The Gospel of Mark: Signs of Christ’s Coming — Part 2

Before I went on vacation we looked at verses 1-13 of this chapter. As Jesus and the disciples are leaving the Temple complex, He prophecies the destruction of the Temple and of Jerusalem. In regard to that destruction the disciples asked Jesus three questions: [1] When will these things be? [2] What will be the sign of your coming? and [3] What will be the signs of the end of the age?

In verses 1-13 Jesus instructs them that many things will happen in the years to come that are not signs that the end is immanent, but they encourage us to keep on watching for real signs of the end times.

The passage reminds us that throughout the Church Age there will be signs that are not signs, but the make us keep looking for the more specific signs of Christ’s coming. Jesus says these signs include false prophets, wars and rumors of wars, inter-nation rivalries and antagonism, earthquakes, and famines. Don t worry when these things happen, He tells them, because the end is not yet. What these event are, are signs of a continually degenerating world that has been affected in every way by sin.

The first really true sign that the end of the age is near will be the preaching of the gospel in every corner of the world. “And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.” (Mark 13:10, NIV84). Watch were the Gospel is making inroads into people-groups where it has not gone before — particularly in what missiologists call the 10-40 Window. It’s a rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia approximately between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude where the Gospel has least penetrated the peoples of that window. Approximately 5.11 billion individuals residing in approximately 8,716 distinct people groups, 5,984 of which are considered “unreached” with the Gospel.

Verse 14-32 begins the next section of The Mount Olivet Discourse. It is perhaps the most challenging section of the discourse to understand. The conundrum is this: Is Jesus referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD or to a distant event that takes place during an end-time Tribulation period shortly before His Second Coming. Or Does Jesus predict the destruction of Jerusalem, and in that event, give us a prophetic picture of a greater event which foreshadows the immediacy of his coming? I believe that latter.

I. WHEN YOU SEE ... FLEE!

1. in response to Jesus’ prophet warning, the Apostles ask Jesus when will Jerusalem and the Temple be destroyed?

2. Jesus responds to the question in such a way that the answer fits more than one event in history

a. He refers a past event that answers two of the disciple’s questions:

1) Question #1 is “When shall these things be?” i.e. the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple

2) Question #2 is “What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?”

b. He answers their question by referring to The Abomination of Desolation

"But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains." (Mark 13:14, NIV)

c. the disciples new immediately what Jesus was referring to

3. such an abomination had already taken place once in their history

A. THE FIRST FULFILLMENT

1. OK, I know a lot of folks are not great history fans, but I’ve got to share with you some Jewish history if any of this is going to make sense

a. Jesus says, When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, ...

1) that is a reference to the prophet Daniel’s vision in chapters 9-12 of the Book of Daniel

“His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.” (Daniel 11:31, NIV84)

b. the word abomination refers to something which has become odious and thus despised such as water polluted by dead fish

1) it’s a behavior so reprehensible that it’s a “big stink” in the nostrils of God

c. the word desolation refers to a ravaging act so astounding that we are appalled by it

2. when Jesus utters his warning, this event had already happened once in Israel’s history

ILLUS. The story begins with Alexander the Great – the great Greek general who had conquered most of the Mediterranean world and the East. Under his rule, the Jews of Palestine were treated fairly and given a certain amount of self-governance. After Alexander’s death, however, the Jews entered an era where they experienced some of the bitterest suffering in their long history. After Alexander’s death, his four top generals divided up Alexander’s empire. In 175 B.C. Antiochus IV ruled over the area that we call the Middle East. He was what we would call an egomaniac. He delighted in referring to himself as Antiochus Epiphanes — Antiochus the Brilliant One. The Jews developed a clever nickname for him — they called him Antiochus Epimanes, — Antiochus the Dullard. Antiochus did not care for the name and his relationship with the Jews quickly deteriorated. He killed them by the tens-of-thousands and sold more thousands into slavery. Eventually he forbade the Jews to read their Scriptures, to observe the Sabbath or to perform the rite of circumcision. To show his contempt for their faith, he came to Jerusalem and sacrificed a sow on the altar of burnt offering, cooked the meat and forced the Jewish priests to eat it, and then poured the broth over all the buildings. Lastly, he then ordered that an altar to Zeus to be erected in the Holy of Holies.

3. this was the Abomination of Desolation which Daniel refers to

a. Antiochus’s act was reprehensible and the Jews were appalled

B. THE SECOND FULFILLMENT

1. Jesus said that something similar was going to take place again in the near future

a. when you see . . . flee

b. they would know it when they saw it

c. Luke’s gospel gives us a little more help here:

“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.” (Luke 21:20, NIV84)

2. in 66 AD the Jews of Israel revolted against the Roman government in an effort to gain independence

a. Rome was determined to keep the Jewish province by force

b. this was just 30-35 years after the resurrection and many thousands of Jewish Christians were living in Jerusalem and Judea

1) they saw what was taking place and did exactly what Jesus said to do — they fled

vv. 14c-18 “ ... then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:15 And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house:16 And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.17 But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!18 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.”

2) it’s an amazing story and full of the providence of God

ILLUS. The Jewish revolt that led to the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 began with the Roman military garrison in Jerusalem, plundered the Temple and executed over 6,000 Jews. With that a full-scale rebellion erupted. The Jews crushed the local Roman garrison and the forces of King Agrippa. That report went up the chain of command to Cretius Gallus who was the Roman Governor of Syria. Cretius led the Roman 12th Legion to put down the rebellion. They advanced on Jerusalem and surrounded it. They set fire to the suburban districts that are outside the walls. After that, the Romans begin to lay siege to the wall of upper city. Inside the city, the Jews were divided, many of the leading citizens wanted to sue for peace. The Zealots did not, and they attack and killed most of Jerusalem’s leading citizens, and then installed a puppet-High Priest to rule the temple and offer sacrifices. After five days of tunneling, the Roman army was on the verge of undermining the wall and setting fire to the gates of the city. Then suddenly, for no apparent reason, Cretius gives up and retreats from the city. At that point, two things happen. First, the Jewish Zealot army pursues the 12th Legion and annihilates them, inflicting one of the greatest military disasters Rome had ever suffered to that point. Second, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem and Judea use the window of opportunity, and all flee across the Jordan River to the city of Pella. (Doing exactly what Jesus had told them to do). After Cestius Gallus’s defeat, Nero orders Vespasian to take over. He, in turn, ordered his son, Titus, to come from Egypt to Palestine with the 5th and 10th Legions. In all, five legions — 80,000 soldiers — surround the city. It is Titus who ultimately destroys the city and the Temple.

3. within a few weeks, Jerusalem is again surrounded by Roman Legions who have come to crush the revolt

a. historians of the day tell us that Titus surrounded the city during the Passover when upward to two million pilgrims flocked to the city

b. the horrors that took place during the siege were almost unimaginable

1) famine soon griped the city — the elderly and the children were the first to die — thousands of corpses soon littered the streets — many of the dead were thrown over the wall

2) there were reports of cannibalism

3) at night, many Jews would sneak outside the city in an attempt to escape or find food — when caught they were crucified — an average of 500 per day. It wasn’t long before the entire area surrounding Jerusalem was denuded of trees

4) rumors circulated among the Roman soldiers that escapees had swallowed gold and gems — and so after crucifixion — most captives were eviscerated in order to discover the treasure in their stomach and intestines

c. in the end 1,100,000 Jews died in the siege and another 97,000 were taken captive to become slaves

d. the booty from the destruction of the city and the Temple paid for the building of the Colosseum in Rome

1) Jesus, in verses 16-25 gives his disciples some indication of how terrible that time will be

2) on the other hand, the Jewish Christians saw what was coming and did indeed fled the city

e. the victorious Romans literally tore the city apart and left it desolate

4. Jesus, I believe, uses the city’s approaching catastrophe as a picture of the tribulation at the end of the church age

C. THE THIRD FULFILLMENT

1. in verse 19 Jesus makes a transition from the destruction of Jerusalem to a more distant and more destructive period just proceeding His Coming

a. in Matthew 24:21 Jesus refers to a Great Tribulation and quotes Daniel 12:1

"At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people – everyone whose name is found written in the book – will be delivered.”

2. the period after the abomination of desolation is set up will be the most terribly destructive period in all human history

a. it will be so terrible that, if God does not intervene, all living beings will die

“If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.” (Mark 13:20, NIV84)

3. I believe that Jesus is referring to what we call the Great Tribulation spoken of in the book of Revelation

a. the kind of desolation that took place in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 will be on a world-wide scale at the end of the Tribulation period

4. OK, Question #1: When will it take place?

a. we do not really know, but there will be some clues

1) the restoration of Israel as a nation is one clue that we are living at the end of the age

“After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.” (Ezekiel 38:8, NIV84)

2) look for an emerging world leader who will promise the moon and deliver – he may well be the anti-Christ

“Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4, NIV84)

3) in Mark 13:13 Mark used the masculine participle "standing" to modify the neuter noun "abomination"

a) this suggests that "the abomination" is a future person "standing where he does not belong"

5. Question #2: When will Christ come?

a. it is immediately after the Tribulation

“So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. 24 “But in those days, following that distress, “ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ 26 “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” (Mark 13:23–26, NIV84)

b. what takes place at that coming?

"And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven." (Mark 13:27, NIV)

c. every day we wake up brings us one day closer to the Day of the Lord

6. Question #3: Will Christians go through it?

a. answer: I think there is a very good possibility that Christians will experience this time of Great Tribulation

b. and in verse 20 he tells us that for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened — I don’t know who else that could be talking about if it’s not believers

c. there simply seems to be no place in the Olivet Discourse where believers are ‘raptured out’ before this terrible time begins

7. that worries a lot of believers

a. are 20th century Christians any better than the millions of believers who have been martyred over the last 2,000 years?

b. God did not give Western believers particularly American Christians – some exclusiveness clause

"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” (Matthew 24:9, NIV)

c. Jesus did not say, "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me, except all those who live in modern, industrial democracies of the western hemisphere!”

II. LESSONS FROM MARK 13:14-32

A. WE ARE TO EXPECTANTLY WATCH

Mark 13:28-29 "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 “Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door."

B. GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF HIS PEOPLE AND GIVES THEM THE VICTORY

1. the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is one of the Bible’s most intriguing themes

a. for believers, the Lord’s return is the realization of God’s promise and our hope

b. those who love the Lord Jesus are constantly “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of [our] great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13)

c. we believe ...

1) we will be rewarded by him

2) we will remain forever in his presence

2. the thought of his coming should fill us with joy and anticipation

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