What is the significance of the command to flee to the mountains (Matthew 24:16; Mark 13:3; Luke 21:21)?

But narrowing the circle of outward signs, “When ye shall see,” the Lord now adds, “the abomination of desolation standing in a holy place” (no doubt somewhere in the land) “where it should not” (Mark 13:14) “then” (note our word used a fourth time) “let them that are in Judea flee into the mountains!” And why? Because in that locality—chiefly in Jerusalem the greatest of all convulsions, the direst of all distresses—is to burst on the dwellers therein. The presence of this Idol would be the signal for the concentrated wrath and judgment of God. Those who had ears to hear were to flee: to places of safety, nor allow themselves to be impeded in their flight, by any means at all.

226 From verse 15 we have a much more precise scene, a local scene; we have the holy place, and Daniel, and Judaea, and definite local circumstances, and prescribed conduct, when the abomination of desolation was seen standing in the holy place. "He that readeth, let him understand." Then those in Judaea were to flee to the mountains, for then shall be great tribulation here when this idol dishonour is set up in the holy place; no more testimony, for they are the days of vengeance, in Jerusalem or Judaea; they are to flee to the mountains; for the elect's sake, however, these days of tribulation shall be shortened. Isaiah 65:9-22 Will shew who these elect are. During this period there will not only be false prophets, but false christs, present promised deliverers from the great tribulation, "Jacob's trouble"; but the elect were told beforehand; they were to pray, being Jews, that their flight might not be on the sabbath.

I ask, Can there be a question as to the meaning of these verses? Does any one doubt what "the holy place" means? Is it ever used in any other sense than the sanctuary of God at Jerusalem? The holy place, as a spot on earth, is invariably, in Scripture, the Jewish centre for worshipping God. "The abomination of desolation" means an idol which should bring in desolation upon the Jews. When this, then, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stands in the temple, those who heed Christ are to flee. There is not a word about Gentiles here — not a hint about the Church of God as such. Godly people, but Jews, in their own city, are warned, when they see this idol, to flee to the mountains of Judea in the vicinity. "And woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day." It is not at all a Christian, but a Jewish scene. The Lord's day is that which Christians observe. It is the great symbol of our recognition of Christ risen, and of our blessing in Him; but the Sabbath was a sign between God and Israel.

289 Verse 15. The Lord comes now, in the course of His prophecy, to the moment predicted by Daniel, when the abomination which makes desolate would be set up in the place that the throne of God ought to occupy. There would then be, as we have seen, a time of testimony in Israel, which would reach to the ends of the world to all nations; the servants of the Lord were to possess their souls in patience, and, although hated of all, to persevere unto the end. But for those who should be in Judea, the moment would come when an idol (for this is the meaning of the word "abomination would be set up in the holy place. This idol is called the desolating idol; because the confidence placed in it, and the public affront given to God, would bring about the desolation of the people and of the holy place. When it should be placed there, the faithful ones in Judea were to flee unto the mountains. The Lord uses many figures to shew the urgency of the case. He who might be upon the housetop was not to come down to take anything out of his house; he who might be in the fields was not to return back to fetch his garments; the moment would be so terrible, that it would only be a question of flight. But God ever thinks of His own. They were to pray, the Lord said, that their flight might not take place in winter, nor on the sabbath-day. When their time of tribulation - unparalleled in the history of the world - has come, God will consider the temperature most suitable for the flight, and also the conscientious spirit that would stop the faithful soul on a sabbath-day.

Those will be terrible times for such as fear God; fearful persecutions will break out more severe in character than anything yet known. The Lord bids them note the signs and take warning. When they behold this daring iniquity in the sanctuary in Jerusalem they are to flee. So urgent is the matter that "Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes" (Matt. 24:17-18). They are to make for the mountains with all possible haste. All this instruction is plainly for persons living in Judea. Readers of Scripture who persist in seeing the Church of God in this chapter must find themselves beset with difficulties in every detail of the prophecy. Is the Church of God confined to one land that such signs should be of service? Is not the Church rather to be found in every quarter of the earth? When once it is perceived that the godly in Judea are in view, all is simple and clear.

Christ addressing Himself prophetically to this remnant in Matthew 24:15-21 says, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet (this is the same image as that mentioned in Rev. 13:14-18) stand in the holy place … then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains." The faithful remnant will be placed under sentence of death because they refused to worship this image or to receive the mark of the beast, and they have to flee for their life and keep in hiding in the mountains. Psalm 42 is a prophecy of the remnant pouring out their heart to God during this time of trouble. How precious in the sight of the Lord will be this remnant, who, rather than walk in the ways of the wicked, give up out of faithfulness and love for Him their earthly possession to flee to the mountains in obedience to His word without resource and without supply of daily food, trusting solely to Him to protect them and provide for them. What a joy it will be both for His heart and theirs when He appears for their deliverance and says to them, "O my dove, that art in the cleft of the rock, in the secret places of the precipices (N.T.) let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely."

But if Revelation 7 is the most precise, Matthew 24 is the most luminous of the passages which directly deal with the subject of the great tribulation. In answer to three questions addressed to our Lord by His Jewish disciples, troubled by His warnings of His own departure, and the approaching destruction of the Temple, He described to them the circumstances in which the godly in Judea will find themselves at the end, The differences between [Matthew 24 and Luke 21 are exceedingly interesting Luke was guided by the Spirit to give more particularly our Lord's reply to the question (the first of the three) relating to the overthrow of the temple; Matthew gives His reply to the questions relating to the end of the age. "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies," is the key to Luke 21: "when ye shall see the abomination of desolation … stand in the holy place," is the key to Matthew 24. The one is past, the other is yet to come.] adding some instructions of the highest importance for those who will be called to pass through the last dread agony there. The setting up in the Temple of the abomination of desolation, as spoken of by Daniel the prophet, is to be the signal for instant flight for all who heed the words of the Lord. No thought of clothes or any other possessions is to detain them; they must speed to the mountains. That their experiences be not unnecessarily painful, He bids them pray that their flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. The Saviour's account of that time is exceedingly grave: "then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (vv. 21, 22). In their agitation, the refugees must be on their guard against deceivers, for some will announce His Coming to this point or that. To all such voices they must pay no heed. When He really appears they will no more need to be told of the fact than when the lightning lights up the heavens. "Every eye shall see Him." His appearing will bring His suffering ones deliverance from all their foes.

But who are the sufferers referred to in Matthew 24? Jewish saints, clearly. The Church, with its Heavenly calling and expectations, was not before the minds of the disciples when they questioned the Lord as in Matthew 24:3. They were inquiring from their then standpoint as Jewish saints who truly believed that Jesus was the predicted Messiah. Moreover, Jewish marks are indelibly stamped upon this part of the prophecy — "the holy Place," "Judea," "the Sabbath Day," etc. Let this important fact be noted. For the Christian, suffering is a privilege (Phil. 1:29; Phil. 3:10). And we are nowhere told to avoid it. The great tribulation, on the contrary, is a penal infliction upon the Jewish people for their apostasy, and the godly are expressly instructed to flee from its terrors.

Our next passage is Jeremiah 30:4-9, and here comment is almost needless. The same period of suffering as in Matthew 24 is manifestly referred to, for the prophet exclaims: "Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it." It is the time of unparalleled tribulation. But for whom? Let the passage itself reply: "These are the words that Jehovah spake concerning Israel, and concerning Judah." "It is even the time of Jacob's trouble." As in Matthew 24, so in Jeremiah 30 final deliverance follows. Jehovah will break the yoke of the stranger from off Israel's neck, and the people shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king.

Thus, then, is that great tribulation begun of which the Lord spoke in His prophecy in view of the temple. We can understand that the only hope while this evil is permitted to have its course, is that flight to the mountains which He enjoins on those who listen to His voice. Israel have refused that sheltering "wing" under which He would so often have gathered them, and they must be left to the awful "wing of abominations" (Dan. 9:27, Heb.), on account of which presently the desolator from the north swoops down upon the land. Still, His pity, whom they have forsaken, has decreed a limit, and "for His elect's sake, whom He hath chosen, He hath shortened the days."

If this be so, we have an important key to the prophecy of Daniel. Although the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans was so near, yet the Lord distinctly looks onward to another time. And what makes it the more remarkable is, that one evangelist does give us the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, but also distinguishes it from this future time of trouble. In Luke 21 is the chief reference of a positively prophetic kind to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. And mark the difference of the language: "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed about with armies." Not a word about the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. Luke passes over this entirely, and introduces what Matthew does not mention — Jerusalem encompassed with armies. "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out," etc. That is, the Lord prescribes exactly the same course to be taken by the Jews in Jerusalem, whether at the approaching sack of the city by the Romans (as in Luke), or at the future desolation that should fall upon it (as in Matthew). So far there was an analogy between the two things: the godly were to flee away; they were not to trust to vain hopes of deliverance through some pretended Messiah, but were to know from the lips of the Lord Himself, that Jerusalem was to fall under the hand of the Gentiles. If any wanted to escape, it must be outside Jerusalem. "And let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto." No matter what people may say of the necessity of any keeping their feast, their path of safety is to avoid Jerusalem. There is no deliverance for Israel yet. "For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled."

Indeed the only resemblance in this part of the prophecy, as recorded by Matthew and Luke, is that in both cases the faithful are warned to flee. But even here the differences are remarkable. No doubt, even in the less hasty flight spoken of by Luke, before the Roman army reached Jerusalem, women in the condition named in the prophecy would find escape difficult or impossible. The lament over their fate is, therefore, common to both; but here the resemblance ends. In Luke the flight is not to the mountains, nor marked by extreme haste. In fact the Christians retired with no special rapidity to the city of Pella. But when the abomination of desolation is set up, not an instant must be lost, the flight must be with all speed, and even the most trifling delay will be fatal. The place of refuge, too, is not a sheltering city, but "the mountains," for the rage of the idolatrous power will pursue them, and it is only as specially shielded by God that they can escape its fury. Both the rapidity of the flight and the sojourn in the desert are typified in the Revelation, where "to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness." (Rev. 12:14.)