Session 16: Daniel and the Olivet Discourse

Any lecture series that deals with the subject of eschatology should wrestle with Christ’s Olivet Discourse. This is a sermon by Christ on the temple’s impending destruction and the events that will occur on this earth before he comes again. The disciples wanted to understand these events that would lead to his second coming at the end of the Genesis age. Christ gave them an exposition of the book of Daniel to answer their questions. We learn from Daniel and the prophets that much of the prophetic future revolves around the Jewish temple. The Jews’ rejection of their Messiah will lead to another destruction of the temple. But this is not the last time the temple will be desecrated by unbelievers. There is a future desolation of another temple by the Antichrist and a final “abomination and desolation” when an idol of the Antichrist is set up in the temple. This is followed by the ultimate restoration of the temple in the messianic kingdom, when Christ’s dominion over this earth is established by the Ancient of Days.