The Prophetic Peaks of Decree, Desolation, and Deliverance. Exposition of the Olivet Discourse. Copyright 1968 Douglas B. MacCorkle Th.D. [1] All Rights Reserved

FOREWORD

Our Lord Jesus Christ was and is the supreme object of Biblical prophecy. He is involved in all unfulfilled prophecy and therefore vitally interested in it. Believers are expected to share this interest in all aspects of the predictive Word of God. The Olivet Discourse provides an excellent and comprehensive statement from His own role as a prophet. In it He ties the prophecy of two Testaments together in instructive ways.

This treatment of the discourse necessarily is intended more for the edification of the believer than for the stimulation of the scholar. We speak thus because of the critical climate of our day. The problem faced in writing is similar to that expressed by the publisher of Time, Mr. B. M. Auer:

Politics has its nuances, the arts require discrimination, and science has its complexities. It becomes the business of journalism such as ours to treat all of these subjects in a way that will hold a reader's interest without insulting his intelligence. In fields of specialized knowledge, we aim to render an account that is plain and simple, yet does no violence to the difficulty of the subject, so that the uninformed reader can understand us while the expert cannot fault us. We try to keep in mind a saying attributed to Einstein — that everything must be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.

May God give grace to the writer to attain to this high objective and to the reader to pursue the subject in the same light.

The author has employed the very usable American Standard Version of 1901, augmenting the same with clarifying helps from the Greek New Testament. The exposition is given with awareness that no prophetic word is to be interpreted without the checks and balances of the whole counsel of God (2 Peter 1:20). The genuine hope is that readers will have their curiosity aroused and that they will be precipitated into a further thorough-going study of the whole prophetic word.

Douglas B. MacCorkle

Table of Contents

        I.      Introducing The Olivet Discourse
       II.      The Setting of the Olivet Discourse in the Gospel of Matthew
      III.      Keys to The Olivet Discourse
     IV.      The Consummating of the Age
      V.      The Final Return of Messiah and Israel
     VI.      Instructions for Life in Prophetic Days
    VII.      Two Prophetic Parables
   VIII.      The Judgment on Living Tribulation Gentiles