The last week of the earthly life and ministry of Jesus Christ on the earth mirrors the 7 thousand years of human history. It is just the manner and ways of God to unfold his plan of redemption and if one learns this truth about God it will make all things he says and does easier to understand.
Here is how those 7 days breaks down.
1) Sunday - the first day
2) Monday - the second day
3) Tuesday - the third day, the curse on the Fig Tree (symbol of national Israel) for having no fruit
4) Wednesday - The fourth day - the fig tree already dried up - death - the Olivet Discourse
5) Thursday - No prophecy - represents a thousand year day
6) Friday - No prophecy - represents a thousand year day
7) Saturday - a day of rest - represents a thousand year day
8) Sunday - the first day of a new week when all things are made new and a day without end.
Insert this following parable into the table at the end of day 4..
Lk 13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
This following is to illustrate the truth he had just declared about them repenting and knowing they will not.
6 ¶ He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. (fig tree = the nation, the vineyard = Judah)
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? (3 years = the ministry of Jesus to Israel)
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: (probation = 40 years see Heb 3 = 70 AD it was cut down and removed from the vineyard)
9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. (the word 'then' is an adverb modifying the verb 'cut.' It will be cut down after the probationary time).
The temple of the Jews is where God met in the midst of his people and the destruction of it in AD 70 was not only symbolic of the departure of God from the nation but it was also actual and he has been gone for a long time and they were out of the land without a national identity from 70 AD to 1948 AD. The separation of God from his people is a death and it is not without significance that this people who was under covenant relationship with God which depends on a national identity has been all this time without one. And even as they now have a national identity, it is physical only because God is still in heaven and is not dwelling in their midst in their temple. They are still spiritually dead But they will be reborn when he comes in his glory to the earth and dwells with them in their midst in Mt Zion where he will place his millennial temple wherein is his that is described by Ezekiel beginning in his chapter 40, of all numbers.
So, if one is reading and discerning the prophetic parables during the last week of Jesus ministry on earth, most of which are spoken to Israel in the temple in Jerusalem, he will have the prophecy from that time until Jesus returns to deliver the Jewish nation wholesale, albeit there will be few Jews left in the land to save.
Mathew 24, Mark 13, and Lk 21 are all recording the same event that took place after Jesus left the temple for his final time on this earth at the end of the forth day and they are not parables, they are prophecies about Israel, and the church is not included anywhere in these prophecies. The reason one does not see prophecies in these chapters for Israel on days 5 and 6 (the church is built on these two days while Israel is in the graves) is because there is no passing of time for dead things. Therefore Israel is reckoned nationally dead from the destruction of the temple in Jesus day and is symbolically, and actually, buried in the graveyard of the nations and will not be be recognized again by God until the man of sin offers the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet and declares that he is God. This is the beginning of the second 3 1/2 years of the seven years and the breaking of a seven year covenant with Israel where he, the man of sin, who they have accepted as their savior, has promised to protect them and it is also the beginning of the dreadful and terrible "Day of the LORD." Only a few that have been saved during the first 3.5 years will ride the wave of the turbulent sea of judgement as the 8 people in Genesis rode upon the flood to the other side where all things were new and different. Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun.
Here is the biblical order of things.
In the gospels Jesus came to establish his kingdom on the earth as he meticulously fulfilled all the OT prophecies about himself, but was rejected by his countrymen.
He pronounced a curse on that generation of Jews that it would not enter into his rest, and he put them on a 40 year probation, which ended in AD 70, the same year that ended the generation of Jesus Christ.
From that time forth, he reckoned his people as gentiles and fashioned a glorious , living and vibrant bride from the sleeping body of that Messiah they had been rejected and God the Father would, when she was complete, offer her to his son to be his wife. and would present her to him without spot or wrinkle. I advise reading Col 1 here. We call this the gathering of the church together and glorifying her with a new body.
Then he would once again turn his attention to the nation because God has a moral and a legal obligation to keep his unconditional covenants he had made to this people concerning their salvation and also the salvation of the world. He will during an intense war with the adversary rid the world of all rebels and establish his kingdom over no one but saved people.
So, the next thing is the rapture of the church of Jesus Christ. This leaves the world without a single saved person on it. This is described here in this verse;
Ps 12:1 «To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.» Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
This is a prayer from a Jew because of this condition.
So God sends two witnesses from the OT, Moses and Elijah, who preach the gospel of the kingdom, and it is believed and goes all over the world during the first 3.5 years of the seven.
and multitudes believe it and are saved, most to be eventually beheaded by the man of sin during the second 3.5 years, the Day of the LORD.
At the end of the seven years when the Jews and all mankind are about to perish, Jesus returns with his bride and rescues his nation and all saved people all over the world from Satan and his armies and destroys them.
Jesus reigns for a thousand years in perfect peace until a little season at the end.
