THE SIGN 2: “NATION WILL RISE AGAINST NATION AND KINGDOM AGAINST KINGDOM” MATTHEW 24:7

THE BACKGROUND OF THE QUESTION OF THE DISCIPLES

The Hebrew Scriptures have many prophecies about the kingdom of God and how its great king should conquer his enemies. The Jewish people would know about these prophecies, and they would have some ideas regarding how they would be fulfilled. The disciples had some ideas regarding the role of their master; Jesus Christ, and in Luke 19:11-15 (above) and Acts 1:6 (below) we read:

¹¹ While they were listening to these things he spoke in addition an illustration, because he was near Jerusalem and they were imagining that the kingdom of God was going to display itself instantly. ¹² Therefore he said: “A certain man of noble birth traveled to a distant land to secure kingly power for himself and to return. ¹³ Calling ten slaves of his he gave them ten miʹnas and told them, ‘Do business till I come.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him and sent out a body of ambassadors after him, to say, ‘We do not want this [man] to become king over us.’

¹⁵ “Eventually when he got back after having secured the kingly power, he commanded to be called to him these slaves to whom he had given the silver money, in order to ascertain what they had gained by business activity.

⁶ When, now, they had assembled, they went asking him: “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” 

The disciples believed that Jesus would go away and receive kingship, and then he would return. And they believed that he would come back to Israel as king. This is the background for their question in Matthew 24:3:

³ While he was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately, saying: “Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?”

In verses 1 and 2, Jesus said that the temple buildings would be destroyed. So, the words, “when will these things be” means: “When will the buildings of the temple be destroyed?” The destruction of the temple would be an extraordinary event, and the apostles connected this with the return of Jesus. What did the disciples have in mind when they said, “What will be the sign of your presence (parousia)?”

Many Bible translations have translated parousia by coming. But the meaning of the word is “presence.” I have consulted the five mostly used Greek-English Lexicons, and none of them refers to an example from Classical Greek writings clearly showing that parousia means the instantaneous act of “coming.” So, without any doubt, the disciples asked about the sign showing that Jesus had returned and was present.

By asking about a sign, the disciples showed that they did not believe that they would see Jesus when he returned. Does this mean that they understood that Jesus would return and have an invisible presence? The words in Acts 1:6, which are quoted above, show that they did not have such an understanding. So, what did they have in mind? The disciples had accompanied Jesus when he traveled around the land of Israel on foot. They realized that Israel was a big country, and traveling around by foot was time-consuming.

What they evidently meant by their question was that when Jesus returned as king, if he had returned to a place in the country where they were not present — that he, for example, had returned to Jerusalem when they were in Galilee — what was the sign that he had returned so they could start searching for him. Jesus understood the background of their question, and we see this in 24:23-27:

²³ “Then if anyone says to YOU, ‘Look! Here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will give great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the chosen ones. ²⁵ Look! I have forewarned YOU. ²⁶ Therefore, if people say to YOU, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; ‘Look! He is in the inner chambers,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For just as the lightning comes out of eastern parts and shines over to western parts, so the presence of the Son of man will be.

The words of Jesus show that he would not return to the land of Israel, and there was no need for them to start searching for him when particular things happened. But he said that his presence would be like lightning. We do not know how the disciples understood his illustration of the lightning, but it clearly shows that his presence would not mean that he came back to the land of Israel as a man. I will now discuss some sides of the sign that he gave.

“NATION AGAINST NATION AND KINGDOM AGAINST KINGDOM”

The first part of the sign is written in Matthew 24:6, 7:

⁶ YOU are going to hear of wars (polemos) and reports of wars (polemos) [Luke 21:9 when YOU hear of wars and disorders (akatastasia)]; see that YOU are not terrified. For these things must take place, but the end is not yet ⁷ “For nation (ethnos) will rise against nation (ethnos) and kingdom (basileia) against kingdom (basileia), and there will be food shortages  [Luke 21:11: pestilenses] and earthquakes in one place after another.  ⁸ All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress.

At first glance, these words may seem to be rather vague because they are not connected with nations or any time. However, the words must be seen in light of 24:32-34:

³² “Now learn from the fig tree as an illustration this point: Just as soon as its young branch grows tender and it puts forth leaves, YOU know that summer is near. ³³ Likewise also YOU, when YOU see all these things, know that he is near at the doors. ³⁴ Truly I say to YOU that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.

Jesus said that when you see, you will know. This means that sincere people who would be his followers, would understand the meaning of each event that would be a part of the sign he gave. So, according to Jesus, the fulfillment of the words “nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom” were clear enough be understood. There are two approaches that can help us to find the fulfillment, 1) a careful analysis of the literal meaning of the words, and 2) a careful analysis of how the fulfillment connects with other events that are known.

THE MEANING AND FULFILLMENT OF THE WORDS

The Greek word polemos in Matthew 24:6 had a more restricted meaning in the days of Jesus than it has today, namely: “battle, engagement, combat.” (Mounce) Today, the word “war” refers to different hostilities between nations that lasts for some time, such as the “Thirty years’ war” in Europe in the 17th century, World War I and II, and the present war between Russia and Ukraine. In the days of Jesus, polemos mostly referred to a battle between nations. (Luke 14:31; 1 Corinthians 14:8).

This is confirmed by Luke’s use of “wars (polemos) and disorders (akatastasia)” instead of Matthew’s words “wars (polemos) and reports of wars (polemos).” The Greek word akatastasia has the meaning “instability; hence, an unsettled state; disorder, commotion, tumult, sedition” (Mounce), which does not refer to long lasting wars between nations. We note that both polemos and akatastasia are plural, what would happen was a number of battles and a number of situations of instability and disorder.

Verses 6 and 7 are connected with the Greek conjunction gar with the meaning “for” (Mounce). This means that verse 7 tells the reason why the followers of Jesus should hear about battles and situations of instability and disorder. The reason was that “nation (ethnos) will rise against nation (ethnos) and kingdom (basileia) against kingdom (basileia).” Now the focus has shifted from a number of battles and situations of instability and disorder to the nations (ethnos) and kingdoms (basileia).

The word ethnos (“nation”) has the meaning, “the largest unit into which the people of the world are divided on the basis of their constituting a socio-political community — ‘nation, people.’” (Louw and Nida) The word basileia (“kingdom”) has the same meaning as ethnos, though from a different viewpoint. So, the two words are synonyms.

Both ethnos and basileia are singular. However, the construction of the clause shows that the meaning is that many nations and many kingdoms will wage war against each other. Is it possible to identify the words used by Jesus as referring to one particular event? If we take his words literally, that is possible.

If we study chapter 11 in the book of Daniel about the wars between the king of the north and the king of the south, we become aware of the nature of wars in the past. The armies of one country fought the armies of another, and one of the armies came out victorious. During the centuries from the times of Jesus, wars were fought in a similar way by the armies of different countries. Sometimes, there were coalitions of nations, such as in the Napoleonic wars at the beginning of the 19th century. But still, the wars were fought by the armies of the nations.

However, in the 20th century, there was a different kind of war, what is called “total war” Wikipedia has the following definition:

Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all (including civilian-associated) resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilises all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combatant needs.[1]

As we see, “total war” means that not only the armies of the countries are engaged in the war but the whole population are engaged in the war one way or another. All the production and civil services of the countries are contributing to the war.

This happened for the first time in World War I where 70 nations were engaged in the war. If we take the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:7 literally, ethnos and basileia very well fit the concept of “total war” — the whole nations are making the war possible, and not only the armies of the nations. On the basis of this, I apply the prophetic words of Jesus in 24:6, 7 to World War I that started in the year 1914.

The first part of the sign according to Matthew 24:6 is that the onlookers will hear reports about a number of battles and situations of instability and disorder. And verse 7 show the reason for this, namely, that a number of whole nations will rise against whole nations and not only that the armies of the nations will wage war against each other. This situation very well fit what is called “total war,” and the first example of “total war” was World War I.

WORLD WAR I IN THE SETTING OF THE CONCLUSION OF THE SYSTEM OF THINGS

The disciples did not only connect the destruction of the buildings of the temple with the presence of Jesus but also with “the conclusion of the system of things” — the last part of human history before the “coming system of things” (Matthew 12:32) I will now show the relation to World War I to “the conclusion of the system of things.”

THE CONNECTION WITH “THE APPOINTED TIMES OF THE NATIONS” AND WORLD WAR I

I have already shown that Jesus said that his followers would understand the fulfillment of the prophetic elements that would constitute the sign of his presence. The sign is presented in Matthew chapter 24, Luke chapter 21, and Mark chapter 13, and the events in these chapters are parallel and are expressed with about the same words. But there are some prophetic words that only are found in Luke 21:24:

²⁴ and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled.

According to 21:29-31 “the appointed times of the nations” are among the things the followers of Jesus should understand. But there are very few persons except Jehovah’s Witnesses who claim that they can point to the fulfillment of these appointed times. In my book, My Beloved Religion — And The Governing Body I present a detailed analysis of “the appointed times of the nations.” The conclusion is that these appointed times ended in the year 1914 CE, and that they show that the kingdom of God was established in that year.  This represent a connection with World War I which started in the year 1914 when “the appointed times of the nations” ended.

THE LINK WITH THE PREACHING OF THE ESTABLISHED GOD’S KINGDOM AND WORLD WAR I

One event of the sign of the presence of Jesus is found in Matthew 24:14:

¹⁴ And this (houtos) good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end (telos) will come.

We note that the good news of the kingdom that would be preached as a part of the sign is determined by the demonstrative pronoun houtos (this).  What is the significance of this? There was a difference between the preaching of the kingdom of Jesus and his disciples when he was on the earth and the preaching of the kingdom after he had ascended to heaven.

Matthew 4:17 tells that Jesus preached that “the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near, and according to Matthew 4:17 he instructed his apostles to preach the same message. Luke 17:21 shows what the reason for this preaching was, namely, that Jesus, the king in God’s kingdom, was in their midst.

Matthew 4:17

 ¹⁷ From that time on Jesus commenced preaching and saying: “Repent, YOU people, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.”

Matthew 10:7

⁷ As YOU go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’

Luke 17:20, 21

²⁰ But on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them and said: “The kingdom of God is not coming with striking observableness, ²¹ neither will people be saying, ‘See here!’ or, ‘There!’ For, look! the kingdom of God is in YOUR midst.”

However, when Jesus was in heaven, his followers could not preach that the kingdom of God had drawn near because he was not among them. But as we see from the five quotations from Acts below, after the death of Jesus, his followers only preached about the kingdom of God. What did they preach?

According to 2. Timothy 4:1, they knew that the kingdom of God would come in the future because the kingdom is connected with the future manifestation of Jesus. Second Peter 1:11 shows that one important side of the preaching of the kingdom of God was that persons who repented and started to serve God could get an entrance into the kingdom of God.

Acts 8:12

¹² But when they believed Philip, who was declaring the good news of the kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ, they proceeded to be baptized, both men and women.

Acts 19:8

⁸ Entering into the synagogue, he spoke with boldness for three months, giving talks and using persuasion concerning the kingdom.

Acts 20:25

²⁵ “And now, look! I know that all of YOU among whom I went preaching the kingdom will see my face no more.

Acts 28:23, 31

²³ They now arranged for a day with him, and they came in greater numbers to him in his lodging place. And he explained the matter to them by bearing thorough witness concerning the kingdom of God and by using persuasion with them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

³¹ preaching the kingdom of God to them and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with the greatest freeness of speech, without hindrance.

2 Timothy 4:1

¹ I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is destined to judge the living and the dead, and by his manifestation and his kingdom.

2 Peter 1:11

¹¹ In fact, thus there will be richly supplied to YOU the entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Now we can understand the determination “this” to the good news of the kingdom. It was Jesus who gave the sign. This good news of the kingdom, the good news of the kingdom that Jesus preached: “the kingdom has drawn near”; “the kingdom is in your midst” should again be preached as a part of the sign of his presence and the conclusion of the system of things. This is supported by Luke 21:31:

³¹ In this way YOU also, when YOU see these things occurring, know that the kingdom of God is near.

When the followers of Jesus saw all the events that together constituted the sign, they would know that the kingdom of God was near. And this message was what they would preach.

A few years after the end of world War I, the Bible Students started to preach that God’s kingdom had been established, and Jehovah’s Witnesses have continued to preach this good news of the kingdom. In fact, the only group in the world who are preaching this message is Jehovah’s Witnesses. This message should be preached as a witness to all the nations, and then the end (telos) would come — telos evidently refers to the great tribulation.

Today the good news of the established kingdom has been preached as a witness to all the nations, so, the prophecy has been fulfilled. But we do not know how much more preaching God wants his servants to do before the end.

The preaching of this good news of the kingdom to all the nations is a part of the sign that Jesus is present and that God’s kingdom has been established. That this message started to be preached shortly after the end of World War I, is a link that connects World War I to the time period when the sign should be fulfilled.

THE BEGINNING OF THE PREACHING OF THE ESTABLISHED GOD’S KINGDOM AND WORLD WAR I

There is also a link that connects World War I with the sign in Matthew 24:8. I quote 24:6-8 again:

⁶ YOU are going to hear of wars and reports of wars; see that YOU are not terrified. For these things must take place, but the end is not yet.  ⁷ “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another. ⁸ All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress (ōdin).

The Greek word ōdin has the meaning, “the spasms or pains, of a woman in travail, a birth pang.”(Mounce) Jesus used a metaphor in order to illustrate. When a woman is pregnant, a short time before she is going to give birth, she gets labor pains. At first, the intervals between the attacks of labor pains are rather long. But as the birth draws near the intervals become shorter and shorter until the child is born.

Verse 8 uses ōdin in the plural, and The rise of nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom, food shortages, pestilences, and earthquakes represent the first part of the labor pains. The first of these labor pains is the rise of nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and this is what I am discussing in this article.

The last of the labor pains, leading to the birth is the end (telos) which is the great tribulation. We should note that the word “tribulation” also is a metaphor. Its meaning is “pressure, compression” (Mounce), and this metaphor determined by the adjective “great” refers to the greatest catastrophe that ever have occurred because 8 billion+ humans will die. However, all of these, except those who are incorrigible wicked and have sinned against the holy spirit will get a resurrection on Judgment Day with the possibility of serving God and receiving everlasting life.

Because the great tribulation is the final labor pain, it would be fitting that the first labor pain is similar to the last one, though much smaller. The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE was a great catastrophe, where 1.1 million people died, according to Josephus. The worldwide flood was also a great catastrophe, and we do not know whether more people died than in the destruction of Jerusalem.

World War I was without doubt the greatest catastrophe that had occurred on the earth. Seventy nations took part in the war, between 15 and 22 million soldiers and civilians were killed, and 23 million soldiers were wounded. It is fitting that the catastrophe of World War I is the first labor pain of the series of labor pains that will lead to the birth of the great tribulation, World War I is the prelude to the great tribulation. In this way, World War I is a link to the great tribulation because it was of the same nature as the great tribulation, and it was the first part of the sign where the great tribulation was the last part.

The sign of the presence of Jesus and the establishment of God’s kingdom is found in Mathew chapter 24, Luke chapter 21, and Mark chapter 13. But there is a parallel to this sign in Revelation 6:1-8:

¹ And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice as of thunder: “Come!” ² And I saw, and, look! a white horse; and the one seated upon it had a bow; and a crown was given him, and he went forth conquering and to complete his conquest.

³ And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say: “Come!” ⁴ And another came forth, a fiery-colored horse; and to the one seated upon it there was granted to take peace away from the earth so that they should slaughter one another; and a great sword was given him. ⁵ And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature  say: “Come!” And I saw, and, look! a black horse; and the one seated upon it had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ And I heard a voice as if in the midst of the four living creatures say: “A quart of wheat for a de·narʹi·us, and three quarts of barley for a de·narʹi·us; and do not harm the olive oil and the wine.”

⁷ And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say: “Come!” ⁸ And I saw, and, look! a pale horse; and the one seated upon it had the name Death. And Haʹdes was closely following him. And authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with a long sword and with food shortage and with deadly plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.

The parallel with the sign is that the one seated on the white horse represent Jesus who received his kingly power and who was present in the kingdom of God. Then “the beginning of the labor pains” follow.” The first labor pain was caused by the one seated on the firey-colored horse, who would “take the peace away from the earth,” representing World War I. Then follow other labor pains such as hunger and pestilence, and these labor pains continue until the birth of the great tribulation.

[1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_war.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

As I showed at the beginning, prophecies represent biblical material, but only the half we need is found in the Bible’s text. Therefore, any interpretation of a prophecy may be open to change. One method that can be used to support the interpretation of a prophecy, is to demonstrate that there are links between the interpretation and different sets of known data.

Jesus said that the events of the sign should be understood by his followers, and this means that the words “nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom” must be specific enough to be applied to a concrete situation. The following points were used to support the view that the words are fulfilled in World War I:

• The words “nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom” indicate a war with a great number of nations participating. In wars in the past, only two or a few nations participated. In world War I, 70 nations participated, which excellently fit the words nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
• The literal meaning of “nation against nation” is that not only the armies of the nations would fight but all the military and civil resources of the nation will be used in the war (= total war). The first example of “total war” is world War I.
• World War I started in the year 1914, and “the appointed times of the nations,” pointing to the establishment of God’s kingdom ended in 1914. Thus, there is a link between the two.
• One part of the sign is the preaching of this good news of the kingdom as a witness to all the nations — the preaching of the established kingdom. The Bible Students started this preaching shortly after the end of World War I, and Jehovah’s Witnesses have continued this preaching until this day. Thus, there is a link between the war and the preaching because both have occurred in the same time period, and the sign should be seen during one generation.
• Jesus used the illustration that different events of the sign were like labor pains, and the last labor pain that resulted in the birth was the great tribulation. The rising of nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom would be the beginning of the labor pains. The calamities of World War I were much greater than any other catastrophe that has occurred. This war was of the same nature as the great tribulation, though very much less in magnitude. It is fitting that the first birth pang is of the same nature that the last one resulting in the birth.
• Revelation 6:1-8 is an account that parallels the sign. The first event is that Jesus receives the kingdom, and the second event is that the peace is taken away from the earth. This fits World War I.

There can be no doubt that there is a strong case in favor of the words “nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom” being fulfilled on World War I.