Jesus continues, with these next few verses in his Olivet Discourse, to warn his disciples about the things to come. This tribulation and affliction that they experience immediately precedes his coming in judgment upon apostate Israel, after which follows the growth and expansion of the kingdom of heaven through the scattering of Christians throughout the world.
Scripture: Matthew 24:15-31, Daniel 11:31, Luke 21:20-21, Zechariah 14:4-5, Ezekiel 32:7, Zephaniah 1:15, Amos 5:20.