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Matthew 24:14-30

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

14. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 15. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16. Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. 23. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here [is] Christ, or there; believe [it] not. 24. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25. Behold, I have told you before. 26. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, [he is] in the secret chambers; believe [it] not. 27. 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 be. 28. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days 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: 30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Matthew 24:14-30 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Matthew 24:14

Theological / Devotional

Gospel. Gr. euaggelion (see on Mark 1:1).

The kingdom. See on chs. 3:2; 4:17; 5:3.

World. Gr. oikoumene, “the inhabited world” (see on Luke 2:1), in contrast with aion, “world,” considered from the viewpoint of time (see on Matt. 24:3). Thirty years after Christ spoke these words Paul affirmed that the gospel had gone to all the world (Col. 1:23; cf. Rom. 1:8; 10:18; Col. 1:5, 6 ; 8T 26), confirming the literal fulfillment of this prediction in his day (see DA 633). However, Paul’s declaration was true in a limited sense only (see The Church at the Close of Paul’s Ministry). The complete fulfillment of this prediction of our Lord is yet to be realized (see AA 111).

The glorious progress of the gospel throughout the world during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th cheers the heart of every earnest and conscientious Christian to believe that the complete fulfillment of the promise of ch. 24:14 is soon to be realized. The era of modern Christian missions is generally thought of as beginning with the work of William Carey in 1793. The century and a half since his historic mission to India has witnessed the greatest conquests of the Christian faith since the days of the apostles.

Hand in hand with foreign missions have gone the translation and circulation of the Scriptures. Whereas the first 18 centuries of the Christian Era saw the Bible translated into only 71 languages, the next century — the 19th — saw the total climb to 567. By the middle of the 20th century the number had grown to over 1,000. There are but few peoples in the world today who do not have access to at least some part of Scriptures in their own tongue.

The end. See on vs. 3, 6, 13.

By SdaBc