| Scripture |
Additional Comments |
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| 1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. |
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| 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.
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| 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 presence, and of the end of the age? |
The sign of thy presence – In the KJV this word is translated as "coming." That the correct translation is "presence" is made clear by noting its use in Phil. 2:12. |
| 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
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| 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
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| 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.
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| 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
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| 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
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| 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.
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| 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
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| 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
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| 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
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| 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
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| 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
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| 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:)
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| 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
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| 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
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| 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
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| 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
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| 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
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| 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
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Great tribulation – Armageddon. Diii:1 |
| 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
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For the elect's sake – Br. Russell suggests (in several places – see Expanded Bible Comments) that this phrase should read "through [by] the elect." Since we could find no translation which supported the thought that the shortening of the trouble of those days would be by the elect (even though this is exactly what the scriptures indicate will happen,) we set about to see how this would work that the shortening of the days would be for the sake of the elect.
As Jesus (the Bridegroom, the Husband of the Church) is to step in and and bring order out of the chaos. Jesus is "the everlasting father" of the human race. He achieved this by purchasing Adam (and thus the entire race still in his loins. 1 Cor. 15:21-22; Heb. 2:9; 1 Tim. 2:6; Rom. 5:12,18,19) That makes his wife (the church) the everlasting mother. As such the world of mankind become her children. Therefore it is for the sake of the elect (the church, the mother) that those days will be cut short (so that her children may be saved.)
– After coming to the above conclusion this verse was carefully examined again in the Greek. The word "for" is Strong's G1223. In most cases (by far) when Matthew uses this word it is translated as "by" or "through." – In other words, Br. Russell's "translation" is valid.
A further validation:Recognizing that sentence structure is different between Greek and English, this portion of the verse should be:
"but by the elect, the selfsame days shall be shortened." |
| 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
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| 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
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| 25 Behold, I have told you before.
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| 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.
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| 27 For as the bright shining cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the presence of the Son of man be.
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| 28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
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| 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
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| 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
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| 31 And he shall send his angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
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He – Our returned Lord Jesus.
Send his angels – His messengers, the saints living at the time of His return.
Great trumpet – The message of Jubilee.
Gather together – In one condition, not necessarily one location.
His elect – The little flock.
The four winds – Before the time when the four winds (wars, tumults, fallen angels) are loosed. See Rev. 7:1-3
One end of heaven to the other – Throughout the entirety of Christendom, especially the religous element, the 'heavens.' |
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| 32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
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Fig tree – Natural Israel. See Jer. 24. |
| 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
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| 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
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| 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
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| 36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
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| 37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the presence of the Son of man be.
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| 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
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| 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the presence of the Son of man be.
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| 40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
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| 41 Two grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
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| 42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
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| 43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
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| 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
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| 45 Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
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The faithful and wise servant – Because he was faithful, the Lord made him wise. He was indeed a servant, of the Lord and of His Truth.
For those who think there were more than one servant, or that it was a class, we suggest they consider the Greek breakdown of verse 45.
In due season – This last phrase "in due season" is from two Greek words: Strong's G1722 ("in" or "at") and G2540.
This text should be translated: "Who then is the servant, faithful and wise, whom the master appointed to be over his household, to give them the meat at the set time." |
| 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
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Strong's 1565
This verse might be better translated: "Supremely blessed is the servant, that one whom, when his master comes, shall find so doing." |
| 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
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| 48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
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| 49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
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| 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,
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| 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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In R1000 Pastor Russell applies this to the Great Company. |