Destruction of Temple Foretold
Matthew 24:1-2 catches a conversation between the disciples and Jesus as they were leaving the temple after castigating the Pharisees. The disciples were probably in pretty good spirits after Jesus long talk. They shewed Jesus all the beautiful buildings of the temple.
Jesus answer probably shocked them. He asked if they were looking at the same things He was looking at. I suspect that His reference may have been to all the Roman soldiers, but that is speculation. He tells them flat out that the temple complex would be so throughly destroyed that there wouldn't be one stone upon another.
Timing and Signs of the Second Coming
The disciples of course wanted to know when this would happen. After all, the temple area had been the center for their worship for their entire lives, and they were still coming to it to do God's work. As a mostly public building for Jews, the thought of it being torn down again after losing Solomon's temple many generations ago probably was quite depressing to hear. They also asked for signs of Jesus return since they had evidently accepted that He was going to die and be resurrected, and when the end of the world would be.
Christ doesn't give any indication of when the temple would be destroyed, but Matthew 24:3-14 does recount a long description of what the world would be like before His second coming. I suspect that the temple's downfall in 70 A.D. was a bit too near to want to mention. It might have led to more insurrection and destroyed His church before it got off the ground.
With respect to His return, Jesus mentions many things. He says to not worry about wars, and that's good because we've had so many already.
He warns of false Christs which have also been a reality. Some of the notable ones according to Wikipedia are Ann Lee (Shakers), Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (Ahmadiyya movement), Vissarion or Sergey Torop (Church of the Last Testament), Inri Cristo in Brazil, José Luis de Jesús Miranda (Growing in Grace), and Apollo Quiboloy (Kingdom of Jesus Christ).
I don't point these people out to give them recognition or glory, but simply to point out that they seem to be coming about more frequently. There may have been more in the past that just were never noted in history. They deceived many.
There have been many famines, times of pestilence, earthquakes in odd spots over history to go along with the wars, but nothing compared to the post rapture reality. There is a reason whey the four horsemen ar so named. I expound a bit further in my notes on Mark 13.
With few new Christians and perhaps a few more people who thought they were Christian but weren't and missed the rapture, there will be little to hold back the spread of iniquity and evil in the world. Christians will be unwelcome and eventually the anti-Christ will be out to destroy them or force all to take the mark of the beast.
The love for God that those who got right with God after the rapture had will be challenged by that iniquity and many will turn away from God again because iniquity looks good or to be able to buy and sell with the mark of the beast to save themselves or family. Those that endure all the tribulation to the end will be saved. We have Christ's own promise that even if you miss the rapture, you have a chance, albeit a slim one.
This section ends with the indication of the gospel preaching being done to all the world. As we have studied in Revelation, this will be done by angelic forces in addition to whatever we have been able to accomplish as Christians before the rapture occurs. The angels will complete what we, in our self absorbed Christian focus, have been unwilling to do. I can't say that everyone will hear the angel's message as many will die in the immediate aftermath and earlier parts of the tribulation. But God will make the effort to save as many as possible, even from rebels.
Time to Flee to the Hills?
Matthew 24:15-20 helps to warn when it is time for the Jews to flee Jerusalem and Judea and head to the hills for safety during the tribulation period. When the anti-Christ stands up in the new temple spoken of by Daniel, it will be time [Daniel 8:9-14, 9:27, 11:45, 12:1,7,11; Revelation 13:1-18, 14:9-11, 20:4-6]. This will be in the middle of the tribulation period. The remainder of the chapter describes the great tribulation - the last roughly three and one half years.
At that time, the Jews are told to head to the hills without stopping for anything, and praying that their journey to safety in the mountains will be not be in winter and that you won't have babies or young children to take care of.
Although we believe that until the age of accountability, children will go in the rapture, there would still be time in the first 3 1/2 years of the lesser tribulation to start new families. There would also probably be government pressure to do so.
Great Tribulation and Satan's Response
In Matthew 24:21-29, we have an additional description of the times before the Second Coming. As the lightning that is flashing in the east can be seen in the west, the Son of man's arrival will be spectacular. The reference to the carcase here is to the bodies left at Armageddon.
Again, Christ warns against false prophets during this time period. The anti-Christ will portray himself as Christ, and he will have a host of demon possessed prophets doing all sorts of wonders and miracles trying to make people believe in him and worship him. If you doubt his ability to deceive, think back to the magicians in Egypt. Just because they lost out to the power of God in head to head competition doesn't mean what they did wouldn't fool people today, just as it had unchallenged until Moses and Aaron came along.
Remember that the first coming of Christ was humble, a baby born to the virgin Mary. The second main appearance of Jesus will be as a thief in the night at the rapture when He takes Christians home to heaven. The second coming of Jesus to earth itself will be like nothing the world has seen before and Satan can't fake.
The Second Coming
Matthew 24:30-35 describes the second coming of Christ. Dake notes that He left the earth in clouds, and that He returns in clouds. The people who are in Jerusalem will see with their own eyes the majesty of His return with His angels to rule.
No doubt with the communication technology we have today, the whole world will see His coming "Live" in the "We interrupt this sinful program to bring you this shocking development..." type of thing! But perhaps with the destruction of the tribulation period, many will even be struggling to get electricity. One of the great unknowns.
They that see will mourn because they will see that the gospel message and warning that the angel messenger proclaimed were true and did come about, just as was prophesied. The angels will gather up the Jewish elect to return to Israel and see Christ.
Jesus ends with the story of the fig tree, saying how you can judge the seasons by the state of the tree. He warns that as the things He has mentioned begin to come to pass, look for the end, which was what the disciples had asked earlier. It will all happen in a single generation once started.
Timing and Conditions on Earth at Time of Second Coming
Matthew 24:36 promises that nobody knows the time of Jesus return. He has been patiently waiting as Earth has developed and as time has passed for the conditions to be right. Nobody knows when that will be, but it seems more likely with each passing year.
Although at this point we cannot know the day nor the hour when Christ will set up his rule on Earth, as the prophecy of Revelation and Daniel begin to unfold, the scripture is quite clear on duration and times. There may be confusion about the day and hour solely due to the mess the world is in and the Antichrist not being able to get the word out as to when he signs the peace treaty with Israel. After that is done, the clock starts ticking and God will be on His own schedule that He has already prophesied. He won't keep anyone waiting or guessing if they have studied His Word.
The conditions on earth for the majority of the people are foretold in Matthew 24:37-39 to be just as vile and corrupt at the time that Christ returns as the days of Noah were. There was one big party until the day that Noah entered the ark. The rest were caught unawares, even after all the preparation that they had been able to watch on a daily basis by Noah. Then the flood hit and it was to late. As with the warnings in the other scriptures recording this prophecy, Jesus warns His people to not give in to the drunken excesses of the time, but to live uprightly and turn to Him.
Be Ready
I don't know if Peter, James, John, and Andrew's eyes glazed over at this point, but Jesus continues with parables in Matthew 24:40-51 to try to push the point home. Watch and Be Ready! This will be especially important because those who are affected by this parable will have already missed the rapture!
I'm not going to go into the details of the parables, but you can read them yourself. I've included the scriptures links. Remember that their main point is to be ready, watch, and to use the talents that God has given you for Him and to not bury them within yourself and hide them away.
The time to get the word out is now so that fewer people will go through the tribulation period at all!!! We also need to keep our own lives in order. We don't want to be lumped in with the hypocrites like the Pharisees Jesus had just lectured.