Mike,
That was a good post. I particularly liked how you
indicated that Matthew 24 is aimed at the Jew, rather than
to the church. There are some who have attempted to say
the same thing as you have, but they make the error of
saying that the entire book of Matthew is for the Jews,
and not for the church. There is no question that the book
of Matthew has much to say to the Jews. There is the
teaching about the four gospels, that shows that:
Matthew presents Jesus as the King & answers to “like a lion” in Revelation
4:7
Mark presents Jesus as the servant of the LORD &
answers to “like a calf” in Revelation
4:7
Luke presents Jesus as the Son of man & answers to “a face as a man” in Revelation
4:7
John presents Jesus as the Son of God & answers to “like a flying
eagle” in Revelation
4:7
Matthew, early
on, has the wise men asking , “Where is he
that is born King of the Jews?”. Yes, it does
teach that well. However, for them to say that the whole
book of Matthew is not really for the church went too far.
The first three times that the word church is used in the
scriptures, are in the book of Matthew:
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee,
That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church;
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 18:17 And if he shall neglect to
hear them, tell it unto the church:
but if he neglect to hear the
church, let him be unto thee as an heathen
man and a publican.
Then the word
church is not used again until Acts 2:
Acts 2:47 Praising God, and having
favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved.
The word church
is not used in the other three gospels at all, but it is
first presented in Matthew 16, and even church disciple is
mentioned in Matthew 18.
Again, I like
how you made it clear that Matthew 24, rather than the
whole book, is not speaking of the church, but of those in
Israel during the Tribulation,
after the blessed hope & catching away
of the church.
Gino