The Olivet Discourse is the sermon given by Jesus to His disciples at the Mount of Olives in Matthew chapter 24, Mark chapter 13, and Luke chapter 21 about the times related to the Lord's coming, which the Left Behind series deals with.
Prophecies
- The love of most will grow cold refers to increased wickedness before the end (Matthew 24:12). Many Christians and the Left Behind series subscribe to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints where those who are sincere Christian and members of the elect would be invulnerable to apostasy (at least during the Tribulation) and that their salvation would be assured. Since those who are sincere Christian cannot fall away, this might refer to some professed Christians abandoning their identity as Christians by joining the Enigma Babylon One World Faith. It can also predict an environment more conducive to sinful indulgence where licentiousness, demon worship, idolatry, and sorcery become prevalent. In Assassins, Tsion Ben-Judah says in a newsletter that the aforementioned are applauded by "the new tolerant society". Some religions use this verse to explain apostasy among their ranks in order to vindicate their doctrines of an imminent apocalypse.
- The preaching of the gospel through all nations (Matthew 24:14) occurs throughout the Tribulation. During the latter half of the Tribulation, there are reports of angels preaching in lands that do have sufficient exposure to the gospel. For example, in The Remnant, an angel preached to Muslims who resisted Carpathianism, enjoining them to accept Jesus Christ as their savior and telling them that their martyrdom without Christ would be in vain.
- The abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15), as mentioned in the book of Daniel, of which Jesus warns those in Judea to flee to the mountains when it appears. This was fulfilled when Nicolae Carpathia defiled the Temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar and attempting to set up a golden image of himself in the Temple, which resulted in such a backlash from the Jews that Carpathia ended up breaking the seven-year agreement he had made with the state of Israel.
- The Flight of Judea to the Mountains (Matthew 24:16-20) as God's people fleeing from Carpathia's dominion. Also at that time, the Tribulation Force put into effect Operation Eagle that would transport the Jews fleeing from Carpathia to God's chosen place of protection called Petra.
- The Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21) is a period of unprecedented trouble to a degree never experienced from the creation of the world to its end. It occurs after the Abomination of Desolation.
- False Christs and False Messiahs (Matthew 24:24) performing great signs and wonders to deceive the undecided to follow the Beast and take his mark. The false messiahs appeared in the second half of the Tribulation as Nicolae Carpathia wanted to fight low morale among his followers due to the catastrophic effects of the second Bowl Judgment and to draw more people to him. The type of miracles they performed often imitated the miracles performed by Jesus as described in the four gospels. The verse also says that were it possible, the miracles would also deceive the very elect. This could refer to the protection that God would offer true believers, preventing them from being impressed by these miracles, just as God prevents believers from taking the mark by given them the grace and courage to accept martyrdom.
- The coming of the Son of Man would be just as lightning that comes from the west and flashes to the east (Matthew 24:27) means that the coming of Jesus would be a spectacle that is universally visible throughout the world, and whose visibility is not restricted to a particular room or location.
- The darkening of the son and moon, the falling of the stars from heaven, and the shaking of the powers of heaven (Matthew 24:29) occur during the Glorious Appearing as this is also seen to constitute the seventh Bowl Judgment where 100-pound hailstones fall from the sky and a global earthquake levels all the mountains, while raising up Jerusalem. The darkening of the sin and moon turning to blood is identified as a sign of the day of the LORD in Joel 2:31. Verse 9 of Joel 2 also says that an earthquake and the darkening of the sun and moon would occur when an army assaults a city. which in the Left Behind series is the Unity Army's assault on Jerusalem.
- The sign of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:30) appearing in the sky, prior to Jesus coming in a great cloud to send His angels to gather His elect from one end of heaven to the other. In the Left Behind series, this "sign" appears in the form of a cross made of electrical energy. It is yellow lightning that consisted of two yellow beams that are "thick, jagged, and pulsing" — one vertical and one horizontal. The horizontal beam perpendicularly intersected the vertical beam at two-thirds its length, but the vertical beam had half its length but the same thickness.
- The gathering of the elect (Matthew 24:31) is when Jesus would gather the elect (eklektous) from the four winds. This is probably interpreted by and fulfilled in the Left Behind series as Jesus teleporting the believers to the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be among Jesus' right in the sheep and goats judgment. The unbelievers were also transported to the Valley of Jehoshaphat to be among the condemned on Jesus' left.
- The generation that sees the signs of the coming of the Son of Man would not pass way (Matthew 24:34). The coming of the Son of Man will be preceded by signs as a fig tree's leaves fall off and its twigs become tender just before it bears its fruit. Most of these signs would occur shortly before the Glorious Appearing, so it would seem that the authors interpret the generation in the Olivet Discourse to be the Tribulation Saints of whom some of them would have survived to the Glorious Appearing. The verse can also mean that Jesus referred to his contemporary generation of His audience, thus Jesus thought that the coming of the Son of Man is imminent. In Matthew 16:28, Jesus says that those standing among Him would not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming to establish His kingdom, and those remarks were said after Jesus predicts His death in Jerusalem.
Unknown day and hour for the coming of the Son of Man
Jesus said that the day and hour of the coming of the Son of Man is only known to the Father, thus even the angels and the Son would not be privy to it (Matthew 24:36). The phrasing of "the coming of the Son of Man" referenced in this article is purposefully ambiguous since it can also refer to the Rapture where there are fewer noticeable prophetic signs preceding that event instead of the Glorious Appearing (as the aforementioned signs in the Olivet Discourse seem to apply to the Glorious Appearing). (The Left Behind series calls the arrival of Jesus at the Battle of Armageddon the "Glorious Appearing" to distinguish it from the "Second Coming" which is regarded as the Rapture in the series as it is when Jesus comes back for His people.)
At least after the Rapture and especially (in the context of the eschatology in the Left Behind series) the signing of the covenant with the Global Community and Israel, there is an event that serves as a demarcation point for a prophetic timeline. In the Left Behind series, it is the covenant with Israel that serves to mark the start of Daniel's 70th Week, which is synonymous with the Tribulation, with the expectation of that Jesus would return in glory seven years from the signing of the treaty. In the prologue of Kingdom Come, it is said that the Tribulation is divided into two 1,260 day periods, where Jesus would return in glory at the end of the second 1,260 day period. The beginning of the second period is the desecration of the Third Temple. (In Assassins, the end of a 1,260 day period is also mentioned as the last day of Eli and Moishe's preaching before Nicolae Carpathia would kill them.) At the day of the Glorious Appearing, the believers under the guidance of Tsion Ben-Judah's prophetical framework eagerly awaited the coming of Christ on that day, as they correctly deduced the day as it was seven years from the day Nicolae Carpathia signed the treaty with Israel.
In Triumphant Return, Judd Thompson Jr. and Vicki Byrne Thompson briefly discussed the issue of not knowing the hour and day:
- “If this is the last day,” Judd said.
- “What do you mean?”
- “What if Tsion was wrong? Even Jesus said no one knows the hour when he’s going to return.”
- “True, but I think he was talking about the Rapture when he said that. From Daniel 9:27 we know that the Glorious Appearing happens seven years :after —” [Vicki stopped.]