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Matthew 24 describes the end of the age with wars, natural disasters, false prophets, and widespread betrayal, warning that endurance will be required. 4 Ezra has a similar apocalyptic vision of the end, portraying cosmic upheaval and a trumpet blast.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Matthew 24:3
New Testament
3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these things are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. 10 Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, 12 and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
4 Ezra 6:18
2 Esdras
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
18 It said, “Behold, the days come when I draw near to visit those who dwell upon the earth, 19 and when I investigate those who have caused harm unjustly with their unrighteousness, and when the affliction of Zion is complete, 20 and when the seal will be set on the age that is to pass away, then I will show these signs: the books will be opened before the firmament, and all will see together. 21 The children a year old will speak with their voices. The women with child will deliver premature children at three or four months, and they will live and dance. 22 Suddenly the sown places will appear unsown. The full storehouses will suddenly be found empty. 23 The trumpet will give a sound which when every man hears, they will suddenly be afraid. 24 At that time friends will make war against one another like enemies. The earth will stand in fear with those who dwell in it. The springs of the fountains will stand still, so that for three hours they won’t flow. 25 “It will be that whoever remains after all these things that I have told you of, he will be saved and will see my salvation, and the end of my world. 26 They will see the men who have been taken up, who have not tasted death from their birth. The heart of the inhabitants will be changed and turned into a different spirit. 27 For evil will be blotted out and deceit will be quenched. 28 Faith will flourish. Corruption will be overcome, and the truth, which has been so long without fruit, will be declared.” 29 When he talked with me, behold, little by little, the place I stood on rocked back and forth.
Date: 70–132 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In 4 Ezra, a Jewish work completed around 120 C.E., one finds this picture of the End Times (compare Matthew 24): 'When the age about to pass away is sealed, then the books will be opened before the firmament, and all will see it together... and the shofar will sound, at which all men, when they hear it, will be struck with sudden fear ..."
David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (Jewish New Testament Publications, 1994), 490.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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