let not him that is on the house come down to take the things out of his house;
The Lord has just pointed to the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. He tells those in Judea to run, and this verse shows how fast. A man on his roof must not step back inside for his things. Who is this warning for, when does it apply, and why the rush?
The instructions here are local. The holy place, Judea, the mountains — every marker fixes the scene in one country. One writer says this rules out reading the chapter as a message to the church, which is spread over the whole earth.
They are to make for the mountains as fast as they can. All this instruction is plainly for persons living in Judea. Readers who insist on seeing the Church of God in this chapter run into difficulty at every detail of the prophecy. Is the Church of God limited to one land, so that such signs would help it? Is not the Church found in every part of the earth? Once we see that the godly in Judea are in view, all is simple and clear.
One writer names what sets the flight off, then piles up pictures of its speed. A man loses his house; a worker in the field loses even his coat.
For those in Judea, the moment would come when an idol would be set up in the holy place. An idol is what the word "abomination" means here. The Lord uses many pictures to show how urgent it is. The man on the roof was not to go down to take anything out of his house. The man in the fields was not to go back for his clothes. The moment would be so terrible that nothing would matter but flight.
One writer puts the reason for the ban in a single line — the chance has already gone.
"Let him which is on the house-top not come down to take anything out of his house" — it is too late to think about doing this.
Houses there had flat roofs with stairs on the outside. The same detail turns up in the account of the paralysed man carried to Jesus.
They went up by an outside flight of stairs to the flat roof of the house (compare Matt. 24:17). There they removed the tiling or thin stone roofing, which was no hard task and easy to repair. Then they lowered the paralysed man on his bed through the opening into the Master's presence.
Commentators differ here. Some apply the words to the Christians who left Jerusalem before the Roman siege. One writer compares Matthew's account with Luke's and finds the two flights differ in pace and in destination.
In this part of the prophecy, Matthew and Luke are alike in only one way: in both, the faithful are told to flee. But even here the differences are remarkable… In Luke the flight is not to the mountains, nor marked by extreme haste. In fact the Christians withdrew with no special speed to the city of Pella. But when the abomination of desolation is set up, there is not an instant to lose. The flight must be at full speed, and even the slightest delay will be fatal. The place of refuge, too, is not a sheltering city but "the mountains."
The command to run is not abandonment. The God who warns also opens the way out.
The wrath of the devil will have its greatest expression against the nation of Israel. During the great tribulation, against this terrible persecution, God's providence will open a way of escape for the godly. They will be safe by keeping themselves apart from the world. That matches the Lord's own words to His disciples. Looking on to this time, He says, "Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."
One writer presses the warning deeper. The danger is not slow legs but a heart still tied to what is left behind.
The Lord adds a short but solemn word: "Remember Lot's wife." It seems that angelic power rescued Lot's wife. She was without question brought out of the doomed city. But that only made her a more striking monument of God's all-searching judgment. There she stands alone. The others perished; she remained a pillar of salt. Moses wrote it down as an imperishable moral memorial of God's hatred of a false heart — a heart that, despite outward deliverance, still gave its affections to a scene marked out for destruction.
- Signal. An idol stands in the holy place. That is the trigger, and the warning goes to one land, Judea, not to a worldwide church.
- Speed. Once the signal comes, the only thing left to do is run — a man on the roof forfeits his house, a man in the field his coat.
- Shelter. The refuge is the mountains, not a walled city, and God's providence opens the way of escape for those who obey.
- Separation. Safety lies in staying apart from the world, not in the goods you save from it.
- Heart. Lot's wife left the city and still lost everything. Her affections stayed behind. Escape on the outside is no escape at all.
and let not him that is in the field turn back to take his garment.
The Lord has just spoken of a daring wickedness set up in the sanctuary at Jerusalem, with unequalled trouble to follow. In between comes an order so urgent that a man in a field must leave even his cloak behind. Three questions follow. Who is He speaking to? When does this happen? And why is there no time to pick up a coat?
One writer notes how the Lord stacks up examples to press the urgency:
The Lord uses many figures to show the urgency of the case. The man on the housetop was not to come down to take anything out of his house. The man in the fields was not to go back to fetch his garments. The moment would be so terrible that nothing would matter except flight.
Another writer asks what this escape actually saves:
"And let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak." Immediate flight is the only hope of safety. What sort of safety? It is the saving of flesh — of natural life. Is this what the Christian is expecting? Not so. The Christian is looking for the coming of Christ, not to save his life, but to change and take him up to heaven.
Who is being warned here? One writer answers from the details themselves:
Those will be terrible times for those who fear God. Fearful persecutions will break out, more severe than anything known before. The Lord tells them to note the signs and take warning. When they see this daring wickedness in the sanctuary in Jerusalem, they are to flee to the mountains with all possible haste. All this instruction is plainly for people living in Judea. Readers who insist on seeing the Church of God in this chapter must run into difficulty at every detail of the prophecy. Is the Church of God confined to one land, that such signs should be of use? Is the Church not spread through every quarter of the earth? Once you see that the godly in Judea are in view, all is simple and clear.
Many have applied these words to the escape of believers when the Romans besieged Jerusalem. One writer gives two reasons against that reading:
People often apply this to the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, and Luke uses roughly similar language of that event, though far from identical. But the prophecy in Luke contains no such urgent appeals for haste. In fact, the advance of the Roman army left the Christians plenty of time to leave the city and take their goods with them. But besides this, the quotation from Daniel fixes the time. There can only be one tribulation exceeding all that have been before, and all that will come after.
One writer points to the compassion inside the command:
The godly are to flee, not staying even to get their clothes. The mountains of Judea are to be their hiding-place. The Lord is so compassionate toward them in their trial that He tells them to pray this will not happen in the winter, or on the Sabbath day. Either would be serious. A winter flight, with no time to fetch an overcoat, would bring much suffering. And a conscientious Jew would face a serious dilemma if the signal came on the Sabbath day.
Luke's account of the same moment adds an older warning:
It is as with Lot. When the signs of judgment become clear, let no one linger, even to collect his belongings before fleeing. "Remember Lot's wife." She had got outside of Sodom, but looked back and became a pillar of salt. She was not decisive but half-hearted in leaving Sodom. The Lord was pressing a moral lesson for everyone, as is usual in Luke. Yet this refers to the same time as Matthew 24:16-18.
- Signal. The daring wickedness set up in the sanctuary is the signal. From that moment the only instruction is flight.
- Speed. The abandoned cloak measures the danger. A man cannot spare the seconds it takes to cross his own field again.
- Place. Housetops, Judea, the Sabbath: every detail fixes this to one land and one people. That is why writers say the Church is not in view here.
- Care. The One who says leave the coat also tells them to pray it will not be winter — the flight is urgent, but not uncared for.
- Lesson. What holds a person back is what they turn round to collect. Lot's wife got out of the city and still looked behind her.