The biblical passage known as the Olivet Discourse is the most prominent prophetic teaching of Jesus in the New Testament. At a time when His earthly ministry and presence was coming to a conclusion, Jesus gave the disciples, and through the account in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 24–25), future readers such as ourselves, important knowledge about God’s prophetic plan.
All three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) contain some or all of the Olivet Discourse. It is a central teaching in Bible prophecy. In this passage, Jesus laid out an overview of key events that will take place during the seven-year tribulation culminating in His return to earth known as the second coming (24:4–31). Christ then speaks a series of parables to show the lessons to be learned as a result of His prophetic discourse (24:32–25).
About the author:
Thomas Ice serves as Executive Director of the Pre-Trib Research Center, which he founded in 1994 with Dr. Tim LaHaye to research, teach, and defend the pretribulational rapture and related Bible prophecy doctrines. Ice has authored and co-authored over 30 books, written hundreds of articles, and is a frequent conference speaker. Among his most popular books are Charting the Bible Chronologically: A Visual Guide to God’s Unfolding Plan (co-author with Ed Hindson), and Charting the End Times: A Visual Guide to Bible Prophecy (co-author with Tim LaHaye) and The Case for Zionism: Why Christians Should Support Israel. He has served as a pastor for 17 years. Dr. Ice has a B.A. from Howard Payne University, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Tyndale Theological Seminary, and did postdoctoral work at the University of Wales.
