Mount Olivet Discourse -
Part 8
by Paul George
Matthew 24:31
We have seen that the return of Jesus to planet earth is
said to be "on the clouds of the sky" and will be
accompanied "with power and great glory." In the process of
that return, apparently as our Lord descends, He will then
send out His angelic company to gather in the Jewish,
believing remnant that He will rescue from the danger of all
the world’s armies who have gathered by the anti-Christ in
an attack upon Israel and Jerusalem. The passage before us
now, Matthew 24:31, describes this event.
In Matthew 23:37 Jesus weeps over Jerusalem as He pronounces
the a.d. 70 judgment and declares, how He wanted to gather
the residents of Jerusalem together, the way a hen gathers
her chicks under her wings, and they were unwilling. Now in
chapter 24, this same Jesus is returning when Jerusalem is
again in peril. But this time the Jews respond positively to
the Messiahship of Jesus, so our Lord sends out his angels
to gather saved Jews at the end of the tribulation from
around the world and bring them to Jerusalem, instead of
scattering them as in a.d. 70 (Luke 21:24), such a
regathering was predicted in the Old Testament.
"So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you,
the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and
you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God
has banished you, and you return to the Lord your God and
obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that
I command you today, you and your sons, then the Lord your
God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on
you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where
the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are at
the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will
gather you, and from there He will bring you back."
(Deuteronomy 30:1- 4).
According to Isaiah 11:12, Jesus will lift up a standard for
the nations, and will assemble the banished ones of Israel,
and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners
of the earth.
Deuteronomy 30:1- 4 reveals an important covenantal promise
made by the Lord to His people Israel. Matthew 24:31 reveals
that our Lord, the same One who made the promise in
Deuteronomy will fulfill His promises in history, even if it
requires a miraculous solution. The Deuteronomy passage also
provides an answer for why our Lord used the term “elect" in
Matthew 24:31 to characterize His people. It is because at
this pivotal point in history, the Jews will fulfill the
requirements of Deuteronomy 30:2 and will turn to the Lord
and obey Him with all their heart and soul according to all
that the Lord commanded. This was also our Lord’s
requirement for the second coming in Matthew 23:39.
In the New Testament, the final regathering revealed by the
Old Testament prophets is summarized in Matthew 24:31 and
Mark 13:27. In this passage, Jesus stated that the angels
will be involved in the final regathering and they will
bring the Jews back into the land. The two passages are a
simple summary of all that the prophets had to say about
Israel's final restoration. The Matthew passage is based on
Isaiah 27:12-13 and the Mark passage are based on
Deuteronomy 30:4. Its purpose was to make clear that the
worldwide regathering predicted by the prophets would be
fulfilled only after the second coming. What Jesus describes
in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 is the Jewish ingathering that
will fulfill the prophetic aspects of the Feast of Trumpets
for the nation of Israel.
The term "elect" in Matthew 24:31 refers to those Jewish
individuals who will become believers in the Messiahship of
Jesus by the time the Second Advent occurs. In Daniel 12:1
it is written, "Now at that time Michael, the great prince
who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise.
And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred
since there was a nation until that time; and at that time
your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will
be rescued." This passage in Daniel uses the phrase
"everyone who is found written in the book," to refer to
Jewish individuals who will come to faith in Christ during
the tribulation period, which is the context of this
passage. Jesus apparently had this passage from Daniel in
mind and shortens the phrase "everyone who is found written
in the book, to “the elect." Therefore, elect is an
excellent term that refers to an individual, in this context
a Jewish person, who will come to faith in Christ and not
just any individual who will come to faith in Christ during
the tribulation. This is supported in Daniel 12:1 by the
modifier "your people. Who are "your people, the Jewish
people?
At Christ’s first coming he wept over Jerusalem and
expressed His desire to gather Israel to Himself the way a
hen gathers her chicks under her wings and they were
unwilling (Matthew. 23:37). At His second coming Israel will
look upon Him whom they have pierced (Zechariah 12:10) and
say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord (Psalm
118:26; Matthew 23:39).
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