The great tribulation of Matthew 24 is a thing of the past.
15. WHEN YE THEREFORE SHALL SEE THE ABOMINATION
OF DESOLATION, SPOKEN OF BY DANIEL THE PROPHET,
STAND IN THE HOLY PLACE, (WHOSO READETH, LET HIM
UNDERSTAND
The Abomination of Desolation is a Jewish expression meaning
abominable or hateful destroyer. The gentiles themselves were
an abomination to the Jews. Acts 10 28. The Abomination of
desolation refers to the Roman army (Luke 21:20). This was
SPOKEN OF BY DANIEL THE PROPHET: Da.11:31 Da.9:27
All Jerusalem was considered holy; not only its temple Mt.14:5.
The meaning here is; When you see the Roman army encamped
about the Holy city; Christ's followers were to be aware that
Jerusalem's time was limited.
"Something else which testifies in favor of this last point is the way that Matthew and Mark both speak of the "abomination of desolation" with an appeal to Daniel, and then give a nod to their (presumably) Jewish audiences by the parenthetical instruction "let the reader understand" - but Luke, thinking that his Gentile audience might not understand the reference, simply interprets the apocalyptic language into the terms of its referent: "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near." This further strengthens the view that all three accounts are relaying the same discourse, in which Jesus is answering the same questions, and that all three accounts are concerned, from their respective vantage-points, with the destruction of Jerusalem as the climactic event through which Jesus' messianic claims would be vindicated to that generation. "
16. THEN LET THEM WHICH BE IN JUDAEA FLEE INTO THE
MOUNTAINS: (Will fleeing to mountains help anyone today?)
The presence of the Roman armies was the specific sign to cue
believers that the end of Jerusalem was nigh and that they should
seek safety. The whole of Judea would not be safe so the mountains
of Palestine were to be resorted to in danger.
17. LET HIM WHICH IS ON THE HOUSETOP NOT COME DOWN
TO TAKE ANYTHING OUT OF HIS HOUSE:
(Should today's dwellers in Jerusalem take their valuables with them when they repair their roofs?)
18. NEITHER LET HIM WHICH IS IN THE FEILD RETURN BACK
TO TAKE HIS CLOTHES.
When the calamity came upon the city, those in Judea, or in the fields
should flee without any delay or encumbrance.
HISTORICAL NOTE: These directions were followed. It is said that
the Christians warned by these predictions, fled from the city to
Pella and other places beyond Jordan so that there is no evidence
that a single Christian perished in Jerusalem.
(Eusebius, Hist.Eccl.lib.3, chapter 6)
19. AND WOE TO THEM THAT ARE WITH CHILD, AND TO THEM
WHICH GIVE SUCK IN THOSE DAYS!
Pregnant women, and those with young children would be at a
great disadvantage and peril as they attempt to flee the oncoming
slaughter. Jesus warning in Luke 23:28-30 on his way to Calvary
fits here:
Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves,
and for your children. For behold, the days are coming, in the which
they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never
bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin
to say to the mountains, Fall on us: and to the hills, Cover us:
20. BUT PRAY YE THAT YOUR FLIGHT BE NOT IN WINTER,
NEITHER ON THE SABBATH DAY:
(Why worry about the weather today when cars have good heaters and great snow tires?)
The destruction would come, but it was advisable to pray for a
mitigation of the circumstances. Winter's cold would reduce
the possibility of escape and survival. If the flight was on a Sabbath,
Jews were not by tradition to travel over 2000 cubits (nearly a mile)
and they would therefore not get out of the range of danger. The
gates of the city were also closed on the Sabbath preventing escape.
21. FOR THEN SHALL BE GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH
AS WAS NOT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD
TO THIS TIME, NO, NOR EVER SHALL BE.
The word tribulation means calamity or suffering. Lu.21:24
specifies the nature of this suffering. Josephus uses almost
the very words of the Saviour. "All the calamities says he, which
had befallen any nation from the beginning of the world, were but
small in comparison to those suffered by the Jews.
(Jewish Wars, b.i. preface, p.4)
THEY SHALL FALL BY THE EDGE OF THE SWORD. Lu.21:24
Josephus says that the whole city ran with blood and that during
the siege not fewer than eleven hundred thousand perished.
In all, one million, three hundred and fifty thousand were put to
death by the Romans. So many were crucified that they ran out
of crosses for the bodies. So terrible was their imprecation
fulfilled - His blood be on us and our children.
Da.12:1 time of trouble at end as never before
Mt.21:43 kingdom taken away Mat 23:35-58
22. AND EXCEPT THOSE DAYS SHOULD BE SHORTENED,
THERE SHOULD NO FLESH BE SAVED: BUT FOR THE ELECT'S
SAKE THOSE DAYS SHALL BE SHORTENED.
Comment: If the calamities of the siege, persecution and war
did not come to an abrupt end, all the inhabitants of Judea,
including believers who had escaped to other regions would be
destroyed. But for the sake of the elect. Elect = those chosen to
salvation through sanctification of spirit and belief in the truth.
(I Peter 1:2) those days leading to the fall of Jerusalem would
be reduced. Titus himself, Josephus tells us, contrary to his
original intention, pressed the siege and took the city by storm
shortening the the time originally planned to reduce the city by
continuing the famine.
