ContradictionsReading order 308Bible context 1 min read
When will the end of the world come?
One saying places the coming before completion of a local mission, while another places the end after worldwide preaching.
- Textual conflict
- Weak tension
- The alleged conflict needs substantial assumptions, such as treating an omission as a denial or figurative language as literal.
- Importance
- Foundational
- A central claim about origins, salvation, divine justice, or religious authority.
Worldwide witness does not require completing every Israeli city, and the excerpts do not explicitly identify the coming with the end as one chronological event.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
The Son of man comes before Israel's cities are covered
But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Matthew 10:23
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Matthew 10
The end comes after the gospel reaches all nations
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Matthew 24:14
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Matthew 24