When Shall These Things Be?

When Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives and His disciples asked, "When shall these things be?" they opened a discussion that Christians have wrestled with for nearly two thousand years.

Was Jesus speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70? Was He describing His future return? Or does the Olivet Discourse contain more than one prophetic horizon?

In When Shall These Things Be? An In-Depth Study of the Olivet Discourse, Chaplain Stanley Roberts examines Matthew 24-25 alongside Mark 13, Luke 21, Old Testament prophecy, the historical destruction of Jerusalem, and the wider teaching of the New Testament.

Rather than beginning with a prophetic system and forcing Scripture to fit it, this study begins with the words of Jesus. It considers the meaning of "this generation," the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, the coming of the Son of Man, the gathering of the elect, the days of Noah, and Christ's repeated commands to watch, endure, and remain faithful.

The result is a Scripture-centered examination of one of the Bible's most debated prophetic passages-one that takes the first-century setting seriously while preserving the Christian hope of Christ's future return, resurrection, judgment, and final victory.

The disciples wanted to know when.

Jesus made sure they understood how they were to live until then.