But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not, (he that reads let him consider [it],) then let those in Judaea flee to the mountains;
Here the Lord turns from general troubles to one clear signal, and everything depends on spotting it in time. Commentators ask three things of this verse. What is the "abomination of desolation"? Why is it standing "where he ought not to be"? And did that sign come true when Jerusalem fell, or is it still ahead?
The phrase is not a general word for wickedness. One writer traces its meaning back to Daniel.
We must look at Daniel's prophecy, which speaks of this abomination. We find it in chapter 12. The word "abomination" simply means idol. It is called the abomination of desolation because it causes the desolation of Jerusalem and of the Jewish people.
So the idol does not just warn that judgment is coming. It is why judgment falls.
Mark does not name the place where the idol stands. One writer notes a second reading of the Greek that changes the picture from a thing to a person.
There is an interesting though doubtful reading in the same verse: "standing where [he] ought not"… If the masculine form is right, it points to the Antichrist, the lawless one of 2 Thessalonians 2:4.
That reading is offered as possible, not certain. Commentators differ over whether the words describe the idol or the person behind it.
The parenthesis breaks into the Lord's own sentence and speaks to anyone reading it. Reading and understanding are not the same act.
Clearly many who read it might not understand. At the least our Lord warns those who read to make sure they enter into His thought: "Let the reader understand." He never discourages reading; He wants understanding. He foresaw the confusion that would come over the minds of men, even of His own disciples. He knew there would be all sorts of ideas floating about, especially about prophecy, so that many children of God get it wrong, and many more dread the subject.
So the Lord wants His people to study prophecy, not avoid it. Daniel 12 is where this sign is explained.
Many treat the destruction of Jerusalem as the fulfilment. One writer argues that the timing rules this out, and points forward to Antichrist's reign.
The destruction of Jerusalem, with all its horrors, may have foreshadowed the future, but it in no way fulfils the prophecy of this time of trouble. This passage teaches that the Lord will come to earth right after the great tribulation. Clearly the Lord did not come after the destruction of Jerusalem. And there cannot be two times of tribulation "such as has not been from the beginning." Daniel tells us that this time of trial for the Jewish nation will happen during the reign of Antichrist, who will be welcomed by the nation that rejected their own Messiah (John 5:43). During his reign the most terrible form of idolatry will be set up, and the Lord calls it "the abomination of desolation."
So did the verse say nothing to the disciples of that day? Another writer sees the open wording as deliberate. His text reads "where it ought not."
"Where it ought not" is, I believe, purposely left open. It gives instruction for ministry for what might happen to them, and also, in its stricter and fuller application, for when the abomination is set up in the last days.
Up to this point the disciples' business was testimony under pressure. The idol ends that period at a stroke.
Having given directions for their patient ministry… the Lord then turns to what concerns their position in the land — the immediate question. When they see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not stand — a matter for the reader to consider — then those in Judea were to flee to the mountains. There might be many busy in testimony in far countries, but those in Judea were to flee. They were to escape at once, without the least delay. The door was now closing (in judgment) on unhappy Israel; it was no time for testimony then.
The sign does double duty. It closes one door and opens the countdown to another event.
An idol will be publicly set up in the sanctuary in Jerusalem — as predicted in Revelation 13:14-15 — an insult to God of the most flagrant kind. That sign will show two things: first, that the time of special affliction spoken of in Daniel 12:1 has begun; second, that the end of the age, and Christ's intervention in His glory, is very near.
- Sign — "abomination" means idol. It is called "of desolation" because it causes Jerusalem's ruin, not just warns of it.
- Read — the Lord tells the reader to understand, not just read. Daniel 12 is where this sign is explained.
- Place — the idol stands in God's own sanctuary. On one reading of the Greek the words describe a person: the lawless one.
- Flee — once the sign appears, testimony in Judea is over. Escape at once is the only order given.
- Then — the sign starts the affliction Daniel foretold and marks Christ's coming in glory as near. He did not come when Jerusalem fell, so the verse still waits.
and him that is upon the housetop not come down into the house, nor enter [into it] to take away anything out of his house;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and him that is in the field not return back to take his garment.
The Lord has just told those in Judea to flee to the mountains. Here He shows how fast that flight must be: a coat is not worth the walk home. That one detail raises the real questions. Whom is the Lord warning? When does this happen? And why is there no time to spare?
The command in this verse is not a general call to caution. One event sets it off. Two verses earlier the Lord calls it the abomination standing where it ought not.
The setting up of this abomination will be the culmination of man's hostility to God. It will be the sign that the godly remnant's testimony is over, and that they must flee from Judea to the mountains. There has been nothing in the past, nor will there be in the future, to equal the terrible afflictions of these days.
A cloak was an ordinary man's most basic possession, and doubling back for it would cost only minutes. The Lord rules even that out. Commentators read the scene as total, immediate abandonment.
Flight has to be instant. There is not a moment to lose. The man on the housetop must not stop to pick up anything in the house, however precious. The man working in the fields must not go home for his clothes. Instant flight is the urgent need of the moment. Besides that, everything must give place.
These instructions fit one small piece of land and one set of circumstances. The physical detail settles it. This is not the Christian's hope of going up to meet the Lord.
The point here is escape, because it is not safe to remain. Trouble is coming like nothing before it. Those who refuse to worship the idol will be put to death, and many who worship it will be besieged and carried off as captives. So the Lord warns His disciples to flee, so that this trouble may not reach them. All this has nothing to do with the Christian's hope of going up to heaven to meet the Lord "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." What would be the sense in telling a Christian not to come down from the housetop at that moment? Would it matter whether he was at the top or the bottom of the house? So it is clear that the Lord speaks here only of the Jew who sees this most startling sign of Satan's power. The Lord orders him to escape, at the risk of his life. It is much more like Lot and his family going out of Sodom than Abraham watching from a distance with the Lord.
The geography leads to the same conclusion. A warning tied to one region can only concern the people who live there.
All this instruction is clearly for people living in Judea. Readers who insist on seeing the Church of God in this chapter run into difficulties in every detail of the prophecy. Is the Church of God shut up in one land, that such signs should be of use? Is not the Church found in every quarter of the earth? Once it is seen that the godly in Judea are in view, everything is simple and clear.
The order to drop everything and run can sound harsh. Look again at who gives it, and why.
As always, the Lord thinks of His own in the middle of trials and afflictions. He warns them, He instructs them, and He cares for them. He thinks of the workmen in the field and the women in the home, and He is not unmindful of the weather.
Some read the whole passage as fulfilled when Jerusalem fell to Rome. Writers answer from the speed this verse demands. They also point to Luke's account, which gives the same warning but drops these details.
Luke prophesies the taking of Jerusalem by the Romans eighteen centuries ago. There the Lord gives the same command to flee to the mountains, but the sign is different — "Jerusalem surrounded by armies." Luke also leaves out these later directions; they would be plainly out of place. Escaping the destroying armies needed no such rapid and instant flight as we have here.
- Sign. The flight begins at a signal — the abomination standing where it ought not — which marks the end of the godly remnant's testimony in Judea.
- Speed. The signal demands instant obedience. No prized thing in the house, and no coat in the field, is worth the delay.
- Scope. The housetop, the field, the mountains of Judea — every detail ties this warning to one land and one people. The Church is found in every quarter of the earth.
- Care. The same Lord who commands the flight thinks of those who must run: the workers in the field, the women at home, even the weather. He warns because He cares.
- Schedule. Luke's account of Rome's siege leaves this urgency out. So commentators hold that the flight described here still lies ahead.
But woe to those that are with child and to those that give suck in those days!
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And pray that it may not be in winter time;
The Lord is describing a sudden escape from Judea: a sign appears, and the godly must run for the mountains at once. His call to pray about the timing raises three questions: who prays this, why the season matters, and why Mark leaves out the sabbath.
The prayer belongs to a moment marked by a sign. Writers link it to the setting up of "the abomination of desolation."
The setting up of this abomination will be the culmination of man's hostility to God. It will be the sign that the testimony of the godly remnant is over. They must then flee from Judea to the mountains. There has been nothing in the past, nor will there be in the future, to equal the terrible afflictions of these days.
One season cannot set the timing for the whole world. That detail shows how local the scene is.
We see that it is not a question of the world at large. The winter would not affect all the earth at the same time; what is winter in one place is summer in another. It is not a universal picture.
In Matthew the same prayer adds the sabbath day. That raises a question about who is meant, and whether it touches Christians at all.
The Jewish disciples in view here are told to pray that the time for their sudden flight should not be in the winter nor on a sabbath day. Winter would be a serious obstacle because of the harsh weather. On a sabbath they could not go farther than a sabbath-day's journey. But how could this affect us as Christians? Even if once Jews, we are no longer under such restrictions. The Lord is not speaking of a Christian here, but of future Jewish disciples, who are under the law and its ritual and moved by Jewish hopes.
The hardship is physical. Winter would turn an already urgent escape into a punishing one.
The Lord tells them to pray that they may not have to flee in the winter, or on the Sabbath day. How gracious that is! He always keeps in mind what His beloved saints are facing, however small it may seem. He thought of the suffering involved in a winter flight, with no time to go into the house for an overcoat!
Winter also changes the ground they must cross.
So when they see this coming, they will pray that it may not be in winter. In that season the ravines run with rushing torrents, and escape becomes dangerous.
Mark's account stops at the season. Darby explains the difference by what each Gospel sets out to emphasise.
The Lord's goodness here is very remarkable. We find Him thinking even of the weather in the middle of this terrible judgment. It is so terrible that the world has never known anything like it. He tells them to pray that their flight will not be in winter. Here He does not mention the sabbath, as He does in Matthew, because Jewish things are not so much in view here as in that Gospel.
The prayer comes before the trouble, not in the middle of it.
The Lord, foreseeing all, tells them to pray that nothing will hinder their flight. Oh, how He cares! This prayer will be prayed beforehand. In Daniel 12 we see there will be wise ones who instruct others in righteousness, for "those who are wise shall understand." ... Here the Lord prepares them, and we can profit from it too.
Why would God bother about the weather at such a time? One writer answers from the prayer itself.
So the Lord encourages His people to pray that their flight will not be in winter. The reason is simple: travel in that season would be harder and more uncomfortable. This shows His care about the most ordinary comforts of His saints, as well as about their troubles and worries.
- Sign. One sign — the abomination of desolation — starts the flight. Those in Judea must run for the mountains without delay.
- Season. Winter is the hardship in view: harsh weather, no time to fetch a coat, and ravines running with torrents.
- Place. Winter is local, not global, and Matthew adds the sabbath. So commentators see future Jewish disciples here, not the church.
- Difference. Mark records the season only, not the sabbath. Darby links this to Mark's lighter emphasis on Jewish things.
- Care. The Lord thinks of the weather in the middle of the worst judgment ever. He teaches the prayer beforehand, and His care reaches the smallest comforts of His people.
for those days shall be distress such as there has not been the like since [the] beginning of creation which God created, until now, and never shall be;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and if [the] Lord had not cut short those days, no flesh should have been saved; but on account of the elect whom he has chosen, he has cut short those days.
On the Mount of Olives the Lord describes a distress with no parallel in history. No one would come through it alive except for one reason: God Himself cuts the period short, and He does it for people He has chosen.
The salvation here is about the body, not the soul. What hangs on it is a place on earth in the glory of the Lord's reign.
This is not a question of the soul but of the salvation of the body. They will then live, and they will be the subjects of the blessed reign and glory when the Lord comes. It is earthly glory here, not in heaven.
The chosen ones named here are the same people who "endure to the end" earlier in the chapter. They are gathered when Christ appears in glory.
The Son of Man will appear in glory, and then "His elect" will be gathered together. They were mentioned in verse 20. They are the ones who "endure to the end" (verse 13), and the appearing of Christ will save them. These elect are the God-fearing remnant of Israel in the last days. The Lord was speaking to His disciples, who at that moment were the God-fearing remnant inside Israel.
The same word "elect" points to two different groups in the New Testament.
The words the Lord speaks about those who will be on the earth then show clearly that they are not church saints. They are in Judea, and He tells them to flee to the mountains. An early picture of this was seen when Jerusalem was destroyed under Titus. He tells them to pray that their flight will not happen on the Sabbath. They are called the "elect." In this chapter, and all through the Gospels, that word always means His earthly people. In the Epistles the word "elect" always means the church.
The danger does not only come from outside. The destruction also feeds on something inside the people themselves.
If the Lord had not shortened those terrible days, no human being would have been saved. This is a remarkable statement, and it applies even to the evil of their own hearts. The spirit of death and evil is among them, and they would destroy themselves. This has been seen in Jerusalem, and even elsewhere. It comes from within and from without. But for the sake of the elect, who were to be spared in the flesh, He shortened these days.
Prophecy gives these days a fixed length. The shortening keeps them inside it.
I take the shortening of the days to mean that they are held firmly to the 1260. Man's will and passions would otherwise carry them on with no end. But the Lord would come as a thief in the night and close it all.
There is mercy in how brief the wrath is. Compare the length of God's work in the Gospel with the length of His judgment.
Today God is giving out mercy through the Gospel, and He has made a very long work of it, stretching over nineteen centuries. When He gives out wrath He will make swift work of it, cutting it short in righteousness. A brief three and a half years will cover it, as other scriptures show. So the goodness of God will be shown both in mercy and in wrath.
The limit protects the kingdom that follows.
If those days ran on past the twelve hundred and sixty days, no saints of God would be left to enter the millennial earth. All would be destroyed. But the Ancient of Days will come. Judgment will be given to the saints of the high places, the appointed time will arrive, and the saints will take possession of the kingdom. That will put an end to the reign of this terrible trinity of evil.
- Chosen — God cuts the days short for the sake of His elect, His earthly people in that day.
- Shortened — the days are held to their fixed limit. Left to man's will and passions, the violence would never stop.
- Spared — "saved" here means bodies kept alive on earth, not souls rescued. These survivors are the God-fearing remnant of Israel, gathered when Christ appears.
- Swift — God has made a long work of mercy in the gospel and will make a short work of wrath, so His goodness shows in both.
- Survivors — the limit exists so that people are left alive to enter the kingdom that follows.
And then if any one say to you, Lo, here [is] the Christ, or Lo, there, believe [it] not.
This discourse opened with warnings about false Christs, and here they come back sharper: a rumour that the Messiah has arrived and can be visited at a spot on the map. How will anyone caught in that hour tell the true Christ from a fake?
Commentators place this cry at the last stage of the prophecy, not at its beginning.
Then comes a burst of warning, not just as before, but even more forceful... Clearly there is a final appearance, a fresh cloud of these deceivers in the last days, just as there was when this prophecy first applied. Their aim is to seduce even the elect, if that were possible.
The dangers the Lord names are wide, and He points to one safeguard against them all:
The Lord warns the disciples against false hopes of rescue, against false reports of false Christs, against false prophets, false signs, and apparent wonders. Their safety will be in remembering His words: "I have told you all things beforehand."
Anyone pointing to a place is describing something the real Christ will never do.
Through the tribulation the devil will try to crush and wipe out the elect. But that is not all, as verses 21 and 22 show. At that time a special number of false Christs and prophets will appear, and through them he hopes to seduce the elect. He would do it, "if it were possible." Thank God, it is not possible. True saints will know that the real Christ is not going to hide Himself in some corner, so that people have to say, "Look, here is the Christ!" or "Look, there He is!" He will shine out in His glory when He comes, and every eye will see Him.
Who could a cry of "here" or "there" actually fool? The answer turns on what a person is waiting for.
But clearly the Lord Jesus assumes real danger for the disciples here. Being Jewish and not Christian, the cry that He was here or there on earth might well deceive them. No Christian could be in such danger, but the Jewish disciples were open to it. They were looking for the Lord to come to the earth. They knew that in that day His feet would stand on the Mount of Olives.
Commentators differ on how tightly the danger is confined. One writer agrees the elect in view are an earthly people, yet holds that others will face the same deceptions in that day:
I do not say that such words about them must mean they are an earthly people. No. From Revelation 13, I believe many heavenly men will face deceits in that day, and will be kept from being deceived in the same way.
The phrase "if it were possible" draws a line the deceivers cannot cross.
The clause "if it were possible" clearly implies that they would be deceived, if it were not for the protection of God's grace and power. God has decreed that the elect will not be swept away, despite coming so close to it... Believers, however, have no excuse for accepting such deception. The Lord has warned them beforehand how subtle it is, and their protection is in His Word.
The Lord does not warn here as the glorified Son of God. He speaks in another character, and it shapes everything He tells them to do:
"But," says the Lord, "be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand." For here the Lord speaks as the Prophet of the Jewish remnant, and must be received in that character — not as the glorified Son of God, nor as the "Son of man who is in heaven." With those titles the setting would have to be heavenly, not a warning to flee and to save your life.
- Hour — The cry "here is the Christ" belongs to the last crisis. A fresh wave of deceivers rises then to seduce even the elect.
- Lie — The report defeats itself. The real Christ will not hide in a corner for people to point at. He will shine out in glory, and every eye will see Him.
- Target — A rumour about a place only moves people who expect a Messiah on the earth. Commentators differ on whether others face the same snare.
- Limit — The deceivers show signs and wonders. They would succeed "if it were possible" — but God's grace and power hold His own, so it is not possible.
- Shield — Safety is in words already spoken. The Lord told them everything beforehand, so no one who keeps His word has an excuse for falling for it.
For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and give signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
The Lord has just warned His disciples to ignore any report that the Christ has turned up here or there. Now He says why those reports will sound so convincing: the men behind them will back their claims with miracles. Two questions follow. Can a real wonder come from the wrong source? And what keeps God's own people from being swept away by one?
Kelly reads the verse as a final wave of deceivers, matching an earlier one:
Clearly there is a final appearance, a fresh cloud of these deceivers in the last days, just as there was when this prophecy first applied. Their aim is to seduce even the elect, if that were possible. But the Lord warned them: "Take heed: behold, I have told you all things beforehand."
Baines finds nothing in the first century that matches it:
Nothing of the kind happened before the siege of Jerusalem, so it formed no part of the prophecy as Luke reports it. But other Scriptures show us this is exactly the state of things that will come before Christ appears in power and glory to set up His world-kingdom.
The verse takes for granted that liars can work wonders. Darby gives the test God has provided instead:
God gives safeguards so that His people may not be deceived. Miracles must be for the truth, or we are not to receive them. If they are for what is not the truth, we must utterly reject the man who works them; Deuteronomy 13. I add that Scripture reveals this: Satan will work amazing signs, to deceive the elect if possible. And in the last days, Scripture speaks of signs and miracles only on Satan's side. Then they will happen. They are the sign that the man of sin is coming. So a miracle by itself cannot be the test of truth.
Hole, writing on the same warning in Matthew, explains the devil's aim and sorts signs into two kinds:
At that time the devil will know very well that the coming of Christ is about to happen. So he will try to confuse the issue by raising up imposters and giving them supernatural powers, hoping to deceive the elect who are looking for Christ. Verse 24 shows plainly that not all miraculous signs come from God. There are two kinds — the divine and the devilish. The divine kind displays God's character in grace and power. The devilish kind is often flashier, more startling, and more attractive to people who are not converted. People today who crave the miraculous should take great care. They can be deceived.
Grant treats the words "if possible" as a real limit:
The clause "if it were possible" plainly implies that they would be deceived, if the grace and power of God did not protect them. God has decreed that the elect will not be carried away, though they come so close to it. At that time the chief of all false christs, the Antichrist, will lure great numbers away by power and lying signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9). But believers have no excuse for accepting such deception. The Lord has warned them in advance how subtle it is, and their protection is in His Word.
Part of that protection is knowing what the true coming will look like:
True believers will know that the real Christ is not going to hide Himself in some corner. Men will not have to say, "Look, here is the Christ!" or "Look, there!" He will shine out in His glory at His coming, and every eye will see Him.
Mackintosh starts from what the human heart cannot do:
The human heart has no power at all to resist "great signs and wonders" put forward in support of the deadliest error. Only one thing can strengthen the soul to resist the devil and all his deadly delusions: the word of God. Storing up the precious truth of God in the heart is God's secret for keeping us from every error, even error backed by the most astonishing miracles.
- Warned — the Lord tells His own in advance. The warning is itself the protection, and His truth stored in the heart is where safety lies.
- Wonders — signs and wonders prove nothing on their own. If they serve what is not the truth, reject the man who works them.
- Two kinds — the divine sign displays God's character in grace and power. The counterfeit is flashier, and it attracts the unconverted.
- Limited — "if possible" marks a line the deceivers cannot cross. God's grace and power keep the elect, though they come near to it.
- Unmistakable — the real Christ will not hide in a corner. He will shine out in glory, and every eye will see Him.
But do *ye* take heed behold, I have told you all things beforehand.
This verse closes a run of warnings about the trouble ahead and the deceivers who will use it. The question it raises is simple: if the Lord has already told His people what is coming, what should they do with that knowledge?
The warning looks ahead to the Lord's departure. He would no longer walk with them, so He named the dangers in advance.
They would have to walk a road full of dangers, and here the Lord warns them how to escape the judgment about to fall on the beloved people for their sins. He would no longer be present to guide them. But His heart could not leave them in the dark about the path or about the difficulties they would meet. And the testimony Jesus gave about it would turn those difficulties and dangers into proof that His words were true, and into encouragement for their hearts when they found themselves in the trouble.
The phrase in this verse is not new. It runs through the whole discourse, and one writer counts its four appearances as the frame that holds the prophecy together.
In verse 33 the words "Take … heed" come for the fourth time. The Lord opened His discourse with these words and closed with them, and He spoke them twice in between (verses 9 and 23). Every prophetic revelation He gave is meant to touch our consciences and our lives. He forewarns us so that we may be forearmed.
The warning answers the false Christs and false prophets of the two verses before it. The tone rises sharply at this point, and the deceivers described are read as a late crop, matching an earlier one.
Then comes a burst of warning, not just as before, but even stronger. Clearly there is a final appearance, a fresh crowd of these deceivers in the last days, as there was when this prophecy first applied. Their aim is to lead astray, if it were possible, even the elect.
The words "if it were possible" carry great weight. One writer reads them as a promise that the deception will fail.
The words "if it were possible" show that they would be deceived if it were not for the protection of God's grace and power. God has decreed that the elect will not be swept away, even though they come so close to it. But believers have no excuse for accepting such deception. The Lord has warned them in advance how subtle it is, and their protection is in His Word.
The danger comes from more than one direction. The answer to every form of it is the same.
The Lord warns the disciples against false hopes of deliverance; against false reports, of false Christs; against false prophets, false signs, and apparent wonders. Their safety will be in remembering the words of the Lord, "I have told you all things beforehand."
Several writers point out that the setting of this passage is local and Jewish. The surrounding details — Judea, flight, flesh being saved — mark out a specific group in a future crisis rather than the church.
In the future crisis only "those in Judea" are concerned. The question here is of "flesh" being saved and of "this generation," not of resurrection and of being caught up on high. Jewish disciples only are in view, and deliverance comes down to the earth in displayed power and glory.
A warning given in advance only helps someone who knows what was said. One writer draws two results from that.
In tender concern for our weakness, the Lord, through His servants, has warned us in advance of what to expect among His professing people. Two important things follow. First, only in the light of the Scriptures can we read the state of professing Christianity correctly. Second, if we do not know the teaching of the Word of God, we are open to disappointments and deceptions of every kind.
- Told — The Lord would not leave His own in the dark about the road ahead. He spoke before the trouble came.
- Trusted — When the dangers come, they prove His words true and encourage the heart.
- Guarded — "If it were possible" means the deception fails. God's grace and power hold the elect, and their protection is in His Word.
- Heeded — The same warning sounds four times in this chapter. Prophecy presses on the conscience: forewarned is forearmed.
- Applied — The scene is a future crisis in Judea. Even so, only those who know Scripture can read their own times without being deceived.
But in those days, after that distress, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give its light;
Jesus has just described a time of trouble like no other. Now He tells His disciples what follows it — the sky itself going dark. Is this a picture of something already past, or of something still ahead?
The verse fixes a point in time. These signs are not part of the trouble. They come after it — and what follows for Israel is deliverance.
The Jews must pass through a tribulation like no other (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24). Only then does their deliverance come.
Some have applied the verse to Rome's destruction of Jerusalem, which the historian Josephus wrote about. But that event was the trouble itself, not what came after it.
Could that be called "immediately after the tribulation"? It was rather the crowning of Jewish sorrow, not the glorious reversal of their sufferings by a divine deliverance. Whatever wonders Josephus reports happened during the tribulation he records. The signs spoken of here, literal or figurative, are to follow "the tribulation of those days."
So far the trouble has come from the wickedness of men. Here God steps in.
Then the power of God comes in to cut short the wickedness of man and the tribulation as well. "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light." These may be figures of speech. But it is clear that God is the One who steps in with power. Man cannot do all that is meant, and neither can Satan. God alone can change or deal with the sources of power.
Commentators also read the lights in the sky as pictures of rule. Each one stands for a level of authority.
Supreme power, pictured by the sun, goes dark. Derived authority, pictured by the moon, loses all influence. Lesser authorities, pictured by the stars, lose their place and power. This present age, despite all the progress men boast about, will end in tribulation, confusion and anarchy like no other.
Commentators differ on what these lights stand for. One writer sees the sun as the light of God and the moon as Israel, which shines only with borrowed light.
The sun, the supreme source of light, goes dark. This shows that men's atheistic folly darkens the light of God. The moon giving no light pictures Israel sinking into such darkness that it bears no witness at all to the light of God. The moon's light is of course a reflection of the light of the sun, just as Israel ought to reflect God's glory in some measure.
Symbols and real events need not compete. One writer holds both, and points back to a day when the sun really did go dark.
Still, this speech of the Lord does not use symbols as freely as the book of Revelation does. So we should not rule out real upheavals among the heavenly bodies. We know, after all, that the sun really went dark when Jesus died. The darkness of that day will only make the brightness of His appearing stand out more, when He comes in the clouds with great power and glory.
Another writer reaches the same conclusion from the mixed language itself.
I have little doubt that the scene will be as mixed as the language. There will be real and terrible signs. Besides that, all existing powers will break up, and terror will fill every heart... But there will be more than a revolution. Every visible and organised power will be overturned and upset.
The darkness is not the destination. It clears the stage for Christ to appear and for a scattered people to be gathered in. Here one writer quotes the next two verses in an older translation.
"And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory; and then He will send His angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven." It is still the Jewish people, or rather the remnant of the nation, the elect of Israel.
The language is dramatic, so people have tried to pin it to events in the news. One writer lists the claims of a group that read the signs into an earthquake, a dark sky and a meteor shower.
The Lisbon earthquake, they said, was the fulfilment of Revelation 6:12. A darkening of the sun and moon twenty-five years later was the fulfilment of Mark 13:24. And a great meteor shower on 13 November 1833 was, as Mrs. White casually tells us, "the last of the signs... which were promised by the Saviour as tokens of His second advent."
- After — The signs come after the tribulation. They are not part of it. That one word rules out the fall of Jerusalem.
- God — The One who steps in here is not man and not Satan. Only God can deal with the sources of power.
- Lights — Sun, moon and stars picture the highest power, the borrowed power and the lesser powers. All fail at once.
- Both — Symbol and real upheaval need not compete. The scene may be as mixed as the language.
- Then — The darkness sets off the brightness of the Son of Man. He comes in clouds and gathers His elect from the four winds.
and the stars of heaven shall be falling down, and the powers which are in the heavens shall be shaken;
The falling stars and shaken powers come at a fixed point in the Lord's outline. They follow the great distress He has just described, and they come just before the Son of Man appears in clouds. Much of the language is picture language, but the power behind the upheaval is God's own.
One writer stresses that the scale of the upheaval rules out any human or even satanic author:
Then the power of God steps in to cut short both the wickedness of man and the tribulation… The language may be figurative, but one thing is clear: God is the One who steps in with power. Man cannot do all that is meant here, and neither can Satan. God alone can change or deal with the sources of power… The sense is plain, even though the words are pictures. They show a total revolution and overthrow of governing powers.
Why these three lights, and in that order? One writer reads them as ranks of government, from the top down.
"In those days", after the great tribulation among the Jews, all settled authority among the nations will be overthrown. The order God set up for governing the world will fall into confusion. The sun pictures supreme power, and it is darkened. The moon pictures borrowed authority, and it loses all influence. The stars picture lesser authorities, and they lose their place and power. This age, for all the progress men boast of, will end in tribulation, confusion and anarchy such as the world has never seen.
Commentators differ on how far to press the picture language. Some say we should not rule out real physical upheaval. They point to a darkness the world has already seen:
Still, the Lord does not use symbols here as freely as the book of Revelation does. So we think we should not rule out real upheavals in the heavenly bodies. We know that the sun was truly darkened when Jesus died. The darkness of that coming day will make the brightness of His appearing stand out all the more, when He comes in the clouds with great power and glory.
Another writer reads each light as a picture of a spiritual state:
The moon giving no light pictures Israel brought into such darkness that it gives no witness at all to the light of God. The moon's light is only a reflection of the sun's light, and Israel ought to reflect God's glory in some measure. The stars of heaven falling means that people who once claimed to recognise the authority of heaven turn away and give it up for a mind set on earthly things.
The last clause reaches past the sky to the powers behind it. Why does God shake heaven at all, when the rebellion is on earth?
The answer to that question is this: the heavens are the seat of Satan's power. He is called "the prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2), and under him are "the rulers," "the authorities," "the cosmic powers over this present darkness" and "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). From that seat of power in the heavens he directs much of the evil that fills the earth. God is going to judge not only the sin and the evil that fill the earth below, but also the satanic powers above, which direct it all.
Is this shaking the same event as Satan's fall in Revelation 12? One writer says no. The reason is timing:
In Revelation 12 Satan is thrown down before the last great tribulation, in great rage, because he knows he has only a short time… In the Gospels, where the timing is stated exactly (Matthew 24, Mark 13), the shaking of the powers of the heavens comes after the tribulation.
The verb matters. The powers are shaken, not abolished. The shaking is in what men see, not in what God has lost.
The powers of heaven being shaken reminds us of Daniel's words, "Heaven rules" (Dan. 4:26). This may involve some striking physical signs. But does it not point to a deeper lesson — that man's rebellion has grown so hard and settled that heaven's authority is shaken? It is not removed. It is shaken only in men's eyes, for very soon the Lord Himself will be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on the ungodly (2 Thess. 1:7-8).
So where does that leave the believer, when every visible support collapses?
Now, should the Christian be alarmed and downhearted? Certainly not! He receives "a kingdom that cannot be shaken"… By faith we have already come to a place of blessed realities.
- Shaken by God. The overthrow is too vast for man or Satan to cause; God alone reaches the sources of power.
- Shaken in order. Sun, moon and stars fall in rank: supreme power, borrowed authority, then lesser powers. All settled authority ends in confusion.
- Shaken above. God shakes heaven too, because heaven is where Satan's power sits. He judges the direction as well as the deeds.
- Shaken, not removed. Heaven still rules; the tremor is in men's eyes, and it ends with the Lord revealed.
- Shaken, but not you. Believers receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken, so falling stars are a signal, not a threat.
and then shall they see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory;
The scene is the end of the age. After the tribulation and the shaking of the heavens, Jesus tells His disciples what they will see at last: God stepping in publicly to end man's rebellion — and the One who comes is the same Man the world had already condemned.
Everything before this verse describes trouble. Here is God's answer.
The wickedness of Jew and Gentile having come to a head, God publicly intervenes by the coming of Christ as the Son of Man to take possession of the earth. His first coming was in circumstances of weakness and humiliation; His second coming will be in great power and glory.
He does not arrive as an intruder. His death secured His claim to the earth.
The Lord appears to take possession of the earth, which He not only has created, but which He has acquired as His own as Son of man by His death.
The world refused Him. Heaven did not:
Men rejected Him, but Stephen saw the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. There was the One whom God delighted to honour — Man in the highest place in heaven — the Son of Man glorified! Soon God will bring Him out from there in public, as Daniel 7:13 foretells, "with the clouds of heaven." He will receive dominion and glory over the earth — the very place where men treated Him so shamefully.
The verse says they will see Him. Seeing rules out a hidden coming.
When this happens, men will see Him. It will be no "secret coming," as some false teachers like to imagine. The Lord Jesus Himself will appear, to judge the living nations in righteousness… Just the sight of the once meek and lowly Son of Man appearing in great glory will strike terror into the hearts of His enemies.
People often ask how everyone on earth could see one event at the same time. The answer is simple:
Scoffers sometimes say, How is this possible? But every eye on earth every twenty-four hours sees the sun in the heavens. So in that day when He descends in the cloud every eye will behold Him.
Some read this chapter as already finished, fulfilled when Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem. But the wording rules that out. Verse 26, one writer says, "forbids us to apply the passage to the invasion of the Romans" (J. N. Darby). Luke's account of the same words keeps the two apart:
Several passages in Luke also show that the Son of man will literally return and be revealed. The last of them, Luke 21:27-36, matters most. It shows the mistake of those who suppose that Matthew 24:30 and Mark 13:26 were fulfilled in the siege of Jerusalem under Titus. Luke 21:20-24 already describes past and present disasters in full, "until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." Then comes the closing scene… In short, death, the outpouring of the Spirit, and the destruction of Jerusalem are all distinct from the coming of the Lord Jesus.
The clouds are worth a second look:
Christ is nowhere said to come with the clouds to gather His own. On the contrary, they go up in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4:17). These are the royal carriages provided to carry us from earth to meet the Lord. The cloud of old was the well-known symbol of the Lord's presence with His people (Exodus 13:21; 40:34-38; Luke 9:35). But notice: Christ is not only said to come in the clouds (Mark 13:26), but with them (Revelation 1:7), and on them (Matthew 24:30). The clouds that attend His coming are symbols of His majesty (Psalm 18:9-12). He sits on them as on His throne (Matthew 24:30).
This appearing is not the moment when believers meet Him. One writer marks the difference:
Our place is a far higher one. When Christ appears, we will appear with Him (Colossians 3:4). The Lord will have already gathered us to Himself in the air. He will have glorified us and made us like Himself, according to His boundless grace… but here He speaks of the elect within Israel, scattered among the Gentiles.
- Rejected. The Man who comes in glory is the One who first came in weakness. Men treated Him shamefully on this same earth.
- Rightful. He comes to take possession of a world He created and bought by His death. An owner arrives, not a stranger.
- Revealed. "They will see" means a visible, personal coming. No secret arrival fits the words, and the sight alone will terrify His enemies.
- Ruled out. This verse is not the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. The destruction of the city and the coming of the Lord are separate events.
- Raised. Believers will not watch this scene from earth: the Lord gathers them to Himself in the air first, and they appear with Him.
and then shall he send his angels and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from end of earth to end of heaven.
The chapter has just described the darkened sun and the Son of Man coming in clouds; His first act on arriving is to send out angels to gather people. So who are these "elect," why do angels do the gathering, and where do they take them?
The word "elect" does not stand alone here. It has already appeared twice in this chapter. Hole reads it in that light.
When the Son of Man appears in glory, the gathering together of "His elect" will follow. They were mentioned in verse 20. They are those who "endure to the end" (verse 13), and the appearing of Christ will save them. These elect are the God-fearing remnant of Israel in the last days. The Lord was speaking to His disciples, and at that moment they were the God-fearing remnant inside Israel. They would certainly have understood His words in that sense.
Hamilton Smith reads the silence of the passage the same way: the Lord speaks to Jewish disciples "and of Jewish hopes, and does not speak of truths concerning the Church and of which His hearers, at that time, could have no knowledge."
The phrase "to the ends of heaven" sounds like a heavenly destination. Kelly argues that it marks where the angels collect them from, not where they take them. (He quotes an older translation, "from one end of heaven to the other.")
All through this passage the Lord is speaking about Israel and their hopes. So we must take "His elect" in keeping with the object in view. These elect ones will be gathered "from one end of heaven to the other," yet not for heaven but on earth. (Compare Isaiah 27, Isaiah 65, Romans 11:5-7, 28.)
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Why angels? Darby links their new role to the title used in the verse just before: the Son of Man.
But there is more. Deliverance is not only for those in Palestine who are written in the book of God (Dan. 12:1). The Son of Man will also send His angels to gather all the elect of Israel from the four corners of the earth, from one end of heaven to the other. For the angels have now become the servants of the One who inherits all the rights of man, according to the counsels of God.
"The four winds" pictures a people blown apart. The same image, read forwards, pictures their return — and they are the last to expect it.
Israel must now be re-gathered. This is the mission of the angels: to gather His elect from the four winds. It might seem as if the winds had scattered them. How little they think that angel hands will bring them back! The words used are brief, but how divine love breathes in them! What joy there will be when these are gathered home from the far-off country!
Leslie Grant sees the sheer distances as part of the point — this is no ordinary migration but "a miraculous work of divine power," reaching even the ten tribes lost from view, "coming from every direction and from greatest distances back to the land of promise."
Commentators here insist that this gathering is not the same event as 1 Thessalonians 4. Hole states the difference plainly.
These elect ones will be found in all parts of the earth, and angels will be the ones who gather them together. Once gathered, they will become the redeemed Israel who enter the millennial reign. All this must be kept separate from the coming of the Lord for His saints, foretold in 1 Thessalonians 4, when the Lord Himself will descend from heaven and our gathering together will be to Him.
Darby draws out what that means for Christian hope.
What He announces here in particular is that He will send His angels to gather His elect from all parts of the world. The subject here is always the land and Israel. The Gentiles and the whole world will be blessed too, but that is not the subject here. Our place is far higher: when Christ appears, we shall appear with Him (Col. 3:4). The Lord will have already gathered us to Himself in the air... but here He speaks of the elect within Israel, scattered among the Gentiles.
- Scattered. The four winds picture a people blown apart; the same winds mark the directions of their return.
- Sent. Angels do not act on their own; the Son of Man sends them, now servants of the One who inherits all the rights of man.
- Sought. The elect here are those who endure to the end — found in all parts of the earth, and reached at the greatest distances.
- Settled. Angels gather them from one end of heaven to the other — not for heaven but for earth, as the redeemed Israel of the coming kingdom.
- Separate. Angels gather Israel to a land. The Christian hope is different: the Lord Himself descends, and we appear with Him in glory.