Before we begin it would be prudent to keep in mind that as far as the Scripture goes the following applies..."All Scripture is for us, but not all Scripture is about us". Throughout the New Testament there are three people groups, Israel, the Church and the Gentiles. Like everywhere else in the Bible one must determine who is speaking, and to whom at a minimum. We also need to keep in mind what had been revealed to the apostles and believers in general at that point when the passage was spoken. Christ is the one speaking, the apostles are the audience, the Church is not an entity yet as Pentecost has not occurred bringing the birth of the Church, and the Rapture has not be revealed to Paul yet (he was still a "bad guy" at this point). Furthermore the implications of the audience is being the nation of Israel itself.

With that being said let us consider the events leading up to the Olivet Discourse. Christ and the apostles were leaving the Temple and they were marveling over it and trying to "show it off" to Christ. Needless to say He was not impressed and replied "See ye not all these things?...There shall not be left one stone upon another..." (Matt 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6). Next is the reason for the teaching involved in the Olivet Discourse....several questions were then posed by the apostles. Arguably there were five questions posed by the apostles (by viewing the texts it seems to be five)

1) When shall these things be?
2) What shall be the sign of thy coming?
3) What shall be the sign of the end of the world?
4) What shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?
5) What sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?

Questions 3, 4 and 5 could be generally understood as the same.

The first question (#1) was the apostles question regarding the destruction of the Temple which we know occurred in 70AD. Basing things solely on the texts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Christ does answer the question in Luke 21:20-24 (we will go into more detail about this later) when discussing the abomination of desolation. The second question, "..sign of thy coming" specifically is answered in Matthew 24:30. Of note here is that the Gospels themselves only provide part of the picture, Scripture itself, as a whole, must be viewed to understand all the "signs of the times.. As for the remaining three, He answers throughout the passages.

The Beginning

The first section of the prophecy regarding the end is Matt 24:5-7; Mark 13:5-8; and Luke 21:8-11. When you view these passages you will not an order to things and many specific events and warnings. First, the arrival of false Christs. Next, wars and rumors of wars. Then we see famines, pestilences and earthquakes.

If you turn to Revelation and read Rev 6:1-8 and view the events and results of the four horseman of the apocalypse you will note that they bring in the same thing in the same order. First, the revealing of the antichrist (Rev 6:2; 2 Thess 2:6-8) at the first seal. Next comes the red horse, war (Rev 6:4) followed by the black horse (Rev 6:5) who brings famine, and finally the pale horse (Rev 6:7) who brings pestilences and death. Jumping ahead to the 6th seal we see a huge earthquake (Rev 6:12). Christ, who is God, who knows the end from the beginning is perfectly capable of knowing these things. He is capable of revealing them here in the Gospels initially and in detail to John in Revelation.

In Matt 24:8, Christ adds that these things (vv 5-7) are the forerunners of things to come. I'd like to take a moment to comment on these first seal judgments. In conjunction with this it should be noted that all of these things have increased since the time of Christ as if gathering momentum for the end of days. These types of events will culminate with the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and will peak to the most extreme of levels. According to Revelation 6:8 one fourth of the population of the earth will die as a result of these first four judgments...think about it, 1.575 BILLION people will be killed by the horsemen.

And it continues...

The next section of the prophecy regarding the end is Matt 24:9-13; Mark 13:9-13; and Luke 21:12-19. This aligns with the fifth seal judgment of Revelation (Rev 6:9)

Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

In the first half of the Tribulation, the forces of evil will try to waylay the spreading of the truth and mislead people during the Tribulation (2 Thess 2:10-11). The one world end time religion (Mystery Babylon, Rev 17) will give rise to increased persecution and martyrdom of Christians and increased anti-semitism. During the first half of the Tribulation the apostate church, Mystery Babylon will introduce heresy but will be seen as enlightenment. Pluralism, idolatry and more will find it's way into their doctrine further emboldening the actions against intolerant Christians (those who come to Christ during the Tribulation) and Jews.

**Note: Those who figure out the truth will be awakened at the Rapture and "catch fire" and spread the Gospel lending credence in part to Mark 13:10. In the Gospels, Christ predicted the martyrdom of those saints during the Tribulation that would come at the hands of the apostate church and the antichrist.

A great revival

Matt 24:14 and Mark 13:10 both are discussing the same thing. The Gospel being preached to the ends of the earth. Rev 7:1-17 provides us with the vehicle by which this will occur:

Rev 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

So we have these 144,000 servants...what is their purpose? what is the outcome of that purpose?

Rev 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

So amongst the trials, persecution, martyrdom, we see yet again another example of God's love for us and His desire that none should perish. Through the work of these servants many will be saved out of the Tribulation.

In sum...the first half of the Tribulation

As we finish up to this point we see that the opening verses do indeed seem to align with the first half of the Tribulation period as laid out in detail in the book of Revelation. No, Christ did not provide as much detail as He provides to John later, but the need was not there yet. So far he is not discussing the Church, as it is not in existence yet.

With that, if you so choose to print out the associated file, please feel free to go through and check the references and the complete synchronicity of the Olivet Discourse and Revelation. Part II will pick up with Matt 24:15 and continue on.

Thank you.