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Matthew 24:4-31 Is a Two-Part Prophecy

Chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew consist of many End Time topics addressed by Jesus, including Signs of the End of the Age, the Fig Tree, Wise and Evil Servants, Wise and Foolish Virgins, and others.

For three decades, I unwittingly assumed that the prophesied events of Matthew 24:4-31 will all occur in one continuous sequence. Then came a head-slapping-duh moment, when I realized that verses 4-14 contain one topic-with-sequence, and verses 15-31 contain a second topic-with-sequence. That is to say, two separate but closely-related prophecies are to be found here:

1) Matthew 24:4-14 contains a general overview of the events of the Great Tribulation. It has long been recognized that:

– the “many” false christs (:5) are the White Horse of Revelation 6’s 1st Seal;

– “wars and rumors of wars” (:6) are the 2nd Seal’s Red Horse;

– “famines” (:7) are the 3rd Seal’s Black Horse;

– “pestilence and earthquakes” (:7) are the 4th Seal’s Pale Horse;

– and the hatred and murder of the saints, instigated by false prophets (:9-12), cause the martyrdom foretold by the 5th Seal.

2) Beginning in Mathew 24:15, Jesus shifts to a different topic-with-sequence:

– how the Great Tribulation will begin (:15);

– how the saints should respond (:16-26);

– how the Great Tribulation will end (:27-29);

– and how Christ will return (:30-31).

When Jesus speaks in Matthew 24:23-24 of “false christs and false prophets” coming forth, he is speaking of the same ones earlier mentioned in verses 5 and 11: he thereby ties his two narratives together into a greater whole. Jesus first focuses only upon the Great Tribulation (= the birth-pangs); then second, outlines the main pre-Tribulation event (the Abomination of Desolation), the mid-Tribulation events (deceptions, trials, and testings), and the post-Tribulation events (the Second Coming). The first prophecy of 24:4-14 describes neither the AD nor the Second Coming. And the second prophecy of 24:15-31 skips over the details about the GT provided by the first prophecy.

I hope this understanding will be helpful to some of you. I’m sure that many already know it. And I’m sure that many will reject it, because they already have fixed their eschatologies upon the events of verses 4-31 being in one continuous sequence. Misconceptions such as “the Tribulation” being followed by “the Great Tribulation” are one result of such thinking.