Matthew 24:3

And as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

The question had been propounded by the four fishermen, Peter, James, John, and Andrew (Mark 13:3); and only these four were present to hear the remarkable discourse which begins with the fourth verse of this chapter.[4]

Note that there are three questions raised by the disciples:

1. When shall these things be?

2. What shall be the sign of thy coming?

3. What shall be the sign of the end of the world?

Naturally, the disciples considered these three events to be simultaneous occurrences, but in this they were mistaken. Nevertheless, Jesus answered all three questions, giving the sign of his coming, outlining the salient features of the destruction of Jerusalem, making that event a type of his second coming, and setting forth a number of details applicable to both events.

Practically all of the difficulties in understanding this astounding chapter will disappear when it is remembered that in a single prophecy Christ foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the final judgment and destruction of the whole world, making the first a type of the latter, and choosing a number of details that apply to both. Just as the rainbow is not one bow but actually two, a primary and a secondary, so many of the prophecies of the word of God have a primary and a secondary fulfillment. "Rachel weeping for her children" (Jeremiah 31:15) and "Out of Egypt have I called my son" (Hosea 11:1) are two examples (see on Matthew 2:13,18). Dummelow stated that "Our Lord referred in it not to one event but to two, and the first was typical of the second."[5]

H. Leo Boles also noted such a characteristic of divine prophecy, saying:

Often prophetic language has a double significance. Jehovah told Adam that he would die in the day that he ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:17); yet Adam lived 930 years. There was a primary fulfillment of this when Adam was separated from the garden of Eden, and a secondary fulfillment of it in his death (Romans 5:12). Isaiah foretold the birth of a son by a virgin, yet added a prophecy which confined it to his own generation (Isaiah 7:14-17). The prophet combined type and anti-type in the same words.[6]

[4] J. W. McGarvey, Commentary on Matthew and Mark (Delight, Arkansas: Gospel Light Publishing Company, 1875), p. 204.

[5] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 702.

[6] H. Leo Boles, Commentary on Matthew (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company, 1936), p. 472.