For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall give great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
The Lord has just described a tribulation like nothing before it. Now He names a second danger: religious imposters with real supernatural power. If miracles can be faked, what keeps anyone safe, and who are "the elect" who come so close to being swept away?
These verses point to the end of the age, not to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Luke's account of that siege leaves the whole section out.
All this is left out in Luke. Nothing of the kind happened before the siege of Jerusalem, and so it formed no part of the prophecy as Luke reports it. On the other hand, other Scriptures teach us that this is exactly the state of things before Christ appears in power and glory to set up His world-kingdom.
One writer spreads these impostors across the whole seven years, and sees their shadow already:
No doubt men claiming to be Christ will force themselves on the public through the entire seven years. Some will show great signs and wonders, as will be true of the antichrist, the man of sin (2 Thess. 2:3-12). In fact, even today there are many antichrists (1 John 2:18). Even the elect must be on their guard, for the deceptions of such men are highly plausible.
The lie is tailored to the moment. When every other hope has collapsed, an offer of rescue finds an eager audience.
After that (v. 23) come the great signs. In those last times there will also be false Christs and false prophets. They will promise the deliverance that hearts will so badly need at that terrible moment, when all the false hopes of an unbelieving nation have passed away... Once again the wickedness of men and the deceits of Satan will turn souls aside. They will keep them from humbling themselves, and from seeking deliverance in the only place where it can be found.
These deceivers work real signs and wonders. That settles a question many still get wrong.
Verse 24 plainly shows that not all miraculous signs are from God. There are two kinds — the divine and the devilish. The divine kind displays the divine character in grace and power. The devilish kind may often be flashier, more startling, and more attractive to unconverted people. People today who crave the miraculous should take great care that they are not deceived.
Writers identify these elect as a believing remnant in Israel, not the church. That is why the lie tempts them at all.
But it is clear that the Lord Jesus assumes real danger for the disciples here. They were Jewish, not Christian. So the cry that He was here or there on earth might deceive them. No Christian could be in such danger, but the Jewish disciples were. They were looking for the Lord's coming to the earth. They knew that the Lord's feet would stand in that day on the Mount of Olives.
Commentators differ over whether only an earthly people faces this danger. One writer allows a wider circle:
I do not say that such words about them must prove them to be an earthly people. No. I believe, from Revelation 13, that many heavenly men will face deceits in that day, and will be kept from deception in the same way.
Everything turns on that small clause. It shows how close the danger comes — and where God draws the line.
The clause "if it were possible" implies that they would be deceived without the protection of God's grace and power. God has decreed that the elect will not be carried 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.
What keeps them safe is not sharper discernment. It is a plain fact about how Christ returns.
The true saints 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 "There He is!" He will shine out in His glory at His coming, and every eye will see Him.
- Timed — the deception belongs to the end of the age, not the fall of Jerusalem; Luke, recording that siege, omits it altogether.
- Targeted — the elect here are understood as a faithful remnant of Israel, vulnerable precisely because they rightly expect Christ to come to the earth.
- Powered — real signs and wonders back the lie, proving that miracles alone are never evidence of God; the devilish kind is often the flashier.
- Limited — "if it were possible" concedes how close the danger comes, then denies it can succeed; grace and power hold the elect.
- Answered — no secret Christ in a desert or an inner room is genuine; He will shine out publicly in glory, and every eye will see Him.
Behold, I have told you beforehand.
The Lord has just warned about false christs and false prophets who work great signs. He closes that warning by pointing to Himself: He has said it all in advance.
Commentators tie this line to the Lord's habit of arming His people ahead of time. One writer sets this beside another warning He gave His disciples, and draws out what follows.
The Lord Himself sought to fortify His disciples in the same way. He said to them, "They will put you out of the synagogues… But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you." (John 16:2–4.) In tender concern, then, for our weakness, the Lord, through His servants, has forewarned us of what we have to expect among His professing people. And two important things follow. First, only in the light of the Scriptures can we read the state of professing Christianity rightly. Second, if we do not know the teaching of the Word of God, we are open to disappointments and deceptions of every kind.
Edward Dennett describes what such warnings do for people living through the trouble.
The Lord never leaves His people unwarned about the dangers and enemies they will have to meet. (See Matt. 24; John 15:16; 1 Tim. 4; 2 Tim. 3; Rev. 2:3; etc.) And if they store up His warnings in their minds, they are neither surprised nor discouraged when there are fears within as well as fightings without. They are ready for conflict with every form of Satan's hostility… How necessary it is, then, for the believer to know these warnings of coming dangers!
Leslie Grant explains why the elect are never carried away, and why anyone who is deceived has no excuse.
The words "if it were possible" imply that they would be deceived without the protection of God's grace and power. For God has decreed that the elect will not be carried away, despite their being so close to it. At this time the chief of all false christs, the Antichrist, will entice great numbers "with all power and false signs and wonders" (2 Thess. 2:9). Believers, however, have no excuse for accepting such deception. The Lord has forewarned them of how subtle it is, and their protection is in His Word.
Who would a rumour that Christ is here or there fool? Darby answers by looking at what the hearers expect.
Here there will be false christs on the earth, and people will say, "He is here in the wilderness," "He is there in the secret chambers." But the saints who will be caught up and return with the Lord have nothing at all to do with false christs on earth. They will go up to heaven to be with Him there before He returns to the earth. The Jews are expecting deliverance on earth, so it is easy to understand that they would be open to such temptations. They would be deceived by them unless God Himself kept them.
William Kelly turns the same distinction into a personal safeguard. What a believer expects decides what can tempt him.
A Christian is unlikely to be deceived by such rumours for an instant… He knows that he is to be with the Lord in the heavens. For this he will be taken up out of this world into the air to meet the Lord on high. So the deceits in question are addressed only to those who expect to meet the Lord on the earth.
Commentators differ on how tightly to draw that line. J. G. Bellett does not limit the danger to an earthly people.
I do not say that such words about them would necessarily settle that they are an earthly people. No. I believe, from Rev. 13, that there will be many heavenly men exposed to deceits in that day, and preserved in the same way from being deceived.
Leslie Grant points to what has already happened since the warning was given.
History has proven how much this warning was needed. Prophetic deceptions today are almost countless, and they have multiplied above all since the 1800s. Many have already come claiming to be Christ. Some of them do not use that title, yet they exalt themselves into the place that belongs only to the Lord Jesus. Many have been deceived by them.
- Told. The Lord's defence against deception is advance notice. He warns because He cares about our weakness.
- Kept. "If it were possible" implies the elect would fall on their own. God's grace and power hold them.
- Steadied. Warnings stored in the mind keep believers from surprise and discouragement. Trouble finds them ready.
- Discerned. A rumour of a Christ on earth tempts those who look for Him on earth. Commentators differ on whether others can be caught too.
- Watchful. Deceivers are already at work. Scripture is the shelter, and no one who knows it has an excuse.