By Dan Maines

Was Matthew 24 a local event?

Matthew 24:31 And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Again, from Matthew 24:31 is it a worldwide event or is all of Matthew 24 was a local event ?

To understand this, audience relevance is the key. In the first century their world was the old covenant world and the Roman empire was all of the world. They have no idea of the globe as we know it today. The Gospel was preached throughout the world which was local.

2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,

From 2 Thessalonians 2:1, The "gathering together of the elect" is the resurrection. At that time the dead saints were raised, God gathered both the dead and the living into the body of Christ. This is when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were gathered together. This is when the "sons of darkness" were cast out.

Matthew 8:11-12 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Getting back to worldwide and globe, the "heavens" to the Hebrew was covenantal, see Isaiah 51:16 for example ... had to do with their world/relationship/land/temple, etc. Not the globe.

Isaiah 51:16 And I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, 'You are My people.'"

Let's not forget Matthew 24:33-34

Matthew 24:33-34 so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

In light of verses 33 & 34, how does one reconcile verse 31 at any other time? In verse 31 we read about the gathering as described in Matthew 13:30-43.

Matthew 13:40 So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.

This shows that the judgment and the gathering (or harvest) are at the end of the old covenant age (aion).

If we believe that John 6:40 is in our future, then Jesus would be wrong saying "now has arrived" in John 5:25.

Let's take a look at it:

John 6:40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

John 5:25 Truly, truly, I say to you, a time is coming and even now has arrived, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

At that time, the people gathered have already experienced the first death.

More evidence, Jesus compared what He was referring to in Matthew 24 with Sodom/Gomorrah, a local event.

The saints were raised in the unseen realm of Hades to heaven throughout the Roman Empire in the first century. But in order for this to happen the Law had to be fulfilled so the Temple had to be destroyed to fulfill the Law and bring in the Kingdom.

Matthew 24:15-18; Mark 13:14-16; Luke 21:20-21 was all a local event. Jesus was speaking to His disciples, not you and I and said, When you see the armies surrounding Jerusalem, desolation is near, flee to the mountains. Daniel 9:26-27 and Daniel 12:11-12 is about to be fulfilled. Luke 21:22 says all things written will be fulfilled in this war. The abomination of desolation is not the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem today. It was the destruction of Herod's Temple in the Jewish War of 70 AD. It was the Roman armies under General Titus destroying the Temple. To prove this is no future rapture, what difference would it make if you were in your house or roof top? (can't He rapture you from you house?) Jesus said not to go in your house or back to get your clothes. He clearly told His disciples (not you) to flee Jerusalem and go to the mountain. This judgment in Matthew 24 is defiantly a local judgment on Israel. It has nothing to do with the 21st century. And for the person out there saying "Yes but history repeats itself and it will happen again." My question to you is "How can General Titus have his army destroy Herod's Temple in a future century?"