, But the End is not yet.

Matthew 24:6, NASB: And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.

Jesus makes a dire prediction about the destruction of the temple. Immediately after this, while seated on the Mount of Olives, Jesus responds to a question from the disciples. They ask when judgment will come and what signs will signal His return. Christ describes a season of unimaginable world turmoil and persecution. He points to a specific moment of defilement of the temple, at which point people should run for their lives. Jesus speaks of world-threatening tribulation which will be cut short right before He returns as King and Judge. Since nobody can possibly know when He will return, His followers must live in readiness.

What the Bible says about The End is Not Yet . Matthew 24:21-22. The tribulation at the end—what we have traditionally called the Great Tribulation—will be the worst the world has ever seen. It will be far worse than the fall of Jerusalem; the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the Holocaust; the World War II bombings of Dresden, Hamburg, London, and Tokyo; the famines in East Africa and elsewhere; the Spanish flu—perhaps all of them put together!

What will be the end of the course of events in Christendom? Some think that it will go on indefinitely, much as at present; others suppose that modern progress in science and civilization tends to a perfection which the world will some day arrive at. The teaching of Scripture is very definite and very different. Although an interval of peace and prosperity may immediately follow the rapture of the church, the end of the age will be the advent of the Son of man in power and great glory (Matthew 24:30). The finished refinement of the world being linked with blasphemy against God will bring down sudden and terrific judgment.

But before that, as we have already seen, true believers will have been taken to heaven. This will be the end of Christianity in any true sense. With the translation of the church, its mission will have been completed. Left behind, however, in the world will be the vast but lifeless body of professing Christians. This religious body, perhaps still nominally Christian, may continue for a time, although rejected by Christ; and it is solemn to reflect that this is a condition which, while at present let us hope exceptional, may in places be already existing. Are there not even now so-called churches presided over by men who are themselves strangers to the new birth? and the people over whom they preside—whole congregations—with quite possibly not a new-born soul amongst them; yet the routine of what is called “public worship”

Matthew 24:1–14 follows Jesus and the disciples out of the temple. This comes after His devastating criticism of the scribes and Pharisees in chapter 23. Christ predicts a moment when the temple will be destroyed without one stone left on another. Later, His disciples ask for more information about these future events. Jesus describes a season in which the world will be in turmoil but that alone will not be proof that the end has come. His disciples will be persecuted, killed, and hated for His name's sake. False prophets will rise and some with them will fall away from the faith.

Christ's followers have asked when judgment will come on Jerusalem (Matthew 24:1–2) and what signs will point to the end of the age and His return (Matthew 24:3). He has warned that after He is gone from them (John 16:5–7), many men will claim to be the true Messiah (Matthew 24:5).

Now Jesus predicts that stories about violence, unrest, and chaos will come. However, just because there are battles or conflicting reports about them does not, itself, mean the end is near. These real and rumored wars are part of God's unfolding plan for the earth. They must take place, but they are not the signal of the end.

Since that moment, of course, many real and rumored wars have come and gone, bringing with them destruction and devastation. Unfortunately, many people seem to miss Jesus' words here—it seems every major conflict is accompanied by fears of Armageddon (Revelation 16:14–16) and the end of days.