Matthew 24 - Part 15

We have arrived at the latter part of verse 9: ...and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

And [kai:G2532] Shall Kill [apokteino:G615] You [hymas:G5209]

This first phrase, ...and shall kill you...  is comprised of three words that only appear together again in Matthew 23:34, which is a scathing chapter in which the Lord Jesus denounces the religious leaders of his day in no uncertain terms: Wherefore, behold, I send unto you [hymas:G5209] prophets, and [hymas:G5209] wise men, and [hymas:G5209] scribes: and [hymas:G5209] [some] of them ye shall kill [apokteino:G615]  and crucify; and [some] of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and [hymas:G5209] persecute [them] from city to city:  

The Lord is stating what has been the norm throughout the history of the world, although in our day it is not necessarily fashionable to put people to death for their religious beliefs, although in some places this is occuring. However there is also a way to understand this idea of “killing” spiritually speaking. This took place during the Great Tribulation (starting in 1988) when God’s elect understood that they were to depart from the end-time institutional churches and denominations that came under the wrath of God. In some cases, God’s saints were either asked to leave or were excommunicated; others simply obeyed God’s command, as enunciated in Matthew 24:15-16, and left their congregations: When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) {16} Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:  

The nature of God’s elect has always been to testify or witness to the Truth of the Gospel, as we read for instance in 2 Corinthians 4:13, We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;  So when one of God’s saints was excommunicated or asked to leave, they were being “silenced,” or “killed” (spiritually) since they would no longer have been able to “testify” or “witness” insofar as that congregation was concerned. An illustration of those being expelled from the church is found in 3 John 9-10, I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. {10} Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth [them] out of the church. 

And [kai:G2532] Ye Shall Be [esomai:G2071] Hated [miseo:G3404]

The next phrase is, ...and ye shall be hated… which is also found in the parallel Gospel accounts of Matthew 10:22 and Mark 13:13 and Luke 21:17. The only major difference in wording is in Matthew 10:22 and Mark 13:13, in which this additional truth is inserted, as we read in Matthew 13:13, ...but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.  This too has been commonplace throughout the world as John 15:18-19 affirms, in which this same word for “hate” is employed:  If the world hate [esomai:G3404] you, ye know that it hated [esomai:G3404] me before [it hated] you. {19} If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth [esomai:G3404] you. 

This is also corroborated in the Old Testament, as Isaiah 66:5 records: Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. 

Of [hypo:G5259] All [pas:G3956] Nations [ethnos:G1484] For [dia:G1223] My [mou:G3450] Name Sake [onoma:G3686]

The same expression of hatred for the name of Christ in Isaiah 66:5 appears in the last phrase of Matthew 24:9, along with the other parallel passages.

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