be left one stone
upon another, that shall not be thrown down" Mark 13:2.

"What Shall be the Sign?"

As soon as they were alone on the Mount of Olives overlooking the city,
the disciples came to Jesus, saying:

"Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy
coming, and of the end of the world?" Matt. 24:3.

Replying to this question, the Saviour spoke first of the fall of
Jerusalem; He foretold in a sentence the experiences of His church
through dark ages to follow; then He described the events of the latter
days, the signs showing His second advent near at hand; and, finally, He
pictured the scenes of His own glorious appearing in the clouds of
heaven. The fullest record of the discourse is found in the
twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew.

A Striking Parallel

The first portion of the prophetic discourse (verses 4-14) deals with
general conditions that were to prevail both in the last days of the
Jewish state, and on a yet larger scale in the course of history leading
to the last days of the world. There was so close a parallel between
these times that Christ, in one description, answered both questions
asked, When shall these things come upon Jerusalem? and, What shall be
the signs of the end of the world?

The prophetic word foretold the rise of false Christs, the coming of
wars, famines, and earthquakes in "divers places." The believers saw
these things fulfilled in that generation before Jerusalem fell; but as
we read the prophecy, we see the wider application and yet larger
fulfilment through the course of history since that day, these
calamities increasing in the earth as the end draws near. Before the end
of the Jewish state, the believers carried the gospel to all the known
world of their day. (See Col. 1:23.) In these latter days we are seeing
the yet wider proclamation of the gospel, as foretold in the fourteenth
verse, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

The Last Days of Jerusalem

We may note briefly some of the events of Jerusalem's last days. Christ
had forewarned the believers:

"Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name,
saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."

Having rejected the true Christ, the nation was open to deception by the
false. We catch just a glimpse of the fulfilment in the book of Acts; in
secular history the full story is told