person; it also implies his continuing presence after he arrives. This is important, for much of the
understanding of this discourse will revolve around the meaning of this word. The English word "coming"
appears other times in the message, but it is not the same Greek word and has a different meaning.
Even after the resurrection, these disciples were still asking Y‘shua questions that reflected a political
concept of his coming. In Acts 1:6 they asked, ―Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
They were obviously still thinking of a political rule over the nations of the earth. He did not deny that this will
eventually occur, but simply reminded them that the times and seasons are the Father's prerogative to
determine. Thus, when they asked him on the Mount of Olives, ―What will be the sign of your coming?" it is
not a question about His coming again, but of His presence in the nation as its king. But, as we shall see in
Y‘shua's answer, he treats it as a legitimate inquiry concerning his second advent.
The Close of the AgeThey also ask for a second sign concerning the close of the age. It is not, as in the King James Version, ―the
end of the world". It has nothing to do with the end of the world. The world will go on for a long time after the
events of the Olivet Discourse are fulfilled, but the age will end with those events. In this matter they were
much more clearly informed, though they unquestionably felt that it was a time that lay immediately ahead.
They were sure that they were living in days approaching the end of the age and that they were about to
enter the events that would mark the close of the age.
We must remember that these men were well acquainted with the Old Covenant. They also had heard
Y‘shua teaching the parables of the kingdom (Matthew 13) and had heard him speak of a close of the age
when he would send his angels throughout the earth to gather men to judgment. They knew the Old
Covenant predictions of Messiah's rule and reign over the earth. Doubtless they knew, too, of Daniel's
remarkable prophecy (Daniel 9) that there would be a period of 490 years, (seventy weeks of years, or 490
years), from the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity until the time of Messiah the Prince.
From the prophecy they may well have known that the 490 years were almost completely expired, and it was
little wonder that they expected the close of the age to be very near.
What they could not see and could not be expected to see was that there would occur a wide valley of time
between the hour in which they asked their question and the close of the age in the far distant future. We
cannot blame them for this, for it is difficult to distinguish the two comings of Y‘shua in the Old Covenant
prophecies. Peter wrote that the prophets foresaw "the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory". But to
them it seemed as if they were one great event. What looked to them to be one great mountain range of
fulfillment, were actually two widely separated ranges with a great valley of time in between.
For instance, in Isaiah 9 there is a well known prediction of a coming child. ―For to us a child is born, to us a
son is given." That is a prophecy of Y‘shua's First Advent as a baby in Bethlehem. But the rest of the verse
says, ―...and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called 'Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.'" That is clearly referring to his reign in the days of the
kingdom which would cover the earth. It will not be fulfilled until Y‘shua returns to earth again, but these two
events are brought together into one verse with no hint of any intervening time.
Can you now understand why Y‘shua did not mention the rapture of the Believers here in the beginning of
chapter four? Many people therefore say there is no rapture of the church before the Tribulation period
starts. I will explain with more reasons why it was not mentioned in the rest of the verses to follow.
Y‘shua now takes their questions, and in answering them reverses the order. They asked about the sign of
His presence and the sign of the end of the age. He answers the last one first. The sign of the close of the
age is found in verse 15, ―the desolating sacrilege...standing in the holy place." We shall examine that much
more fully later on. The sign of his coming is given in verse 30, ―then will appear the sign of the Son of man
in heaven." This, too, we shall examine in detail in due course; but throughout this whole passage, Y‘shua
takes pains to make clear to His disciples that the end of the age lay far in the distant future.
Notice that Y‘shua speaks to these men as though they would live to see all the events he predicts.
Obviously, therefore, He is speaking to them as representative men. Some of them saw the destruction of
Jerusalem as He had foretold it; but none would live to see the close of the age and none would pass
through the Great Tribulation. They were uniquely representative men. They were representatives both of
Israel and the church. At the time He spoke to them, they were Jewish believers – men of Israel, all of them.
As such, they represented the nation and YHWH's dealings with that remarkable people. But after the
crucifixion and Pentecost, they were Believers in Messiah, both Jew and non-Jew. They would then belong
to a unique body which has a task to fulfill throughout the intervening centuries before the end times. Thus