Verses 4 and 5 say, “And Jesus answered and said to them, See that no one leads you astray. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and they shall lead many astray.” 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 a literal winter, but the summer in 24:32 is a symbol signifying the time of restoration. But the third section, concerning the Gentiles, should again be literally interpreted.
Some aspects of the prophecy in verses 4 through 14 have been fulfilled, and some will be in the process of being fulfilled until the time of the great tribulation, which will be the consummation, the end, of this age.
In verses 4 and 5 the Lord said that many deceivers would come in the name of Christ and lead many astray. History tells us that this has been so. Since the time that Christ ascended to the heavens, many have come claiming to be Christ.
Verse 6 says, “And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not disturbed; for these things must take place, but the end is not yet.” The wars here refer to all the wars from the first century to the present. They are signified by the red horse of the second seal in Revelation 6:3-4. Many wars have been fought in the region of the Mediterranean, the place where the good land is.
The “end” in verse 6 is the consummation of this age (v. 3; Dan. 12:4, 9, 6-7), which will be the three and a half years of the great tribulation. Remember, in these verses the Lord is giving the indicators of the end of this age.
Verse 7 says, “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and earthquakes in various places.” “Nation” refers to the peoples, the Gentiles, and “kingdom” refers to the empires. The rising of nation against nation, or people against people, refers to civil war, whereas the rising of kingdom against kingdom refers to international war. From the time of the Lord’s ascension there have been both civil war and international war. Moreover, there have been many famines, which are mostly the issue of war. According to history, war has always brought famine, signified by the black horse of the third seal in Revelation 6:5-6. For example, Germany was defeated in World War I because of the shortage of bread. Thus, the sequence is war, famine, and death.
The Lord also said that there would be earthquakes in various places. Since Christ’s ascension, earthquakes have been increasing throughout all the centuries and will be intensified at the end of this age (Rev. 6:12; 8:5; 11:13, 19; 16:18). It seems that each year there are more earthquakes than in the previous year.
In verse 8 the Lord said, “But all these things are the beginning of birth pangs.” This verse refers to the nation of Israel as a woman. The Jews, as God’s elect, will suffer birth pangs like a woman in travail to bring forth a remnant who will participate in the Messianic kingdom, the earthly section of the millennium. Then the nation of Israel will rejoice.
As we have seen, the Lord’s answer in chapters twenty-four and twenty-five is in three sections, the sections concerning the Jews, the church, and the Gentiles. On earth today there are these three categories of peoples. Thus, in order to give the disciples a full answer to their question, the Lord covers these three peoples in a good sequence, beginning with the Jews and then continuing with the church and the Gentiles. When the Lord spoke this prophecy, His audience, composed of the disciples, had a dual status. On the one hand, they were Jews; on the other hand, they were the disciples of Christ, the representatives of the church. Hence, the Lord spoke to them both about the Jews and about the church. However, we must be careful not to apply the verses in the section dealing with the Jews to the Christians in the church.
We have pointed out that the Lord’s word in the section concerning the Jews is a plain word and requires no interpretation. For example, when the Lord speaks of winter, He means a literal winter; and when He mentions the Sabbath, He is talking about an actual Sabbath. But the second section, the section concerning the church, requires a great deal of interpretation because in this section the Lord speaks in parables. In Matthew 13 we see that the church is a mystery. Thus, in order to preserve the mystery of the church, the Lord could not speak in plain words, but needed to speak in parables, which require interpretation. For example, the summer spoken of in this section is not an actual summer; rather, it is a symbol of the restored kingdom of the Jews. Likewise, the fig tree is a symbol of the nation of Israel, and the virgins are symbols of the believers. The third section, the section concerning the Gentiles, is spoken in plain words and does not require interpretation.
The section regarding the Jews is full of suffering because the nation of Israel is compared to a woman giving birth to a child. The process of delivering the child has gone on for nearly two thousand years. What a prolonged delivery! According to the Bible, this long delivery is a form of punishment to the woman. Thus, the nation of Israel, the woman delivering the child, is still suffering. Everything mentioned in verses 4 through 7 is the beginning of birth pangs, not the actual sufferings. The time of suffering will be the great tribulation spoken of in verse 21. Hence, the sufferings in verses 4 through 7 are not the great tribulation, but the beginning of birth pangs. Throughout the centuries, the Lord has dealt with the Jews in a sovereign way. Nevertheless, the Jews have passed through one suffering after another. Even today, the nation of Israel is suffering. Many Arab countries are opposing her.
Although the nation of Israel has been in the process of delivering a child for such a long time, the child still has not come forth. This child will be the remnant of Israel that will be saved and restored. The nation of Israel today has not come up to God’s intention. Some of us visited Israel this year; the sin, immorality, and superstition we saw there were disgusting. The Bible prophesied that the Jews would return to the good land in unbelief. Nevertheless, the Lord will take care of them.