Olivet Discourse

In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Jesus spoke this discourse to his disciples privately on the Mount of Olives,[6] opposite the Temple. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus taught over a period of time in the Temple and stayed at night on the Mount of Olives.[7] The discourse is widely believed by scholars to contain material delivered on a variety of occasions.[4] The setting on the Mount of Olives echoes a passage in the Book of Zechariah which refers to the location as the place where a final battle would occur between the Jewish Messiah and his opponents.

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem, by David Roberts (1850).

According to the narrative of the synoptic Gospels, an anonymous disciple remarks on the greatness of Herod's Temple.[8] Jesus responds that not one of those stones would remain intact in the building, and the whole thing would be reduced to rubble.[9]

The disciples asked Jesus, "When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus first warns them about things that would happen:[9]

• Some would claim to be Christ (see also Antichrist).
• There would be wars and rumours of wars.

Then Jesus identifies "the beginnings of birth pangs":[9]

• Nations rising up against nations, and kingdoms against kingdoms.
• Earthquakes
• Famines
• Pestilence
• Fearful events

Next he described more birth pangs which would lead to the coming Kingdom:[9]

• False prophets
• Apostasy
• Persecution of the followers of Jesus
• The spread of Jesus' message (the gospel) around the world

Jesus then warned the disciples about the abomination of desolation "standing where it does not belong".

After Jesus described the "abomination that causes desolation", he warns that the people of Judea should flee to the mountains as a matter of such urgency that they shouldn't even return to get things from their homes. Jesus also warned that if it happened in winter or on the Sabbath fleeing would be even more difficult. Jesus described this as a time of "Great Tribulation" worse than anything that had gone before.

Jesus then states that immediately after the time of tribulation people would see a sign, "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken".^{[Matt. 24:29–30] [Joel. 3:15]}

The statements about the sun and moon turning dark sound quite apocalyptic, as it appears to be a quote from the Book of Isaiah.^{[Isa. 13:10]} The description of the sun, moon and stars going dark is also used elsewhere in the Old Testament. Joel wrote that this would be a sign before the great and dreadful Day of the Lord.^{[Joel 2:30–31]} The Book of Revelation also mentions the sun and moon turning dark during the sixth seal of the seven seals, but the passage adds more detail than the previous verses mentioned.^{[Rev. 6:12–17]}

Within conservative, evangelical Christian thought, two opposite viewpoints have been expressed in a debate between theologians Kenneth L. Gentry and Thomas Ice.[3]^:197–99

Tribulation as a past event (Dr. Gentry)

• The Great Tribulation occurred during the 1st century.
• Those events marked the end of God's focus on and exaltation of Israel.
• Jesus' prophecies marked the beginning of the Christian era in God's plan.
• The Tribulation is God's judgment on Israel for rejecting the Messiah.
• The Tribulation judgments will be centred on local events surrounding ancient Jerusalem, and also somewhat affecting other portions of the former Roman Empire.
• The Tribulation judgments are governed by Jesus as the Christ to reflect his judgment against Israel, thus showing that he is in heaven controlling those events.

Tribulation as a future event (Dr. Ice)

• The Great Tribulation is still to come and is rapidly approaching prospect.
• Those events marked the beginning of God's focus on and exaltation of Israel.
• The prophecy says the Christian era will be concluded just after the church is taken from the world.
• Rather than being God's judgment on Israel, it is the preparation of Israel to receive her Messiah.
• The judgments involve catastrophes that literally will affect the stellar universe and impact the entire planet.
• The coming of Christ in the Tribulation requires his public, visible and physical presence to conclude those judgments.

In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus states that after the time of tribulation and the sign of the Sun, Moon, and stars going dark the Son of Man would be seen arriving in the clouds with power and great glory. The Son of Man would be accompanied by the angels and at the trumpet call the angels would "gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other".(Matthew 24:31)

Although most scholars, and almost all Christians, read this as meaning that the gathering would include people not only from Earth but also from heaven, a few Christians, mostly modern American Protestant Premillennialists,[10] have interpreted it to mean that people would be gathered from Earth and taken to heaven—a concept known in their circles as the rapture. Most scholars see this as a quotation of a passage from the Book of Zechariah in which God (and the contents of heaven in general) are predicted to come to Earth and live among the elect, who by necessity are gathered together for this purpose.^{[Zech. 2:10]}

The Idealist (timeless) sees no evidence of timing of prophetic events in the Bible. Thus they conclude that their timing cannot be determined in advance. Idealists see prophetic passages as being of great value in teaching truths about God to be applied to present life.

Idealism is primarily associated with liberal scholarship, and is not a major factor in current evangelical Christian deliberation over when prophecy will be fulfilled.[3]

Preterism[3] considers that most, if not all, prophecy has been fulfilled already, usually in relation to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70CE.

• Partial preterism says that most (but not all) Bible prophecy, including everything within Matthew 24, Daniel, and Revelation up to chapters 19 or 20, has already been fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed.[17] Since it still includes belief in a future physical Second Coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the last judgment, partial preterism falls within the parameters of orthodoxy because it conforms to the early Christian creeds.
• Full preterism says all biblical prophecy was fulfilled by 70CE. It does not hold to a future judgment, return of Christ, or resurrection of the dead (at least not for non-Christians). Due to the belief that all biblical prophecy has been fulfilled, it is sometimes considered "radical" and usually described as "unorthodox" because it goes against the ecumenical creeds of early Christianity.

Historicism considers that most prophecy has been or will be fulfilled during the present church age. It was the chief view of Protestants from the Reformation until the mid-19th century. Only among Seventh-day Adventists is historicism applied to current conservative Christian interpretation of Tribulation understanding.[3]

Futurism typically holds that all major unfulfilled prophecies will be fulfilled during a global time of catastrophe and war known as the Great Tribulation, in which many other prophecies will be fulfilled during or after the Millennium Reign of Jesus Christ. According to many futurists, many predictions are currently being fulfilled during the Church Age, in which lawlessness and apostasy are currently plaguing secular society. This is seen as a major sign of the approaching fulfillment of all other prophecies during the Tribulation. Within evangelical Christianity over the past 150 years, futurism has come to be the dominant view of prophecy. However, around the 1970s evangelical preterism—the polar opposite of futurism—was seen as a new challenge to the dominance of futurism, particularly within the Reformed tradition. Yet, futurism continues as the prevalent view for the time being.[3]^:p.7

Futurists anticipate many coming events that will fulfill all eschatological prophecy: the seven-year period of tribulation, the Antichrist's global government[18] the Battle of Armageddon, the Second Coming of Jesus, the millennial reign of Christ, the eternal state, and the two resurrections.

• In his popular book, The Late Great Planet Earth, first published in 1970, evangelical Christian author Hal Lindsey argued that prophetical information in Matthew 24 indicates that the “generation” witnessing the “rebirth of Israel” is the same generation that will observe the fulfillment of the “signs” referred to in Matthew 24:1-33—and that would be consummated by the second coming of Christ in approximately 1988. He dated it from the “rebirth of Israel” in 1948, and took a generation to be “something like forty years. ”[19] Lindsey later stretched his forty-year timetable to as long as one hundred years, writing that he was no longer certain that the terminal "generation" commenced with the rebirth of Israel.[20]
• Another detailed analysis, one written by evangelical pastor Ray Stedman, calls it the "Olivet Prophecy: The most detailed prediction in the Bible". According to Stedman: "There are many predictive passages in both the Old and New Testaments, but none is clearer or more detailed than the message Jesus delivered from the Mount of Olives. This message was given during the turbulent events of the Lord's last week before the cross".[15]