THE GREAT TRIBULATION Part 3
Matthew 24:15-28
Mark 13:14-20
IMMEDIATE FLIGHT FROM JERUSALEM
The relationship of Matthew 24:15 and 24:21 should be noted
carefully. There is a “when/then” relationship. These words note cause/effect.
When the abomination of desolation happens, then the saints in Jerusalem are to
“flee unto the mountains.” This
flight will be immediate. This is evident by the language used. A person on the
housetop is not even to “come down to
take anything out of his house (Matthew 24:27). Nor is the farmer in the
field to “return back to take anything
out of his house” (Matthew 24:18). This language denotes instant flight.
When this event occurs, believers are to leave at once with no hesitation. Nolland
notes that these are “images of desperate urgency.”[1] The
flight is to be so quick they will not even be able to pack; they are to flee
with just the clothes on their backs. This flight will present a hardship for
mothers of infants and those expecting a child (Matthew 24:19). They are to pray
that it does not occur in winter, nor on the Sabbath (Matthew 24:20). That
would complicate a quick immediate getaway.
This flight is seen in Revelation 12:6. The believing
remnant of Israel is the woman who flees to the wilderness. The women is in the
wilderness for 1,260 days (3 ½ years). During this time, the last half of the
Tribulation, the remnant of Israel will be preserved in a “place prepared by God.” It speaks of survival and safety for the
believing remnant.
Some point to Christians feeing the city before the
destruction of Jerusalem as fulfilling these passages. However, I find that
view wanting. First there is no evidence of an immediate flight before 70 AD.
Those who did flee had time to do so before the army completely cut off the
city. Second, the idea that it was fulfilled in fleeing to Pella/ Perea is not
satisfactory. Hendriksen notes that the citizens of Perea were anti-Jewish and
hated the Jews, including Christian Jews; it was not large enough to house the
refugees; and those fleeing earlier would have fallen into the hostile hand of
fanatical Jewish freedom-fighters.[2]
The reason for the urgent flight is seen in the phrase “for then shall be great tribulation” (Matthew
14:21). The word “for” introduces the
reason for the flight. Evidently, this is the last possible moment of escape.
If they do not escape, they will be caught in this great and terrible trouble.
It will come so suddenly that they do not have time to get their things
together to get out. The Apostle Paul observes: “…the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. “For when they
shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as
travail upon a women with child, and they shall not escape” (2
Thessalonians 5:2-3).
Interesting, while the saints are fleeing Jerusalem, two
witnesses will arrive in Jerusalem, who will “prophesy a thousand two hundred
and threescore days, clothed in sack-cloth” (Revelation 11:3). They will be invincible
until their work is completed, when they will be killed at the end of the great
tribulation. Their bodies will lie in the street for all to see for three and
one half days (Revelation 11:6-9), when they will be resurrected and taken to
heaven (Revelation 11:11-12).
During this time false hopes run high, for many will come
claiming to be the Messiah or his prophet (Matthew 24:33). Conditions will be
so terrible that people will long for anything or anyone who promises
deliverance. They will cling to any ray of hope. These false ones will be
deceivers. The hope they offer will be false. They will perform great signs and
miracles, “insomuch that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). Jesus warns
them to “believe it not” in spite of
the great claims, signs and wonders.
It is interesting that the text suggest a great difference
between Christ and those claiming to be Messiah. The difference is visibility.
It seems from the text that these false Messiahs are rarely seen. A.B. Bruce
notes that the “expressions—in the desert, in the secret recesses—point to
non-visibility.”[4] In
contrast, the second coming of Christ, the true Messiah, will be visible and
evident to all (Matthew 24:27). “Every eye shall see him” (Revelation 1:7).
Matthew 24:28 is a proverbial statement describing these
false Messiahs and prophets. They will flock to Israel like vultures. Stanley
Toussaint notes that during this time Israel “will be in such a spiritual
condition that false prophets will be able to feast on it as vultures consume
the flesh of a dead and decaying body.”[5]
No comments:
Post a Comment