Matthew 24:21–22

At the time of the end, the abomination of desolation that Daniel 12:11 speaks of will stand in the holy place. Jerusalem is in question, as verse 16 shows... The setting up of this abomination will be the signal to the godly that the great tribulation He foretold has begun. Their safety lies in fleeing from Jerusalem and Judaea, where the suffering will be fiercest... The Lord was speaking to His disciples, who at that moment were godly Israelites gathered around their Messiah on earth. So at that moment they represented the godly remnant of Israel, not the church.

When the Lord quotes Scripture, He gives further light... So here the Lord goes beyond Daniel by adding "and never will be." It will never be repeated. It will be the most trying experience any nation has ever had. There is that idolatry, and they will be forced to take the mark of the beast either openly or secretly. Publicly or privately, they must own it, or else be put to death and cut off from every privilege of society.

Nothing has ever matched the great tribulation, and nothing will ever equal it, let alone go beyond it. The Lord says this in verse 21. The reason, as the book of Revelation shows, is that heaven will send down wrath at that time — the pouring out of the bowls of judgment. It will not just be men afflicting men, or one nation punishing others, as we see so plainly today. It will be God punishing the nations as He settles His accounts with them.

The destruction of Jerusalem, with all its horrors, may have foreshadowed the future, but in no way fulfils the prophecy of this time of trouble. This passage tells us that right after the great tribulation the Lord will come to earth. Yet after the destruction of Jerusalem He plainly did not come. Moreover, there cannot be two times of tribulation "such as never were."

Note too that the tribulation comes after the setting up of the abomination of desolation. If you apply it to Titus and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, then setting it up closed the tribulation.

Two passages in the prophets (Jer. 30:7 and Dan. 12:1), as well as two passages in the gospels (Matt. 24:21 and Mark 13:19), tell us of this great tribulation. There we notice that it will fall chiefly on the Jews, though the Gentiles may also suffer from it... The tribulation will take place during the second half of the last week mentioned in the book of Daniel (chap. 9), and will last until the Lord's appearing.

"Because you have kept the word of My patience, I also will keep you (not during, but) out of the hour of trial that is about to come upon the whole habitable earth, to try those who dwell upon the earth."... The refuge is not just a matter of place, because that hour of trial will fall on the whole habitable world. The heavenly saints will be caught up before that crisis comes. That crisis repays the lawlessness of the Jews and the Gentiles. It is a wholly different trouble from the one that falls to us as Christians.

All this is plain enough. It is not a question of the soul but of the salvation of the body. They will then live and be the subjects of the blessed reign and glory when the Lord comes. It is earthly glory here, not in heaven. For the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.

The last week of the seventy predicted in Daniel (9:24–27) is divided into two parts. Only the second half is the time of the great tribulation. Then the suffering is so great that unless the days had been shortened no flesh could be saved (Matt. 24:22). In connection with this passage, one writer finds that the appearing of the Son of Man follows "immediately after the tribulation of those days."

Here the Lord's mind rests on the great fulfilment. There may be a partial early fulfilment in the capture of Jerusalem by the Romans, which Scripture does not record as history. But the mind of the Spirit rests clearly on the great final catastrophe of God's house and people and city.

All the might of the Roman Empire, energised by the Dragon, will be used to wipe out everyone who dares to make a stand for God. The godless mass of people in Judea will be in full sympathy with the persecutors.

This is a remarkable statement even about the evil of their own hearts. The spirit of death and evil is among them. They would destroy themselves, and this has been seen in Jerusalem and elsewhere. It comes from within and from without; but for the sake of the elect, who were to be spared in the flesh, those days were shortened.

I confess this is the strongest indication to me that the Lord was not thinking of His heavenly people but of His earthly people. Later He speaks through His Spirit in the apostles about His heavenly ones. There He tells us plainly that the saving of the flesh was, and could be, of no importance. The reason is that flesh and blood can never inherit heaven. Saved flesh must be for the inheritance of the earth. The elect of this verse are, I am sure, the Lord's earthly remnant.

These words come in the course of His prophetic teaching recorded in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. They do not refer to the way sinful men may receive the salvation of their souls. The Lord was not addressing sinners but men already brought into relationship with Himself — His disciples.

That tribulation will beat harder on the Jews than on any other people. Yet in the middle of it the Lord will have His elect, and for their sake the days will be shortened (v. 22)… They are elect, which means the sovereign mercy of God has chosen them. But how will they be distinguished from the rest of the rebellious people? God's way has always been to bring such people to light by a testimony from Himself.

I understand the shortening of the days to mean that they are held strictly to the 1260 days. Man's will and passions would otherwise carry them on without end. But the Lord would come as a thief in the night and close it all.

Today God is dispensing mercy through the gospel. He has made a very long work of it, stretching over nineteen centuries. When He dispenses wrath He will make swift work, 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.