Matt 24 – What is the "Olivet Discourse?"

Mat 24:1 And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.

Yeshua announced in the last three verses of Chapter 23 that He will not establish His kingdom at this time, but will come again to establish it. Yeshua told them in Matt. 23:38 that the temple would be left desolate. This temple that they have just left was being built by Herod and was still under construction. This temple was constructed of white marble and was a magnificent structure. The disciples are disturbed at this statement by Yeshua so they come to Him, wanting to show Him around the many buildings that comprise the temple.

Mat 24:2 And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down."

"...Do you not see all these things?" The disciples thought they saw it, so they asked Yeshua to take a look. But Yeshua says "Do you REALLY see it?"

History tells us that the wailing wall in Jerusalem is comprised of the ancient stones from structures that had previously been erected. However, it is visually apparent that the wall is made up of many different types of stones. Excavations in the area of the temple show stones of different composition also. This shows us that literally, "no stone was left overturned" in the destruction of this temple. It was torn to pieces and scattered. This was a shock to the disciples who probably talked it over and came to Yeshua with three questions.

Mat 24:3 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

The three questions were
(1.) When will these things (the destruction of the temple) be?
(2.) What will be the sign of your coming?
(3.) What will be the sign of the end of the age?

Yeshua is going to answer these three questions and we call His answers the "Olivet Discourse" because it took place on the Mount of Olives. The answer to the first question is best answered in the same discussion written by Luke (Luke 21:20-24). Yeshua made this prophecy long before it was fulfilled in the years 70A.D. to 135 A.D. In Luke 21:24, Yeshua said that Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until "the times of the gentiles be fulfilled." Jerusalem has not been trodden down by the Gentiles since they took it away from the Arabs in 1967. This apparently means that the times of the Gentiles has been fulfilled. The next two verse in Luke tell us the condition of things when He is about to return (Luke 21:25-26).