Matthew 24:15-28 (The Great Tribulation)

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The Great Tribulation

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Introduction

The Abomination of Desolation

15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

Today, we continue our series through Matthew chapter 24, through Jesus’ famous Olivet Discourse. Where Jesus is sitting with his disciples atop the Mount of Olives overlooking the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. The disciples marvel at the magnificence of the Jewish Temple while Jesus tells them that not one stone will be left upon another, that the Temple will be left desolate. The disciples are undoubtedly left shocked at Jesus’ words, while they gaze at a Temple that, to them, seemed indestructible. How is it possible that such a catastrophe could befall Jerusalem and the Temple?
And so they ask Jesus in verse 3,

“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

They ask when will these things be? When will this happen? And for most of chapter 24, from verses 4 through 35 Jesus answers their question. But he begins in verses 4-14 by telling them that there will be many false prophets, wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, and signs in the heavens. He tells them that many will deliver them up to tribulation and even to death, that they’ll be hated by all nations for his name’s sake. That many will fall away and betray one another, and hate one another. That lawlessness will increase and the love of many will grow cold, but that the end is not yet, that these tribulations are but the beginning of birth pains, that they ought not to be alarmed by these things. That these things will characterize the years prior to the destruction of the Temple, not to think that these tribulations are signs of the of the Temple’s immediate destruction, to not to be alarmed.

Signs given for the disciples to escape

Then in verses 15-28, the verses that we’re going to look at today, Jesus begins to speak specifically of the signs that will mark the imminent destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. That’s why Jesus starts there in verse 15 with the phrase “when you see”. When you see these particular signs you’ll know the end is near. And what’s important for us to understand, at this point, is that Jesus tells his disciples these things for a particular reason, he gives them these signs of the Temple’s imminent destruction in order that they might know when to flee Jerusalem and the entire region of Judea. He says there in verse 16,

16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

When you see these events coming to pass, let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Jesus is preparing his disciples for the judgement that’s coming against Jerusalem in order that they might escape. That the disciples are not to stay behind and fight for Jerusalem or the Temple. That’s the overarching purpose behind Jesus giving them specific indications of when the Temple will be destroyed. Remember Jesus is talking about the Temple that’s right in front of them, he’s not talking about a rebuilt temple thousands of years in the future. This prophecy is given to protect his disciples from the coming judgement and calamity that will befall Jerusalem and her Temple within their own generation. We know this because in verse 34 Jesus tells them,

34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Abomination of Desolation

Now, that being said, let’s start again there in verse 15,

15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

The most significant sign of Jerusalem’s impending doom will be what Matthew refers to as the abomination of desolation. And as Matthew points out, this phrase, the abomination of desolation, comes straight out of the Book of Daniel. We find it mentioned by Daniel four different times, in Daniel chapters 8, 9, 11 and 12. The phrase can literally be translated the “abomination that causes desolation” or the “devastating pollution”. The idea here is that what is holy becomes profaned (or polluted) by what is unholy.
For example, in 168 BC many Jews believed that Daniel’s prophecy concerning the abomination of desolation had been fulfilled when the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes, who called himself Theos Epiphanes (or “manifest God”) killed approximately 40,000 Jews and plundered the Temple. Pastor and theologian, Sam Storms,writes, “he sacrificed a pig on the altar of burnt offering, sprinkled broth from the unclean flesh all over the holy grounds as an act of deliberate defilement. He then erected an image of Zeus above the altar. It was a sacrilege of indescribable proportions indelibly imprinted on the minds of the Jews in Jesus' day.” (Sam Storms, Matthew 24 Pt. II, www.samstorms.org) This the kind of act that Daniel and Matthew have in mind when they use the phrase abomination of desolation, or an abomination that causes desolation.
Which is also likely why Matthew doesn’t take any time to explain what he means by the phrase, instead he simply says, “let the reader understand”, especially in light of who he’s writing to, he’s writing to Jews. However, when Luke records this same prophecy he takes the time to shed light onto what Jesus means by this statement, because, remember, in Luke’s Gospel he’s writing with a Gentile audience in mind, who might otherwise stumble over this phrase the “abomination of desolation,” as I suspect we’re prone to do today. So turn with me briefly to Luke 21:20, so that you can see this,

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.

So Luke tells us that the abomination that will lead to the Temple’s desolation, or destruction, will be an army. And if you know your history, you’ll know that from 66-70 AD Jerusalem was surrounded by the armies of Rome before finally being destroyed. However, before it’s total destruction the Jewish historian Josephus tells us that the Roman soldiers brought in their military standard (think national or military flag) into the Temple, a golden eagle that a legion of soldiers would carry as a symbol of their empire, a symbol that, for them, carried religious significance. Josephus goes on and says that they even setup and offered sacrifices to it. Which to the Jews would have been an unimaginable act of blasphemy.
This is what Jesus meant when he said,

when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

In other words, when you see these events transpiring, get out, run!

Urgency of escape

Jesus then goes on to describe the urgency of their escape in verse 17,

17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.

Luke records it like this,

21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it,

Notice the local indicators, “those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,” and “those who are inside the city depart”. What city? Jerusalem! There are all kinds of context clues that confirm that Jesus is warning his disciples to flee Judea and to flee Jerusalem when they see armies surrounding the city.
And he tells them to flee with extreme urgency. Don’t stop to collect your belongings! Don’t stop to get even your jacket if you’re in the field. In Jerusalem many would have had rooftops that they would have utilized, with stairwells on the outside, houses sandwiched together, and Jesus tells them that if you’re on your rooftop don’t even take the time to go down to take what’s in your house, instead run! We’re given this imagery of someone running from housetop to housetop to reach the walls of the city in order to escape. And for those who are working out in the field, don’t even turn around to grab your jacket, get out of there, there’s no time.
He goes on in verse 19,

19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

The idea here is that if there’s anything weighing you down or that would make it hard for you to travel I have sympathy for you, because the urgency to flee is such that you better hope you’re not pregnant or nursing, or that it’s on a Sabbath or in the winter when you have to run, because you don’t want to have anything weighing you down.
During the winter Judea gets cold, and the weather would have made for treacherous road conditions, making some roads impassable at times. And traveling on a Sabbath would have been difficult with most villages shutdown to observe the Sabbath.
Then in verse 21 Jesus says,

21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

What Jesus is saying is that the reason you must escape Jerusalem is because tremendous and unimaginable tribulation is coming. This is why so many have dubbed this portion of scripture the Great Tribulation.

Prophetic hyperbole

Now, it’s worth mentioning that it’s because of verses like 21 that modern day readers wonder if this passage is speaking of a time that has yet to come, because how could Jesus claim that the tribulation leading up to Jerusalem’s destruction could be so great that “such has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be?” We might say to ourselves this can’t be true, because what about later events like WWI or WWII. Couldn’t they be considered much worse than what happened to Jerusalem?
Well, I have at least two answers to that objection,
1) if Jesus is describing a time in the future (at the end of the age) then why would he say that there would never be so great a tribulation thereafter? This claim assumes that there will be moments of tribulation that continue after the events of the Great Tribulation, whereas if Jesus is talking about the end of the age at his second coming, then there wouldn’t be any tribulation events after the Great Tribulation to compare it to, because it would be the end of the age. In other words, the assumption in Jesus claim is that times of tribulation will continue after the Great Tribulation.
2) Jesus is using what we call prophetic hyperbole (or exaggeration), which is a common apocalyptic literary device used to drive home a point. Many of the prophets of the OT would use this same kind of hyperbole to make their point. For instance, in Exodus 11:6 Moses records for us the judgement against Egypt when Pharoah continued to refuse letting the Israelites go, we read this,
English Standard Version (Chapter 11)
4 So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6 There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.
We find another example in the Book of Ezekiel, which is particularly like our text today, where God is angry with Jerusalem and promises to execute judgments against her by sending her into Babylonian captivity. We read in Ezekiel 5, start in verse 5,
English Standard Version (Chapter 5)
5 “Thus says the Lord GOD: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.
So I can’t stress enough the importance of interpreting Scripture with Scripture, because if we’re not careful we can completely misunderstand a particular text simply because we don’t recognize a certain literary device that other writers used in other books. Passages like these help us understand what Jesus is doing here, which helps us understanding what Jesus is saying. Here he intends to get their attention and indicate to his disciples that this tribulation is going to be unimaginable.
And then Jesus says there in verse 22, to drive home his point,

22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

The tribulation will be so severe that had God not cut it short no person in Judea or Jerusalem would have survived. In fact, history tells us that more than 1.1 million Jews were slaughtered in the Jewish-Roman War. Only 100,000 people survived and all of them were immediately enslaved or paraded around by Rome to celebrate their victory.
Again, the point here is for Jesus’ disciples to be prepared for the judgement that would come in their generation against Jerusalem. To give them signs in order that they might flee the city in time. And by all known historical accounts we know of no believing Jews that died in the Great Tribulation and the destruction of Jerusalem. In fact, we records that indicate that they fled the city in time.

Historical Overview

As a brief historical overview let me give you a synopsis of the events that lead up to the Jewish-Roman War. In 66 AD tensions between the Jews and Rome intensified over taxation, as a result attacks broke out against Roman citizens in Jerusalem, so Rome responded by plundering the Temple and arresting numerous Jews. Then a large scale Jewish rebellion ensued and the Roman military was quickly overrun, but Rome responded again, this time, by sending Cestius from Syria with a formidable army to quell the revolt. Cestius immediately put the Jews in Judea to flight, and pursued them all the way to Jerusalem (to Mount Scopus), less than a mile outside the city. Cestius and his army attacked the city, they almost took it, but inexplicably he retreated.
Josephus writes, “It then happened that Cestius was not conscious either how the besieged despaired of success, nor how courageous the people were for him; and so he recalled his soldiers from the place, and by despairing of any expectation of taking it, without having received any disgrace, he retired from the city, without any reason in the world.” (Josephus, Book 2, Chapter 19)
Then when Cestius retreated it emboldened the Jews, who then proceeded to chase him as far as Mediterranean Sea. And then we’re told that certain Jews at that time took the opportunity to flee Jerusalem like men abandoning a sinking ship.
Josephus writes, “After this calamity had befallen Cestius, many of the most eminent of the Jews swam away from the city, as from a ship when it was going to sink;” (Josephus, Book 2, Chapter 20)
Now, eventually Rome would send Vespasian (who was at the time their Roman General), and later Titus (his son), with another formidable legion of soldiers, but Cestius’ retreat provided a window of opportunity for the believing Jews to flee the city. To heed Jesus’ words to flee the city when they saw Jerusalem surrounded by armies.
So we not only see in history Jesus’ prophecy come to pass, but the signs he gives his disciples, to flee Jerusalem, and to flee Judea successfully helped them to escape the coming tribulation.

Don’t look for my second coming

Then Jesus shifts gears and says something quite interesting in verses 23-28. He says, starting there in verse 23,

23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

What’s Jesus saying? Well, in short, he’s telling his disciples not to look for his second coming at the destruction of Jerusalem. Look back up at verse 3 at the disciple’s initial question,

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus is making sure they know that the destruction of the Temple will not be the sign of his second coming. That there will be many false christs and false prophets, many of which will perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead many astray, even the elect, if it were possible, but don’t believe it, he says.
Jesus tells them that when he comes no one will debate his coming, that his coming won’t require miraculous proofs, because his second coming will be like lightning, it’ll be unmistakable, and no matter where you are, like lightning that come from east, it’ll shine as far as the west. You won’t have to find Jesus hidden in someone’s inner room, or out in some obscure location. As NT scholar, DA Carson, puts it, “it will be as impossible for humanity not to see the coming of the Son of Man as it is for vultures to miss seeing [a carcass]" (Carson, 504)
Again we see Jesus making a distinction between the destruction of the Temple that will take place in their generation, and his second coming at the end of the age, a day and hour that no one knows. A day as unexpected as lightning in the sky.

Application

Now, as we close, I want to mention a few points of application. In our next time together we’ll look more closely at the events of 70 AD and the great tribulation which God brought upon Jerusalem in judgement, but even now we can see the terrible nature of this judgement. And what I mean by that is not that God unjustly punished Jerusalem, but that the severity of God’s judgement against Jerusalem ought to serve as a sober reminder of the seriousness of our own sin.
And it’s for a lack of serious toward sin that eternal punishment will always appear unjust to a people who take their sin lightly, who think little of their sin, who think they’re, all in all, a good person. One of the biggest hindrances to evangelism is a person’s apathy toward their own sin. It’s hard to convince someone of the gravity of their own sin, especially amidst their own prosperity.
A lack of seriousness concerning our sin is also one of the biggest hindrances toward pursuing holiness in the Christian life. We easily become content with our sin, justify our sin, and even play with our sin, convinced that it isn’t as dangerous as the Bible seems to indicate, but over and over the Scriptures remind us that it’s deadly.
The judgement against Jerusalem is also a foreshadowing of that great day of the Lord at the end of the age. In fact, the judgement against Jerusalem will ultimately broaden to include the entire world at the end of the age. In 70 AD the focus was upon God’s covenant people, particularly judgement against the covenant breakers, but on the last day that focus will widen to include the whole world.
As Paul says in Acts 17:30,

30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

But also let God’s judgement against Jerusalem serve as a reminder of God’s mercy, his mercy by his forbearance, that despite the immeasurable sin of mankind, even to this day, God withholds his just wrath against the world for the sake of his elect. This is why the Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:20,

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

6 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says,

“In a favorable time I listened to you,

and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Prayer

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