The Law of Double Reference
- Bishop Keith Butler
- Oct 25, 2022
- 2 min read
And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? (Matthew 24:1-3)
An important principle to understand when studying Scripture is called the “law of double reference.” This phrase refers to the phenomena where Jesus would both refer to something that was happening when He was speaking and be referring to something that was going to happen many years—hundreds or even thousands of years—later.
In Matthew 24:1-3, Jesus was talking about two different people groups during two different time frames. He was talking about Israel not long after His death and resurrection. But He was also talking about the Gentile believers in the future, that includes us, over 2,000 years later.
Jesus then answered several questions.
Question number one was: “When shall these things be?” Jesus was talking about two things that happened at different times. One was the destruction of the Temple of Solomon, which was in A.D. 70, but also the Abomination of Desolation, which will not happen until the end times.The second question was:”What shall be the sign of thy coming?” They asked because Jesus had been preparing them for this. He had told them He would come again. Jesus told them about some things that would happen almost immediately after He leaves His earthly ministry and other things that will happen during the end times.
The last question they asked is: “What about the end of the world?” This question was specifically referring to the end of all time. Jesus was willing to answer their questions, but the answers weren’t simple. He didn’t give them a date, or a specific moment when these things would happen, but He told them what the signs will be.
Practical Application
It’s important to know when Scripture is talking about you and when it is talking about other people or groups.