24:5
“For many will come in my name...” At the time there were various individuals or groups that claimed to be messianic, some of these sought to lead rebellions against the Roman occupation. “And will deceive many”. Some imposters are clearly complete idiots and fool no one but the most gullible, but there will also be others who are much more plausible and will “deceive many”. So we need to be careful, and should ensure that it is the whole word of God that guides us.
24:6-8
Many generations have been convinced, or had a strong suspicion, that Jesus may return in their lifetime. In one sense this is good as we should always be ready. However, we need to be careful not to be misled by events. Very serious things may be happening (as they are at present in the world), including wars, famines, earthquakes etc. But these things are always happening. It is not to say that they are not serious, of course they are, especially for those directly affected, but we need to keep a calm head. These things are the beginnings of birth pangs. Obviously, this has been a very long labour! They indicate that the world is in a bad way, but the end is still to come.
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