The Sabbath-School by Ellet Joseph Waggoner

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 24, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 28.

The Sabbath-School.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST—AUG. 9.

What did Jesus say to his disciples as they were at one time pointing out the splendor of the temple? Matt. 24:1, 2.
What questions did they ask him? Verse 3.
Did he rebuke them for making such an inquiry? Verse 4.
Why were they to be so careful? Verse 5.
Did the Lord encourage his disciples to expect his coming immediately? Verse 6.
What terrible things did he say must first come? Verse 7.
Would these calamities indicate that the end was at hand? Verse 8.
What else did he say must be done before the end would come? Verse 14.
When did he say that those which were in Judea should flee to the mountains? Verses 15, 16.
What is meant by the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place? Luke 21:20, 21.
When they saw Jerusalem surrounded with armies, what were they to know? Id.
Then to what did Jesus have reference in Matt. 24:15?
What had Jesus, on a previous occasion, said should take place at the end of the world? Matt. 13:40-43.
At the destruction of Jerusalem did the angels cast all that did iniquity into a furnace of fire?
Were the righteous made to shine as the sun in the kingdom of God?
Then can it be that the destruction of Jerusalem was the "end" to which Christ and the apostles referred?
To what did he say his coming would be similar? Matt. 24:27.
Following the destruction of Jerusalem, what did he say there would be? Verse 21.
How great would the tribulation be?
What would be the result, if those days were not shortened? Verse 22.
For whose sake were they to be shortened? Id.
If some of the elect were to be saved in consequence of the shortening of those days of trouble, who were they that were to suffer that great tribulation?
Who were meant by "the elect"? Acts 10:35.
What were the people of God commanded to do when they saw that the destruction of Jerusalem was near? Luke 21:20, 21.
If all the Christians left Jerusalem before it was destroyed, could any of them have suffered in the siege?
Then can the tribulation of Matt. 24:21, 22 be limited to that at the destruction of Jerusalem?
Was a time of trouble for the saints of God foretold in prophecy? Dan. 7:25.

IN the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew two subjects are considered,—the destruction of Jerusalem, and the coming of the Lord. Concerning these two events only one point is considered, namely, time. There was no question as to whether those things would occur, for Christ had already assured them of that fact; but the question is, "When shall these things be?" It is this question that our Saviour answers in the discourse that follows. Incidentally, it is true, he imparts additional information concerning those events; but the main point in the chapter is to settle the time of their occurrence.

ALTHOUGH the discourse relates to time, no attempt is made to fix the exact date of either event. Concerning the destruction of Jerusalem he says (we quote the parallel passage in Luke 21:20): "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." This is as definitely as that event is located. The disciples are informed as to the events that will show it to be imminent, so that they can escape before the ruin comes. So likewise concerning the coming of the Lord. After relating certain signs, to be considered in detail hereafter, he says: "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." Matt. 24:33.

It is popularly supposed that if all men are not ultimately converted, the gospel will have proved to be a failure. This would indeed be the case if it were anywhere stated that the gospel was designed to accomplish the conversion of all men. The trouble is that men make the mistake of expecting more of the gospel than the Lord ever said it would do. He said (Matt. 24:14) that it should be preached in all the world for a witness. Now a witness may testify against a man as well as for him. The work of a true witness is not to favor any one, but to tell the exact truth and let that justify or condemn, according to circumstances. James said that God visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. Acts 15:14. God was perfectly willing and anxious that all should be converted, yet at the same time he knew that many would remain stubborn and rebellious. If all men are permitted to hear the gospel in its purity, then the gospel will have accomplished its work. It is a witness to all men; to some it will prove a savor of life unto life; to others, a savor of death unto death. 2 Cor. 2:14-16.

"THIs gospel of the kingdom." In these words the gospel in its entirety is brought to view. The Lord was speaking about his coming, and when he said, "this gospel of the kingdom," he evidently meant the gospel which proclaims his coming to set up his kingdom. And this is the gospel itself; for the gospel is the good news of salvation; it brings to view the plan by which condemned rebels may be saved from death, and converted into loyal subjects of the kingdom of Heaven. But, as we have already seen, the final salvation of man depends upon the coming of Christ. None are saved until the Lord comes for them. To leave the coming of the Lord out of any preaching of the gospel would be to deprive it of all its force. So we say that the preaching of the gospel includes the announcement that the Lord is coming. The gospel is not complete without this. And therefore it is not enough that all nations have heard of Christ; they must also hear of his second coming in glory to save his people, and must have an opportunity to learn of the special preparation necessary to fit them for the event. When this shall have been done, then the end will come, as stated in Matt. 24:14.

WHATEVER idea may have been in the minds of the disciples when they asked the question recorded in Matt. 24:3, it is certain that Jesus made a wide distinction between his coming and the destruction of Jerusalem. Christ had previously said (Matt. 13:36-43), that in the end of the world he would send forth his angels to gather out the wicked and cast them into a furnace of fire, and that the righteous should then shine forth as the sun. This did not occur at the destruction of Jerusalem. Again, we have learned (1 Thess. 4:15-17) that the Lord himself shall descend, and that the righteous dead shall be raised. This was not the case at the destruction of Jerusalem. More than all, in the Revelation, which was written more than twenty years after the destruction of Jerusalem, and in John's Gospel, which was written still later, the coming of the Lord is spoken of as an event then in the future. And, finally, Christians are taught, both by Christ and by his apostles, to look for the coming of the Lord as the consummation of all their hopes; they are taught that they cannot be with him unless he comes again. Now if Christ's coming is in the past, Christians at the present day have nothing to look forward to. But our faith is not in vain, for our King is yet to come with his reward.

"For there shall be great tribulation." When? Following the destruction of Jerusalem. To whom was the trouble to come? Upon the people of God. This is proved by verse 22:

"For the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." The elect are the beloved of the Lord, those who serve him. Now if the elect were saved from utter extermination only by the shortening of the trouble, then it follows that the trouble was upon the people of God. And this is proof that the destruction of Jerusalem is not referred to in the passage, for before that city was destroyed, the disciples, in accordance with the Lord's instruction in Matt. 24:15, 16, had fled. When the final siege came, there were none of the disciples of Christ in the city. The tribulation referred to in verses 21, 22, must therefore refer to something besides the destruction of Jerusalem.

IT is a fact that the early Christians did suffer very much from pagan persecutions; but these cannot be all the tribulation referred to, for the promise that certain days should be shortened, indicates that the Saviour had in mind a definite period, during the greater part of which his followers should suffer grievous persecution. This fact is plainly stated in Mark's account, where he says: "But in those days, after that tribulation." Mark 13:24. The question then arises, To what period of persecution did Christ refer?

IN the book of Daniel we have two times of trouble brought to view. One is mentioned in chap. 12:1, but that trouble must be for the wicked, for God's people are to be delivered from it. In Dan. 7:25, however, we read of a certain power that "he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws." The term "wear out" is very forcible, indicating slow but sure extermination by torture. The time allotted to this work was "a time and times and the dividing of time," a definite period. This, then, must be the tribulation to which the Saviour referred as coming upon his people,—a tribulation that failed to entirely "wear out" or exterminate its victims only because it was cut short. E. J. W.