from all directions. We had Jewish people. Steve in a Jewish context when he says that their people are going to be gathered from the earth and heaven what are they going to be thinking of?
Speaker 2:They're going to be thinking of Jesus Christ whenever they're being gathered. As you've mentioned several times, in this, the sequence begins with verse 24, where it says after this tribulation period. Here in this, the sequence begins with verse 24, where it says after this tribulation period. Here, in 27, we have the context that it's during this tribulation period are all of these elect, which simply means chosen. Now, again, the nation of Israel were chosen. People were chosen for his purpose.
Speaker 2:This is a thoroughly Jewish text, as you just got through talking about, and I believe that this is talking about those Jewish people, the nation of Jewish people, that are left alive at the end of this tribulation period. I think it's okay if we want to add there some Gentile believers that have also come to faith during that tribulation period. I think it's okay if we want to add there some Gentile believers that have also come to faith during that tribulation period. But it leads to that this is the time frame that it's talking about, of the gathering from those seven years of tribulation. You have also an inference from heaven this is, I think, possibly the Old Testament saints, the Jewish ones, that he's also gathering. This is all prior to going into the restored kingdom, which is the next phase after the tribulation. As you've mentioned, and we have throughout this session, verse 24 sets the stage as to when these events are happening and who it's happening to.
Speaker 1:If we just follow the language here in the text in Mark 13, all the pieces fall into place. If we just hold it to be what it says, which is, at the end of the Great Tribulation period, god is going to gather the saints from the four winds and from heaven at the end of the Great Tribulation period, it all fits very perfectly and matches with the Old Testament there. If we, on the other hand, hold that the tribulation spoken of as the preterist dude is the Roman attack on Jerusalem in 70 AD, then we have big problems, simply because nothing really changed in salvation or Jesus's role or how people come into the kingdom. None of that changed before and after 70 AD. In 75 AD was no different in how people were saved or Jesus's role than in 65 AD. There was no mass conversion of Jewish people. There was no gathering of saints after 70 AD.
Speaker 1:That didn't happen prior to 70 AD, and so therefore, the only place that really fits is just what it says, which is the abomination of desolation happens, according to Daniel. Then, at the end of that, those that endure will be saved and Jesus is going to return in all his glory. The angels are going to gather the saints from the earth and heaven at the end of the great tribulation period. Steve, what a glorious day that's going to be.
Speaker 2:That is going to be a glorious day and I will be looking forward to it. I think you agree with me. We'll be in heaven watching that, being prepared to come back with Jesus whenever he comes in the clouds with him. But it's going to be a glorious day.
Speaker 1:Well, tune in next time. We've got even more parts of the Olivet Discourse. It's so rich and there's so much here that there's more glorious things, and I trust that you'll be back next time and bring your life jacket, because it's going to be just as deep.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.
