Matthew 24:9–25

Verses 4-14 contain our Lord's prophecy about the beginning of the end of the Jewish age. Verse 15 then describes the end itself, with its terrible great tribulation and "the abomination of desolation." The whole period is the last week of Daniel's great prophecy — a prophetic week of seven years, which cannot begin as long as the church is on the earth.

So the Lord prepares the Jewish disciples, or remnant, for their special trials. This was partly true after His own departure, up to the destruction of Jerusalem. It will be fulfilled more fully before God once more acknowledges Jerusalem, after the destruction of the Antichrist. This means there is a defined period of endurance — an end will come, as surely as there was a beginning of sorrows. When our Lord speaks of the Christian's lot in the Gospel of John, He never names a beginning or an end. He implies instead that tribulation should be expected right through the Christian's life: "In the world you will have tribulation."

Many people today, as in the past, have taken the whole discourse as if the Lord spoke it to Christians. They imagine that it all describes the position of Christians at one time or another. But this idea is mistaken. The Lord begins with the Jewish disciples, before Christianity itself was revealed. Christianity rests on the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord. These are the pillars of Christianity.

The Lord was not speaking to sinners. He was speaking to men He had already brought into a relationship with Himself — His disciples. At that moment they represented the chosen remnant of Israel, who will be on earth at the time of the end.

Though they are Jews, they have come to see that the Jesus whom they crucified really was the Messiah. So the nations persecute them not simply as Jews, but, as the Lord says, "for my name's sake."

The one nation will draw on itself the hatred of the other nations, and that for the sake of His name. At that time they are the Messiah's missionaries, and they proclaim Him without fear.

From this it seems clear that the nations who now profess the name of Christ will have given it up. In Scripture's own words, the Apostasy will have come (2 Thess. 2:3) — the complete abandonment of Christianity.

So there will be persecution, and of the severest kind. The Lord Himself warned His disciples about this same period: "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake." The Holy Spirit will have departed with the church. Nothing will hold back the will of man and the power of evil. It will be man's hour and the power of darkness, and the result will be relentless hatred against everyone who holds to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

He spoke as though the disciples in front of Him would be there at the end, because He saw them as representatives. The "brothers" spoken of at the end of the discourse are the disciples of the last days, and the disciples of the first days, whom the Lord was addressing, stood for them. A little later the Spirit baptised these first disciples into the one body, which is the church, as recorded in Acts 2. But at that moment they were simply a remnant of Israel who had found the Messiah in Jesus and joined themselves to Him.

But this persecution from outside would cause people to fall away inside. Many would stumble. They would turn against those who had once been their companions, betray them and hate them. And because lawlessness was spreading, many hearts that were not fed straight from the flame of Christ's love would grow cold.

There would be false profession, and hatred of those who were true, even among themselves — not only troubles from outside... So there is a set period of endurance. An end will come, as surely as there was a beginning of sorrows. But what trial, darkness, suffering and scandal before that end comes! When our Lord speaks of the Christian's lot in John's Gospel, He never names a beginning or an end. Instead He implies that a Christian should expect trouble all through his life: "In the world you will have tribulation."

As well as the outward sufferings of the remnant, their trials from within will be sharp. Under the fierce temptation of that time, some will treacherously desert their ranks, causing all the shame and disappointment such failures must bring. Ties will be torn and friendships broken... The "many" here must mean many of the remnant. It could not mean Israel as a whole, because they will be hardened and estranged from God, as they are now. So those whose love grows cold must be people who had love that could grow cold.

Opposition from outside is bad, but opposition from inside is far worse. They hate, betray and trip up one another... Losing trust, respect and affection for each other is the greatest loss of all. When people cannot be trusted like this, faith in God must be very strong, because His support alone can hold a person up.

Both Gospel writers speak of hatred, persecution and betrayal, but the character of it is different. Luke foretells the sufferings that the early Jewish Christians would suffer at the hands of their own countrymen and closest relatives... In Matthew, though, the persecution is a very different one. It comes from the Gentile rulers who oppressed the nation before the Lord's coming in power. So Matthew leaves out the feature of family conflict.

So the Lord prepares the Jewish disciples, the faithful remnant, for their special trials. This was partly true after His own departure, until Jerusalem was destroyed. It will be more fully proved before Jerusalem is owned again, after the destruction of the Antichrist… There would be false profession and hatred of the true, even among themselves — not only troubles from outside… So there is a defined period of endurance. An end will come as surely as there was a beginning of sorrows.

Here false prophets and their deceptions stand out. Luke does not mention them, for there the warning is meant for believers before the siege of Jerusalem. But for the Jews waiting for Christ's return, the danger from this source will be very great. So the warning carries special emphasis, and it foretells how far the deception will spread.

False prophets are attractive because they always predict things that fit men's desires and seem perfectly reasonable. We must be on our watch, for false prophets are everywhere today in the pulpits of Christendom. The devil knows that if he can deceive men about Christ, he can deceive them in everything else. To be rooted in our knowledge of the true Christ makes us proof against the attractions of the false ones.

This Scripture prophesies of false prophets. They prophesy false things — the reverse of God's judgment of the world. They will speak of the world's abilities and its greatness, of man being made perfect, and of the world's institutions becoming his noble state. And the world listens to them.

Minds in such a condition welcome the words of the false prophet. Those words turn many aside from the truth and deceive them.

False prophets will arise, misleading many. The Jewish age has false prophets; the Christian age has false teachers. "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies" (2 Peter 2:1). Evil spirits will possess these false prophets who come at the end of the Jewish age. The same thing happened in Israel's great falling away under King Ahab. The Lord then allowed a lying spirit to take control of the false prophets, as the prophet Micaiah revealed (2 Chronicles 18:18-22).

False prophets also have arisen during this age, as they will at the end. "As you have heard that antichrist is coming… so now many antichrists have come" (1 John 2:18), and they have deceived many.

In tender concern for our weakness, then, the Lord, through His servants, has warned us in advance of what we have 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 possible kind.

Luke records the parts of the prophecy about the events before the destruction of Jerusalem. He leaves these verses out completely, because no such falling away as the one foretold here happened then. But such a falling away will be one great feature of the days Matthew's prophecy speaks of. Many who begin to wait for the coming of the Messiah will grow cold. They will grow weak under the persecution and oppression they will suffer then.

There were also their own immediate sorrows and trials. Men would hand them over to be afflicted and killed, and all the nations would hate them for Christ's sake. But this persecution from outside would produce desertions inside. Many would take offence. They would turn against people who were once their companions, betray them and hate them. And because lawlessness was everywhere, many hearts that were not fed straight from the flame of Christ's love would grow cold.

Opposition from outside is bad, but opposition from inside is far worse. People hate one another, betray one another and take offence. False prophets will rise and lawlessness will spread, while love grows cold. The loss of mutual trust, respect and affection is the greatest loss of all. When people cannot be trusted, faith in God must be very strong, because only His support can hold a person up.

The "many" here must mean some of the faithful remnant. It could not mean Israel at large, because they will be hardened and far from God, as they are now. So those whose love cools must be people who had love that could cool. Some will desert and betray, while many others will become half-hearted — which will surely grieve the eager and true ones.

"The many" is the mass of the people, in contrast with the godly remnant. They are the ones who will make the covenant.

"The love of many will grow cold" — and no wonder, when self-love grows so hot… Once a man makes self his whole aim, that is the end of loving others or praying for them. Love cannot live in a house as narrow as the self-lover's heart. In fact, love is opposed to it: love "does not insist on its own way" (1 Cor. 13:5).

You might have imagined that widespread lawlessness would stir believers to greater warmth, but it does not. Growing prosperity leads to growing lawlessness in the world. That does believers harm too, turning them away from the spiritual realities that are their true life.

"Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold" — this is a common, natural experience. The heart has been let down by the world around it. It had promised itself much from that world, and in earlier days it did gather something there, so now it tends to shut itself up. But it was not so with Paul. His heart was as large, as earnest and as loving as ever. If it could not go out and spread over a wider area, it would turn back and pour its warmth on the little that was left to it.

These words come in His prophetic discourse, recorded in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. They do not tell sinful men how to receive the salvation of their souls. The Lord was not addressing sinners. He was addressing men He had already brought into relationship with Himself — His disciples. At that moment they stood for the chosen remnant of Israel, who will be on earth at the time of the end.

Those whose love cools must be those in whom there was love that could be cooled. So while some will desert and betray, many will become half-hearted, to the grief, no doubt, of the zealous and true. Then follows a text which has troubled the peace of many a Christian. But it really belongs to the Jewish remnant of a future day — "But the one who endures to the end will be saved." It refers to salvation when the Lord appears in judgment.

"The end" here is not the end of one person's life. It is the end of the whole time of persecution, trial and sorrow. The second coming of Christ will bring that time to a close. Endurance is the supreme virtue which is to mark these saints, for their salvation is sure when Christ appears.

We are also quite free to say that salvation in its fullest sense looks on to the final deliverance from the very presence of sin — the consummation in heaven. There is also a governmental and external salvation; such, for instance, as is spoken of in our Lord's prophetic discourse: "he who endures to the end will be saved." This, we need hardly say, does not refer to the salvation of the soul, but the deliverance from the Great Tribulation through which the Jewish remnant will be called to pass, with an indirect application to us also.

The hatred of all men will grow, and it will be far more marked after the Church is gone. The remnant of Israel will suffer badly. In this connection we are told, "the one who endures to the end will be saved." Anyone who bears the suffering of the tribulation and endures to the end would be saved for earthly blessing in the millennium.

"The one who endures to the end will be saved." Some say, Oh! that is said to the Jew. True, it is so: but it is as true of you and of me as of the Jew. There is a present salvation, and there is also a salvation which is future. Who receives that future salvation? Those who prove their reality by continuing, or those who do not? I say, if I remain to the end I shall be saved. Does that disturb me? Not at all. I know God has worked in me, and I know that He will continue to do so. I am quite at rest about it. If, however, a professed believer turns away, and does not endure, but lives in sin, can we say that it is sure to be well with him? Never. The proof of reality is continuance.

The reason he endures to the end is not any perseverance of his own. What I believe in, and what the Word of God clearly teaches, is the perseverance of the Holy Spirit. When He begins a work, He never gives up until it is completed. That is our confidence.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved — whatever the end may be, whether a martyr's death or the coming of Christ to the earth. As ever, the test of reality is continuance. There may, indeed, be failure, and even the love of many growing cold, but those that are real will endure. Peter broke down, but his faith did not fail; he continued to the end.

That is the primary bearing of this passage. But there are, of course, many useful applications we may make for ourselves. Using it to teach that no one can be sure of salvation until death is not one of them.

The gospel of the kingdom, simply put, announces the soon coming of Christ as Messiah, His authority, and the resulting need to repent. John the Baptist had already announced the coming kingdom: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2). The Lord Himself preached the gospel of the kingdom (e.g. Matt. 4:23). Here the Lord told His disciples that this gospel of the kingdom would be preached again. It will not stay in a limited circle. It will go through the whole world, as a witness to all the nations. That global announcement of the coming king and kingdom will take place at the end, just before the Lord's appearing in power. Jews who join the faithful remnant of Israel will believe this gospel, and so will a large number of people from various nations (Rev. 7:9-17).

But in Matthew the "end" is the one the disciples had asked about — Christ's coming, and the end of the age. And before that event the gospel will be preached to all the Gentiles. It is not, however, the gospel of God's grace, but "the gospel of the kingdom." That term is never applied to Christianity. It announces the kingdom of the Messiah, and it goes out before His appearing. It goes not merely to all nations, but to all the nations, or Gentiles, as distinct from the Jews. Christianity erased that distinction. It matters greatly again when the Lord is about to set up His earthly kingdom.

The gospel of the grace of God takes your heart to heaven. The gospel of the kingdom, if believed, will eventually make a man very happy on earth, because it asserts the glory and rights of the Son of Man, who is about to come and purify the earth by His righteous judgment.

All the world shall hear of Him as the coming King. Thank God for that. Only a small part of the world has had "the gospel of the grace of God" preached to it in our day. But I comfort my heart with this. Within a very short time from tonight the Lord could come, the Church could be taken up, and this blessed company of what I may call earthly evangelists could appear. Then a wonderful change would be seen... Christ does not say or mean that all nations will be converted. Many will not be converted. But they will still hear a clear, distinct testimony.

Before the cross, the gospel of the kingdom was strictly confined to Israel: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans" (Matt. 10:5). But now, look — a devoted band goes out to the nations. They announce that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and that the Son of Man will come in power and great glory to judge the world. Christendom will have given Christ up. It will be a marvellous thing that despised Jews then carry the fragrance of His name through the world!

The testimony must be borne worldwide, in the middle of every kind of trial, and the witnesses must fight the good fight in the power of faith; but "when this gospel of the kingdom" (not merely the gospel, but this gospel — that of the kingdom) "shall be preached in all the world for a witness (nothing more) to all the nations, then shall the end come." The preaching of this gospel of the kingdom, throughout the habitable world, is the immediate forerunner of the end.

In the first place, "the end" here is not the same as the Lord's coming for His saints, or the end of the church period. It is "the end" the disciples had just been asking about — "the end of the age."... The rejection of the Messiah broke off the course of "the age." When the church period ends, that age starts running again. Its end comes just before the glorious age of the Messiah. That is the "end" the Lord was speaking about.

How many earnest servants of Christ have gone to the far corners of the earth, thinking they were speeding the Lord's coming by carrying the gospel where it had never been before! The Master will no doubt accept such devoted labour and reward it richly. But as far as it rests on our text, it is based on a complete misunderstanding.

What is meant by "the abomination of desolation"? "Abomination" is the Scripture title for an idol. So we read of "Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites," and "Chemosh the abomination of Moab" (1 Kings 11:5-7). It is, therefore, an idol set up in the holy place at Jerusalem. This has never happened in the past. True, Antiochus Epiphanes defiled the temple (Dan. 11:31), but this was long before the Lord's prophecy. The only event of note involving the temple since the Lord Jesus spoke was its destruction by the Roman armies under Titus in A.D. 70. So the Lord's prediction has yet to be fulfilled.

Of all wrongdoings, idolatry is the one God detests most. It is the open, formal denial of His Godhead. It puts the creature in the place of Himself, the Creator… The "holy place," of course, means the temple. The Lord had announced about the temple then standing, "There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down" (v. 2). So it follows that in the meantime the temple will have been rebuilt.

The parenthesis warns that the prediction might be misunderstood — at any rate, it demanded attention. Two passages of the prophecy (Dan. 11:31 and Dan. 12:11) speak of this abomination. I have no hesitation in saying that the first was a foreshadowing of what Antiochus Epiphanes did centuries before Christ. The second is the one meant here, and it is still unfulfilled… "And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand." In this we have another link with our Lord's words — "let the reader understand."

The abomination that results in desolation is idolatry. The antichrist brings it into the holy place, the temple in Jerusalem. This will happen at the middle of Daniel's seventieth week, and it will lead at once to the three and a half years of "great tribulation." This image to the beast (the head of the revived Roman empire) will be a direct challenge to God, for it gives Rome God's place of Protector of Israel. God will therefore send "a desolator," the king of the north, to sweep over the land of Israel with a sudden thrust like a whirlwind (Dan. 11:40).

The proper prophecy of the past destruction of Jerusalem is a part of Luke 21, not Matthew 24. There our Lord speaks about Jerusalem surrounded by armies. But there is no sign like the setting up of the abomination of desolation, and nothing there calls for such a rapid flight… The Roman officer who came and surrounded the city made no such urgent demand for immediate action. Months passed between the withdrawal of Cestius Gallus and the arrival of the far greater force under the emperor. The destruction of Jerusalem came some years afterwards. That is to say, there was plenty of time to get away — family, friends, baggage and all.

The words clearly imply that many who read might not understand. At the least, our Lord warns readers to make sure they take in His thought… He never discourages reading. He wants understanding. He knew there would be all sorts of ideas floating about, especially about prophecy. As a result, many of God's children make mistakes about it, and many more dread the subject.

From verse 15 we have a much more precise scene, a local scene. We have the holy place, and Daniel, and Judea, and definite local circumstances, and set conduct, once people see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. "Let the reader understand." Then those in Judea were to flee to the mountains, because great tribulation comes here when this dishonouring idol stands in the holy place.

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.

Who can be so bold (to say the least) as to affirm that this is a picture of the church at large? Do you suppose that Christians would ever be thought of as being in the land of Judea alone? Clearly not. All is plain if He is speaking about Jews — godly ones no doubt, but Jews in that particular land. It is not at all a prophetic declaration about the saints of God in different parts of the world.

The Lord Jesus does not call the godly Jews to stay and suffer. God is visiting His guilty people at that moment, because of their final apostasy and their bowing down to the man of sin as the true God in His house. So He tells the godly remnant to flee at once, regardless even of clothes or anything else, to save their lives.

The testimony is over, and the disciples have only to flee… Jerusalem is then handed over to the judgment which awaits it.

The Roman officer who came and surrounded the city did not call for this kind of instant, urgent obedience. Months passed between the withdrawal of Cestius Gallus and the arrival of the far greater force under the emperor. The destruction of Jerusalem took place some years afterwards. That is to say, there was plenty of time to get away — family, friends, baggage and all. There was no need for such an urgent flight.

The strong man of God, Christ, does not yet exercise His power. The woman has nothing else to do but flee for three and a half years. During that time Satan uses his power on earth with great fury. The only resource of the woman is to flee. Jesus foretold this in Matthew 24:16.

God provides for the woman both a place and food for 1260 days… The careful counting of the days shows the Lord's tender interest in His sorrowing saints. He counts them up one by one, so to speak.

What use was the Lord's warning that they were to flee in such circumstances, if the disciples did not understand what He was speaking about, and did not believe His word beforehand? This knowledge and this faith were exactly what set them apart from all their unbelieving countrymen.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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 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."

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The word "woe" is often a word of judgment, as in the last clause. But it is not always so. It can also be a word of pity, as in Matthew 24:19, Mark 13:17, Luke 21:23, Revelation 8:13; Revelation 12:12.

The Lord warns the one on the housetop not to try to save anything from his house, but to escape at once. If in the field, one ought not to return home even for the clothing he needs. That is how fast the attack will come. Pregnant women and mothers with nursing babies cannot travel quickly, so they will suffer greatly.

The sight of the desolating idol in the holy place is the signal for flight. "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains" (ver. 16). There is no thought of a sign to Christians as such, but to Jewish disciples in the holy land, so that they may leave the place of danger at once. Some have tried to find here the warning on which people fled the city, in the gap after the Roman commander surrounded it and before its final destruction. But that comes from confusing Luke 21:20-24 with Matthew 24:15-21. The two are clearly distinct, in spite of some likeness between them. An idol in the holy place is very different from armies surrounding Jerusalem.

Here it is plain that this speaks of Jews living under the full rigor of Jewish law.

But alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! In times of peace such things would be causes for joy to Jewish women. But there would be a tribulation such as there had never been. And the heart of the Lord thinks of all the difficulties and all the dangers of His own.

The Lord's goodness here is very remarkable. In the middle of this terrible judgment we find Him thinking even of the weather. The judgment is so terrible that the world has never known anything like it. He tells them to pray that they will not have to flee in the winter... He thinks of those who are with child and of those who nurse infants in those days. Ah! how great is the Saviour's compassion; nothing escapes His gracious memory. While warning His disciples of the most terrible judgment, He thinks of all the difficulties they would meet upon the road He teaches them to take.

All these verses show how urgently they must flee. They also show the Lord's tenderness and gracious care for His people in this time of Jacob's trouble! And how much harder it would be for those with infants in that hour of urgency and distress! And the Lord, foreseeing all, tells them to pray that nothing will hinder their flight (ver. 20). Oh, how He cares!

We can understand this. While this evil is allowed to run its course, the only hope is the flight to the mountains, which He commands to those who listen to His voice. Israel has refused that sheltering "wing" under which He would so often have gathered them... Still, His pity, whom they have forsaken, has set a limit: "for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days."

Woe to those who were held back in their flight! But God can think of His people who trust Him even at such a time, and think of everything for them. They were to pray that their flight might not be in winter, which is hard for travel and for fugitives camping in the mountains. They were also to pray it might not fall on a Sabbath. A flight limited to a Sabbath day's journey would give poor hope of escape in times such as never were and never will be again. God would think of this for them.

A Sabbath day's journey was the greatest distance a Jew could travel on that day. The law gives no command about this. But when some of the people went out to gather manna on the Sabbath, Moses ordered, "Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day" (Exodus 16:29). In New Testament times it was understood that a person might travel two thousand cubits (about five furlongs)... When they were in the land the distance was counted from the gate of the city the traveller started from (Acts 1:12). The Lord perhaps referred to this custom. He told the disciples to pray that, in the judgment of Jerusalem, their flight should not be "on the Sabbath day."

How could a believer offer such a prayer, since the Sabbath, the seventh day (and no other than the seventh) is to him the same as any other day of the week? But if this instruction was for the Jews, who would still be under the law, everything becomes clear at once.

We see that it is not a question of the world at large. Winter would not affect all the earth at the same time. What is winter in one place is summer in another... Suppose a case of death, or sickness, or any urgent call. Christians rightly deny that walking a mile and a half is any sin then. They would walk it to do good to a neighbour, or to seek the blessing of an enemy... What do I conclude from this? That the Lord is not speaking here of Christians at all. He has in view godly Jews who are to be under the sabbath law, and who would find themselves in a terrible dilemma if they had to flee on that day.

How exceedingly gracious! He is always mindful of the circumstances of His beloved saints, however small or trivial they seem. He thought of the suffering involved in a winter flight without time to go into the house for a coat! And what a dilemma they would be in if the image happened to be set up on the Sabbath day! So He tells them to cry to God that it may not happen that way. In such a case they would not know what to do. Any journey of length on the Sabbath day would break the law. Yet if they waited a while, for conscience' sake, they might lose their lives.

And the Lord, foreseeing everything, tells them to pray that there be no hindrances to their flight. Oh, how He cares! They will pray it beforehand. From Daniel 12 we see there will be wise ones who will instruct others in righteousness, for "the wise shall understand." So when they see this coming they will pray that it be not in the winter. Then the ravines have rushing torrents that make escape dangerous. Here the Lord prepares them, and we too can certainly profit from it.

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.

The shortening of these days of tribulation (verses 19-22) means this: the Great Tribulation does not begin at the start of Daniel's week, but in the middle. It lasts only three and a half years. His people are especially warned against the false Christs (23-26). Then, when evil is at its height, the Son of Man will appear like the lightning in the heaven; there will be no mistaking His appearing (27, 28).

Suppose that someone should go to a Christian and say, Christ is in such and such a place. Could he be deceived in this way? Does not every believer, even the least instructed, know where Christ is, that He is at the right hand of the Father in heaven?… Now imagine that such a temptation were put to the Jews. They do not believe that their Messiah has ever come, and they are still expecting His arrival. You will see at once how wide open they are to such deception. We cannot therefore help seeing this description as applying to God's ancient people, and not to the church.

These disciples were the godly remnant of the nation, looking for the Messiah to bring in glory… The time had come when the true Messiah ought to appear. And He had appeared, but Israel had rejected Him, hardening themselves in the lie that our Lord could not be the promised One. But Israel had not given up the hope of the Messiah yet. This exposes them to the delusion spoken of here… At any rate, the rejection of the true Christ lays them open to the reception of a false Christ.

There will be no need to go into the desert to seek Him, or to the secret chambers to find Him out. When He comes, "every eye will see him." The coming of the Son of Man will be sudden as a flash of lightning, and just as overwhelmingly clear to everyone.

There would be reports that Christ was in the desert (as though another John the Baptist): they were to refuse such reports. Others would claim that He was "in the secret chambers," that is, that He had come secretly, invisibly. So-called Jehovah's Witnesses have made this wicked claim. They had prophesied that Christ would come in 1918. When this did not happen, they invented the contemptible deception that He had come invisibly.

They are warned now against any attempt to mislead them by drawing away disciples after a Christ who has come secretly — in the desert, or in the inner chambers. That is not how He would come. The power of evil at work would have its snares laid on the right hand and on the left; but there would be no need for any careful discrimination to discern the truth.

The Lord warns the disciples against false hopes of deliverance. He warns them against false reports of false Christs, and against false prophets, false signs, and apparent wonders. Their safety will be in remembering the words of the Lord, "I have foretold you all things."

The great thing that marks out the Church is the presence of the Holy Spirit. So the deceit we have to watch against is false spirits, not false Christs, though there are many antichrists. The danger of Christians is grieving the Holy Spirit — or even listening to false spirits.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.