During His earthly ministry the Lord Jesus prophesied the things to come and His coming back (Matt. 24:3- 25:36). In verse 3 of Matthew 24 the disciples asked Him, “When shall these things be, and what is the sign of Your coming and of the consummation of the age?” The Lord’s answer is of three sections: the first section (24:4-31) concerns the Jews who are the elect; the second (24:32-25:30) concerns the church; and the third (25:31-46) concerns the Gentiles (the nations). The first section, concerning the Jews, should be literally interpreted, whereas the second section, concerning the church, should be spiritually interpreted because it is spoken in parables for the reason given in 13:11-13. For instance, the winter in 24:20 is an actual winter, but the summer in 24:32 is a symbol signifying the time of restoration. The third section, concerning the Gentiles, should also be literally interpreted.
The prophecy in 24:4-14 covers the time from Christ’s ascension to the end of the age. Some aspects of this prophecy have been fulfilled, and some are in the process of being fulfilled, until the time of the great tribulation, which will be the consummation, the end, of the age. The end spoken of in verse 6 is the consummation of the age (Dan. 12:4, 9, 6-7), which will be the three and a half years of the great tribulation.
Matthew 24:14 says, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end shall come.” The emphasis of the gospel of the kingdom is the heavenly ruling of God and the authority of the Lord. The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole earth for a testimony to all the nations before the end of this age comes. This testimony must spread to the whole earth before the end of this age, the time of the great tribulation. The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, therefore, will be a sign of the consummation of the age.
In 24:15-31 the Lord prophesies concerning the great tribulation (vv. 15-26), His coming to the earth (vv. 27-30), and the gathering of Israel (v. 31). How long the period of time will be for verses 4 through 14 no one knows. But the prophecy in verses 15 through 31 concerning the remnant of the Jews will definitely be fulfilled in the last three and a half years of this age, the time of the great tribulation, the second half of the last week prophesied in Daniel 9:27, beginning with the setting up of Antichrist’s image (the idol) in the temple (Matt. 24:15) and ending with Christ’s coming.
In Matthew 24:27 the Lord says, “As the lightning comes forth from the east and shines to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.” The second coming of Christ has two aspects: one is the secret aspect toward His watchful believers; the other is the open aspect toward the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles. The lightning signifies the open aspect after the great tribulation (v. 29), whereas the thief’s coming in verse 43 signifies the secret aspect before the great tribulation.
In verse 31 the Lord goes on to say of Himself as the Son of Man, “He shall send His angels with a loud trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the extremities of the heavens to their extremities.” After the great tribulation, at His coming back to earth, the Lord will gather together the scattered Jews from all parts of the earth to the holy land.
After prophesying concerning Israel, the Lord Jesus goes on in 24:32-25:30 to prophesy concerning the church. He charges the believers to watch and be ready (vv. 32-44) and to be faithful and prudent (vv. 45-51). In verses 37 and 38 He explains that the coming, the parousia, of the Son of Man will be as the days of Noah. This means that during the Lord’s parousia people will be befuddled by the necessities of life and not know that God’s judgment will come upon them by Christ’s coming. The believers, however, should soberly know that Christ is coming to execute God’s judgment upon this corrupted world. Furthermore, as verses 40 and 41 indicate, while the worldly people are befuddled by material things, with no sense of the coming judgment, some of the sober and watchful believers will be taken away. This should be a sign of Christ’s coming to the befuddled and senseless people. The Lord Jesus will come secretly as a thief to those who love Him (v. 43) and will take them away as His treasures.
In 25:1-30 the Lord continues His prophecy concerning the church with a parable for watchfulness (vv. 1-13) and a parable for faithfulness (vv. 14-30). Whereas the oil in the parable of the virgins signifies the Spirit of God, the talents in verse 15 signify spiritual gifts (Eph. 4:8; Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:4; 1 Pet. 4:10; 2 Tim. 1:6). For life we need oil, the Spirit of God, even His fullness, that we may be enabled to live the virgin life for the Lord’s testimony. For service, for work, we need the talent, the spiritual gift that we may be equipped as a good slave for the Lord’s accomplishment. The fullness of the Spirit in life is for us to use the spiritual gift in service, and the spiritual gift in service matches the fullness of the Spirit in life that we may be a perfect member of Christ.
Matthew 25:19 says, “After a long time the lord of those slaves comes and settles accounts with them.” This “long time” signifies the entire church age, and “comes” signifies Christ’s coming to the air (1 Thes. 4:16) in His parousia. “Settles accounts” signifies the Lord’s judgment at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:10), where the believers’ life, conduct, and work will be judged for reward or punishment (1 Cor. 4:5; Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:12; 1 Cor. 3:13-15).
Finally, in 25:31-46 Christ prophesies of His coming in relation to the nations. Verse 31 says, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He shall sit on His throne of glory.” This refers to the open aspect of Christ’s coming. It will be the continuation of His coming mentioned in 24:30.
Matthew 25:32 continues, “All the nations shall be gathered before Him, and He shall separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” “All the nations” refer to all the Gentiles who will be left at Christ’s coming back to the earth after He destroys those Gentiles who follow Antichrist at Armageddon (Rev. 16:14, 16; 19:11-15, 19-21). They will all be gathered and judged at Christ’s throne of glory. This will be Christ’s judgment on the living before the millennium (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1), differing from His judgment on the dead at the great white throne after the millennium (Rev. 20:1-15). Christ’s judgment of the living Gentiles will occur after His judgment on the believers at His judgment seat in the air. After the judgment at Christ’s throne of glory, the sheep will be transferred into the millennium to be the people under the kingly ruling of Christ and the overcomers (Rev. 2:26-27; 12:5; 20:4-6) and under the priestly ministry of the saved Jews (Zech. 8:20-23). The “goats” will perish in the lake of fire (v. 41).
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