1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple [Herod's which, took 46 years to build - John 2:20. ]: and his disciples [ Two sets of brothers (cp. Mark 13:12) Peter, James, John and Andrew were the disciples present - Mark 13:3. ] came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

The topic of discourse between the time of Jesus leaving the Temple and his sitting down upon Mount Olivet, was the entire demolition of that magnificent Structure. In other words, Jesus directed their attention to the approaching fulfilment of Daniel's prophecy, that

"the City and the Holy (hakkodesh or temple) the people of the Prince coming shall destroy; and the end thereof shall be with an inundation; and to the end of the war desolations are decreed" ch. 9:26.

In Mat. 23, he denounced Judah and Benjamin, "because of the perfecting of their rebellion" which would bring upon them the destruction of Jerusalem and its House; and ended by declaring that he would return after the desolation; and that then they would receive him gladly.

In Mark 13: 32, and Acts 1: 7, he declares that he did not himself know the "day and hour" of the desolation; nor "the times and seasons" of the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, equivalent to his coming in power and great glory.

Until guided into all the truth by the reception of Holy Spirit, they did not discern any interval between the desolation, and his coming upon the clouds of the heaven. They even looked for the consummation immediately after the resurrection of Jesus. When they asked the question, therefore, in verse 3, we are not to look for the precision of thought which afterwards appears in the words of Jesus.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1859

2 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 [ The fate of a leprous house - Lev. 14:44-45; cp. Luke 19:41-44. ].

The "all things" whose "end" was "at hand," were the things "made" or constituted by the Mosaic law, and which, having "waxed old," were "ready to vanish away."

They were the things to be removed by shaking the heaven and the earth, that the unshakable things might remain. They were the elements or rudiments of the world, "the weak and beggarly elements" to which the Galatians, Jews in Christ, desired again to be in bondage. The end of these was at hand; but in order to abolish them, it was necessary to break up the commonwealth of Israel, to accomplish which the "great tribulation" was indispensable.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1853

From Deuteronomy 28

CONQUEST BY the Greco-Latin Horn of the Goat, commonly styled, THE ROMAN POWER-verses 48-52.

The siege and DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM-verses 53-57.

Expulsion from the Holy Land after destruction of the Capital and the Temple-verses 58-64.

General condition and distress of the nation while in dispersion in the lands of its enemies-verses 28, 29, 64-68.

The reason of so terrible a judgment befalling the nation-verses 15, 58, 62; 29:25-28.

The condition of the land while the nation is in dispersion-verses 22-23.

Last days of Judah's Commonwealth Ch 3

3 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 <proximity>, and of the end of the world [Abrahamo-Mosaic Aion]?

End of the Jewish Commonwealth AD 70

In the parable of the Tares of the Field, the Lord Jesus announces himself as the sower of good seed, and the diabolos as the sower of the tares. The field, he says, is the κοσμος, or Hebrew nation in Palestine-the Kingdom; and the good seed, the sons of the kingdom: but the tares are the sons of the evil. The harvest is the end of the aion; and the reapers are messengers.

As therefore, the tares are gathered and burned with fire, so it shall be in the end of this aion-εν τη συντελεια του αιωνος τουτου. In this parable he did not teach the end of the kingdom, nor of the world, in the sense of Gentilism; but of the aion. The Hebrew Kosmos will be restored; the world will be redeemed; but the Abrahamo-Mosaic Aion, as it existed in the days of Jesus and his apostles, has vanished to appear no more.

In Matt. 24:3, the disciples inquire of Jesus,

"What the sign of thy proximity, and of the end of the aion?"

Among other things, he replied,

"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached on the whole habitable (εν ὂλη τη οικουμενη) for a testimony to all the Gentiles; and then the end (of the aion) shall come."

In Col. 1:23, Paul declares explicitly that "the hope of the gospel," the kingdom, "had been preached to every creature under the heaven" of that habitable; and not long after he wrote these words, the aion that had waxed old, vanished away.

Bro Thomas's dictionary

The Christadelphian, Aug 1872

From this, it is clear, that their minds did not contemplate the subject beyond the limits of the epoch of desolation at the end of the Mosaic Aion, rendered "world" in the English Version. Of the postponement of the restoration and apocalypse of Jesus to afford scope for the taking out of a people for the kingdom from among other nations, they had no idea.

We need not, therefore, encumber verse 3, with the supposition, that they referred to a twofold advent in their question. They referred only to the sign of Jesus being near at the breaking up of the Mosaic Economy.

"Is the same coming referred to in verse 30?"

The answer to this is, no.

For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world (Kosmos) [the time of the institution of sacrifice, when the Kosmos was arranged, and Adam's sin was covered]: but now once in the end of the world (Aion) hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself -

 Heb 9: 26

Though they were not to see the Son of Man with the eyes of their flesh, they had been instructed by the Apostles to know when the time was approaching; and even when he was actually, though invisibly, present.

This question shows that they regarded "the presence" of Jesus and "the ending of the age" as contemporary. "What shall be the sign of thy παρουσια?" This is a noun, compounded of παρα, night to, and ουσα, being; so that the formative, ι, iota, being inserted before a, alpha, we have parousia, which, therefore, literally signifies a state of being night to; which is the import of the word presence in the question.

The Αιων, aīon, referred to, was that current, or course of things,‮ ‬termed ,‭ ‬olahm,‭ ‬in the Hebrew writings,‭ ‬and which in innumerable places is very erroneously rendered‭ ‬ever.‭ ‬It was concurrent with that‭ ‬course styled by Paul in Eph.‭ ‬2:2,‭ ‬ó αιων του κοσμου τουτου,‭ ‬ho aion,‭ ‬tou kosmou‭ ‬toutou,‭ ‬the Aion of this Kosmos‭; ‬and rendered,‭ ‬in the English version,‭ "‬the Course of this World.‭" ‬The‭ ‬course to which the question referred was the course to which the‭ ‬Mosaic Kosmos belonged.

‭ ‬A‭ ‬kosmos is anything constituted or arranged by what the moderns call‭ "‬a constitution,‭" ‬or by the force of circumstances‭; ‬as a kingdom,‭ ‬empire,‭ ‬state,‭ ‬or what is called‭ "‬world.‭" ‬Each of these,‭ ‬or a system of states,‭ ‬has its‭ ‬course or aion‭; ‬so that when the end of the‭ ‬course is arrived at,‭ ‬the abolition or destruction of the particular‭ ‬state of necessity ensues.‭ ‬Hence the question,‭ "‬What is the sign of the end of the Aion‭?" ‬is equivalent to what is the sign of the end of Judah's Commonwealth‭? ‬for,‭ ‬when the‭ ‬Mosaic Aion should terminate,‭ ‬Judah's Kosmos would be dissolved.

It would render the New Testament much more intelligible if, where the word world occurs, the original Greek words were expressed which are misrepresented by it.

The Apostles did not ask Jesus about the end of the world in the Gentile sense of world; but what would be the sign of the approaching end of the course of time allotted for the ruling of the kingdom of God, in which they were living, by Aaron's sons and Cæsar, according to the laws and institutions of Moses?

For want of attention to this, very considerable mistakes are made. Things are assigned to the conflagration of the earth for fulfilment which have been accomplished eighteen hundred years ago. Thus, the burning up of the tares has been referred to our far-off future! But Jesus said that the tare harvest is συντελεια του αιωνοζ, the ending of the Aion:

"As tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the ending of this Aion. The Son of Man shall send forth his agents, and they shall collect out of his kingdom (the Holy Land) all the stumbling blocks, and them doing iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of the fire: there shall be the wailing and the gnashing of teeth."

And Isaiah tells us that this furnace was Jerusalem; as it is written,

"Yahweh's fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem"—ch. 31:9.

Hence the "angels," or agents sent, were the forces of the Little Horn,

"who severed the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of the fire."

They hemmed the wicked up in the fortified places, especially in Jerusalem. That portion of the Jews who became Judaizers and Gnostics made common cause with the Pharisees against the Roman Eagles. They had already, Jude says, separated themselves from fellowship with the Apostolic party (verse 19); and as they took no heed to the sign, when the Lord of the vineyard sent his Eagles against the state, they were readily ensnared; for instead of fleeing into the mountains, as Jesus advised, they sought refuge in the cities; and thus, as Isaiah predicted,

"they stumbled and fell, and were broken, and snared, and taken"—ch. 8:15; Luke 21:35.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, July 1859

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

"Little children, it is the last hour; and as ye have heard that Antichrist comes, even now many antichrists have arisen; whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they separated themselves, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."—1 John 2:18.

False Messiahs 2 Cor. 11:13

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Natural calamities afflicted the the Jewish nation over the next 30 years prior its dispersion among the gentiles

See Acts 12:20; 11:28. Josephus supplies the rest.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Claudius, styled by Gibbon, "the stupid Claudius," reigned from A. D. 41 to 54. During his impotent rule, 35 senators and 300 knights, fell by the hand of the executioner. He repealed all Caligula's edicts; and abolished in Gaul the bloodstained superstition of the Druids.

In this reign, there was a great famine throughout the Roman empire.—Acts 11:28. This was one of the signs preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, foretold by Jesus in Matt. 24:7, and announced again by the Holy Spirit through Agabus. In this reign also, "all Jews were commanded to depart from Rome."—Acts 18:2.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1861

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

The great tribulation was to continue to the end of the Aion-of the Mosaic world, consisting of the Jewish Heavens and Earth, or Commonwealth of Israel.

The apostle Peter writing to his fellow-countrymen says,

"The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."

He was one to whom the sayings of Jesus were addressed. The Lord had given him a sign of "the end." It was this.

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world (οἰξουμεμη oikoumenee, the territory inhabited by the Roman system of nations) for a testimony to all the nations, and then shall come the end."

Paul writing to the Colossians tells us that this sign had been accomplished in his time. "The hope laid up in the heavens, and contained in the word of the truth of the gospel, "says he," is come in all the world (ξοςμος kosmos.") or as he expresses it elsewhere, 

"was preached to every creature under the heaven."

All the apostles knew this; for they had been ordered to "go and preach the gospel to every creature," and they had done it. Therefore James exhorts his countrymen and brethren in the faith, saying,

"Be patient unto the coming of the Lord ... stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."

They all knew that it could not be far off; because the gospel of the kingdom had been preached to every creature under the Roman heaven, or government.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1853

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

Fulfilled Acts 8: 1

"...a great persecution against the ecclesia which was at Jerusalem"

"about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the ecclesia. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword".

10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

"The scandalizers" of the apostolic age

From the premises before us, it is evidently that the Christ[adelphian] ecclesia, in apostolic times, was not all gold, and silver, and precious stones. There was much wood, hay, and stubble, mixed up with these. The false teachers and their unstable followers were of the combustible sort. They were unable to "endure to the end."

The Jewish power was persecuting the heritages in Judea with great inveteracy; and the Jews in Anatolia were doing the same to the full extent of their ability-1 Pet. 5:9: yet the predicted deliverance in the manifestation of "the end" had not come, and no signs were discerned by "unstable souls" of its approach.

It was a trying time in Israel to all who loved the truth.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Jun 1859

12 And because iniquity shall abound [be multiplied], the love [agape] of [the] many shall wax cold.

It was a trying time in Israel to all who loved the truth. The crisis was favourable to the growth of tares. As Jesus had predicted, many were caused to fall, and betrayed one another, and hated one another. Many false prophets had shown themselves in the ecclesia, and had deceived many; and because iniquity abounded, the love of many had become cold.

Last days of Judah's Commonwealth Ch 2

Jesus likens the then living race of Jews to a man in two states of diabolical possession, divided by a brief interval of sanity. In the first state he was wicked, but not totally depraved. He was therefore relieved of his malady for a time. His cure however was not permanent.

Excitement revived, fear supervened, madness seized upon him, and he became sevenfold more desperate than before; so that the last state of the man was worse than the first. 'Even so,' said Jesus,

'shall it be also unto this wicked genea or generation.'

And even so it was. When John the baptist had fulfilled his mission he had 'emptied, swept, and garnished' the generation; for

'there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.'

Judah thus prepared, 'the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or not.' The unclean spirit was gone out of them for a time; and when Jesus first appeared among them, 'they heard him gladly.' In process of time, however, the spirit that beheaded John gained strength, and possessed not Herod only, but all the rulers of the people, and at length all the people too.

They crucified Jesus, killed his disciples, and abounded in all iniquity, so that their last state was worse than the first, when John came to them

'preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.'

What was to be done with such a generation? Was it not condemned by the example of Nineveh, which repented at the preaching of Jonas; by that of the wisdom-seeking Queen of Sheba, who came from the far-south to hear the words of Solomon? For seven years John, the greatest of all the prophets, and Jesus, the 'greater than Solomon,' proclaimed repentance and the wisdom of God; and then almost for forty years, a great company took up the word and preached it to the people; nevertheless iniquity abounded, and even the love of the many who had embraced the gospel of the kingdom cooled.

Was not the generation incorrigible—hath there ever been a generation of Israel like it before or since? Well, therefore, might Jesus liken it to Noah's, and say,

'This generation shall not pass away till all my words concerning it shall be fulfilled,'

History attests the fact. The heaven and the earth of the Hebrew Kosmos passed away with a great noise, but not a jot or tittle that he had spoken failed of its entire accomplishment.

They who look for 'the signs' enumerated in the first twenty nine verses of Matthew 24. as indicative of the Lord's return in majesty and power, may as well look for the signs that preceded the Deluge as indicative of the same event. They will see the one as soon as they will see the other, which will be as soon as they shall see the shadow of the degrees upon the dial of Ahaz go backward ten degrees.

The signs of 'the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,' are not significative of Judah's overthrow, but of the destruction of the Papacy, the fall of the Ottoman dominion, the subjection of the kingdoms of the west to the Autocrat, preliminary to the redemption of the whole Twelve Tribes of Israel, and the resurrection of the dead.

The signs of these events are not in the sun, moon, stars, and constellations; but in 'the unclean spirits like frogs, which go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole empire to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty,' whose operations may be discerned by all who 'watch' the progress of things in the light of scripture truth.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Sept 1852

The literal meaning is not just an indefinite "many," as we might take from the Authorised Version, but "the many," -- that is, most, the majority.

"Because iniquity shall abound." Why would iniquity abounding make believers' love get less? Is it their own iniquity that is meant, or the prevalence of iniquity around them? Are they gradually and unconsciously tinged with the surrounding unbellef, or are they weakened and disheartened by the fewness of believers and the apparent prosperity of sin?

...The word here translated "iniquity" is anomia, which means "lawlessness." It is the word translated "without law" three times in 1st Corinthians 9:21, twice in Romans 2:12, and "lawless" in 1st Timothy 1:9.

...Lawlessness -- lack of interest in God's Law -- ignorance of God's Law -- a deliberate ignoring of God's Law -- lack of love for God's Law -- lack of perception of the necessity and beauty and beneficence and blessing of God's Law.

God's Law is life and love. God's Law is the law of the Spirit of Life -- the shining light leading from death to life. Sin is lawlessness -- living according to blind selfishness and desire, like a natural, lawless, wild beast.

...We are concerned particularly with the positive aspect of the problem of the diminishing of love because of the increase of lawlessness -- how to guard against the dangers involved.

The first step is to clearly discern the difference between natural and spiritual things, and to fix our minds and allegiances on the spiritual.

What is the purpose of our life? What is our goal? The things of the Spirit are concerned with life and joy; the things of the flesh are related to sorrow and death. The things of the Spirit are the things of the Law of God; the things of the flesh are the things of natural darkness and lawlessness.

Increase of unbelief frequently, almost always, takes the form of an assumed increase of knowledge -- a knowing better, a feeling of being cleverer than the instruction of God's Word.

There is one scriptural fact that will give us a clearer and more living picture of the issues before us. That is that, scripturally speaking, belief is faith and faith is belief. They are not two things, but one. There is only one word for both in the New Testament, and the different translations are just translators' whims. To believe is to have faith; to have faith is to believe, and --

"Faith is the basis of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb. 1:1).

Faith, or belief, as the apostle goes to great lengths to illustrate in Hebrews 11, is a vital, living force, a way of life, a power that made men stand alone in the face of the most violent enmity and persecution, and that led them onward to every form of accomplishment and heroism --

Bro Growcott - Love shall wax cold

It is much easier to sell looseness and downhillness and let's-blur-the-edges-ness and compromise-ness, than it is to sell steadfastness and holiness and firmness of purpose and faithfulness to exclusive Truth. It's easy to become both popular and powerful and draw the crowds, if that is our stock in trade. But let us not be discouraged if what we have to sell does not have the common appeal of the broadly popular goods.

The Truth of God is a narrow, exclusive, flesh-crucifying, demanding, high-standarded thing. It is not designed for the masses, and it has never appealed to the masses, or the shallowly unthinking. It appeals only to the thoughtful, and the wholly dedicated, and those whom the masses call "extremists." The Truth is indeed a total, all-consuming, all-demanding "extreme" thing.

Bro Growcott - Search Me O God

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world [fulfilled by Paul and other apostles Col. 1: 23]< the whole habitable (ENOLE OIKOUMENE)>[Roman habitable] for a witness ,<testimony> unto all nations; and then shall the end [desolation of Jerusalem] come.

Oikoumene

—The habitable, the inhabited earth, the world's house, abode, or dwelling-place—the proper rendering of which is habitable, as in the following cases:—

"Preached in all the habitable" (Matt. 24:14).

"All the habitable should be taxed" (Luke 2:1).

"The habitable to come" (Heb. 2:5).

"The kingdoms of the habitable" (Luke 4:5).

"He will judge the habitable" (Acts 17:31).

"The earth and the whole habitable' (Rev. 16:14).

"The ends of the habitable" (Rom. 10:18).

"The whole habitable" (Rev. 12:9).

The Christadelphian, Jan 1889

Having said this, He gave them "the sign," namely, the standing of the abomination of desolation in the holy place, or city, as foretold by Daniel (Dan. 9:27). First, then, the gospel was to be fully preached to every creature by the apostles, and afterwards the sign was to appear.

Did the apostles perform their work, or does it yet remain to be accomplished? Their pretended successors answer "no, they did not." They contend that there are vast regions which were unknown to the ancients, where the gospel has never been preached, and therefore that, as it is to be preached to every creature, it is incumbent on them to do it, and that the end of the world will not come until they have converted all the nations to Christianity!

Hence, they have established societies de propaganda fide both Romish and protestant. Every principal sect has its missionary society, whose utopian speculation is the conversion of the world under the warrant of the apostolic commission! As if a command given to the apostles to preach the gospel of the kingdom were a command given to modern missionaries to go and preach churchism and dissenterism, calvinism, arminianism and popery to "all the world!"

But the apostles were not sent to "all the world" in the Gentile acceptation of the phrase. They were sent to all the nations of the then habitable, or civilised world, principally

and almost exclusively comprehended in the limits of the Roman dominion. Nor were they sent under the idea of converting them nationally to the gospel, but to preach it EIS MARTURION for a testimony: that is, for their information, that disciples might be made among them all, so that a people might be taken out of them (EX ETHNON) for the administration of the affairs of God's kingdom and empire upon earth (Acts 15:14).

Elpis Israel 2.1.

But before the great sign of the desolation, that is, "Jerusalem compassed with armies, " there was another striking indication to the believer that "the parousia of the Lord hath approached," as James expresses it, ἡ παρουσια ηνγικε, he parousia ēngikè and "that the Judge standeth before the door: or, as Peter indicates the same thing, saying, "The end of all things has approached," when "judgment must begin at the house of God," preparatory to "the end of those that obey not the gospel of God."

This indication was the full accomplishment of the work the apostles were commissioned to do. "This gospel of the kingdom," said the greatest preacher of it

"shall be heralded in the whole habitable, for a testimony to all the nations (thereof), and afterwards shall come the end."

Jesus spoke these words before "his death, burial, and resurrection;" and also said to his apostles,

"Verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of Man be come."

And after his resurrection he added, in relation to the gospel he began to preach in Galilee as God's message to Israel,

"Go through the whole state, and make known the Gospel to every creature (thereof). He having believed and been baptized shall be saved; but having not believed, he shall be condemned."

The apostles understood this commission to extend only to "the lost sheep of the House of Israel;" not to the Gentiles. Had they understood it as extending to every Gentile creature of the whole Roman Habitable, it would have been unnecessary for the Lord afterwards to have prepared Peter in a special manner for a ready compliance with the invitation from Cornelius to come and "tell" his pious Gentile household (proselytes to Moses) "words whereby they might be saved."

The Twelve were commissioned to the Circumcision; so that the κοσμον απαντα, kosmon apanta, rendered in the Common Version "all the world, " relates only to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Israel; a truth which well defines the limits of the phrase, εγω μεθ ͂υμων ειυι πασας τας ημερας, εως της συντελειας του αιωνος I am with you all the days, till the consummation of the age-to the end of the age and the end of the commonwealth; two ending things, hence the word SUN teleia, for the state once had an end before in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar; but not "the age:" that did not end till the parousia of the Son of Man, when both were finished for a time.

Judah not proving faithful to the required extent, the time arrived to extend the proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom to the Gentiles of the Roman Habitable. Paul was called for this purpose. He published it for a testimony to the nations, while the Twelve were "going over the cities of Israel;" and he appears to have accomplished his work before them. For in his letter to the Colossians he says, that at the time he was writing to them, the faith and hope of the gospel, of which he was a minister, had been preached to every creature under heaven-ch. 1:23.

Here, then, was the Olivet indication of the end being near. The Gospel of the Kingdom Jesus came to preach had been preached by Paul, who labored more abundantly than the rest of the apostles and his companions under the whole heaven of the Roman Habitable. What did the faithful look for next? The end of all things Mosaic. And why? Because Jesus had said that after this universal proclamation throughout the habitable, "the end shall come;" and if the date of Paul's Epistle to the Colossian's be correct, it did come in eight years afterwards; and before the other apostles had gone over the cities of Israel.

During these eight years a very lamentable state of things obtained in the ecclesias of Judea. Many were seduced from the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and became again entangled in the pollutions of the world - 2 Tim 3: 2.

The end of all things hath approached—Peter.

That the Gospel of the Kingdom Jesus preached would have been preached in the whole habitable, for a testimony to the nations; and that after this το τελοζ the end should come.—Matt 24:14.

...The apostles understood it thoroughly, and executed their commission of sounding it through all the habitable, in about thirty years from the day of Pentecost; or about seven years from the taking away of the daily sacrifice by the Little Horn of the Goat.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Aug 1859

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Bro Thomas states 

Beginning of the "abomination making desolate 1290" years (Dan. xii. 11; in the Justinian Epoch AD 531 [ending 1821]

...End of the period of 1290 years of abomination making desolate, signalized by the beginning of the outpouring, in the Greek revolutionary epoch, of "that determined upon the Desolator" of the Holy Land (Dan. ix. 27); in the commencement of the Sixth Vial at the end of the Hour of Apoc. xi. 13 1821

Eureka 11.3.10.

The notion that the duration of the abomination was to be dated from A.D. 70, is derived from the English version of Daniel twelfth chapter and eleventh verse. It is there written, "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate be set up, there shall be 1290 days''.

In the Hebrew the italic words are not in the text. Leaving out these words, or rather, giving a more literal version without supplying any words at all, the passage appears intelligible enough.

"And at the time of vengeance the daily shall be taken away, in order to set up an abomination that maketh desolate a thousand two hundred and ninety days."

This rendering agrees with the facts in the case. The daily was taken away at the time of vengeance (Luke 21:22), and 461 years after, an abomination was set up which continued 1290 years, ending A.D. 1821. Desolation, it is true, still continues, but this is no objection to their termination then.

We are not to suppose that the 1290 years being ended, internal improvement was to begin the year after. All it justifies is the expectation that when they expired "that that is determined" should begin to be "poured out upon the desolator;" an expectation that has been literally verified in the opening of the sixth vial upon the Ottoman empire in the epoch of 1820-3.

Elpis Israel 3.4.

Notes from Ways of Providence - 23: 35

The end of all things hath approached—Peter.

That the standing of the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, on holy ground where it ought not, would be the sign of the speedy dissolution of the City and Temple; and of the arrival of the days of vengeance upon Judah.—Verses 15–28.

This fifteenth verse, and Mark 13:14, are expounded in Luke 21:20. The last writer says,

"when ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh."

Jerusalem, the locality of the Body Politic of Judah, is the "Carcase" of Matt. 24:28; and the armies, "the Eagles gathered together" to devour it. This was the definition Jesus gave of the proximity of the Christ in opposition to the reports that would be circulated at the time of the end, saying, "the Christ was in the desert;" or that "He was in the secret chambers."

In other words, the believers of that forty-second generation were not to look for him in propria persona, in his own proper person as they saw him while he was talking with them; he would not come to them visibly, either in the desert, or in a private room. They were to fix their attention upon Jerusalem for the sign of his being near (parousia).

When the Little Horn of the Goat's Eagles were gathered together around the city, they might know, that he had come, although invisible to the eye of flesh; and that the work he had come to do with "his armies," was that defined in Dan. 8:11, 12, 24; 9:26; Matt. 21:43; 22:9. The Little Horn's Eagles encamped against Jerusalem were the sign; the presence of the Son of Man, and the desolation of the city and temple, the things signified thereby.

But the approaching of this nearness of the Son of Man was to be as the coming forth of the lightning from the East, and its shining unto the West.—Verse 27; Luke 17:24: "so," saith the latter, "shall the Son of Man be in his day"—in his day of vengeance upon Judah.

The shining forth of lightning towards any object, inasmuch as lightning is a dangerous and destructive element, is indicative of war. Thus, "he sent lightning, and discomfited them;" and in Nah. 3:3, "the horseman lifted up the flame of the sword, and the lightning of the spear; and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses;" and in Zech. 4:14, "and his arrow (or Ephraim) shall go forth as the lightning."

We quote these to show, that an army, with its polished steel flashing in the sunshine, marching against an enemy on a mission of conquest, is the coming of lightning against the body politic devoted to destruction. Such was the army given to the Little Horn against the Daily when marching against Jerusalem—the Son of Man coming as the lightning to burn up the city of the murderers of his servants.

But lightning doth not always shine out of the east. In the natural system it is not confined to that point of the compass. Neither is it so limited in the political. But in the case before us, the sign was to come from that direction "under the heaven" of the Fourth Beast dominion.

The army with the lightning of the spear, and its soaring Eagles, was to come marching from the east. They who were mindful of the words spoken by Jesus and the apostles looked for an invasion of Judea from that quarter; and not from Egypt on the south; or Anatolia on the north-west. And from the east it came according to the sign; for, as Gibbon testifies, 

"Titus was adored by the Eastern Legions, which, under his command, had recently achieved the conquest of Judea."

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Aug 1859

16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Warning to the Jewish ecclesias in Judah - flee before the time comes for vengeance

20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

(when a severe season, or a day of activity with the enemy and inaction on the part of the defenders of the city, would add to the personal suffering of those in flight).

Nazareth Revisited Ch 50

Is the Observance of the Sabbath Binding on Believers?

This injunction having reference to an event subsequent to the crucifixion, is supposed to countenance the retention of that institution after the Mosaic covenant had been abolished. This is equivalent to saying that there is no other circumstance which will account for the prophetic admonition of Jesus.

But are we shut up to this explanation? Is there no other? Did not the Jewish nation as a whole, continue to observe the various Mosaic laws and ceremonies after they had been legally repealed? This observance on the part of unbelieving Jews made it necessary for the believing Jews, constituting a very small minority, to manifest some deference to the ancient institution.

They could not take a journey longer than the prescribed or customary length, on that day, without being liable to persecution by their fellow-countrymen. Neither could they carry a burden or travel with cattle. How then could they with any comfort or safety take flight on that day?

In attempting to flee from the Roman armies which surrounded Jerusalem, they might have suffered a fate equally as bad, if not worse, from the hands of their own nation. Thus, the very object of their flight would have been frustrated. It was, therefore, very wise and merciful, on the part of Jesus, to instruct them to pray that it might not be necessary for them to flee either in the winter or on the Sabbath-day.

Bro J. J. Andrew.

The Christadelphian, July 1872

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world [kosmos - order] to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world [kosmos - order] to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Yahweh shall scatter thee among all people - Deut 28: 64

...it is impossible that the 'tribulation,' referred to can be co-extensive with 'the Times of the Gentiles.' The sixteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first verses say, that the 'great tribulation' shall be 'in the winter and on the Sabbath-day,' at a period of 'flight from Judea to the mountains.' This winter period is termed 'those days' in the twenty-second verse, which 'were shortened' that the whole nation might not be destroyed.

The tribulation being shortened for the elect's sake, we are told that 'immediately after, ' the luminaries of the Hebrew polity were eclipsed and shaken from their spheres—ver. 29. The tribulation must therefore have preceded the actual suppression of the Commonwealth—a suppression, however, which is co-extensive with the times referred to; for

'Jerusalem shall be trodden under foot of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,'

and then the throne and kingdom of David will be restored.

The genea autee of verse 34 is manifestly the 'this generation' Jesus had been treating of in his previous discourse, which led to the reproduction of Daniel's prediction concerning Jerusalem and the Temple (see chap. 9:26,) in the 24th of Matthew.

'Serpents, generation of vipers!' said he to the Scribes and Pharisees, 'how can ye escape from the judgment of Hinnom's vale?' 'Generation' here is genneema in the sense of offspring—they were the Serpent offspring of that genea, who were to fill up the measure of their fathers' iniquity, so that upon them might come vengeance for all the righteous blood shed upon the land from the death of Abel to the murder of Zacharias, son of Barachus, between the Temple and the Altar, during the siege of Jerusalem, as related by Josephus.

The particulars that filled up 'the measure of their fathers,' and made up the krisis, or judgment, are termed 'all these things' in the thirty-sixth verse of the twenty-third chapter; and because they affected Christ's 'prophets, wise men, and scribes,' as well as their persecutors, and therefore all classes of the nation, Jesus said,

'Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this genea, or generation.'

Thus we are presented with the relation of genneema to genea. The latter includes the former, as the whole includes a part, or the greater the less.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Sept 1852

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world [kosmos - order] to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake [Abraham, Isaac and Jacob] those days shall be shortened.

..."those days" referred were days contemporary with the life-time of the persons whom Jesus was addressing, and not of us or of our successors; and that during their currency there was to be a "tribulation," or "distress in the land," unequalled in Israel's history before, or by anything to happen to them after.

There is, indeed, "a time of trouble" yet to come, which will transcend anything that has befallen mankind since the Flood; but that is to affect the Gentiles by the sword of Israel and the plagues of God. Israel will not then be destroyed as they were in the day of their "great tribulation;" but they will be delivered.

It will, doubtless be "the time of Jacob's trouble; but he will be saved out of it"

-a characteristic which distinguishes the two troubles of Israel; for in the last the yoke of oppression is to be broken from off Israel's neck,

"and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him."

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1853

The whole nation in danger of extinction - but Yahweh would ensure a remnant survived, natural seed of Abrahamic faith beloved.

23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

If we can imagine ourselves in the position of the disciples, we shall see how necessary such a direction as this was. Without it, they would have been liable to continual distraction. Having known Christ and receiving before his departure a promise of his return, his reappearance would be both a most desirable and a perfectly natural thing; therefore the announcement, from any quarter, that he had come would naturally interfere with the continuity of those labours in which they were destined to spend the full terms of their natural lives.

For naturally, on receiving such reports, they would be unhinged, put into an attitude of expectancy and investigation. This warning beforehand was a complete protection. The rumours of Christ's reappearance as they arose would have no disturbing effect at all, but the reverse; for the disciples would recall to mind that it was just what Jesus had told them.

.... There have been false Christs at various times since the apostolic age; but it was those of the apostolic age that Christ would have more particularly in view in fore-arming his apostles.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 50

25 Behold, I have told you before.

26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east [ Jerusalem compassed with armies - Lk 21: 20], and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming [parousia] of the Son of man be.

verily I say to you [disciples], ye may not have completed the cities of Israel till the Son of Man may come - Matt 10: 23.

Out of the east

Jesus did not point to the west as the quarter from which the lightning of war was to shine forth.‭ ‬Had he done so,‭ ‬the disciples would have looked for the appearing of a fleet as a sign of his standing at the door for judgment upon Jerusalem.‭

No,‭ ‬he instructed them to expect the Eagles from‭ "‬the East‭;‬" and from that country they came.‭ "‬Titus was adored by the‭ ‬Eastern Legions,‭ " ‬says Gibbon,‭ "‬which,‭ ‬under his command,‭ ‬had recently achieved the conquest of Judea.‭"

The seat of empire was in the west‭; ‬but the Eagles that destroyed the city and temple came from‭ "‬the east.‭"

‭ ‬Isaiah places Syria east of Judea in ch.‭ ‬9:11.‭ ‬Hence from this,‭ ‬and other passages quoted,‭ ‬Calmet says,‭ ‬that‭ "‬in Scripture style,‭ ‬the East is often used for the provinces which lie easterly,‭ ‬though perhaps inclining to the North of Judea and of Egypt.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Nov 1855

...it is clearly to be perceived that the parousia, or nearness, and the erchomenos, or return, of Jesus, are characterized by a diversity of judgments; and that since the judgment of the invisible presence, or parousia, styled "the coming of the Son of Man," many centuries have elapsed; and that the judgment of the visible presence, or erchomenos, is yet in the future.

Erchomai, from which erchomenos is derived, signifies to come; and when used in relation to a person coming to a place where he was before, it imports to come back, or return.

The visible presence of a person styled ho erchomenos, the coming one, or "he who is to come," is not the sign of his coming; but his actual appearance, or the thing signified by whatever sign may have been given to indicate it.

The παρα ειμι, para eimi, I am near; that is, the parousia, or state of being near, the sign of which was "Jerusalem encompassed with armies," was the result of an erchomenos perfected, or a coming completed.

So also the erchomenos epi, "the coming upon" the clouds of the heaven with power and much glory, is not "the sign of the Son of Man in the heaven," but the thing signified, or the Son of Man himself visible there. He comes to the clouds, which is not seen; having arrived there, he becomes visible, and in his descent from the dew point of our atmosphere to Mount Olivet, he is seen by the inhabitants of Jerusalem "coming upon" the clouds - "οπσονται, opsontai, they shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds, &c." *

Such was "the day of the Lord" which came upon Judah's commonwealth "as a thief in the night." The vengeance was terrible and complete. Everything Mosaic that existed contemporary with the apostles, "vanished away," as they and the prophets had foretold.

The Jews either rejected or perverted the Gospel of the Kingdom in "the glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH Elohim;" therefore, they were broken off by terrible judgment and subjected to the Mosaic curses of Mount Ebal for a long and "bitter day" of eighteen hundred years. Their power was broken by the Little Horn of the Goat; so that they could no longer persecute, and be contrary to all.

They have had practical experience of the import and truth of Paul's words, that-

"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; who is a consuming fire." (Heb. 10:31; 12:29)

Last days of Judah's Commonwealth Ch 4.

But James says,

"the coming of the Lord draweth night." He did not say "the appearing of the Lord," but only that the coming of the Son of Man, the sign of which and the end of the age, was the gathering of the Eagles to prey upon Israel's carcase. Jesus told the apostles that they

"should not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come;"

not with power and great glory, but with his Roman Eagles to "baptize" their adversaries and his "with fire"-even with the fire of Gehenna, or of Hinnom's vale. The apostles did not know when the "appearing" would be, its "times and seasons" being hid in God: but of the coming to destroy Jerusalem and her house, they could tell of its near approach.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1853

28 For wheresoever the carcase [bare remains of Judah] is, there will the [ desolating eastern Roman legions] eagles [the people of The Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary - Dan 9: 26] be gathered together

AD 70 Romans besiege Jerusalem...

"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, Lk 21: 24]. "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" - Matt 23: 38

This wicked generation a carcase ready to be devoured - fulfillment of Deut 28

and thy carcase hath been for food to every fowl of the heavens

a nation, from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle it flieth vv 26, 49

The day of vengeance as fortold by Our Master in Lk 17

And he said unto his disciples, `Days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and ye shall not behold [it];

and they shall say to you, Lo, here; or lo, there; ye may not go away, nor follow;

for as the lightning that is lightening out of the one [part] under heaven, to the other part under heaven doth shine, so shall be also the Son of Man in his day;

and first it behoveth him to suffer many things, and to be rejected by this generation. vv 22-25 YLT

Verses 27 and 28, speak of the Little Horn of the Goat stamping upon the political carcase of Judah, taking away the Daily Sacrifice, and casting down the temple and the truth to the ground, in their peculiar style. Verse 29 the stars fall from the heaven, because "the Little Horn casts off the stars to the ground," and in consequence, the Jewish State is abolished.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1859

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days [AD 70 - The Mosaic heavens and earth have passed away - a cataclysmic event "] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon [Sun and moon - ruling class of the Jewish state] shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers [plural (gentile powers in the Latter Days)] of the heavens shall be shaken [And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring - Lk 21: 25]:

Notwithstanding, however, this "great tribulation," unsurpassed by anything that had befallen Israel from the foundation of their state, or should ever after happen to them, he testified that Jerusalem should have a being at the erchomenos, when her Jewish inhabitants would hail his advent with blessing, as ῾ο ερχομενοσ, ho erchomenos, the

"he that cometh in the name of Yahweh."*

The end of all things hath approached—Peter.

‭ ‬Thus,‭ ‬in Ps.‭ ‬76:8,‭ ‬it is written,‭ "‬the earth feared‭;" ‬and in Ps.‭ ‬97:1,‭ "‬let the earth rejoice‭;" ‬Isai.‭ ‬14:16,‭ "‬is this the man that made the earth to tremble‭?"

These quotations are sufficient for the point before us.‭ ‬The Hebrew‭ ‬heavens were the official regions which could not be ascended by the common people.‭ ‬None but Aaron's descendants could enter the temple and perform the service.‭

Speaking of the heavens,‭ ‬Paul says,‭ ‬that Jesus,‭ ‬as High Priest after the order of Melchizedec,‭ ‬was‭ "‬made higher than the heavens.‭"

‭ "‬Jacob's heavens,‭" ‬says Moses,‭ "‬shall drop down dew‭;" ‬and to these heavens,‭ ‬he says,‭ "‬Give ear,‭ ‬O ye heavens,‭ ‬and I will speak‭; ‬and hear,‭ ‬O earth,‭ ‬the words of my mouth.‭ ‬My doctrine shall drop as the rain,‭ ‬my speech shall distil as the dew.‭"—‬Deut.‭ ‬32:1.‭

This was his style of address to the twelve tribes and their constituted authorities.‭ ‬Israel was an ecclesiastical and civil‭ ‬kosmos,‭ ‬in whose heaven were the sun,‭ ‬moon,‭ ‬stars,‭ ‬and constellations,‭ ‬of the system.‭ ‬It was from this heaven the Little Horn of the Goat

‭ "‬cast of the stars to the ground,‭ ‬and stamped upon them.‭"

When the Horn abolished the system,‭ ‬its‭

‭"‬Sun was darkened,‭ ‬its moon gave no light,‭ ‬and its stars fell from the heaven‭;"

and the days of mourning were established.‭ ‬It was a total eclipse of the Jewish power...‭

Referring to the Mosaic heavens,‭ ‬the prophet says,

‭ "‬the heavens shall‭ ‬vanish away like smoke,‭ ‬and the earth shall wax old like a garment.‭" ‬Isai.‭ ‬51:6:

‭ ‬and the Spirit in David speaking concerning Messiah,‭ ‬saith for him,‭

‭"‬Yahweh humbled my strength in the way,‭—‬he shortened my days‭; ‬I will say,‭ ‬my Power,‭ ‬take me not away in the midst of my days‭!"

To whom the Spirit replies,

‭ "‬For a generation of generations are thy years.‭ ‬Of old thou foundedst the earth,‭ ‬and the heavens are the work of thy hands‭; ‬they shall perish,‭ ‬but thou shalt stand‭; ‬and all of them as a garment,‭ ‬shall wax old,‭ ‬as a vesture thou wilt change them,‭ ‬and they shall be changed.‭ ‬But thou art He‭; ‬and thy years shall not come to an end.‭"

‭ ‬In this testimony,‭ ‬the Spirit speaks of the Messiah‭ ‬first as a mortal man‭; ‬secondly,‭ ‬he tells him that his years are for a generation chosen out of all other generations‭; ‬and that,‭ ‬as one of this generation,‭ ‬his years should not come to an end.‭ ‬Thirdly,‭ ‬that,‭ ‬though cut off in the midst of the days of his flesh,‭ ‬still it was He who laid the foundations of the earth and made the heavens‭; ‬fourthly,‭ ‬that he who had been cut off,‭ ‬should change them—abolish,‭ ‬or cause to perish,‭ ‬what existed,‭ ‬to make room for what was to succeed them.‭ ‬But,‭ ‬though those heavens should fall,‭ ‬and vanish away,‭ ‬He should stand‭; ‬for‭ "‬Thou art He‭"—‬the Eternal Spirit in flesh whose years shall never fail.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Aug 1859

"I have just informed you that immediately after the tribulation of those days, in which the Eagles devour the dead body politic of Judah, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light; and the stars shall fall from the heaven, as Daniel had foretold; it must, therefore, be evident to you that I do not refer to Israel's heaven; for you cannot see signs in a heaven so totally eclipsed; you may consequently very accurately infer what heaven I allude to in which the sign of the Son of Man shall appear, indicating his approaching visibility on the clouds in power and much glory."*

What follows is the Gentile dispensation...v30 and 31 are in parenthesis. The rest of the chapter is the direct answer having relation to the temple and the Mosaic dispensation.

30 And then [after an interval occupied by "the times of the gentiles"] shall appear the sign of the Son of man [the name given to Messiah in his role as the grand high judge of men, Jhn 5: 27, 25: 31]: 

in heaven [The king has come to his "throne of glory"] [of Messiah's power and authority in the Latter days - his presence in Jerusalem and his antagonism to the Gogian forces ...]

Behold, the day of Yahweh cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee

- Armageddon.

"All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ENSIGN on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye" - Isa 18: 3.]

(the first phase of the end of the gentile downtreading of Jerusalem was initiated in 1967. BUT

 " Jerusalem shall be trodden down by nations, till the times of nations be fulfilled" - Lk 21: 24.)

The eclipse and fall of the sun, moon and stars, and the shaking of the powers of Judah's heavens, or polity, were "immediately after the tribulation of those days" of "distress in the land; and then," or afterwards, "the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in the heaven; and then," or after that appearance of the sign, "the tribes of the land (αἰ ψυλαἰ τη?ς τη?ς hai phylai tees gees) shall mourn in his presence; "and they," the tribes,

"shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of the heaven with power and great glory."

This is the order of events in relation to the Jewish nation. Between the overthrow of its polity and the appearing of the sign of the Son of Man, it would be favoured with no visible manifestation of Yahweh, as in the days of old. The interval was to be occupied by "the times of the Gentiles," during which Jerusalem, the great king's city, was to be trodden under foot until the time came to recompense them as they had meted out to Israel and the Saints.

Between the events of the 29th and 30th verses, 1800 years have nearly elapsed. The interval will soon be filled up, as we believe. We await with Israel "the sign," whose signification will work commotion in the Jewish mind, that in rejecting Jesus of Nazareth as king of the Jews, they have put from them Yahweh's Christ.

Then looking upon Him whom they have pierced, will Israel mourn and be in bitterness for him as the first-born of God and his nation. The Son of Man then acknowledged as their king, will enter on the work of building again the dwelling-place of David now in ruins, and setting it it up, as in the days of old.

He will then gather the still dispersed from all the nations; and if any of them have been driven to the utmost parts of the heaven, he will send his angels (or messengers) with a great sound of a trumpet (making loud and general proclamation) and they shall gather his elect (people even all Israel) from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other," and "bring them into the land which their fathers possessed, and they shall possess it," as the Lord has said by his servant Moses.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1853

END OF AIONS 

Similar characteristics

Does not our Lord in another gospel utter the words

... "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."

This was realized in the time preceding the overthrow of Judah's commonwealth, and will doubtless be characteristic of that other day of the Son of man when he shall come in power.

Does he not set forth to us the whole subject of his rejection, and absence, and return, in the parable of the nobleman, who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return?

"His citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us."

His servants were left to occupy in his absence. Among these, when he returns, he distributes the tokens of his approval or displeasure; but what becomes of the citizens who hated him, and would not submit to his reign?

"But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me."

Such are the words of Jesus. And still further, he speaks of days of vengeance on the Jews, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But are approaching judgments confined to them? Nay, far from it.

"There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and over the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken."

True, the word to the disciples is,

"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."

That which fills the world with forebodings, inspires with stronger hopes those who have hearkened to the Lord's voice. But even to these, he says

"Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth."

How awful are these words! Are any of those quoted from the Old Testament more pregnant with solemn warning and admonition? But how is this? How can men's hearts be failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, and yet this terrible day come as a snare on all them that dwell on the earth? Ah, there is no contradiction here.

The premonitory calamities will awaken men's fears, and cause their hearts to fail, just as many hearts did fail, amid the convulsions of a few years ago. But we have evidence all around us of how soon men's fears may be allayed; how a temporary lull soothes all to deeper slumber; slumber, not disturbed, but made still more fatally sweet, by dreams of safety, and prosperity, and peace, and plenty, and all that the heart of man desires to form a paradise in this evil state.

It will be at such a time, that as a snare the day of the Lord will all at once enclose them, in the grasp of those terrific judgments from which there is no escape. As Paul witnesses,

"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child: and they shall not escape."

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1859

31 And he shall send his angels <sounders of the truth> with a great sound  [ the memorial of blowing of trumpets...1st day, 7th month Ethanim (post exile Tishrei) (our Sept/Oct) - Lev 23: 24 

 Blessed is he that cometh in the name of Yahweh - Matt 23: 38,39], 

of a trumpet <of Jubilee - having aion-glad tidings to preach>,

and they shall gather together [He will then gather the Jews still dispersed from among the nations -

"If thine outcast is in the extremity of the heavens, thence doth Yahweh thy Elohim gather thee (Israel) - Deut 30: 4.

Elijah leading the mission "Lo, I am sending to you Elijah the prophet" - Mal 4: 5]

This is the TRUMPET OF THE JUBILEE, which will bring all the approved into the possession of the inheritance; and is symbolized, by none of the seven, but by "an angel flying in mid-heaven having aion-glad tidings to preach." These moshkai kesheth, or sounders of the truth, of Isaiah 66:19, and messengers of Matt. 24:31, go forth "with a trumpet and a great voice," which declares the glory of Yahweh among the nations.

... When the saints, in their graves, and we who may remain, hear this great voice, we shall all gather ourselves together to the Moses-like prophet - to Jesus "both Lord and Christ."

Eureka 8.4.

"To what point in the prophetic chain of events does verse 31 belong?"

To the restoration of the Twelve Tribes after the return of Jesus to Jerusalem. It is parallel with Deut. 30:3,-

"Yahweh thine Elohim (the Eternal Spirit in Jesus and his brethren, the Saints,) will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee (O Israel) and will Return and gather thee from all the nations which Yahweh thine Elohim (when only manifested in Jesus) hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the utmost of the heavens from thence will Yahweh thine Elohim gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: and Yahweh thine Elohim will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it."

It belongs to Isa. 18:3; 27:13; 66:19; Zech 4:14; Rev. 14:6, 7. It is the antitype of "the Memorial of blowing of Trumpets"-the Trumpet of the Jubilee on the tenth day of the seventh month, proclaiming liberty throughout the land; the return of every true Israelite unto the possession of his Fathers-Lev. 23:24; 25:9, 10; Numb. 10:1-10.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1859

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation [in AD 30] shall not pass, till all these things [destruction of the temple and the desolation of Jerusalem...] be fulfilled.

The generation that heard the words of Christ did not pass away till the predicted destruction of the temple, city, land, and people of the Jews was accomplished.

Anyone can see this who considers that the prophecy was uttered in Herod in a.d. 34, and the storm came a.d. 67.

...the signs of the latter day and the return of Christ... are in the nature of a parenthesis going beyond to the end of "the times of the Gentiles," as he will see by consulting Luke 21:25.

The discourse comprises events to occur in that generation, and events to occur at the end of "the times of the Gentiles," many centuries afterwards. To only one of these sets of events could the saying of Christ apply. It could not apply to both-of course. It applied to the first...

The Christadelphian, March 1898

The parousia, or proximity, of the Son of Man to Jerusalem in the crisis of its overthrow was to be in the lifetime of that generation, according to the words of Jesus, who said,

"This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled."

But of the precise time when the temple should disappear, and the Mosaic Economy "vanish away," the Father only could tell; for Jesus said,

"Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only."  Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32.

The disciples were permitted to know only the proximity of the judgment of Gehenna, termed in our English version, "the damnation of hell." "As the days of Noah, so would the parousia of the Son of Man be...*

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, May 1855.

37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

...unexpected to the faithless, but looked for by them who watched for the sign, though not knowing the hour of its approach.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1855

48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming [erchomai];

Jesus on Olivet also speaking of the fall of Jerusalem and ruin of the State, says,

'Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away: so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.'

From James' and Peter's two epistles it is evident, that the Jews, with a few exceptions only, were as demoralized as the antediluvians.

The Spirit had been preaching to them through the apostles of 'judgment to come' for nearly forty years; but they heeded his proclamation no more than the antediluvians did when he preached to them through Noah. Christian Jews said,

'My Lord delayeth his coming,'

and became iniquitous; while others scoffingly inquired,

'Where is the promise of his coming?'

But they were willingly ignorant, or unmindful of the events of Noah's age. They resisted the Spirit in refusing to believe the apostles; therefore the fate of the antediluvians overtook them, and a few of the baptized only escaped, who, like Noah, believed the word.

When Peter brought up the case of the antediluvians they were as now, 'spirits in prison;' but when the Spirit went and preached to them through Noah, they were like the contemporaries of the apostles, living men and women at large upon the earth, enjoying

'the pleasures of sin for a season.' 'The dead know not any thing;'

what then is the use of preaching to them? They must be made alive by the Spirit as Jesus was—cease to be spirits in prison—and then something might be done. When they come forth they will indeed hear the words of the Lord; but there will be no mercy in his speech; for he will pronounce them 'cursed,' and command them to depart from his presence.

There are other prisoners, however, who will rejoice in the year of liberty and release. They are styled 'the Lord's prisoners,' in the pit where no water is. Thus, Yahweh addressing the king who rides the ass into Jerusalem, says,

'As for thee, by the blood of they covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein there is no water.'

He also styles the Jews scattered among the nations which keep them back from the occupation of their country, 'prisoners of hope;' as it reads,

'Turn you to the stronghold (to Zion,) ye prisoners of hope * * * when I have bent Judah for me, and filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man. And the Lord shall be seen over them,' &c.

Here, then, are two classes of prisoners—the one class, in the prison-house of the captive dead; and the other, in the Gentile prison-house of the living captives of Israel. Jesus being the Christ is therefore to perform the Christ's mission, which is,

'to be a covenant for the people (Israel) a light to the nations; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.'

When the time comes to accomplish this, he will 'say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves.' This will be the proclamation of a two-fold liberty to the Lord's captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound—to Death's prisoners in Sheol, of the dust; and Death's captives in the Sheol of Israel's political bondage among the Gentiles.

The Spirit, through Jesus, will make this proclamation to spirits in prison at his appearing in power and great glory; for 'the dead shall hear his voice and come forth'—the dead in their graves, literal and political; and this is all the preaching to the spirits in prison Jesus will deign to do.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Sept 1852

Right from the days of bro. Thomas, the Christadelphian body has been on the verge of expectancy, eager for the Lord's return. And the gradual development of the prophetic picture toward Armageddon has heightened that expectancy. This has been a distinguishing mark of Christadelphians, quite amusing to the world.

But today we increasingly hear it said, almost apologetically, as if ashamed of the former simple enthusiasm, "It cannot be for some time yet, there is more prophecy to be fulfilled first, things are not ready" -- "My Lord delayeth his coming." This is becoming the fashionable viewpoint among the "many." Surely this in itself is one of the most striking signs of the end!

Love Shall Wax Cold - Brother Growcott

[I believe this verse has a primary reference to the last days of Judah's commonwealth...neverthless the lesson is clear to us also.

In recent discussion with a brother we agreed that for a couple of decades there seemed to be a lull in signs, which might excuse the sentiment "delay" expressed...expectations sometimes being the reverse of current events.

Not so now. Many signs give confidence that the return of Messiah is near].

49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

Generally, this means an indulging in, and joining in, things outside the associations and principles of the Truth.

It speaks of joining with false doctrine, for that is often represented under the figure of wine and drunkenness.

It speaks of joining in the activities and amusements of the world, for these, too, come under the scriptural heading of drunkenness and revelry.

It is so easy in these prosperous days to be carried away by the intoxication of the present -- to eat and drink with the drunken -- not only by the world's endlessly increasing pleasures and entertainments, but also by the pressure of daily work and the endless complications of modern life.

Above all, perhaps, it speaks of a state of confusion and intoxication -- having the senses dulled and blurred -- losing the clear distinction of the Truth -- the fading of the recognition of the urgency of a clear, firm stand -- a general lowering of the standards and burial of differences and general amalgamation -- loss of the sense of the importance of clear separation from error.

Love Shall Wax Cold - Brother Growcott

50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

"They that sleep sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night..."

"But ye are all children of the light, and of the day. . .Let us watch and be sober."

"God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all."

The days are evil, but there will be a faithful remnant found awake to meet the Lord -- a strange, holy, separate few -- perfected in patience and love -- sober, grave and diligent in the midst of the general intoxication of the night, for Jesus says --

"Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching."

Love Shall Wax Cold - Brother Growcott

51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The false teachers, styled by Jesus and John false prophets, seemed for a time to have the advantage of the situation. Evil servants that they were, they said in their hearts, Our Lord delayeth to come; and came practically to the conclusion that he would not come. Having relieved themselves of this apprehension, they commenced the merchandise of souls, and smote those of their fellow-servants who would not be sold to work iniquity.

Thus they became lords of the heritages, and devoted themselves to eating and drinking with the drunken, in all the luxury of the day. But, though they found it convenient to ignore all but their own imaginations, their Divine Master was not unobservant of their abominations. Still he bore with them for a time,

 "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to a change of mind."

As he waited in the days of Noah, so he waited with them. But his long suffering and forbearance were ineffectual; so he came upon them in a day and hour they were not aware of, and cut them off, appointing them a portion with the hypocrites, where was weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 24:48-51).

Last days of Judah's Commonwealth Ch 2.

The end of all things hath approached—Peter.

Such was "the day of the Lord" which came upon Judah's commonwealth

"as a thief in the night."

The vengeance was terrible and complete. Everything Mosaic that existed contemporary with the apostles, "vanished away," as they and the prophets had foretold.

The Jews either rejected or perverted the Gospel of the Kingdom in "the glorious and fearful name, Yahweh Elohim;" therefore, they were broken off by terrible judgment, and subjected to the Mosaic curses of Mount Ebal for a long and "bitter day" of eighteen hundred years. Their power was broken by the Little Horn of the Goat; so that they could no longer persecute, and be contrary to all. They have had practical experience of the import and truth of Paul's words, that

"it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; who is a consuming fire."—Heb. 10:31; 12:29.

He has consumed their land with intense desolation; scattered them abroad to the utmost heaven; and, as Moses predicted, made them "an astonishment, a proverb and byword, among all nations." Moses, in whom they boast, has nothing for them but curses, until they confess the iniquity that has entailed upon them the punishment they endure; and Jesus, the prophet after his type,

"will not take up their names into his lips,"

so long as they "hasten after another" Messiah—Psal. 16:4: so that, abandoned for a time by Moses and Jesus, they have no refuge, nor covering from sin! How completely have the eagles devoured the carcase! Not a piece of tendon, skin, or garbage has escaped their voracity; but, as Ezekiel represents, they are the bones of a disintegrated skeleton, bleaching in the valley, and very dry. When the prophet saw them in vision, Adonai Yahweh said to him, "Can these dry bones live?" But, Ezekiel, dismayed at the charnal-house appearance, could only exclaim,

"Adonai Yahweh, thou knowest!"

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Aug 1859