The Gospel Of Matthew Chapter 24 Part 11 A Day Of Divisions And Separations

Jesus said false teachers will crop up and say here is Christ, or He is over there.

This instructs us that there will be many false teachers setting a date for Christ's return.

We must never listen to a man or woman who says they know the date and the hour of Christ's coming as Judge.

Matthew 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 

Here is another area where Christians must be discerning.  

Over the last few centuries, hundreds of false teachers have set an exact date for Christ's return, including well known author, Hal Lindsay.

He wrote a pamphlet titled "88 reasons why the rapture will be in 1988."

1988 came and went but there was no return of Christ because Mr. Lindsay did not know.

He certainly sold a lot of books by using sensationalism, but like every single date setter, he was wrong.

If we hear any teacher, or pastor or anyone claiming to speak for God, who sets a date for Christ's return, we must reject them as false teachers.

Jesus emphatically said that the timing of His return to judge the nations, belongs to the Father alone.

No mere mortal nor any angelic being knows the hour and the day when Jesus shall return.

Therefore, while Jesus walked on this earth to accomplish His Father's plan of salvation, He was subordinate to His Father's will in all things.

At this point, the timing of Jesus' return was not revealed to men. 

The general signs of its approach have been given, as the budding of the fig-tree indicates that summer is near; but the precise time is not indicated by these general signs.

Jesus will return to judge all the wicked ones  and the world will be perverse like in the days of Noah.

Matthew 24:37-39  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

It took Noah 120 years to construct the ark. 

During that time, Noah preached what God was going to do which is why he is known as a preacher of righteousness.

No doubt, many people mocked and scorned Noah and his family because up to that point in time, God sent a mist to water the earth (See Genesis 2:6).

Heavy rains, steady showers and flooding were as yet unknown in that ancient time. 

Genesis 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 

How did people live prior to God sending the flood?

They gave themselves totally over to the lusts of their flesh.

They ate and drank and the idea is of excessive debauchery, like gluttons and drunkards. 

They got married or gave their children away in marriage, as if life would continue as it had always been.

Like the modern culture, those people lived as if God did not exist.

But, when Noah entered the ark and God sealed them in the ark, the flood came just as Noah had warned about.

An entire wicked generation was drowned in that flood and God's judgment was complete.

In like manner, so shall Christ's return be.

Whether it is our generation or a future generation, people will pursue substance abuse, sexual pleasures, and wickedness, just like we see today.

People will commit violent crimes and go unpunished, while the innocent victims are ignored or silenced.

Like the people who ignored Noah's warnings, people mock the gospel of Christ today, but future judgment from God will catch them by surprise.

Hebrews 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 

By faith, Noah believed God would do as He said He would do, and he was motivated by a reverence and fear of God that led him and his family to build teh ark.

His actions of building the ark condemned the world for its sin, because Noah preached to the onlookers and told them they must repent and enter the ark or perish in the flood.

2 Peter 2:5  And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Peter tells us that God did not spare the antediluvian world, but He did save Noah and his family.

Noah believed God and acted accordingly and in doing so, the world filled with wicked sinners perished in the flood waters.  

Jesus Christ's return for the final judgment will be marked by division and separation.

Matthew 24:40-41  Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41  Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.  

We must think about this text in light of all that Jesus has said to this point.

The context makes it clear that Jesus's focus is His coming at the day of the LORD judgment spoken of by most of the prophets.

This is a day of earthquakes, when the sun, moon and stars will not shine, and when sinners see Christ coming in glory and power, they will beg the mountains to bury them.

Thus, the context makes it clear that the rapture of Christ's church is not in view here.

The rapture along with the resurrection of life will take place first, before the seven years of tribulation begins.

What this text teaches us is that Christ's return at the day of final judgment will be a day of separation.

Acts 28:23-24  And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. 24  And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. 

An example of the power of the gospel to divide people into believers or unbelievers, is Luke's account of Paul preaching the gospel of Christ to Jews in Rome.

Some believed the things that Paul preached but some did not believe.

There are two ways that Matthew's text can be applied.

First, we have the power of the gospel to separate sinners from saints.

Luke 12:51-53   51  Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52  For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 53  The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 

Jesus taught that the gospel of Christ is a call to repentance with only two possible responses to its holy calling: Belief or unbelief.

He said clearly that He came to give division through His gospel because some will respond with faith and be born again, while others turn away and remain in unbelief.

In this manner a husband may be at odds with his wife, and children may be against their parents.

A Jewish or Gentile wife who heard the gospel and trusted Christ as Messiah and Savior, will be separated from her unbelieving husband, or from her unbelieving children.

My wonderful wife of almost 54 years, was saved shortly after we were married.

I knew right away that there was something different and better about her and this bothered me.

I kept up a pretense of religion, but the gospel had divided us. 

After many years passed, I repented of my sins and trusted Christ.

At that point our division for the sake of the gospel was over and we began witnessing to my sisters, our parents, and of course, our children.

Some family divisions remained for a time, but our parents did make professions of faith in Christ.

My sisters and several in my wife's family, made professions of faith in Christ.

Thus, Jesus gave us a picture of a Jewish or Gentile husband who believes the gospel and is divided from his wife because of her unbelief.

This is shown by comparing Jesus words in Luke 12 with His words in Matthew 24, where we read that "two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left."

This pictures primarily Jewish people who are married or who share a common vocation, or who do their chores together, working hard each day, doing normal things that must be done.

Yet, one laboring in the field will be taken to a place of safety and the other left behind to face judgment.

To further illustrate this truth, Jesus spoke of two women working in a mill where grain is ground into wheat. 

They use a heavy millstone to grind grains of wheat into a form usable for bread making.

A believing woman is pictured as being taken to a place of safety while the unbelieving one will face judgment for her sins.

Second, this pictures the separations that will happen at the coming of Christ at judgment day.

Zephaniah 2:1-3  Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; 2  Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you. 3  Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger. 

Zephaniah also was guided by God's Spirit to speak of the day of the LORD judgment.

The "nation not desired" refers to Israel and the Jewish people.

Final judgment is going to come and only those who believe the gospel will be safe.

Therefore, the LORD speaks through Zephaniah.

He warns them not to wait because His fierce anger will fall upon all the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles.

He implores them to "Seek ye the LORD" because in every generation, the just shall live by faith.

Jehovah says "Seek ye the LORD" now and He shall hide you in the day of His fierce anger, which corresponds directly with Jesus teaching that one will be taken and the other left behind to face judgment.

In the tribulation period, there will be a faithful remnant of the Jewish people and some Gentiles, who never take the mark of the beast and never worship him.

God will deliver them and bring them to a place of safety and protection while His fierce judgments are poured out on the world.

Revelation 12:1-6  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 6  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 

The woman clothed with the sun, moon and twelve stars is the nation Israel.

The son she gives birth to is the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

The red dragon is Satan. 

The seven heads, ten horns and seven crowns represent the kingdom of antichrist spoken of by Daniel and John.

His tail drawing down one third of the stars of heaven represents the fallen angels who followed Lucifer in his rebellion against God (See Isaiah 14:9-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19). 

Satan is pictured as standing ready to kill the Messiah when He was born and this corresponds to the Devil scheming against the royal line of King David.

He attacked the line of David such that on two occasions, there was only one son left in the royal line of King David (See 2 Chronicles 21:17).

One son became king Ahaziah but he was killed and his wicked, pagan mother Athaliah killed all of Ahaziah's sons, so that she could be queen.

It looked like the line of David had ended, which also meant that Messiah could not be born.

However, a faithful sister of Ahaziah took the infant son of Ahaziah, and hid him with her in the LORD's house under the care of a faithful high priest named Jehoiada. 

When the child was seven years old, Jehoiada summoned the faithful soldiers and called the nation to anoint Joash as king.

This has been the work of the Devil throughout history, in seeking to destroy the line of Messiah.

The Christ child was born to rule all nations with a rod of iron and he was caught up to God and to His throne.

This connects with Acts 1:6-11, when Jesus ascended to His Father in heaven.

This is where we are today as believers who are waiting for the rapture of Christ's church and the resurrection of life, before the great tribulation breaks out.

I shared this text from Revelation to show us what God is going to do for the believing Jews.

The woman, representing the Jewish people, will flee into the wilderness God has prepared to keep His people safe.

Notice that the Jewish people will remain in the wilderness under the care and provision of God, for 1,260 days.

This amount of time represents three and one half years.

We previously read that a seven year peace treaty between all nations and antichrist will be signed at the beginning of the tribulation period.

After three and one half years, antichrist will betray the Jewish people and demand to be worshiped as God.

This is when they will flee to the wilderness as Jesus taught in Matthew 24.

This is when God will protect and provide for them in a special location.

Matthew 13:47-50  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48  Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49  So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, 50  And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 

These truths are woven together with Jesus' parables in Matthew 13.

A fisherman cast a large net into the sea and brings in a large amount of fish.

Good fish were put into containers while the bad fish were cast away.

This is a picture of the angels of God severing or separating the wicked from those who believed the gospel of Christ.

The faithful ones will be safely kept by our Lord but the wicked will be cast into a furnace of fire (Hell).

Jesus paints a picture of the power of His gospel to penetrate the most hardened heart of a sinner, in order to bring him to repentant faith in Christ.

Those who read this post and are born again, likely already know how believing the gospel can cause divisions at home, at work or at school.

New life from Christ prepares us for walking in newness of life with our Lord.

Let us pray for strength from God to walk with Him every moment of every day, no matter what things we must accomplish.

Let us be a faithful witness telling others about the saving power of Jesus gospel, trusting God to save souls for His kingdom and glory.

Bob