The disciples of Jesus, who were all Hebrews, asked three questions.
Matthew 24:1-3
:1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
:2 And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
:3 And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us when these things will be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age.?"

Matthew 24:3 - Καθημένου δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ὄρους τῶν Ἐλαιῶν προσῆλθον αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ κατ᾽ ἰδίαν λέγοντες Εἰπὲ ἡμῖν πότε ταῦτα ἔσται καὶ τί τὸ σημεῖον τῆς σῆς παρουσίας καὶ τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος

Coming = G3952 = παρουσία = parousia = the coming, arrival, advent, the future visible return from heaven of Jesus, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment, and set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God, the coming of a king.

End = G4930 = συντέλεια = synteleia = entire completion, i.e. consummation (of a dispensation)

Age = G165 = αἰῶνος = aiōn = for ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity, period of time, age

What we call the Christian Dispensation, the disciples could not have had any idea about. Jesus was still with them and the church was not born at that time. They were Hebrews, not only in fact, but in spirit, and these disciples of the Lord, knew the prophecies about the coming of the Messiah King. Therefore we have to rightly divide the Word of truth and look at these three questions from the background of the disciples being Hebrews.

They were expecting the King Messiah according to scripture, to set up an earthly visible Kingdom according to prophecies. They would have thought that those two events "setting up the kingdom" and "the consummating of the age" and going into a new age would come together and would come without any interval in between. The age in their thoughts could not be any "Christian age" of which they had no idea. It was the age in which they lived which was for them, the age of law.

What the disciples did not know but what we now know is that there would be two thousand years between question one and the last two questions.

Jesus gave them answers to all three questions even if they did not even understood the timeframe of it.

1. When will these things be? - the temple being destroyed

2. What will be the sign of Your coming? - Second coming - setting up Your kingdom

3. The end of the age? - End of the Church age, the catching away (Rapture).

First time mentioning of a Messiah King was in Hannah's prayer.

1 Samuel 2:10 - The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces, from heaven He will thunder against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. "He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed."

Luke 1:32-33
:32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
:33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

In the old testament we read about the prophecies that Jesus would come to earth. We read that He would come as a Lam of God and He would come as a King.

In other words He would come twice. He did come as the Lam of God and He was crucified, died and rose from the dead. He went up to heaven on a cloud. The angels told the disciples that He will return in the same manner on the clouds. (That will be what we call the Rapture).

Act 1:9 - 11
:9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
:10 - And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
:11 - who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

But the prophecy (of His second coming) says that "His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives".

Zechariah 14:4 - And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east . . .
Zechariah 14:9 - And the LORD shall be King over all the earth . . .

Therefore we can not call these two events as the same event. In the old testament the "Rapture" was not prophesied. But in the new testament we read about it and it was prophesied by the angels when they said Jesus will return in the same manner as He left.

We must understand the different terms used.

1. First coming - as the Lam of God

2. Rapture - the catching away of the church (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

3. End of the age - the harvest (Matthew 13:39)

4. Second coming - as the King

Many Christians do not understand the difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming and they see it as one event and then their doctrine gets all mixup. There are also people that do not understand the "end of the age" and they sometimes talk about the end of the world and that is not a Biblical term.

Therefore it is important to "rightly dividing the word of truth".
2 Timothy 2:15 - Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The disciples ask Jesus 3 questions.

1. When will these things be?

2. and . . . What will be the sign of Your coming?

3. and . . . What will be the sign of the end of the age?

Question 1 was ask in connection with what Jesus said about the temple. This is what the conversation was about as from verse 1. They asked when will it be that "not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down".

The answer is in verses 34 & 35. In the generation of the disciples the second temple was destroyed. Jesus use the same words as the disciples words in their first question. "When will THESE THINGS be? this generation will by no means pass away till all THESE THINGS take place"
:34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

This already took place. The Temple was destroyed 70AD.

Matthew 24:4-6 Jesus gave a list of things that will happen before the catching away (Rapture). But He also said in verse 6 "but the end is not yet". Jesus continued with things which will happen and in verse 8 He said "these are the beginning of sorrows". Jesus continued until verse 14 and said "and then the end will come" (the harvest)

Matthew 24:15-28 is a discussion which the disciples did not even ask about. Jesus gave them insight into what will happen after the "end of the age" (the harvest) and the "coming of the Son of Man" "the catching away" (Rapture).

Matthew 24:15 - "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place".

Daniel 11:31 - "And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress, then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.

Jesus did not speak about the time of the harvest nor did He speak about the time of the catching away. There is no temple in Jerusalem where there can be "daily sacrifices" and therefore the abomination of desolation can not take place yet. Jesus gave them more than what they asked for. Jesus told them about what will happen after the harvest and catching away. He told them about the "great tribulation".

In Matthew 24:29-31 Jesus went back to "coming of the Son of Man", "the catching away" (Rapture) and what will happen after the "tribulation of those days". We must not confuse the great tribulation after the catching away with the tribulation which we are going through. And not only us now, but many Christians before us from the persecution of Christians from day one.

The sign of the "harvest" will be the time of the "Wheat and Tares" (Matthew 13:36-43). The answer to question 3 is that we will see the sign of the end of the age "the harvest" when we see that the judgment begin in the house of God. (1 Peter 4:17 - For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God . . .) When we see the separation between the "wheat and tares", we will know the time for the harvest has come.

Then Jesus told parables to explain what we should look for as signs for the harvest.

1. Parable of the Fig Tree (Matthew 24: 32-33)

2. Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13)

3. Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-29)

Jesus also said "of that day and hour no one knows". Which day did Jesus talked about? The day of the "coming of the Son of Man", "the catching away" (Rapture) (Matthew 24:36). But Jesus gave us a sign to look for in Matthew 24:38 "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark". Just before the "coming of the Son of Man", "the catching away" (Rapture) it will be as in die days of Noah.

What was different in the days of Noah as all the ages where there was sin in the world? There were Nephilim on the earth. (Genesis 6). Jesus said to His disciples that just before His coming, the Rapture, it will be as in the days of Noah. Never through the ages was the evil of transhumanism in operation as in our time. Matthew 24:40-51 Jesus explain how it will be the day of the "coming of the Son of Man", "the catching away" (Rapture).

Jesus did not end with the great tribulation, He even explained what will happen with His second coming to earth. (Not to be confused with the "coming of the Son of Man", "the catching away" (Rapture)).

Matthew 25:31-46
:31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.

Clearly Jesus told His disciples that He will come back as a King and "He will sit on His throne of His glory". This will be His second coming. Many Christians use these verses wrongly as they say that we are now in the time of the "sheep and the goats". No we are not. When Jesus comes back as a King He will judge the nations on how they treated "the least of these His brethren", the people of God, the descendants of Abraham. Wrongly called "the Jews" (the word jew was never in the original Bible translation). It will be better to call them Hebrews or Israelites as that is what the Bible calls them. And when Jesus judge the nations, He will "separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats". (Matthew 25:32)

We are in the time of the "Wheat and Tares" (Matthew 13:36-43).

There is a difference between the catching away (Rapture) and "end of the age".

Matthew 24:27, 30, 37 & 39
:27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
:30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
:37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
:39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Jesus mentioned 4 times "Coming of the Son of Man". We find a clear indication of what the "coming of the Son of Man" means in verse 30 where Jesus said "the catching away" (Rapture) see the Son of Man coming on the clouds". The question now is, when will Jesus come on the clouds?

"Rapture".
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Caught up = G726 = ἁρπαγησόμεθα = harpazō = catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force).

The "Coming of the Son of Man" will be the time of the "caught up", "the catching away", although the word is not find in the Bible but more commonly known as the "Rapture".

"End of the age".
Matthew 13:39 - "The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.
Matthew 13:49 - "So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,
The Bible gives the answer to what is the "end of the age", "the harvest is the end of the age".

Therefore differently stated, the questions will be.

1. When will die temple be destroyed?

2. What will the sign of the "harvest" be? (before "the catching away" (Rapture))

3. When will be the coming of the King