Matthew 24:6 & Mark 13:7 - The end (1st century understanding & imminence?)
Matthew 24:6 - Wars (1st century historical fulfillment?):
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Matthew 24:6 & Mark 13:7
Matthew 24:7 - Famines and earthquakes (1st century biblical & historical fulfillment?):
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Matthew 24:6: "And you-will-be-about (to) hear(-of) wars and rumors (of) wars. See (that) you are not alarmed! For (they) must take-place, but it is not-yet the end."
The parallel account in Mark reads:
Mark 13:7: "And whenever you-hear (of) wars and rumors (of) wars, do not be-alarmed. (They) must take-place, but (it is) not-yet the end."
The parallel account to Matthew 24:6 found in Mark 13:7 will be specifically addressed here.
Summary
CAPITALIZED letters will be added for emphasis in this summary.
Jesus mentioned several times "THE END" (Mark 13:7, Mark 13:13). One question that may help would be to ask what "END" would Jesus have been talking about? "THE END" of what?
A few verses before "THE END" (Mark 13:7) was mentioned by Jesus, "Peter" (Mark 13:3) asked Jesus "when ALL these (THINGS) are-about TO-END-with?" (Mark 13:4). In other words, Peter would have asked Jesus here when would be the END of ALL THINGS that Jesus just talked about. Actually the same "Peter" (1 Peter 1:1) wrote later specifically about "THE END (of) ALL (THINGS)" (1 Peter 4:7).
"THE END" that Peter mentioned could have been apprehended as being imminent in the 1st century. Peter actually indicated to his 1st audience that "THE END (of) ALL (THINGS) HAS-DRAWN-NEAR" (1 Peter 4:7). Peter may have written this at that point in time because Jesus said earlier to Peter: "I-say (to) YOU that this generation by-no-means will-pass-away until ALL (THINGS) take-place" (Luke 21:32).
Among THE END of "ALL (THINGS)" (Luke 21:32) that Jesus would have talked about, there could have been for example THE END of JERUSALEM as Jesus mentioned its desolation 12 verses earlier, saying: "when you-see JERUSALEM being-surrounded by army-encampments, then recognize that her desolation has-drawn-near" (Luke 21:20). In the parallel verse to Luke 21:20, Jesus actually referred to "Daniel the prophet" (Matthew 24:15) who mentioned in Daniel 9:25-26 "JERUSALEM" and "its END". During the First Jewish-Roman War around AD 70, Jerusalem actually came to an end as it was desolated by the Romans. The 1st century historian Josephus recorded in "The Wars of the Jews" that this was "THE END which JERUSALEM came to".
You can find further evidence below.
Could Peter have referred to Mark 13 and its parallel accounts when he wrote about "the end of all things"?
There are similarities between Mark 13 (and its parallel accounts in Luke 21 & Matthew 24) and 1 Peter 4.
For example, in Mark 13, "Peter" (Mark 13:3) asked Jesus "when ALL these (THINGS) are-about to-end-with?" (Mark 13:4). In 1 Peter 4, the same "Peter" (1 Peter 1:1) wrote about "the end (of) ALL (THINGS)" (1 Peter 4:7).
Another example, in Luke 21 Jesus commanded before "ALL (THINGS) take-place" (Luke 21:32) to be specifically "praying that you-may-prevail to-flee-from ALL these (THINGS)" (Luke 21:36). In 1 Peter 4, Peter also commanded to specifically be praying because "the end (of) ALL (THINGS) has-drawn-near. Therefore be-sound-minded and be-sober in (your) prayers" (1 Peter 4:7-8).
For more similarities between Matthew 24/Mark 13/Luke 21 and 1 Peter 4:
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"To-end-with" & the "end" are similar words
The same Greek words that are used in the various passages will be CAPITALIZED.
"Peter" (Mark 13:3) asked Jesus "when ALL these (THINGS) are-about to-end-with?" (Mark 13:4).
The Greek word for "to-end-with" [sunteleó 4931 in Greek, verb] used in Mark 13:4 comes from the Greek word for "with" [sun 4862 in Greek, preposition] and "to-end" [teleó 5055 in Greek, verb] which comes from the Greek word for the "END" [telos 5056 in Greek, noun] used in 1 Peter 4:7 and elsewhere in Mark 13:7 & Mark 13:13.
It could be possible to understand here that "Peter" (1 Peter 1:1) would have asked in that passage about when would be "the END (of) ALL (THINGS)" (1 Peter 4:7) that Jesus just talked about.
"All these things" & "all things" can be interchangeable
Peter asked Jesus about "ALL THESE (THINGS)" (Mark 13:4). The expression "ALL (THINGS)" can also be used interchangeably in that context.
For example, a verse in the parallel account in Matthew 24 reads: "this generation by-no-means will-pass-away until ALL THESE (THINGS) take-place" (Matthew 24:34). The parallel verse in Luke 21 reads "this generation by-no-means will-pass-away until ALL (THINGS) take-place" (Luke 21:32). A few verses later the account in Luke 21 even switches again to "ALL THESE (THINGS)", mentioning "ALL THESE (THINGS) being-about to-take-place" (Luke 21:36).
This is important because "ALL these (THINGS)" (Mark 13:4) to end may thus be interchangeable with the end of "ALL (THINGS)" (1 Peter 4:7).
1st century imminence?
"THE END" could have been apprehended as being imminent in the 1st century.
Peter wrote later in the 1st century that "THE END (of) ALL (THINGS) HAS-DRAWN-NEAR" (1 Peter 4:7).
Peter may have written this at that point in time because Jesus said earlier to Peter: "I-say (to) YOU that this generation by-no-means will-pass-away until ALL (THINGS) take-place" (Luke 21:32).
Could the end of "all things" include the end of Jerusalem?
Among "ALL (THINGS)" (Luke 21:32) that Jesus would have talked about, there may have been for example the end of JERUSALEM as Jesus mentioned its desolation 12 verses earlier, saying: "when you-see JERUSALEM being-surrounded by army-encampments, then recognize that her desolation has-drawn-near" (Luke 21:20). In the parallel verse to Luke 21:20, Jesus actually referred to "Daniel the prophet" (Matthew 24:15) who mentioned in Daniel 9:25-26 "Jerusalem" and "its end".
Daniel 9:25-26 (Masoretic) reads: "rebuild Jerusalem [...] and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined".
Could this "desolation" of "Jerusalem" be its "end"?
In the only passage in Luke 21 mentioning specifically "THE END", it is written: "whenever you-hear (of) wars and disturbances, do not be-frightened. For these (things) must take-place first, but (it is) not immediately THE END" (Luke 21:9). In the passage of Daniel 9:26 (Masoretic) it is written: "even to the end there will be war". Could this be a reason why Jesus said that "whenever you-hear (of) wars" (Luke 21:9) they need not to be frightened as that would not be an indication of it immediately be THE END, as "even to the end there will be war" (Daniel 9:26 (Masoretic))?
For more similarities between Luke 21/Matthew 24 and Daniel 9:
1st century events
In the 1st century, several years after that Jesus spoke those words, the 1st century historian Josephus recorded that "JERUSALEM" was brought to "ITS DESOLATION" around AD 70 in the First Jewish-Roman War.
The 1st century historian Josephus wrote in "The Wars of the Jews":
(6.10:1): "And thus was Jerusalem taken, in the second year of the reign of Vespasian, on the eight day of the month Gorpieus [Elu]. It had been taken five times before, though this was the second time of its desolation".
The 1st century historian Josephus added that this was "THE END which Jerusalem came to".
The 1st century historian Josephus wrote in "The Wars of the Jews":
(7:1:1): "Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury, (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other work to be done,) Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and temple, ...it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind."
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