Olivet Discourse Pt 1: Intro & Overview

Olivet Discourse Overview and Study Plan

So, tonight we're going to go through something known as the Alavet Discourse. And this is starting in Matthew chapter 24, and we're actually going to begin at the end of chapter 23, but before that I just want to give you a little intro and overview as to what we're going to be doing.

So how are we going to do this study? First we're going to read through the whole passage together, and we're going to start from Matthew chapter 23 and verse, I'm sorry, chapter 23 verse 29, and read to chapter 24 verse 44.

Now, I know I asked you all to read it together, I just want it to be fresh in our minds because we're going to go through it once again. Then we're going to summarize the entire passage in a broad way tonight.

That's what tonight's lesson is really going to be about. Next week we're going to go through each verse individually and explain it in context because there's going to be some things that are going to be a little bit more difficult to understand and we're going to have to shine a light on them, an exegetical light.

We're going to have to compare scripture with scripture so we know exactly what Jesus is telling his disciples and so that we don't misunderstand what he's teaching them. Then we're going to go more deeply address the larger key points of the context.

There's going to be certain phrases that you've heard before in Matthew 24, but we're going to explore them a little bit differently, deeper I should say. And then we're going to address opposing viewpoints to the point of view that I'm going to put forward tonight.

So some of the subjects and topics we'll be covering are going to include the temple and its destruction in 70 AD, that's a very important event. We're going to talk about wars and rumors of wars, that parousia, which is the presence of God.

We're going to learn about the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, the coming of the son of man, the term, the sun, the moon, and the stars, we're going to learn what that means. We're going to talk about this generation and probably finish up with the fig tree, which is what Jesus uses.

He curses the fig tree and that's always something that people ask questions about. Now to do this study, I'm going to be mainly drawing from the work of Gary DeMar, who's a terrific apologist and theologian when it comes to end times.

Ken Gentry, same thing, R .C. Sproul, these are three gentlemen who've studied this topic extensively. So I'm certainly going to be gleaning from their insights and some other online resources. So what we're going to do now is we're going to read the text starting at Matthew 23, verse 29.

And Jerry's going to read the text so I can save my voice and teach the rest of the lesson. So whenever you're ready, Jerry, go ahead. Yep. 29 to 36, correct? Yes. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, if we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in the shedding of the blood of the prophets.

Thus you witness against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some whom you will kill and crucify and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute or persecute from town to town so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah, the son of Barakiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you were not willing.

See your house is left to you desolate, for I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point out to him the building of the temple, but he answered them, you see all these, do you, do you not truly I say to you, they will not be left here.

One stone upon another that will not be thrown down. As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us when will these things be? And what will be the signs of your coming of the end of the age?

And Jesus answered them, see that no one leads you astray for many will come in my name saying I am the price and they will lead many astray and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed or this must take place, but the end is not yet for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.

And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are, but the beginning of the birth pains, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will rise up and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, let the reader understand.

Then let those who are in Judea lead to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas, for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days, pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath, for then there will be a great tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, or there he is, do not believe it, for false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray.

If possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So if they say to you, look, he is in the wilderness, do not go out. If they say to you, look, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it, for as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he will send out his angels with loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds and from one end of heaven to the other.

From the fig tree, learn this lesson. As soon as its branches become tender and puts out its leaves, you know the summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near at the very gates.

Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away. But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

For as were in the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away.

So will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field. One will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at any hour you do not, at an hour you do not expect.

Jerry, thank you very, very much for that. I appreciate you reading that whole thing for me. So that's quite a passage and there's a lot to chew on in there. Some of the words that Jesus used were very condemning of the Pharisees in the beginning of that.

He condemned them to hell. He says, all these things are going to come upon this generation. He's going to leave to them their house desolate and on and on and on. So let's begin at the beginning of this.

I'm going to mute myself, Anthony. No problem. So understanding the present fulfillment of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 is very important because of the historicity of its actual fulfillment and the dangerous misconceptions of a future fulfillment, which some proclaim it will be.

The prophetic events in Matthew 24 are also included in Mark 13 and Luke 21. So we'll also be considering what they have to say when going through this study. I would also encourage everybody to read Mark 13 and Luke 21 because it fills in some missing details that are going to add to our understanding of what Jesus is teaching us.

Ken Gentry says this, among the vast majority of evangelicals, this passage is absolutely confused as it is immensely popular. Indeed, the average evangelical approach to the Olivet Discourse is so seriously misconstrued that it places its fulfillment at the wrong place in history, misses Christ's whole point entirely, applies its judgment to the wrong people, and spreads its catastrophes far beyond its intended focus.

Thus, the popular conception has the wrong time, the wrong purpose, the wrong place, the wrong objects, and the wrong scope for its judgment. So those are some serious words. He says most evangelicals are improperly interpreting this verse.

And that's what we're going to go through broadly tonight and then deeper as time goes on. So there's three ways, three predominant ways to view what Jesus said in Matthew 24. And it is a prophecy because he's talking about something that's going to happen in the future.

So the one view is that the whole event will be fulfilled in the future. And that's also known as futurism. So it would say that what Jesus told his disciples then still has not happened. And people are looking forward to that in the future.

Another view would say that the event has been partially fulfilled with more of it to come, with some of the later aspects of his prophecy to come in the future. And finally, there's a group of people that says the event has been fulfilled already in its entirely.

It is entirely complete. And they're known as hyperpreterists. The middle view, I forgot to say, is called preterism. And that word preterism just means past or gone by. Now the view, I'm going to be up front, the view that I take and the view that Ken Gentry, I'm sorry, Ken Gentry, Gary DeMar, and R .C. Sproul take is known as preterism.

So this is a partial fulfillment. The first century preterist understanding of the coming of Christ is a coming in judgment. And that led to the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem before that first century generation had passed away.

And that's in Matthew 24, 34, and 16, 27 through 28. While this is neither a popular nor a well-known interpretation today, the majority of conservative Bible commentators who have written on prophetic themes in the last 400 years held this position.

In fact, it can be traced back to the first, second, and third centuries. So I'm going to be taking the preterist position that most of the Olivet Discourse has come to pass, and there is more of it to come in the future.

So what is the popular view right now? And again, Ken Gentry says this. The dominant popular understanding regarding the Olivet Discourse holds that Jesus is referring to events in the distant future, which are to occur at the very end of the church age.

Whereas he is actually speaking of events in the lifetime of his original audience at the end of the old covenant age. The popular view holds that Jesus is prophesying events regarding the future tribulation era temple, whereas he is actually prophesying the destruction of the first century temple and the permanent removal of the Old Testament sacrificial system.

The popular view holds that Jesus is speaking of catastrophes befalling non-Jews who persecute the Jews, whereas he is actually focusing on disasters overwhelming the Jews of that time because they rejected the Messiah.

The popular view holds that Jesus is declaring judgments overwhelming the entire world, whereas he is actually focusing those judgments upon Judea in the land of Israel. Now, these are some good observations, and these are what he puts forward.

Now it's going to be up to us to go through the scriptures and see if what he says is actually true. So let's continue the overview. To see what the text actually says, we need to lay aside our preconceived notions and look at the context of the entire situation, coupled with an understanding of the Old Testament scriptures and symbolism that the Jewish hearers were familiar with.

Throughout history, the followers of Jesus believed in this passage's first-century fulfillment, but bad theology has been very effective in distorting and minimizing its historical significance. This interpretation has even caused some to say that Jesus was a false prophet.

Now, going back to that first paragraph, it's very important that we understand the Old Testament scriptures and the symbolism within those scriptures. One of the hermeneutical principles we hold to is that we interpret scripture by the scriptures.

So if the scriptures in the Old Testament use the phrase, the coming on the clouds, and Jesus uses that in Matthew 24, we should go back to those verses and see what coming on the clouds meant. When Jesus uses the term the abomination of desolation, if we could see that the abomination of desolation was in the Old Testament, we should look at that and see what it means.

That's going to help our understanding of what Jesus is trying to convey to the people who were directly in front of him, his contemporaries, the hearers of what he was saying. So, this interpretation that all of this is completely in the future has caused some to say that Jesus was a false prophet.

In fact, Albert Schweitzer, though he sought to interpret the life of Jesus against the backdrop of a transcendent eschatology, he concluded that Jesus' own eschatological expectations had been unfulfilled.

The historical Jesus believed that the kingdom would be inaugurated by a catastrophic act of God, but this divine act did not materialize. What he's basically saying is, Jesus says all these things were going to happen to this generation, but it didn't happen to that generation.

So, Jesus prophesied certain things that didn't come to pass. That would categorize him as a false prophet. In fact, there's a famous atheist by the name of Russell Bertrand and Bart Ehrman, they both considered Jesus to be a false prophet because they believed that the things that he was telling his audience at that point didn't come to pass.

Now, if Jesus is God, the way the Bible says he is, and he prophesied that something comes to pass and it doesn't, that would lead people to believe he's a false prophet and either is not God or is just a liar.

So, it's very important that we get this passage of scripture correct. So, could it be that what Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, which is referred to as the Olivet Discourse, was fulfilled in the first century?

That's what we need to find out. We'll have to look very closely and take seriously Jesus' statement when he says, Too many people put aside Jesus' clear proclamation, but we will examine this and take him at his word to see if his statement was fulfilled in the generation that he said it would be fulfilled.

That's what the goal of tonight is going to be, and as we go on and deeper into the study, we'll get more and more information to build on our hypothesis here. So, the time text of this generation, found in Matthew 23, 36 and Matthew 24, 34, is critical to the proper understanding of this prophecy.

These two texts form eschatological bookends for the study that we're going through. So, we see in Matthew 23, 36, Jesus says,. Then at the end of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, 34, he says it again,.

So, sandwiched between these two time texts are the sign texts, the verses that describe the signs leading up to the temple's destruction, the end of the age, and Jesus' judgment coming on Jerusalem that would take place before that first century generation passed away.

Dispensationalists do not believe that the phrase, this generation, refers to the generation to whom Jesus was speaking, but rather to some future generation. There are a number of problems with that position, and we're going to proceed to go through them tonight.

Now, I would ask you, just on a prima facie basis, when somebody says, all these things will come upon this generation, if you were standing there, hearing that, what would you have thought? You would have thought that Jesus is saying, these things are going to happen within my time frame.

When he says, this generation will not pass away, in other words, there will be people here who are not going to die. They're going to be alive when these things take place. If you were in that first century audience, listening to what Jesus says, you would have assumed that these things were going to happen during your lifetime.

In Matthew 24, 1, Jesus ceremoniously leaves the temple. Jesus came out from the temple and was going away. He had just declared it desolate in Matthew 23, 38. Now he acts out a truly desolate condition by personally leaving it and going away.

Never again to return to it. This ends his public ministry for he states, you will not see me until. Jesus then makes an incredible prophecy when his disciples point out the buildings. In verse 1, Jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.

But he answered them, you see all of these, do you not? Truly I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. So he's talking specifically about the temple.

They were standing on the Mount of Olives. Okay, that's why this is called the Olivet Discourse. And they were looking down across the mountain to the temple. And that's what the disciples were pointing to.

Jesus looks at that temple and says, not one stone will be left upon another. So we see in Matthew 23, Jesus rebukes the Jewish leaders and casts the woes upon them, proclaiming that all the righteous blood of the prophets that had been killed would be poured out on them.

And now in Matthew 24, the context of the Olivet Discourse is the temple in Jerusalem. Then Jesus left the city and looking back, his disciples pointed to the beautiful temple. So the subject of discussion that they were asking him about and that he was talking to them about was the temple in Jerusalem.

It's a very important point. If we miss the fact that Jesus is talking about the temple, we could begin to say and speculate, oh, he's talking about something else. But that's not what he was talking to the disciples about.

He was very pointed. He spoke to them about the temple and its destruction. When they sat down at the Mount of Olives, which overlooks the city and the temple, the disciples asked Jesus about when the desolation would take place and what would be the sign.

So the proper context of the Olivet Discourse is the desolation of the temple. This is not about end times. It's about the end of an age, the end of the old covenant dispensation, but it is not the end of all time.

The disciples understood the prophecy in Daniel 9 of the 70 weeks that foretold that the temple and the city would be desolated because the Jewish leaders would deliver Jesus up to be killed. They wanted to know more about when it would happen.

Jesus referred to Daniel chapter 9 verse 27 when he foretold the sign of the abomination of desolation. And this is how it reads. And this is from Daniel chapter 9. It's important that we understand and look back to the Old Testament verses that correspond to what Jesus was telling them in Matthew 24.

It says,. And the people of the prince, that's Jesus, that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

And for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. So the disciples knew exactly what Jesus was talking about because of Daniel's prophecy about the 70 weeks.

And that's why we need to learn what that means also. And we're going to go deeper into that in upcoming lessons. But right now we're just doing an overview. I want you to know why I'm taking this position and why I think the disciples would have taken it this way also.

The disciples then ask him, Tell us when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? The disciples were amazed by this prophecy that the temple and everything the temple embodied, the priesthood, the sacrifices, and the whole Jewish economy would soon come to an end.

Yet questions could not have referred to Jesus's second coming as some claim. They didn't even know at that point that he was going to be crucified and come back to life. Why would they be asking about a distant physical coming of Jesus on the clouds to the earth when they still did not grasp the significance of his first coming that included his death, resurrection, and ascension?

Remember after Jesus rose again, the women came to the apostles and they didn't believe that he really rose again. In fact, it was Thomas who didn't believe that Jesus was alive and said, I'm not going to believe until I put my finger in his hands.

And that's when Jesus appeared to him and actually let him do that. So the disciples clearly equated the destruction of the temple with Jesus's coming in judgment and with the end of the age. So they weren't thinking about Jesus's physical second coming back to the earth, which will happen in the future.

But what Jesus was explaining to them was his coming back to the earth in judgment and the end of the old covenant age. The destruction of the temple would dramatically mark the end of the old covenant redemptive system with its sacrifices and rituals.

End of the age is a covenantal phrase. It refers to the termination of the exclusive Jewish entitlement to covenant promises and the inclusion of Gentiles into the blessings of that covenant. And then you could look that up in Matthew 21, 41, verse 43, and chapter 22, 10.

So again, end of the age is a covenantal term, and that's something that we can find and look up in the Old Testament to substantiate that. There are three recordings of the Olivet Discourse, and only Matthew added the phrase, and what shall be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world.

When we read this, what Jesus says in Matthew 13, 4, he says, tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? Luke 21, 7 says, and they asked him, saying, Master, when shall these things be?

And what sign will be there when these things shall come to pass? Matthew, Matthew's question about the end of the world, Matthew's the only one, I should say, that adds that phrase, what is the end of the world?

What's the sign of the end of the world? Matthew's question about the end of the world, it should be rendered as end of the age. That word world, if it meant the entire world, would be cosmos. But it's not, it's the word aeon.

And aeon is a unit of time as a particular stage of period of history. It's an age or an era. So really, what the translation should read, and it reads this way in the ASV, the NASB, and the New King James, which is a literal word for word translation, it reads what will be the sign of the end of the age, not the end of the world.

So again, the contemporary hearers of Jesus' talking to them would have understood that this would be the end of the age, not the end of the entire world. Matthew was asking about the end of the Jewish age, as Jesus had just declared that the Jewish leaders and temple would be desolated, which would end the existence of the Jewish nation.

Matthew understood that Jesus was going to come in the clouds to oversee the desolation of the temple, the city, and the Jews. And we're going to learn about what that term coming on the clouds means.

So as of right now, I just want you to understand that this is, coming on the clouds is a term of judgment. And we're going to go through the Old Testament again in later lessons and show every time coming on the clouds appears in the Old Testament and what the context of that coming on the clouds was.

So then Jesus goes on to say, See to it that no one misleads you, for many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ, and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not frightened, for those things must take place.

But that is not yet the end, for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

So the first item to notice is Jesus was clearly addressing his present listeners, warning them about the events surrounding the destruction of the temple that was standing before them. See, he says, See to it that no one misleads you.

If you were standing there and Jesus says, See to it that no one misleads you, would you take that meaning you? Of course you would. They would be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened.

The disciples will be delivered up to tribulation. They will kill you, and you will be hated. The logic is obvious. Jesus' warning was to the generation of disciples who asked the question about the coming judgment.

He was specifically warning them not to be misled, that they would be delivered up to tribulation, and that they would be hated. In that context, you could see how the early disciples would have understood this was something that they expected to happen in their generation.

So, when exactly would this judgment come? When you see the abomination of desolation. That's exactly what Jesus says. Luke's recording of this clearly defines when the abomination of desolation was. He says, But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter into it. Or Jerusalem. So, Luke is basically saying, when you see the armies surrounding Jerusalem, the temple, its desolation has come near.

The end is at hand. At that point, run. Flee. Run out of Judea, go to the mountains, and don't let anybody come into the city. Because if you come into the city, you're going to be killed. Now, here's just something I'm going to add.

If this was about the end times, and this was a worldwide judgment that many people think it is, where would you be able to flee to? Would you be able to flee to the mountains if it's a worldwide judgment?

No, because it's worldwide. There will be no place you can flee if it was a worldwide judgment. So, this is specific to the area of Judea. When he says flee to the mountains, that means to get out of the city.

And again, the early listeners, the listeners who were there listening to this, would have understood exactly what Jesus meant. Connecting this with Daniel 9, we see how the Roman army, the people of the prince, surrounding the holy city of Jerusalem, 66 AD, was the clear sign that the desolation of the city and temple was near.

Remember, right before this in Matthew 23, 38, Jesus said, see, your house is left to you desolate. So, the abomination of desolation means that God's temple was left desolate, empty. And how do we know that it was left empty?

Because Jesus, who was God in the flesh, walked out of that temple, never to return to it. He left their temple to them empty. In other words, God left the building. The building was no longer inhabited by God.

There would be a future inhabiting of God when the Holy Spirit enters into all the believers in the new covenant. And Peter and Paul talk about us being built up into a holy temple. So, the people of God now become the temple of God.

We are temples of the Holy Spirit. Jesus walked out of the temple in Jerusalem leaving it desolate. Very important to understand. Jesus goes on to say, for then there will be great tribulation, such as not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.

Some Bible commentators claim that Jesus could not have been referring to the tribulation that led up to and included the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, because that event was not the worst tribulation of all time.

Once again, we must remember that Matthew 24 -34 clearly says that all these things would happen in this generation. That is, the generation to whom Jesus was speaking at the time. The language Jesus uses in verse 21 is used elsewhere in Scripture to describe extraordinary events related to judgment and calamity.

This is hyperbolic language. The tribulation that came upon the temple and the city of Jerusalem was the most dreadful and horrifying. Why? Because this tribulation was the result of the greatest crime against God in all of history.

The crucifixion of God's promised Redeemer. The crucifixion of God's Son Jesus. It's the only time in world history that a truly innocent man has ever been put to death. All humanity is guilty in God's sight.

We are all lawbreakers. So none of us can stand before God and say we're innocent. Jesus could, because he didn't sin. So this is the first time that a man was crucified and put to death for being completely innocent.

No other crime was as heinous as killing the Lord of glory. We need to let that sink in, because if Jesus was who he said he was, and we all believe that he is, putting Jesus on the cross was putting God on the cross.

Could there be any worse crime than that? I can't think of one. So it's very important that we listen to what Jesus says, and who he says it to up to this point. Then if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, well there he is, do not believe it.

For false Christ and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So if they say to you, look, he's in the wilderness, do not go out.

If they say, look, he's in a room, do not believe it. Now once again, who is this to? If anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ. See, I have told you beforehand. See, if they say to you, look, he's in the wilderness, do not go out.

Again, he's addressing a specific audience who would have understood exactly what he meant. They were the ones who would be listening for someone saying, here is the Christ, and warning others, don't believe it.

From verses 23 -36 to 24 -22, Jesus uses the term, you, 20 times in those conversations. Are we to believe that the people that heard those words thought that this would not happen to them, but to a future generation of people yet to be born?

No. They knew he was talking directly to them and that these things would happen in their lifetime. Very important that we understand that. These were things that they were expecting to happen within their lifetime.

Jesus then tells his people that he would come just as lightning comes from the east, which means quickly and without warning. In the Bible, lightning often signifies the presence of the Lord or his coming in judgment.

And that's in Exodus 19, 20, Job, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. And hopefully we're going to be able to go through some of those scriptures in a little bit more depth in the upcoming weeks as we dig in deeper to this.

Again, this is just an overview at this point in time. God was not physically present during any of those Old Testament comings in Exodus, Job, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. But his presence was obvious. Deuteronomy 32, 2 says,.