Review of the previous post

In the post titled “Signs Of The End Times In Matthew 24 – Preceding Destruction Of The Temple”  I began to write that Jesus’ end time prophecies foretold the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus warned the disciples that His prophecy would be fulfilled in THIS GENERATION and gave about FIVE key signs that would precede the destruction of the Temple and the desolation of Jerusalem. He said there would be:

  1. the appearance of false Christs and false Prophets
  2. great tribulation in those days
  3. darkening of the sun and moon, falling of the stars and shaking of the powers of heaven
  4. sign of the Son of Man in Heaven
  5. sounding of the Angels and gathering together of the Elect

The Lord also gave the Parable of the Fig Tree which I believe foretold the timing of the destruction. I will study more on this.

The Text that we’re studying from Matthew 24 (see the parallel in Mark 13; Luke 19: 41 – 44)

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many…

11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many…

23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect…

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

The stars shall fall from heaven refers to mass human destruction in Israel and fall of the nation

Astēr (G792) is the Greek word that is used for star in the translation of Matthew 24: 29. How astēr is used in the New Testament:

First, we see a striking parallel in Revelation 12,  the meaning of which can be interpreted from Joseph’s dream  in Genesis 37: 8 -10. In the dream Jacob, was portrayed as the sun; his mother as the moon and his siblings as the stars. Joseph and his siblings multiplied to form the twelve tribes:

I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me 

And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? – Genesis 37: 9 & 10.

Therefore when Jesus prophesied that “the stars shall fall from heaven, he foretold the fall of the leaders of the Jewish nation or about the fall of the Jewish nation. Josephus confirmed the sad fulfillment in his historic writings. 

Revelation 12 was also written in a Parable to foretell the birth of Christ and his attempted murder by satan. However, warned by God in a dream, Joseph escaped with the child and his mother to Egypt and remained there for three and a half years or a time = 1 year; times = 2 years and a half = ½ year.

Frustrated and angry too by the failure of the wise men to return to him, Herod, manipulated by satan the great red dragon, killed hundreds of Jewish males under 2 years of age.  Herod killed the children 2 years and under in 3 AD, at the time that he estimated the Lord to be aged two (Matthew 2: 13-18).  Apostle John described this massacre in Revelation 12: 4 when he said that Satan drew a third of the stars with his tail and cast them down to the earth.   Ironically, satan the dragon did not breathe fire, but only used his tail in a demonstration of his power over the nation at the time.

With the understanding that the fall of the stars meant murder of Jewish children, we see that Jesus’ prophecy foretold the mass death that would take place. It is estimated that about one million Jews died in the four year siege of the city.

12 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars G792:

2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars G792    of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne

The comparison of the Jewish nation to the stars was also revealed to Prophet Daniel in vision in which he saw the agression of the Roman Empire against the Jewish nation:

And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them – Daniel 8: 11.

God showed Abraham the stars when He promised the degree to which his descendents would multiply and also repeatedly compared the nation of Israel to stars in number. The falling of the stars from heaven therefore refers to the magnitude of the death toll during the period period preceding the fall.

Stars referred to Jewish Kings

The Wise Men from the East understood the appearance of the star meant that a King was born in the Jewish nation at a time when the nation had not had a king for centuries. They were not far-fetched, because Herod believed them and plotted to kill the child  –  Matthew 2: 2; 7, 9 & 10.

Stars is used to refer to reprobate, godless and evil men who will be judged for their wickedness (read the entire text of Jude). They are comparable to fallen angels.

I believe that the Lord was warning about the wicked Jews of the era preceding the destruction who would pillage and murder the populace and engage in civil conquest in order to rule. Josephus describes them with great clarity:

Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, G792 to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever – Jude 1: 13.

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