Jesus’ Response: General Preliminary Signs — Part 1

The Scriptures teach a simple prophetic framework that encourages us to fulfill the Great Commission: to make disciples of all nations in this age. We’re making incremental progress toward the goal of discovering that framework. Our starting point is the Olivet Discourse, where a simple, understandable conversation occurs. Jesus says that no stone in the temple would remain intact (Matt 24:1–2). In response, the disciples ask when this event would occur and the signs that would precede it. 

I will use a well-established principle to explain Jesus’ response: the author’s (or speaker’s) subject must govern our interpretation of the individual elements in a passage. In the Olivet Discourse, the issue Jesus has in mind is the temple’s fall, and we must interpret his reply to the disciples’ questions considering that fact.

Earlier I said that the Lord answers the sign question first (Matt 24:4–31). I will divide his signs into three groups: (1) preliminary signs (Matt 24:4–14), (2) a later sign (Matt 24:15–26), and (3) immediate signs that pertain to the temple’s fall (Matt 24:27–31).

I call the first set of signs preliminary because Jesus said they would not mean the temple was about to fall, ending the Mosaic age. He said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Matt 24:6).

Jesus makes an obvious progression as he gives these preliminary signs, first listing general signs, then mentioning specific ones that would affect the disciples and their ministry. His four general signs are (1) religious deceivers, (2) social unrest, (3) physical disturbances, and (4) prophetic birth pains. The first three signs could occur in any generation without fulfilling specific prophecies. However, in this context, they combine to form the messianic “birth pains” the prophets had described in ancient times.

This post will describe the first two of these general signs.

Religious Deceivers

The first sign involves religious deception: 

Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” (Matt 24:4–5)

Religious deceivers had plagued Israel throughout her history: Balaam, the for-hire prophet, had caused the people to sin through wicked counsel (Num 31:16). False prophets had assured Israel that God would not judge her covenant unfaithfulness. Jeremiah had complained about such deceivers when he announced God’s soon-coming judgment of Israel at the hands of the Babylonians:

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” And the LORD said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.” (Jer 14:13–14)

That religious deception would exist before the temple fell would be nothing new; it would not show that the end of the Mosaic age had arrived.¹

Non-biblical sources confirm that great religious deception occurred between AD 30, when Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse, and AD 70, the date of the temple’s fall. In Rome, the city leaders thought a Samaritan named Simon was a god because of his magic tricks. They built a statue to honor him with the inscription, “To Simon the holy God.”²

Such deception happened in Israel, too. The Jews expected the Messiah to appear and thought He would perform great signs. When they rejected Jesus, God seems to have given them over to a depraved mind that would believe deceptive signs. A man named Theudas, during the time of Claudius Caesar, persuaded many Jews to follow him. He promised to divide the Jordan River by commanding it to let them pass through.

Luke mentions another deceiver, an Egyptian who stirred up a rebellion and “led four thousand assassins into the wilderness” (Acts 21:37).

We can confirm the fulfillment of this sign, but it was not a sign that the temple was about to fall.

Social Unrest

The same thing is true of the Lord’s next sign. Jesus says, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars.… For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matt 24:6–7a).

I omitted some of Jesus’ words to emphasize the above point: these signs are not signs of the end of the Mosaic age and the temple’s fall. Speaking of religious deceptions and social unrest, Jesus says, “See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Matt 24:6).

We know that Zealots and other radical Jewish groups stirred up rebellions against Rome during this period. Tens of thousands of people perished in these commotions. As the time for the temple to fall approached, the intensity of the social unrest increased. Political turmoil rocked the Roman Empire after Nero committed suicide in AD 68. Galba followed him as emperor, only to be murdered by Otho in January AD 69. Otho committed suicide in April AD 69 after Vitellus challenged him for the throne. A mob killed Vitellus in December AD 69, allowing Vespasian to ascend the throne and stabilize the Empire.

The temple fell in AD 70 during Vespasian’s reign after this period of unrest. Still, none of these signs pointed to that event.

Conclusion

Jesus said these two signs—religious deceivers and social unrest—would occur before the temple fell but would not mean the end of the Mosaic age was near. He was not describing the end of the church age, the final days of history, or the collapse of the cosmos.

In our next post, we will (D. V.) look at the next two general signs 

1. The image in this post is Peter’s conflict with Simon Magus by Avanzino Nucci, 1620. Simon is on the right, wearing black. The file is here and is in the public domain (PD-US).
2. Justin Martyr, “The First Apology of Justin,” in The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, eds. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, vol. 1, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 171.