<p>24:8&nbsp;<i>But all these things are the beginning of the birth pains-&nbsp;</i>The term is used of the Lord's suffering, which came to term in His resurrection (Acts 2:24)- another hint that the tribulation is intended to bring those who endure it to an identity with the Lord's sufferings, and thus to share in His resurrection. There is therefore a positive intention in the sufferings. They are not merely an angry Deity releasing pent up anger upon the world. The term is also used in 1 Thess. 5:3, in a section full of allusion to the Olivet prophecy: &quot;When they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as&nbsp;<i>travail</i>&nbsp;s.w. &quot;sorrows&quot; upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape&quot;. This suggests that the various trials and tribulations just listed by the Lord are going to come suddenly- they don't describe decades of such things leading up to His return. Rather do they therefore describe a sudden situation which comes at a time of &quot;peace and safety&quot;. They may therefore describe the events of days rather than years. The Lord within the Olivet prophecy had spoken of the possibility of &quot;escape&quot; by fleeing, but &quot;they shall&nbsp;<i>not</i>&nbsp;escape&quot;- because they will be disobedient to His teaching. The intention of the birth pangs is to forge an identity between the sufferers and the crucified Christ, coming to birth in a resurrection like His. But for these people, the birth pangs are tragic, resulting in death rather than resurrection to life. See on :9&nbsp;<i>To be afflicted</i>.&nbsp;</p><p>The Lord is surely alluding to the Rabbinic idea of &quot;the birth-pangs of the Messiah&quot; which they used in description of the traumatic situation in Israel before Messiah&rsquo;s appearance. The Jewish public had initially expected Jesus to be Messiah, and felt that their time was indeed the birth-pangs of Messiah. But the Lord is saying that that time is yet to come. Seeing He did not come in AD70, we are again left to understand this as a reference to a situation&nbsp;<i>in Israel</i>&nbsp;which brings about the open manifestation of Messiah.</p><p>We frequently struggle to understand which verses apply to AD70 and which to the last days. I have suggested that forcing such a distinction is unwise because the entire prophecy was a conditional prophecy which began to have fulfilment in AD70 but was rescheduled in its final fulfilment. However it could be argued that Mt. 24:8-22 can be read as a parenthesis specifically concerning the events of AD70: the first seven verses and Mt. 24:23 ff. refer to events of both the last days and AD70.&nbsp;</p>