| A.D. |
Prediction
of Signs
|
| ~30 |
Prediction
of SignsMt.24, Mk.13, Lk.21
To some disciples Jesus presented a time frame in which the temple
would be torn down and He would return at the end of the age. In His time
frame, all these things would happen before their
generation passed away.
The Signs
The disciples will be arrested and brought to trial and be witnesses
to the governors and kings who persecute them. The gospel will
be preached throughout the world.
The beginning of birth pangs will be: false messiahs, wars, famines,
earthquakes, and terrors and signs from the heaven.
Lawlessness will increase. Christians will be hated. Many will turn
away from the faith and betray each other. Many believers will be put to
death. The one who endures to the end will be saved.
Jerusalem will be laid desolate: The abomination that causes desolation
will stand in the holy place. It will be dreadful. There will be great
distress. They would fall by the sword and be led captive into all the
nations.
The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the
stars will fall from the sky, the sea and waves will roar, and men will
be stricken with terror.
The Son of Man will come in the clouds and send forth His angels to
gather His elect.
All the above occurs to the generation
to which Jesus is speaking.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will never pass away.
|
|
All
Signs occurred in their generation: |
| 33 |
At
the Passover Feast Jesus told His APOSTLES He would ask the Father to given
THEM a Counselor, the Holy Spirit, after He was gone. The Councilor, the
Holy Spirit, would be with THEM, teach THEM all things and remind THEM
of everything Jesus said, and THEY would testify. (Jn.14:16,26;15:26;16:7) |
| 33 |
Crucifixion
of Christ |
| 33 |
Three
days later Christ appeared to the Apostles and others. He would send them
what the Father had promised and they would be clothed with power from
high. Repentance and forgiveness of sins would be preached in His name
to all nations beginning in Jerusalem. (Lk.24:47,49) When the Holy Spirit
came on the Apostles, they would receive power and be His witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. (Acts
1:8) |
| 33 |
The
APOSTLES received power when the Holy Spirit came upon them on the Day
of Pentecost. They then began witnessing
in Jerusalem. Later they went on to Judea and Samaria, and then to "the
remotest part of the earth." (Ro.1:8; 16:25-27; Acts 8:5; Col.1:23) |
| 33- |
The witnessing
also marked the beginning of persecution.
This persecution
continued throughout Paul's missionary journeys while he was
preaching the gospel throughout the world. (Acts 4-8,12,22-26,28,
2Cor.11:23-25) |
40-70
40~46
46~48
50
57
60:
61
66
44-70 |
Many
false prophets & deceivers:
Sorcerer in Samaria called the great Power of God. (Acts 8:9-11)
False prophet and
magician Bar-Jesus. (Acts 13:6-10)
False brethren were
among them. (Gal.2:40)
Many disguised themselves as apostles of Christ. (2Cor 11:12-15;26)
Many false prophets
were in the world. (1Jn.4:1)
Philosophy and empty deception
according to the tradition of the world was the elementary principle of
the world. (Col.2:8)
False prophets were
among them. (2Pe.2:1-3)
Great numbers of false
prophets and deceivers
were in the world. (Wars of the Jews (Josephus) II.XIII.4 (52-59), II.XIII.5;
VI.V.2) |
| 41~54 |
Famine
during the reign of Claudius (Acts 11:28) |
| 46-48 |
1st
missionary journey |
| 49-52 |
2nd
missionary journey |
| 53-57 |
3rd
missionary journey |
| 58 |
The
gospel had been made known to all nations and proclaimed in all creation
under heaven. (Ro.16:25-27; Col.1:23) Paul made this comment in
A.D.61 in his letter to the Romans after his missionary journeys. |
| 54-68 |
Plague
(Suetonius - The Twelve Caesars VI.39) |
| 62-73 |
Lawlessness
increased beginning in A.D.62. Peace and prosperity continued until A.D.62
when local government became blatantly corrupt. Houses were plundered,
citizens killed, villages set on fire, and robbers bailed out of prison
by politicians. (WJ:II.XIII.6) |
| 63 |
The
first sign of renewal of activity at Mt. Vesuvius was a severe earthquake
on February 5, A.D. 63. Earthquakes
continued intermittently for the next 16 years culminating with the eruption
of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. (VE:Ch.8) |
| 64-65 |
Christians
became hated. They turned away from the faith, betrayed each other and
were put to death. The fire Nero set in Rome was blamed on the Christians. The
Christians became a class hated for their abominations. They were hated,
arrested, tortured and put to death. (Annals 15:44 - Tacitus) |
| ~65 |
Terrors
& Signs from the heavens: A comet was seen for an entire year.
Chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor sere seen running about
among the clouds and surrounding the cities. WJ: VI.V.3; The Histories-Tacitus
V.13 |
| 67 |
Famine
in Gamala (WJ IV.I.7). |
| 65-73 |
Wars
& Rumors of Wars
Peace and prosperity ended in 65 when the Roman procurator Florus contrived
devious ways to excite the Jews to go to war. Many in Jerusalem were killed
and tortured and the Upper Market Place plundered. The Jewish Wars began
in 66 when rebellious Jews captured Masada and put the Romans there to
death. |
| 66 |
The
Jewish wars began.
Florus marched with his army against Jerusalem. He plundered the Upper
Market-place and killed 3,600 men, women and children. Some rebellious
Jews assaulted and captured the fortress of Masada, killing the Romans
there. Caesar's sacrificial gift to the Jews was rejected. (AJ:XX.XI.1;
WJ:II.XIV.4-9; II.XVII.2) |
| 66 |
The
Roman army commanded by the Roman general Cestius marched to Jerusalem
with the intent of besieging it. Inside the city, he attempted to break
into the temple at its northern quarter. The first rank of Romans rested
their shields upon that wall, at which time a great fear seized upon many,
who immediately ran out of the city. Cestius recalled his soldiers from
the place and retired from the city without any reason. (WJ:II.XIX.4-7)
The "many" seized by great fear who immediately ran out of the city were
following Jesus' command made 36 years earlier: When they saw
armies surround Jerusalem, when they saw the abomination of desolation
at the holy place, they were to drop everything and flee! |
| 68 |
Nero
died. |
| 69 |
Revelation
of Jesus Christ, given to John to show His servants what would soon take
place. |
| 69 |
The
armies of Parthia were being set in motion by a man believed to be a counterfeit
Nero. (Tacitus, The Histories, I.2; DR:LXVI) He was probably the
beast of Rv.13 who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was probably
the beast "was and is not and is about to come up out of the abyss." He
was probably the man of lawlessness of 2Thes.2. |
| 70 |
Prior
to the siege of Jerusalem, many died of famine when they were shut inside
the City on the Passover. They were surrounded by Roman troops. |
| 70 |
Jerusalem
and Herod's temple were destroyed in the Roman siege led by Titus. (WJ:VI.VIII-X) |
| 70 |
They
fell by the sword and were led captive to all nations. 1,100,000
perished. 97,000 were taken captive. Those under 17 were sent to the Egyptian
mines and the rest sent as presents to the provinces for shows in the theaters
where they were burned , killed by sword, by fighting wild beasts, and
fighting one another. |
| 73 |
The
Romans captured Masada, ending the Jewish wars. (WJ:VII.VIII,IX) |
| 66-73 |
The
time of tribulation
was the Jewish wars. Josephus said "the multitude of those that therein
perished exceeded all the destructions that either men or God brought upon
the world." |
| 75 |
The
100 foot high statue, "Colossus," was erected on the Sacred Way. It was
a mere image of Nero. (DR:LXV; The Epigrams of Martial, On the Spectacles,II;
Pliny the Elder, Natural History, XXXIV.43-45) |
| 79 |
Mt.
Vesuvius erupted on August 24, A.D. 79. (VE:CH.8)
This caused the waves
to roar all over the Mediterranean. The ash plume from the eruption
moving west to east caused the sun
to darken the moon to stop giving its light. All the stars to appeared
to fall from the sky. The appearance of falling stars was an optical
illusion caused by the movement of the ash plume. |
| 79 |
The
Son of Man came in the clouds for all to see. He sent His angels down to
gather His elect. 144,000 believers were "taken." They went to the
same place as Jesus and dead holy people before them who raised from their
graves to life and were taken up to heaven. (Mt.27:52-53) The secular people
left behind described
giants traversing the skies and the sound of a trumpet (Dio Cassius Bk.LXVI
section 22,23). Since John was the only disciple who remained to be
taken at this time, no disciples were left to record this event. John's
Revelation in A.D. 69 prerecorded many of these events which would take
place a few years in their near future, thus completing the biblical story
before they were all taken and while some were still around to write it.. |
| 79 |
All
signs described by Jesus happened to the generation
to which Jesus spoke some fifty years earlier. |
