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Volume IV – Chapter 21: The Olivet Discourse

21st Century Burning Bushes

Volume IV: End-Times and Wonders — Chapter 21

The Olivet Discourse

James Tissot, The Prophecy of the Destruction of the Temple (Brooklyn Museum, public domain)
James Tissot, The Prophecy of the Destruction of the Temple (Brooklyn Museum, public domain)

This page is a living companion to the chapter in the book. It summarizes the chapter, adds videos and resources, and will be updated as new developments unfold.

About This Chapter

On the Mount of Olives, Jesus gave the most important prophetic teaching in the Gospels, recorded in Matthew 24–25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. It was a private briefing to Peter, James, John, and Andrew (Mark 13:3), prompted by His stunning prediction that not one stone of the Temple would be left on another.

Some of His words were fulfilled in AD 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple; others clearly point to the end of the age. Like the Old Testament prophets, He saw two peaks in a single line of sight — and the first, already fulfilled, guarantees the second.

Burning Bushes in This Chapter

Persecution of the Faithful

The first escalating sign Jesus named was the suffering of His own people. Christian persecution today, across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, is a Burning Bush the comfortable Western Church has largely looked away from.

The Great Apostasy and Lawlessness

Alongside persecution from without comes the falling away from within, as love grows cold and lawlessness increases.

The Gospel to All Nations and the Abomination of Desolation

The Gospel reaching every nation, and Daniel’s abomination of desolation, mark the approach of the end.

The Son of Man Coming in Glory

The ultimate sign is not on earth but in the heavens: cosmic upheaval, then Christ’s visible return and the gathering of His elect. Yet no one knows the day or the hour.

Watch

Olivet Discourse by Chuck Missler

Olivet Discourse & Pre-Trib Rapture — Chuck Missler

Latest Developments

Developments related to the signs of the age — wars, persecution, apostasy, and the spread of the Gospel — will be posted here.

Recommendations

  • Discern the season, but never set the date (Matthew 24:32–35).
  • Keep the oil in reserve (Matthew 25:1–13).
  • Steward faithfully whatever you were given (Matthew 25:14–30).
  • Serve the least of these (Matthew 25:31–46).

Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. (Matthew 24:9)

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