Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception. Jesus warns that many will come in His name and deceive many. False prophets and teachers will arise. They will sound spiritual, but their message will lead people away from the truth. We guard our hearts by knowing Scripture, seeking God daily, and testing every voice. When we live in the Word, the Spirit alerts our conscience, and we can stand firm even as rumors, fears, and pressures increase.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
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Scriptures used in this lesson:
Matthew 24:1–2, Matthew 23:38, Matthew 23:13, Matthew 23:33–35, Matthew 23:36, Matthew 24:37, Matthew 24:38, Matthew 24:1, Matthew 24:2, Mark 13:1–2, Luke 21:5–7, Matthew 24:3, Mark 13:3, Matthew 23:38, Matthew 24:1–2, Matthew 24:2, Luke 21:5–7, Genesis 1:1–3, Genesis 2:15–17, Genesis 9:12–13, 1 Corinthians 15:52–54, Revelation 10:5–6, Hebrews 13:20, 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, Acts 14:22, Ephesians 5:27, Matthew 3:2, Mark 1:15, 1 Corinthians 15:45, Matthew 24:4–5,10, Matthew 24:11, Revelation 12:9, Revelation 13:1–2, Revelation 13:11, Revelation 13:15–16, Revelation 16:13, Philippians 3:2, Jude 1:4,
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Introduction to Matthew 24 Study
Matthew 24 is tough teaching, and I know that. These are passages many avoid, and sometimes it feels like even angels fear to tread here. Often, I am not sure how to say what needs to be said. I may say things I have never heard anyone else say, and I do not know how it will sound or how it will affect you or me. So I have to trust the Lord and rely on the Spirit to tear down what is not good and plant what is.
Today, we are beginning to look at Matthew 24. I am hoping to get through verse 15. That verse says that when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, those in Judea should flee to the mountains. That is where we are aiming in this study, and we will walk through it carefully together.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
A New Perspective on Matthew 24
I want you to see that I am not the only one seeing these things. Many of us are starting to see Matthew 24 a little differently than what our fathers taught us. This began in me several months ago while we were teaching church history. Something in Matthew 24 suddenly opened up to me. I noticed the stars falling and the moon not giving its light in a new way. That stirred me to study, to seek the Lord, and to ask for wisdom and revelation. Other elders began to share similar insights, and that encouraged me. So what I am sharing with you today is what I have learned over the last six months.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Because of this, I no longer read commentaries the same way. When I go to a commentary now, I look for something that truly feeds me and takes me beyond the usual explanations. That is the kind of material I have put into these notes for you. With that in mind, let me read the introduction and get started.
Fear of the Great Tribulation
We have been programmed to fear the Great Tribulation. Many of you would agree with that. We have been taught that all the calamities and plagues in Revelation will one day fall on the earth. That kind of teaching implies that we cannot really trust God to protect us. It suggests we are not sure we could die for Him and for our faith. That may sound radical, but it helps explain why the idea of a rapture has appealed to us.
Think back about three years. At that time, some of you might not have trusted God to protect you. You might not have been ready to lay down your life for Jesus Christ. I believe God is bringing a people past that point now. I know I have grown more in the last three to five years than in all my Christian walk before. Also, I could lay down my life for Him now. There was a time when the rapture sounded very good, and in some ways it still does. But that was not the mentality of the first-century believer.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Fear grips us. But God did not give us that spirit of fear; someone else did (2 Timothy 1:7) -The devil and the flesh.
Purpose and Scope of the Study
The purpose of today’s study is to show that Matthew 24 and much of Revelation were written primarily about the great tribulation of A.D. 70. That does not mean there is nothing in them for us today. When I teach a passage, I may treat it as directed to a specific group of people at a particular time, as I believe this one was. Yet I still look for truths and principles to apply to my own life.
Take the book of Ephesians as an example. It was written to the believers in Ephesus. But we all know that its teaching still speaks to the church today. In the same way, Matthew 24 can be both historically specific and spiritually useful for us now.
However, it can be applied to our Church. Matthew 24 was written to people about 2,000 years ago, but I still believe it offers principles for today. Through it, I can learn more about who God is and how He brings judgment. I can also watch what He is doing in our day by looking at how He acted then.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Hard Questions About Trust and Rapture
As I write this, I have to ask some hard questions. Can we trust God to protect us today? Could we really lay down our lives for Him? Could we actually die for Him if it came to that? Where is the wider church on this issue? Is this hunger for escape, for a rapture, rooted in fear and a lack of trust? In this study, we will look at more Scripture than usual, and I will quote from several books and authors I believe will help us gain insight. I want to keep two main thoughts in mind as we go.
First, I believe the great tribulation spoken of in Matthew 24 occurred in A.D. 70, with the fall of Jerusalem. Second, where I stand right now in my walk with Christ, I believe the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 is the key that unlocks the book of Revelation. That is my present conviction. I even said something like this to Judy a few months ago, and she asked if I was sure.
She reminded me that I was once just as firm about the earth being blown up and destroyed. But I feel more settled now than I did then. I believe I have more understanding. As we go on, I think you will begin to see what I am trying to express, even though our time is limited and my words can feel inadequate. I am trusting the Spirit to help us.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
The Six Discourses in Matthew
Matthew’s chapters 24 and 25 form a single discourse, an extended teaching. This is the sixth and final major discourse of Jesus in this Gospel. The first was the Sermon on the Mount, in chapters 5-7. The second was the charge to the twelve to preach the kingdom in chapter 10. The third was the kingdom parables in chapter 13. The fourth focused on kindness and forgiveness in chapter 18. The fifth was the series of woes against the scribes and Pharisees, which we studied last week. Now we are beginning to look at the sixth and final discourse of Jesus Christ.
The longest discourse Jesus gives in Matthew is the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5, 6, and 7. The second longest is the one we are studying now in chapters 24 and 25. This teaching focuses on the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of that age. That makes it very important. The space the Holy Spirit gives a subject in Scripture reveals its significance.
Let me give you a simple outline of Matthew 24. First, there is the question the disciples ask. Second, there is the beginning of sorrows. Third, there is the great tribulation. Fourth, there are the signs of His coming. Fifth, there are lessons from the fig tree. Sixth, there is the call to be ready like Noah. Seventh, there is the call to be faithful like the servant.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
The Setting: Temple and Desolation
It all begins with a question. Jesus left the temple after blasting the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23. Jesus told them, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matthew 23:38).
“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:1–2, KJV)
The disciples point out the buildings to Him. He answered by saying that not one stone will be left on another. Everything will be thrown down.
It was Tuesday of Passover week. In just a couple of days, the Lord Jesus Christ will be the sacrificial offering on the cross. He will shed His blood for His people. We are still in the week of the triumphal entry.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Connecting Matthew 23 and 24
We need to look at Matthew 23 to set the stage for chapter 24. Chapter breaks can interrupt the flow of what the Holy Spirit is saying if we are not careful. Often, we hit a chapter break and stop reading, just like we stop teaching, and then we come back days later and lose the sense of the passage. So we need to back up a bit, get a running start, and move smoothly into chapter 24. Let’s pick it up around verse 33 in chapter 23.
Jesus told the scribes and the Pharisees, Woe unto you.
“But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.” (Matthew 23:13, KJV)
Jesus gave them seven woes. He comes to a climax, and he said,
Matthew 23:33-35
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Jesus said, How can you escape the damnation of hell, you vipers and you serpents? Because I’m going to send you prophets, wise men, and scribes, and you’re going to kill them.
When I first read that passage, it made no sense to me at all. I said, “Lord, this does not add up. You know these men are vipers and serpents. You know they are headed for hell, and yet you say you will send your prophets, your wise men, and your scribes to them.” That seemed strange to me.
Then the Lord goes even further. He says they will kill those He sends. They will crucify them. They will scourge them in their synagogues and they will persecute them from city to city. And still, He is going to send them. Why? So that all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from Abel to Zacharias, will be charged to that generation. The Lord is saying, “I will send my prophets and teachers to you so that I may judge you for this blood.” Then He adds, “All these things shall come upon this generation.”
“Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.” (Matthew 23:36, KJV)
Connecting Matthew 23 and 24
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
When Jesus says “this generation,” He is referring to the people living in His time, around A.D. 33. Chapters 23, 24, and 25 are all directed to that generation. After rebuking the leaders, He then weeps and laments over Jerusalem. He cries, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you. How often I wanted to gather your children like a hen gathers her chicks, but you were not willing” (Matthew 24:37).
Then He makes a solemn declaration. He says, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 24:38). Desolate means ruined or destroyed. He is saying that Israel, as a system, the house of Israel, Judaism, the law, and the age of Moses, is about to be left in ruins. He adds, “You will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Disciples’ Perspective Leaving the Temple
He has given this discourse to the scribes and the Pharisees. He’s been in the temple teaching all day. Now he leaves the temple. His disciples left with him, and Jesus went out and departed from the temple.
“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.” (Matthew 24:1, KJV)
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
You have to understand what is on the disciples’ minds at this moment. They are not thinking 2,000 years into the future. They heard Jesus say this desolation would come upon “this generation.” They are thinking about what Jesus has just said. He has spoken of the house of Israel being left desolate. He has talked about the destruction of Jerusalem and the judgment that is coming on that city for all the shed blood.
With that heavy word on their minds, Jesus and the disciples walk past the magnificent temple Herod built. It is made of white limestone, covered with gold and silver, and richly ornamented. It is enormous and impressive. They point it out and say, “Lord, look at this beautiful building.” Jesus answers shockingly. He says, in effect, “You think it is beautiful? I tell you truly, not one stone will be left on another. It will all be completely destroyed.”
“And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:2, KJV)
The disciples are not thinking about events 2,000 years in the future. Their minds are on what Jesus has just said in this very discourse. He has spoken of Jerusalem’s coming desolation and the judgment on that generation. That is the context of their thoughts and questions.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
So what is He talking about? Getting that clear is the foundation for understanding Matthew 24.
Parallel Accounts in Mark and Luke
To tie this together, we look at the parallel passage in Mark 13. Mark says that as Jesus leaves the temple, one of the disciples says, “Master, look at these stones and these buildings.” That sets the same scene and confirms that the focus is on the present temple and its coming destruction.
“And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Mark 13:1–2, KJV)
In Mark 13, Jesus answers the disciple who admires the temple. He says, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left on another.” He is clear that total destruction is coming. That statement matches exactly what we saw in Matthew.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Then we turn to Luke. Matthew 24–25, Mark 13, and Luke 17 and 21 are parallel passages. In Luke 21:5-6, some disciples speak of how the temple is adorned with beautiful stones and gifts. Jesus replies that days are coming when not one stone will be left on another. Everything will be thrown down. The people then ask the key question: “Master, when will these things happen, and what sign will there be when they are about to take place?”
“And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. They asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?” (Luke 21:5–7, KJV)
The Disciples’ Question on the Mount of Olives
Back in Matthew, do you see the picture? The disciples have just walked out of the temple. They have commented on how beautiful Herod’s temple is. Jesus has told them it will be destroyed. So they come to Him with one burning question: “When will this happen, and what sign will show it is about to happen?” That is what the parallel passages in Luke and Mark also record. The issue on their minds is the timing and the sign of the temple’s destruction and Jerusalem’s desolation.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
I do not want you to miss what is happening here. They are asking very specifically, “When will this temple be destroyed? When will Jerusalem be left desolate?” Later, in my notes, I bring in the historian Josephus to show that this prophecy did in fact come to pass. Josephus, who was there, describes how the Romans drove the Jews back into the temple area. He tells how one soldier, without orders, grabbed a burning piece of material and, with the help of another, set fire to a golden window that led into rooms off the holy house.
Flames shot upward, the Jews cried out in anguish, and they fought desperately to stop it. But they could not. They no longer spared their own lives, because the holy house itself was perishing. This is the kind of scene Jesus was pointing to when He said not one stone would be left upon another.
Historical Confirmation from Josephus (Part 2)
Josephus gives even more graphic detail about what happened. He says that dead bodies were everywhere. People were beaten and slaughtered all over the city. Many were weak, unarmed, and had their throats cut wherever they were found. Around the altar, bodies were piled in heaps. Blood ran down the steps, mixed with the bodies of those killed, even on the altar itself.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
He goes on to describe how the flames burst out from inside the holy house. This happened after the commanders and even Titus had pulled back, and no one stopped the soldiers from setting more fires. The holy house burned down. While it was on fire, everything that could be plundered was taken. About ten thousand people were killed in the temple area alone. No one was spared because of age or position. Children, old men, common people, and priests all died the same way. The war swept through every group and brought them all to destruction, whether they begged for mercy or fought to the end.
The flames could be seen from far away. You could hear the cries of the dying carried with the sound. The Romans then decided there was no point in sparing any of the buildings around the holy house. They burned those as well, along with the remaining structures and gates. In the end, the whole city was burned. The temple went first, and then the surrounding areas. It was total ruin and annihilation. What Jesus said in Matthew 24:1, Mark 13:1, and Luke 21:5, 6 really did come to pass. That is why I am stressing this. This is not something still waiting to happen. This happened.
The Disciples’ Composite Question
After Jesus said this to the disciples, Matthew tells us that as Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately and asked their question(s).
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3, KJV)
When the disciples speak to Jesus on the Mount of Olives, they are not asking three separate questions. They are asking one main question with two parts. First, they want to know when this destruction will happen. Second, they want to know what sign will show that it is about to happen. In other words, “When will it be, and how will we recognize that the time has come?”
Mark 13:3 tells us exactly who asked these things. The disciples who came to Jesus privately were Peter, James, John, and Andrew. Those four men are the ones Jesus is addressing as He begins this discourse.
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,” (Mark 13:3, KJV)
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Those four men are important because they become the “you,” the “ye,” and the “your” in this whole discourse. Jesus is not speaking to a crowd 2,000 years in the future. He is speaking directly to Peter, James, John, and Andrew, in their own time. I will keep stressing that as we move through the passage.
The Meaning of “World” in Matthew 24:3
The next key point is the word “world” in their question. In Greek, there are three different words that our English Bibles often translate as “world.” The disciples ask, “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?” in the King James. That sounds like the end of the planet. It sounds like everything is going to blow up. But that is not what Jesus is talking about, so we need to look at the Greek words behind “world.”
The first word is “kosmos.” It means an ordered system or arrangement. It can refer to the world order, the way things are organized. The second word is “aion.” It means an age, a period of time, a messianic era, whether present or future. The third word is “oikoumene.” That word means the inhabited land or the globe, the physical, populated world. You can see the difference. “Kosmos” is the system. “Aion” is the age or era. “Oikoumene” is the inhabited earth.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Our cosmos in America is not the same as the cosmos in the old USSR. The systems differ, yet we share the same “aion,” the same general age, and we live on the same globe. So globe and age are not the same thing. The globe is the physical earth. The age is the period of time with its particular conditions. The King James often translates all three of these Greek words as “world,” and that has caused a lot of confusion.
So which word is used in Matthew 24:3? Most of us have been taught to think it means the globe, the physical world ending. But the word there is “aion,” age, not “oikoumene.” The disciples are asking, “When will this age come to an end?” not “When will the planet be destroyed?” That is why many modern translations read “end of the age” instead of “end of the world.” If you look at other versions—NAS, NIV, and others—you will see they say “age.” That makes a big difference in how we read the passage. Jesus is answering a question about when that age will end, not when the whole world will cease to exist.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
End of the Age, Not End of the Globe
What Jesus is talking about is not the end of the physical world. He is talking about the end of an age. The disciples are not asking when the globe will be destroyed. They are asking when that present age will come to its close. If you can see that, you have taken a big step in understanding this passage.
In the minds of the disciples, the destruction and desolation of Jerusalem would mark the end of that age. Their question and Jesus’ answer tie those two things together. So when Jerusalem was destroyed, that age ended. When one age ends, another begins. That is the heart of what I am saying. The key to Revelation, as I see it, is that it describes the close of the Mosaic age and the transition into a new one – the dispensation of grace, i.e., the New Covenant age.
Ages, Dispensations, and Covenants
We are talking about the age of the law and how it overlaps into the age of the church. I believe much of what we read in Revelation concerns this transition as it comes upon Jerusalem, as Matthew 24 describes. In the disciples’ minds, their question and Jesus’ answer show that the destruction and desolation of Jerusalem mark the end of that age. I believe that is precisely right.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Now I want to move on to the subjects of ages, dispensations, and covenants. I preached a whole message on this some time ago, and these notes grow out of that. Scripture shows many distinct ages. It also shows different dispensations and several covenants. Most ages are linked to a particular covenant, though not always in a one-to-one way.
So I ask, was there a pre-Adamic age (Genesis 1:1-3)? Was there a time when darkness covered the earth before Adam walked on it? Genesis 1 and 2 tell us that in the beginning God created the world, and there was darkness on the face of the deep. That raises the question of how God has worked through different ages, from before Adam, through the age of the law, and now into the age of the church.
Was there a pre-Adamic age? Was there a time and age period before Adam? Did that age end? Yes. When did that age end? When Adam came along, the Lord had a covenant with Adam. He said, “I want you to go take dominion over the earth.” I want you to reproduce yourself. I want you to take care of this garden that I’m going to give you. I want you to do right, not eat of the bad tree (Genesis 2:15-17). So, one age ended, and another age began.
From Adam to Noah to Abraham to Moses
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Now, did the Adamic age end? It did. When did it end? With the flood. Do you see? Genesis chapters 6 through 9. Did God have a covenant with Noah? Sure did. Remember the rainbow (Genesis 9:12-13)?
Did that age end? Sure did. What was next? Abraham (Genesis chapter 10). Did the age of Abraham end? Sure did. And what did it end with? Moses. But how did it end? Was there some confusion that brought the end? Was there a cataclysm, and did something bad happen? Sure, in Exodus chapter 20.
The Mosaic Age and the Disciples’ Question
What the disciples asked Jesus on the Mount of Olives was really this: “Lord, when will this age end?” At that moment, they were still in the Mosaic age. They were not yet in the age of the church. This was before the cross, before the shedding of Jesus’ blood, before the resurrection and ascension, and before Pentecost. It was a different dispensation. They were living under the law and wanted to know when that age would close.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Matthew 24 is Jesus’ answer. The whole discourse is about the end of that age and the start of a new one. That Mosaic age would end with the destruction of Jerusalem. You see this tied together in Matthew 23–25, Mark 13, Luke 17 and 21, and then further unfolded in Revelation. After that, we move into a new covenant age, the church age, the dispensation of grace. That is the age we are living in now.
But even this age will not last forever. It is moving toward a climax and a consummation. What will bring it to an end? The return of Jesus Christ. His coming will not start this age; it will finish it. Then we step from this age into the eternal age, the everlasting age, where time is no more. At our resurrection, our mortality will put on immortality. For an immortal people, time no longer has the same meaning. We will have moved into a new, eternal order (1 Corinthians 15:52-54).
Time Shall Be No More
In Revelation 10, the angel comes down; he puts one foot on the land and one on the sea, and he declares that time is no more.
“And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:” (Revelation 10:5–6, KJV)
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Because we have gone into another age. We’ve gone into another covenant, another time, another dispensation. We end the age that we are now existing in, and we enter into a brand new age, an everlasting covenant. Hebrews 13:20 tells us it’s another age, another covenant, and that we rule and reign with Jesus Christ forevermore on the earth.
“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,” (Hebrews 13:20, KJV)
We are headed toward an everlasting covenant, an eternal age. Revelation 10 points to a time when “time shall be no more.” That age never ends. We enter it after our mortality is changed to immortality. That shift happens at the Lord’s coming.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Resurrection and the Lord’s Advent
Whenever Scripture speaks of His advent, it joins it with resurrection. There is no actual coming of the Lord without resurrection. At His advent, the trumpet of God sounds. First Corinthians 15 says mortality puts on immortality and corruption puts on incorruption. First Thessalonians 4 says the dead in Christ rise first. Then those who are alive and remain are caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. From that point on, we will be with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
This is how I read these passages. I believe Jesus is talking about the end of the Mosaic age. If we can see what the disciples actually asked, and what Jesus actually answered, and lay aside a purely futuristic mindset that many of us inherited, the picture changes. Christ is telling His disciples that the covenant of Moses, that age and dispensation, will end with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. That event would show the whole world, including the Jews, that God has moved into a new age and a new covenant—the new covenant of Christ and His church.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Freedom from Great Tribulation Fear
If we let the Lord open our eyes and clear our ears of old, dead doctrines, and if we sincerely ask for wisdom and revelation, we can be freed from a fearful bondage to “the great tribulation.” We can begin to live in the reality of the kingdom of God, where God reigns through Christ the King by the Spirit in the church.
This is why I am taking so much time and care with this. I want the weight of “tribulation teaching” that keeps us afraid of the future to be lifted. Now, I am not denying that we go through trials. Paul does say that through much tribulation (Acts 14:22) we enter the kingdom of God. But that is very different from living in constant fear of an inescapable future horror.
But I want us to get off this thing where destruction lies ahead. No, we win. No antichrist’s going to come and take this thing away from us. The church gets stronger and stronger and stronger. A bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing (Ephesians 5:27).
The Kingdom of God Is Now
John the Baptist kept saying the kingdom of God is at hand.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
“And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2, KJV)
Jesus kept saying the kingdom of God is at hand.
“And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:15, KJV)
For a thousand years and more, people have kept saying, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” I do not believe that is accurate anymore. It is not just “at hand.” It is here. Yes, it was “at hand” then. It came in its fullness in A.D. 70. That is when Jesus fully defeated the devil’s hold through that old Judaistic system and when that system was finally brought down. From that point, the kingdom of God has been present and active in a new way.
So I ask, does Jesus reign now? Yes, He does. The kingdom of God is now. That leads us into the question of the millennium. There are two basic ways many Christians think about this. One view says the kingdom will come only when Jesus returns in a great cataclysm, establishes an earthly reign, and then we enter the millennium. That is premillennialism. It says Jesus has to come back before we can truly overcome. But when Jesus returns, we will put on immortality. At that point, there is nothing left to overcome. So premillennialism expects His return before our victory.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Two Millennial Views
The other view says He is king now. In this view, the church is meant not to hide and wait for escape, but to grow, mature, and attack the gates of hell. That is the kind of millennial thinking I hold—often called postmillennial or optimistic amillennial. You can tell where you stand by asking, “When did Jesus become king? When did He defeat the devil and establish His kingdom?” If your answer is at His resurrection and ascension, then you see that we are living in His kingdom rule now, in the “millennial” age.
From that standpoint, you realize this present age is moving toward its end, and when Jesus comes again, we will move into an everlasting covenant in a new way. His return will not mark the start of His reign; it will usher in a brand-new eternal order. This “generic” postmillennial view says that by His death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus established His mediatorial kingdom. As the last Adam, He now rules over all creation until the end, when He returns to judge and to bring in that eternal age.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45, KJV)
Dominion, Covenant, and Global Blessing
Jesus now rules over all creation until the end of this age. When that end comes, He will return to judge the living and the dead. In the meantime, He is conquering the nations by the gospel. Do you believe that? He is spreading the fruits of His victory across the world.
Through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, He is fulfilling the original dominion mandate given to Adam. One day, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. God will pour out His promises of blessing in every area of life in response to the faithfulness of His people. This will not happen because we beg and plead or try to twist His arm with Bible verses or our works.
It will happen because of His own covenant obligation. When we respond rightly to the covenant, God responds in covenant faithfulness. That is what I mean by “covenantal response.” I tried to preach this some time ago, and it didn’t go so well, but I believe I could preach it more clearly now.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
So, have you seen what I have been trying to show you? The core question in Matthew 24 is, “When will this age and this time period end?” That is the focus. Jesus is talking about an age and a time, not the end of the physical universe. And yes, we have only made it through about three verses.
The Beginning of Sorrows (Verses 4–14)
Now we move into the section often called “the beginning of sorrows,” verses 4-14. The first thing we must notice is who Jesus is talking to. His words are not addressed to some distant generation. They are aimed at that present generation, the one He identifies as “you” in verse 34 of chapter 24. As I read verses 4 through 14, I like to highlight every “you” and “ye.”
Those pronouns point back to Peter, James, John, Andrew, and their peers. Jesus tells them, “They will deliver YOU up to be afflicted and will kill YOU. YOU will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. Many will be offended.” That is the group Jesus is speaking to, and that is the starting point for understanding this passage.
“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” (Matthew 24:4–5,10, KJV)
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
What I am pressing on here is a simple but crucial question: Who are the “you,” the “ye,” and the “your” in this passage? Is Jesus talking directly about us, 2,000 years later? Or is He speaking first to Peter, James, John, and Andrew, and more broadly to their generation? We need to answer that. From verse 2 through verse 44, “ye” appears 12 times, “you” 8 times, and “your” 2 times. That is 22 direct second-person references.
The disciples ask the question, and they become the “you,” “ye,” and “your” in the answer. So this section is personally addressed to that generation standing before Jesus in A.D. 33. That does not mean we cannot draw principles for our own lives. We can and we should. But we must see that the primary audience is not a distant future generation. It is the people He was talking to at that moment.
This brings us into what Jesus calls “the beginning of sorrows.” He starts listing the signs that will unfold. The very first warning is, “Let no man deceive you.” He says many false prophets will arise and deceive many. He repeats the warning: “Let no man deceive you.” That tells us deception and false prophecy would be a significant mark of those early days, and it calls every generation, including ours, to stay alert and grounded in the truth.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:11, KJV)
Guarding Against Deception
How do we become deceived? By other people, but there is more to it than that. We also allow it when we stay lazy with the Word. If we study the Scriptures, if we shape our lives by what God says, if we seek Him diligently, we are far less likely to be misled. But if all we ever get is a quick Sunday message, and then a little bit here and there from some TV evangelist or a teacher we do not really know, we set ourselves up for deception. If we do not know their doctrine, their life, or their handling of Scripture, we are vulnerable.
If you will get into the Word for yourself, you will not so easily let others deceive you. Jesus warned, “Let no man deceive you.” He also said that many of the deceivers would be religious. They would be prophets and teachers. “Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many.” The word “deceive” carries the idea of wandering away from safety, from truth, from virtue.
Then I tie this to Revelation. In chapter 13, John shows us the same pattern of deception. In chapter 12, we see the dragon, who is clearly identified as the devil. From there, Revelation 13 unfolds how the dragon works through beasts and a false prophet to lead people astray. So the warning Jesus gives in Matthew 24 about deception and false prophets aligns with what we later see depicted in Revelation.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
The Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:9, KJV)
Then in Revelation 13, we see another beast. It’s the beast out of the sea. I believe that, in John’s time and the people we’re talking about, it was Rome. I believe it’s basically the governmental systems. To me, it means the systems of the earth, the humanistic systems, man, and humanism.
“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” (Revelation 13:1–2, KJV)
In Revelation 13, beginning at verse 11, we see another beast coming up out of the earth.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
The first beast comes out of the sea, which is humanity, the world, and turmoil. This one comes up out of the earth, and if your translation may say it, it may say land. It came up out of the land. And that’s what it should say because he’s coming up out of the land of Israel. This is what John wants us to see in Revelation.
“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.” (Revelation 13:11, KJV)
He wasn’t a lamb. He was like a lamb. But he spake as a dragon. He spoke as the devil.
As you read further in Revelation, you see that this second beast is explicitly identified as “the false prophet” in chapters 16 and 19. That is who this figure is. This ties back to what Jesus warned in Matthew 24, that many false prophets would arise and deceive many. In Matthew 23, Jesus had already rebuked the Pharisees, saying, “You sit in Moses’ seat.” He told the people to listen to what they taught from the law, but not to follow their actions. He called them vipers and snakes and said they would deceive.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
In Revelation 13:15, this false prophet has the power to give life to the image of the beast, so that the image can speak and cause those who refuse to worship it to be killed. He is directly involved in the persecution and death of those who will not bow. Then, in verse 16, we see what I really want to highlight: “He causes all, small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads.” So it is the false prophet—the religious deceiver—who leads people into this marking, just as Jesus warned about deceptive religious voices in Matthew 23 and 24.
“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:” (Revelation 13:15–16, KJV)
Responsibility for the Mark
So let me ask it plainly: Who causes people to receive the mark? Is it the devil directly? Is it the world’s political systems? Or is it the false prophet? Revelation makes it clear that the false prophet drives this. That is who we are talking about here.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Let me walk it back so no one gets lost. In Revelation 12, we see the first figure: the dragon. He is clearly identified as the devil, Satan. In the first half of Revelation 13, we see a second figure: a beast that rises out of the sea. That picture points to the world’s systems—political power, humanism, and empire. In John’s day, that would look very much like Rome, and perhaps Nero in particular. Then in Revelation 13:11, we see a third figure: another beast coming up out of the land.
This third beast is later identified in Revelation 16:13 and 19:20 as “the false prophet.” He is the one who compels people to receive the mark. So the primary agent behind the mark is not Satan directly, nor just secular power. It is religious deception. False prophets and false teachers are the ones who get people “marked,” leaving them fixed in a mindset that will not allow them to believe anything else. Many today are so settled in what they have been taught that they will not move an inch, and that is often the result of lies from false religious voices.
Threefold Opposition and Ongoing Warnings
Revelation says this false prophet causes “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond” to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads. That is bondage. False religious teachers will put you in chains and stamp you with their mark if you let them. In Revelation 16:13, we see the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet together, each with unclean spirits coming from their mouths. It is a picture of a threefold stream of deception—demonic, political, and religious—all working together to oppose God and mislead people.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” (Revelation 16:13, KJV)
Revelation shows us three main enemies: the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. The dragon is the devil; Revelation 12 makes that clear. The beast, in that first-century context, points to Rome and likely Nero. Today, we still see the same pattern in different forms. We still face humanism, corrupt governments, and godless systems of power. Then there is the third player: false religious systems, the false prophet. These are the ones Jesus warned about in Matthew 24:4, 5 and again in verse 11.
What really struck me as I studied is that the very first thing Jesus warns about is deception. That lines up with the rest of the New Testament. Every writer—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter, and Jude—warns about false teachers. All of them. When you examine Scripture, you see two main extremes in false teaching. On one side are Judaizing teachers who try to drag Christians back under Judaism, as Paul confronts in Philippians 3:2. On the other side are those who abuse grace and drift into lawless liberty. Both claim to speak for God, but both lead people away from the truth, which is why these warnings are so consistent and so urgent.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.” (Philippians 3:2, KJV)
Paul talks about how they try to get you back into the concession of circumcision. He says, we should go ahead and cut it all off.
And the other is the other way, the extreme of liberty, where anything goes. That’s in Jude 4; they love having the love feast.
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 1:4, KJV)
Avoiding Extremes and Staying in the Word
On both sides, these teachers claim to be anointed. They insist they are bringing God’s message. Yet Scripture warns us about both extremes. We are cautioned against legalism and warned against lawless liberty. That is why I keep saying we can be deceived if we are not in the Scriptures for ourselves.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
If you personally stay in the Word, you start to sense where the boundaries are instinctively. You learn how far left or right you can go before something is off. Your spirit and your conscience will check you and say, “No, that is not right.” But we often let people deceive us because they tell us exactly what we already want to hear. Jesus said we would hear of wars and rumors of wars, and there is more to unpack there, but I need to stop.
Closing and Prayer
So let’s stop here and pick it up next time. Please remember to bring your notes. Keep them in your Bible, and I will have some extra copies for anyone who forgets. I knew this would be a slow start, but I wanted us to take our time with those first three verses. I wanted us to really see that the word “world” there means “age.” The disciples were asking, “When will this age end?” The rest of Matthew 24 and 25 answers that question about when the Mosaic age came to its close.
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
Matthew 24 Verses 5-21: How to Discern Deception
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