_CRITICAL NOTES_ Matthew 24:1. TO SHOW HIM THE BUILDINGS OF THE TEMPLE.—Was that glorious house indeed to be left “desolate”? Would not the sight of its glories lead Him to recall those words of evil omen? Matthew 24:2. SEE YE NOT ALL THESE THINGS?—The expression, “all these things,” does not refer... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL NOTES_ Matthew 24:15. THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION.—_I.e_. “the abomination that maketh desolate,” “the act of sacrilege, which is a sign and a cause of desolation.” What special act of sacrilege is referred to cannot be determined for certain. The expression may refer (1) To the besieg... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL NOTES_ Matthew 24:29. IMMEDIATELY.—_But immediately_ (R.V.). A prophecy resembles a landscape painting, which marks distinctly the houses, paths, and bridges in the foreground, but brings together, into a narrow space, the distant valleys and mountains, though they are really far apart (_B... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL NOTES_ Matthew 24:34. BE FULFILLED.—The words do not necessarily imply more than the commencement of a process, the first unrolling of the scroll of the coming ages (_Plumptre_). _MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Matthew 24:32_ The certainty of the end.—The more wonderful the character... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Matthew 24:36_ The uncertainty of the end.—We ought to know the season, we cannot know the moment, of the “appearing” of Christ. So the Saviour teaches us here. “Of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the Son Himself,” in a sense (Matthew 24:36). How will... [ Continue Reading ]