What Can We Learn from the Olivet Discourse?
The Olivet Discourse is an important teaching of Jesus that can be found in three of the Gospels: Matthew 24-25, Mark 13:1-37, and Luke 21:5-36. It’s called the Olivet Discourse because Jesus was instructing His disciples on the Mount of Olives shortly before His crucifixion. The focus is on God’s future program for Israel and what will occur in the End Times just prior to Jesus Christ’s Second Coming, particularly what will happen during the 7-year Tribulation to bring a remnant of Israel to faith so that God’s promises of their having a kingdom and a descendant of David as King on the Throne will be fulfilled in the Millennial Kingdom that follows the Tribulation.
Olivet Discourse Focuses on Israel, Not The Church
To understand the Olivet Discourse, it is important to keep in mind that Jesus’ teaching in the Olivet Discourse is focused on the Nation of Israel, not the Church. The Church Age concludes with the Rapture, which is not taught in the Olivet Discourse. Some of the key verses on the Rapture of the Church are 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. While there are differing views among Christian Biblical Scholars on when the Rapture occurs, many Christians, including myself, believe the Church (all believers who died before the Rapture and all believers who are alive at the time of the Rapture who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ) will be raptured to join Christ before the Tribulation begins, and will not have to go through the Tribulation, which will begin with only unbelievers on this earth who are alive when the 7-year Tribulation begins (believers having been raptured out).
Setting the Stage
Before the Olivet Discourse begins, four of Jesus' disciples are questioning Him privately, although other disciples could have been present. Three of them, Peter, James, and John, had witnessed His transfiguration previously (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36), and they were confused. They were trying to figure out when the Kingdom of God would begin.
The Jews in Jesus’ time did not understand that there would be two comings of the Messiah, which was made more clear in the New Testament. Though Old Testament Scriptures such as Isaiah 53 (suffering Servant) and Isaiah 9:6-7 (conquering King) indicate two roles of the Messiah, the fact that there would be two comings of the Messiah was somewhat shrouded from their understanding in Old Testament times. In response to the disciples’ confusion, Jesus gives a lengthy explanation of the Tribulation, a 7-year period of judgment and suffering for those who are alive when the Tribulation begins and have rejected the Lordship of Jesus. (For a further study of where Jesus spoke of the purpose of His First Coming as a Savior to save us quoting the prophecy in Isaiah 61:1-2, but He intentionally omitted the last part of Isaiah 61:2 which references His Second Coming to Judge which was not His purpose in His First Coming, listen to the podcast episode on Luke 4:1-24 here.
The First 3 ½ Years of the Tribulation
In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus describes several things that will occur in the first half of the Tribulation. One sign of the End Times will be the increasing prevalence of false teachers, which will culminate in the revelation of the Antichrist, the ultimate false teacher and representative of Satan. He will initially come to power promising world peace, including peace with Israel. You can read more about the Antichrist in Daniel 7:25; 11:36-37; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; 1 John 2:18, 22; 2 John 1:7; and Revelation 13. Moreover, there will be wars, unrest, earthquakes, and famines in the first years of the Tribulation, but Jesus cautions that this is only the beginning of the judgments God will pour out on the Earth. Jesus describes these early years as being like the early labor pains that precede the true pain of childbirth.
Though all believers in Jesus will be raptured before the Tribulation begins, more will come to saving faith in Christ during the Tribulation. These believers will be viciously persecuted. Many will be martyred, even turned in by their own family members. Despite all this chaos, the Gospel will continue to spread. Mark 13:10 says, “And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.” In other passages about the End Times, we see that God will call 144,000 Jewish witnesses, 12,000 from each of the 12 Tribes of Israel, who will evangelize the world (Revelation 7:4-8; 14:1-5). Additionally, God will resurrect two un-named witnesses (believed by many to be Moses and Elijah, or Enoch and Elijah since they were taken up without dying)(Revelation 11:3-12), and angels from Heaven (Revelation 14:6-11) to proclaim the Gospel, and there will be a multitude of people who will come to faith during the Tribulation. These new believers, including a remnant from the Nation of Israel, will then enter into the 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom that will follow the end of the 7-year Tribulation and Christ’s Second Coming, where Christ will be seated on the Throne and reign.
The Abomination of Desolation
Three and half years into the 7-year Tribulation, Jesus describes a pivotal event called the Abomination of Desolation. This is when the Antichrist sets up his throne in the Temple. He will no longer be seen as a peacemaker, but he will now persecute Jews and Christians and require all people to worship him. This event signals when the Tribulation intensifies dramatically, and is called The Great Tribulation.
Jesus warns the Jews residing in Judea to flee immediately upon the establishment of the Antichrist’s throne. We’re told in Zechariah 13:8-9 that the massacre will be so severe that only one-third of the Jews in Judea will survive. Revelation 9:15 describes the killing of 1/3 of mankind.
For the sake of the remnant of the Jewish people and the remnant of believers, God reserves the worst of the Tribulation to just the last three and half years. Jesus explains that if it continued longer than that, not one person on the planet would survive (Matthew 24:22).
What This Means for Us Today
First of all, reading all this should convince you that you don’t want to be here when the Tribulation occurs. No one knows the day or the hour of the Rapture, which will trigger the beginning of the Tribulation, so we should all be ready at any time. If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus, don’t wait to accept His free gift of forgiveness and eternal life with Him.
If you do have a personal relationship with Jesus, you ought to be worried about your friends and family members who are not saved. We know how bad it’s going to be. The Tribulation will bring suffering that the world has never seen before. We should feel a sense of urgency to share the Gospel with as many people as we can to save them from the impending destruction. While nobody knows when it will begin, we’re closer to it today than we were yesterday, so we have a job to do. And as bad as Tribulation will be, being separated from God for eternity in Hell will be even worse for unbelievers. If you truly love your friends and family who are not yet believers, pray for them, ask God to use you as His instrument to share the Gospel with them, and then be ready to share the Gospel with them when the Holy Spirit taps on your heart and tells you to speak.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15)
We’ll look at the second part of the Olivet Discourse next week. If you want to listen to a more in-depth analysis of Mark 13:1-23, listen to the podcast episode here.