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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 24:14

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And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

14. preached in all the world ] Cp. ch. Mat 10:23 and Col 1:5-6, “the gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world.” The principle is at last established that the Gospel may be preached to Jew and Gentile alike.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world – The evidence that this was done is to be chiefly derived from the New Testament, and there it is clear. Thus Paul declares that it was preached to every creature under heaven Col 1:6, Col 1:23; that the faith of the Romans was spoken of throughout the whole world Rom 1:8; that he preached in Arabia Gal 1:17, and at Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum Rom 15:19. We know also that He traveled through Asia Minor, Greece, and Crete; that he was in Italy, and probably in Spain and Gaul, Rom 15:24-28. At the same time, the other apostles were not idle; and there is full proof that within thirty years after this prophecy was spoken, churches were established in all these regions.

For a witness unto all nations – This preaching the gospel indiscriminately to all the Gentiles shall be a proof to them, or a witness, that the division between the Jews and Gentiles was about to be broken down. Hitherto the blessings of revelation had been confined to the Jews. They were the special people of God. His messages had been sent to them only. When, therefore, God sent the gospel to all other people, it was proof, or a witness unto them, that the special Jewish economy was at an end.

Then shall the end come – The end of the Jewish economy; the destruction of the temple and city.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Mat 24:14

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness.

The gospel of the kingdom

I. gospel-good news, God spell-the information God has to tell us. An epitome of the news. Familiarity with the message takes aways its edge, and blunts its impressions.

II. It is not merely a gospel, good news, but a gospel of something very specific-of a kingdom. This kingdom is composed first of moral and next of personal elements-The kingdom of God is not, etc. Who are the personal subjects of this kingdom? Men of every rank and every clime. The gospel is not so cramped as we sometimes think.

III. This kingdom, thus composed, shall overflow all kingdoms. Heathendom is gradually dying out over all the world. Mahometanism is almost gone; the crescent wanes over all the earth, etc. The gospel shall be preached to all the world as a witness. Not to convert all nations, etc. (J. Cumming, D. D.)

The controlling influence of the gospel

I. The kingdom of Christ, as a kingdom of control, set up in the hearts of His followers.

1. It controls the opinions. They who are under this kingdom are obliged to believe all the truths of the Bible.

2. It controls the will. God makes it criminal to choose the evil and refuse the good.

3. It controls the belief of mankind. The subjects of this kingdom are called upon to trust in Christ, and in Him only, for salvation.

4. It controls the affections-Thou shalt love, etc. It controls the temper, pride, and all those feelings which are akin to it.

II. There is infinite mercy in such control.

1. Without it the opinions of mankind have ever been tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.

2. There is mercy in a control being exercised over the will. Man is in a wilderness of sin, etc.

3. Were it not for this, every man might form a system of belief for himself, etc.

4. Mans affections are collected to one point.

III. The gospel shall be preached for witness. Of human depravity. Of the method of reconciliation with God, etc. (R. Watson.)

The gospel of the kingdom

I. The subject of the text. The gospel. The gospel of the kingdom.

II. The mode of its communication. The gospel of the kingdom is to be preached. It must be preached freely, plainly, affectionately, faithfully.

III. The extent of its diffusion. The whole world stands in need of it. The gospel is the only remedy for it. It is expressly designed for all.

IV. The great end of its publication, As a witness. It shall witness to mans mind, state, etc.

1. The responsibility of having the gospel preached to us.

2. Our duty to labour for its diffusion among those who possess it not. (J. Burns, D. D.)

I. The King is our Lord Jesus Christ,

II. The seat of this kingdom is the soul.

III. The spirit of this kingdom is wise and beneficent and holy. Every kingdom has its peculiar character.

IV. The progress of His kingdom is unostentatious; irresistible, yet noiseless, like many of the mightier forces in nature.

IV. The boundaries of His kingdom are the boundaries of the dwellings of human kind.

1. Submit to Christ as a King.

2. Seek the extension of His kingdom by personal exertions, by pecuniary contributions, by payer. (Anon.)

The gospel a witness

1. That there are ends to be answered by the publication of the gospel, over and above the gathering in of a remnant from the mass of human kind. The statement is simply that the gospel is to be preached for a witness.

2. We are bound to ascertain the nature of this witness, in order that we may understand the responsibleness laid on all who ever heard the gospel, and the ends which are answered by its publication.

3. You are sufficiently acquainted with the nature of the gospel to regard it as an authoritative account of all that is benevolent, and all that is awful in Deity.

4. It is not an uncertain and unaccredited witness, but one which carries with it its credentials in all its marchings over the face of the globe.

5. The witness of the gospel hereafter. The gospel is now a witness to warn and direct; hereafter it will accuse and condemn. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

The universal witness

The preaching of the gospel throughout the world testifies-

1. To the unchanging mercy of God. He is the same as He was before the flood-would have been warned of the end of their evil courses. Men shall be without excuse.

2. To the character and mission of Christ. Men who accept the gospel shall prove that He is the Saviour.

3. To the invincible hostility of men. They shall have in their own characters a vindication of Gods past judgments.

Universal adaptation of the gospel to mens needs

The gospel is a plant which is not affected by earthly changes. It is the same in the temperate as in the torrid zone, and as in the frigid. It does not seem to be scorched by heat, or benumbed by cold. Age does not diminish the freshness of its bloom; soil does not affect its nature; climate does not modify its peculiar properties. Among the frost-bound latitudes of North America, and the burning sands of Africa, or the fertile plains of India, we find it still shooting up the same plant of renown, the same vine of the Lords right-hand planting, the same tree of life, raised up from the beginning of time, whose leaves were for the healing of the nations, and under which all kindreds, and tribes, and tongues, and people shall one day rejoice, when privileged to take shelter under its all-covering shade, and draw refreshing nourishment from its perennial fruits. (Dr. Duff.)

Vitality of the gospel

See what vitality the gospel has! Plunge her under the wave, and she rises the purer from her washing; thrust her in the fire, and she comes out the more bright for her burning; cut her in sunder, and each piece shall make another church; behead her, and like the hydra of old, she shall have a hundred heads for every one you cut away. She cannot die, she must live; for she has the power of God within her. (C. H. Spurgeon)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 14. And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world] But, notwithstanding these persecutions, there should be a universal publication of the glad tidings of the kingdom, for a testimony to all nations. God would have the iniquity of the Jews published every where, before the heavy stroke of his judgments should fall upon them; that all mankind, as it were, might be brought as witnesses against their cruelty and obstinacy in crucifying and rejecting the Lord Jesus.

In all the world, . Perhaps no more is meant here than the Roman empire; for it is beyond controversy that , Lu 2:1, means no more than the whole Roman empire: as a decree for taxation or enrolment from Augustus Caesar could have no influence but in the Roman dominions; but see on Lu 2:1. Tacitus informs us, Annal. l. xv., that, as early as the reign of Nero, the Christians were grown so numerous at Rome as to excite the jealousy of the government; and in other parts they were in proportion. However, we are under no necessity to restrain the phrase to the Roman empire, as, previously to the destruction of Jerusalem, the Gospel was not only preached in the lesser Asia, and Greece, and Italy, the greatest theatres of action then in the world; but was likewise propagated as far north as SCYTHIA; as far south as ETHIOPIA; as far east as PARTHIA and INDIA; and as far west as SPAIN and BRITAIN. On this point, Bishop Newton goes on to say, That there is some probability that the Gospel was preached in the British nations by St. Simon the apostle; that there is much greater probability that it was preached here by St. Paul; and that there is an absolute certainty that it was planted here in the times of the apostles, before the destruction of Jerusalem. See his proofs. Dissert. vol. ii. p. 235, 236. edit. 1758. St. Paul himself speaks, Col 1:6; Col 1:23, of the Gospel’s being come into ALL THE WORLD, and preached TO EVERY CREATURE under heaven. And in his Epistle to the Romans, Ro 10:18, he very elegantly applies to the lights of the Church, what the psalmist said of the lights of heaven. Their sound went into ALL THE EARTH, and their words unto the END of the WORLD. What but the wisdom of God could foretell this? and what but the power of God could accomplish it?

Then shall the end come.] When this general publication of the Gospel shall have taken place, then a period shall be put to the whole Jewish economy, by the utter destruction of their city and temple.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

So saith Mark, Mar 13:10. Some think that the end mentioned in the close of this verse refers to the destruction of Jerusalem; others, that it refers to the day of judgment. If we take world (as it is often taken) for the Gentiles in opposition to the Jews, synecdochically, the whole being put for a great part, it is most certain, that before Jerusalem was destroyed, the gospel, which is here called the gospel of the kingdom, either because it shows the way to the kingdom of God, or because it is that sacred instrument by which Christ subdueth mens hearts to himself, was preached to the world, that is, to the Gentiles, and that to a great part of them. Paul alone had carried it from Jerusalem to Illyricum. The Romans faith was spoken of throughout the world, Rom 1:8. Paul saith it was preached to every creature, Col 1:23; Rom 10:18; 15:16; Col 1:6; 1Ti 3:16. But others choose by the end here to understand the end of the world.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And this Gospel of the kingdom,…. Which Christ himself preached, and which he called and sent his apostles to preach, in all the cities of Judah; by which means men were brought into the kingdom of the Messiah, or Gospel dispensation; and which treated both of the kingdom of grace and glory, and pointed out the saints’ meetness for the kingdom of heaven, and their right unto it, and gives the best account of the glories of it:

shall be preached in all the world; not only in Judea, where it was now confined, and that by the express orders of Christ himself; but in all the nations of the world, for which the apostles had their commission enlarged, after our Lord’s resurrection; when they were bid to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature; and when the Jews put away the Gospel from them, they accordingly turned to the Gentiles; and before the destruction of Jerusalem, it was preached to all the nations under the heavens; and churches were planted in most places, through the ministry of it:

for a witness unto all nations; meaning either for a witness against all such in them, as should reject it; or as a testimony of Christ and salvation, unto all such as should believe in him:

and then shall the end come; not the end of the world, as the Ethiopic version reads it, and others understand it; but the end of the Jewish state, the end of the city and temple: so that the universal preaching of the Gospel all over the world, was the last criterion and sign, of the destruction of Jerusalem; and the account of that itself next follows, with the dismal circumstances which attended it.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Shall be preached (). Heralded in all the inhabited world. supply . It is not here said that all will be saved nor must this language be given too literal and detailed an application to every individual.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

World [ ] . Lit., the inhabited. The whole inhabitable globe. Rev., in margin, inhabited earth.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

14. And the gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world. Our Lord, having delivered a discourse which gave no small occasion for sorrow, seasonably adds this consolation, to raise up minds that were cast down, or to uphold those which were falling. Whatever may be the contrivances of Satan, and how numerous soever may be the multitudes which he carries away, yet the gospel will maintain its ground till it be spread through the whole world. This might indeed appear to be incredible; but it was the duty of the apostles, relying on this testimony of their Master, to cherish hope against hope, and, in the meantime, to strive vigorously to discharge their office. As to the objection brought by some, that to this day not even the slightest report concerning Christ has reached the Antipodes and other very distant nations, this difficulty may be speedily resolved; for Christ does not absolutely refer to every portion of the world, and does not fix a particular time, but only affirms that the gospel —which, all would have thought, was immediately to be banished from Judea, its native habitation would be spread to the farthest bounds of the world before the day of his last coming.

For a testimony to all nations. He describes this to be the end of preaching; for although

God has never left himself ( ἀμάρτυρον) without witness, (Act 14:17,)

and although in special manner he testified to the Jews concerning himself, yet it was a testimony remarkable beyond all others when he revealed himself in Christ; and therefore Paul says, that he was manifested in due time, (1Ti 2:6,) because this was the proper season for calling the whole world to God. Let us, therefore, learn that, wherever the gospel is preached, it is as if God himself came into the midst of us, and solemnly and expressly besought us, that we may not wander in darkness, as if we knew not where to go, and that those who refuse to obey may be rendered inexcusable.

And then will the end come. This is improperly restricted by some to the destruction of the temple, and the abolition of the service of the Law; for it ought to be understood as referring to the end and renovation of the world. Those two things having been blended by the disciples, as if the temple could not be overthrown without the destruction of the whole world, Christ, in replying to the whole question which had been put to him, reminded them that a long and melancholy succession of calamities was at hand, and that they must not hasten to seize the prize, before they had passed through many contests and dangers. In this manner, therefore, we ought to explain this latter clause: “The end of the world will not come before I have tried my Church, for a long period, by severe and painful temptations,” for it is contrasted with the false imagination which the apostles had formed in their minds. Hence, too, we ought to learn that no particular time is here fixed, as if the last day were to follow in immediate succession those events which were just now foretold; for the believers long ago experienced the fulfillment of those predictions which we have now examined, and yet Christ did not immediately appear. But Christ had no other design than to restrain the apostles, who were disposed to fly with excessive eagerness to the possession of the heavenly glory, and to show them the necessity of patience; as if he had said, that redemption was not so close at hand as they had imagined it to be, but that they must pass through long windings.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

B. Specific, True Information About Jerusalems Destruction (24:1428)

TEXT: 24:1428

(Parallels: Mar. 13:14-20; Luk. 21:20-24)

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations and then shall the end come. 15 When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that readeth understand), 16 then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains: 17 let him that is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house: 18 and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak. 19 But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! 20 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on a sabbath: 21 for then shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elects sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ, or, Here; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you beforehand. 26 If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness; go not forth: Behold, he is in the inner chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. 28 Wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS

On what basis can a great Teacher, who is about to be brutalized and crucified by His religious competitors, assert so confidently that this gospel that I teach you shall be preached in the whole world? Wishful thinking and ungrounded optimism?

Did Jesus assert that the entire earth would have been evangelized, i.e. every single human being would have heard the gospel before the end should come? Further, shall all be converted?

How could the proclamation of the Kingdom Gospel to every nation become a signal of the near approach of the end of the period in question? Could every Christian in first-century Palestine, without the benefit of mass communications, have known about the world-wide outreach of the Gospel, and recognized therein the proof that the end was nearing? What evidences does the New Testament give to prove that Christians everywhere indeed COULD have known this?

Why do you think Matthew (or Jesus) resorted to a form of code to render the specific, true signal that Jerusalem was about to fall, warning believers to flee from it? What would this Jewish double-talk tell us about the date of the final form of Matthews manuscript? After all, Luke (Luk. 21:20) decodifies the desolating sacrilege phrase to mean, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. If Matthew wrote long after the fall of Jerusalem, would he have needed to point out to the reader (let the reader understand) that there is something about the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel that is not to be understood literally, but to be taken symbolically?

What is so important about the detailed escape instructions Jesus gave? What would the people concerned have been tempted to do, had He not given precisely this information?

How does the detailed escape information help us to determine the historic period to which Jesus refers? That is, when Jesus shall come again to take His own with Him, would it be essential, for example, for those who are in Judea to flee to the mountains? Why not just go with Jesus in heaven instead? And what about pregnant women or nursing mothers: do they need flight certification to be caught up in the air? (1Th. 4:17). Or is He even talking about the Second Coming?

Why does Jesus direct His disciples to flee to the mountains? Would not escape to the desert accomplish the same thing? If not, why not?

Why do you think Jesus delayed the judgment of Israel until the Kingdom Gospel could be proclaimed everywhere? Who would benefit from this delay?

What must have been the force of the evidence, which this chapter furnishes of Jesus divine foreknowledge, upon the minds of those who stood in the midst of the earth-shaking events themselves with Matthews Gospel open before them?

PARAPHRASE AND HARMONY

Further, this good news about Gods Kingdom will be proclaimed all over the entire inhabited earth as a witness to all nations. THEN shall the end come. So, when you see the desolating sacrilege (spoken of by the prophet Daniel) standing in the holy place where it does not belong,let the reader understand that this means when you see Jerusalem surrounded by camps of enemy armiesthen recognize that its devastation is about to take place.
At that time those who live in Judea must take refuge in the mountains. Those who are inside the city of Jerusalem must get out. Anyone who is up on the rooftop terrace must not take time to go down into his house to get things out of it. Those who are in the country districts or out in the fields must not enter the city or return back to pick up even an overcoat! Those will be days of vengeance that make all that the Scriptures said come true. How dreadful for expectant mothers and for those nursing a baby during that time! Pray that you do not have to escape in the wintertime or on a Sabbath, because there will be such great tribulation and such severe misery in the land and such fury unleashed on this people that it has been unequalled since God created the world until now, and is never to be repeated again. Further, if the Lord had not abbreviated those days, nobody could survive. However, for the sake of Gods special people, He will put a limit on those days. People will either be killed outright with the sword or deported as prisoners of war into other countries. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the pagans until the times of the pagans be completed.
At that time, if someone says to you, Look, here is the Messiah! or Look, there he is! you must not believe it. This is because false christs and false prophets will make their appearance, performing great confirmatory signs and wonderful deeds so that, wherever possible, even Gods special people could be deceived by them. So, be on your guard, because I am warning you about everything in advance. So, if anyone tells you, Look, he is out in the wilds, do not go out there. Or, if they say, Look, he is hiding in some secret place, you dare not believe it. The Second Coming of the Messiah will be as obvious as lightning when it lights up the whole sky from east to west! Wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will flock!

SUMMARY

The true signal of Jerusalems impending doom is the appearance of an enemy army at its gates. The only safety is in undelayed escape because of the greatness of the disaster that is to occur shortly thereafter. False hopes of the Messiahs personal coming during the siege must be unswervingly ignored, because Jerusalem must be destroyed. On the other hand, when Christ really returns, He will need no prophets to herald His coming, because it will be so evident to everyone that none could ever miss it.

NOTES
1. The true signals of the nearness of Jerusalems fall (24:14ff.)
a. Worldwide Gospel proclamation signals the approximate approach of the end (24:14)

Mat. 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come. Shall be preached: this simple future quietly but confidently predicts the triumph of the Crucified in that His message would enjoy a world-wide hearing. Note how deliberately our Lord turns His disciples attention away from the soul-crippling dangers to occur during what would appear to them to be the climax of a great eschatological event. In the midst of a world coming apart, the Christians main concern was to be their dedication to proclaiming Christs Gospel throughout the whole world. Persecution could not defeat the Gospel. Irrepressibly vocal witnesses of Christ would flee from one city or country to another, reaching otherwise inaccessible audiences. Victory is assured: nothing can stop the program of God. In fact, the end shall not come until His testimony is given to all nations! It is entirely appropriate that Jerusalem and its Temple, the heart and home of the Mosaic era, not be eliminated until the Church, the new Israel of God, had been well established throughout the Roman Empire. When the Gospel shall have triumphed, the curtain can fall: what soul-stirring encouragement!

This highly significant verse interprets truly the mission of the early disciples. Rather than sit around idly waiting for Jerusalem to fall, as if their life could be lived in a vacuum, they were to accept the meaningful challenge to evangelize the world. Out of this we too may understand that our participation in Christian eschatology is not a question of merely gazing at heaven and waiting for Jesus to return. This moment is the hour to commit ourselves wholly, not to an obsession with prophecies of the end, but to the world mission of the Church and to our present opportunities to preach the Gospel to every creature!

The end in question is still the end of the age concerning which the Apostles had asked on the basis of Jesus prediction of the Temples destruction (Mat. 24:2 f.). Further indication of the specific period in which the end in question shall come is derived from the Marcan parallel which more precisely delimits the era in which this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached. As noted at Mat. 10:17-22 which contains material identical to Mark and Lukes parallel paragraphs (Mar. 13:9-13 = Luk. 21:12-19), the period in question is to be characterized by the special, divine guidance and miraculous power of the Holy Spirit (Mar. 13:11). This is not the usual indwelling of the Spirit promised every Christian, but that special inspiration to speak infallibly for God, granted to those on whom the Spirits power was poured out. Hence, this occurred within the lifetime of the Apostles to whom Jesus was talking, i.e. during the period between Pentecost and the death of the last of those on whom they laid their hands. (Cf. Act. 8:17 ff.) Jesus is not discussing some future end to occur some 2000 years or more after the first century. Further, the immediate context discusses escape from Jerusalem, hence is related to that event.

Logically, however, this verse belongs to the paragraph which follows it, as it furnishes the sign of the approximate approach of the end of the time in question. While some pronounce it impossible to know when this worldwide Gospel testimony would be complete, the New Testament writers speak otherwise:

The first Gospel proclamation ever given was sounded forth to Godfearing Jews from every nation under heaven (Act. 2:5). This laid appropriate groundwork for the potential fulfilment of Jesus prediction.

The very existence of our New Testament Epistles, addressed to widely separated congregations, attest the presence of important Christian centers around the Mediterranean world. Further, there lived a generation of non-Apostolic men, who lived in widely scattered parts of the Roman Empire shortly after, if not contemporary with, the Apostles, who also testify to the existence and wide-acceptance of our Apostolic Epistles.

Rom. 10:18. Although the words cited from Psa. 19:4 referred originally to Gods revelations in nature, Paul legitimately borrowed the poetic expression to picture the wide diffusion of the Gospel among the Diaspora. In fact, he had already affirmed that the faith believed by the Roman Christians is proclaimed in all the world (Rom. 1:8).

In a letter dated between 59 and 63 A.D. Paul announced that the Gospel had already been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and that all over the world this gospel is producing fruit and growing (Col. 1:6; Col. 1:23). Paul does not say it IS BEING proclaimed (to krssomnou), but it HAS BEEN preached (to kruchthntos en ps ktsei hup tn ourann). His wording is too clear for misconception: Jesus goal has been reached in Pauls day. (Cf. Preach the Gospel to every creature krxate t euanglion ps t ktsei, Mar. 16:15, with Pauls above-cited language in Colossians. The obedience matches the order!)

Care must be exercised in defining the extent of Jesus meaning here. While, to us, in the whole world and unto all the nations, as phrases, have a ring of absolute universality about them, this would not necessarily have been so for Jesus nor for His first century hearers. The whole world (hl t oikoumn) need not include much more than all the nations involved in the Roman empire. (Cf. oikoumn in Luk. 2:1.) Josephus (Ant. XV, 11, 1; XIX, 2, 4; 3, 1), quoting Romans and Herod the Great, asserts that all the inhabitable world is subject to Rome.

Just as God had not left Himself without a providential witness of all His goodness and care for all the nations (cf. Act. 14:15-17), a witness which many misinterpreted or rejected (cf. Rom. 1:18-32; Rom. 2:4), so now the Gospel witness is to be offered to all the nations on the same take-it-or-leave-it basis. Nothing is here affirmed of the mass conversion of any nation, much less, of all. Just as the healed lepers presenting himself to the priests must serve for a testimony to them, whether they were ever convinced of Jesus authority or not (Mat. 8:4), just so would the persecuted Christians stand before governors and kings for a testimony to them and to the nations (Mat. 10:18) with no guarantee that these would be converted. The Greek phrase (eis martrion autos) is the same in both texts as here (Mat. 24:14). This witness aims to furnish everyone a solid basis for believing the Gospel and acting on it with confidence. However, where its well-grounded evidence is scorned, the Gospel becomes a witness before God and man against anyone who turns it down. Sooner or later, everyone must deal with it. When they resist it, deny it, doubt it and finally refuse it as false or insignificant, they sentence themselves and stand self-judged.

Nevertheless, laden with far-reaching implications, Pauls victorious shout (Col. 1:6; Col. 1:23) rippled the grim silence of the persecuted Christian world of A.D. 6062. Although his own ministry had been harassed by perils and endless anxieties, Paul could affirm that Jesus Great Commission was being accomplished. What Paul mentioned in passing to one congregation at Colossae, the whole Judean Christian community could also sense, as reports of the Churchs worldwide progress filtered back to Jerusalem on the lips of worshipers from the Diaspora who filed into the Holy City for the yearly festivals. Peter, too, urged the brethren to stedfast resistance in the confidence that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings (1Pe. 5:9). So, the time is almost right. Whereas, before, all had seemed to be a jumble of unrelated pieces, the puzzle is beginning to fit together. Christians could begin to steel themselves for the final crisis. While the worldwide proclamation of the Gospel, as a clue to the death-day of Jerusalem, is not very precise, nevertheless, before Jesus concluded His message, He would clearly limit the extent of the period in question to His own contemporary generation. (See on Mat. 24:34; cf. Mat. 23:36-39.)

Then shall the end come for what? Certainly, it was not the end of the Jewish race nor even of their national existence per s, because, though they lost the latter for 1900 years, they are today beginning to re-establish this in the modern state of Israel. What they really lost and, to date, have not regained, is their sole possession of the Kingdom of God, their unique hope of the Messiah, the most significant and real symbols of Gods reconciliation of man with Himself in the Levitical priesthood, the sacrificial system, the wonderful typology of the Tabernacle and Temple plan. These were all brought to final completion once for all in our Lord Jesus Christ. These were theologically lost to Israel at the cross. (Cf. Romans, Galatians and Hebrews.) What followed until 70 A.D. was merely the foredoomed struggle between the Judaism of Jesus day and death.

If only then shall the end come after the completion of all the aforementioned events, if Jewish history must grind on until that date, before which the tragic end could not occur, then certainty the Second Coming must wait no less time. So, how can it be so confidently affirmed that well-informed first-century Christians held to the unsupported belief that Jesus must soon return? If so, they deduced this on some basis other than Jesus eschatological discourse, because in it He leaves every clue to indicate the groundlessness of such a hope (Mat. 24:48; Mat. 25:5; Mat. 25:19).

b. The precise, decisive signal of the end (24:15)

Mat. 24:15 When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that readeth understand). . . . Here is the crucial signal, but its formulation is most remarkable. For, if Matthew intended to prepare first century readers for an event so critical as this, an event which would require attentiveness and instant flight at the appearance of the first signal, he could scarcely have expressed himself more ambiguously, unless, in the very nature of this vital clue is a truth of tremendous significance that would require its expression in precisely these words. What does the codification of the decisive key have to say about the date of Matthews quotation of Jesus words? In fact, Luke, presumably writing for a non-Jewish readership, simply deciphers the coded part into literal language: When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near (Luk. 21:20). What factors could have induced Matthew not to decodify Jesus expression, leaving it unintelligible for readers unfamiliar with Daniels prophecy?

Presumably only Jewish readers would know the meaning of abomination of desolation, since the fulfilment of Daniels prophecy was a sad chapter in their own history (Dan. 11:31; Dan. 12:11; cf. 1Ma. 1:10-64; 1Ma. 6:7). This gave the expression its particular usefulness for describing a future event similar in import to the past one.

Presumably only Jesus disciples, among all Hebrew readers of this text, would trust Him to know that this cryptic reference to Daniel has anything to do with life and freedom in the later national emergency. But even if unbelievers learned this password, making the code-word an open secret among Hebrews generally, it is less likely that Jewish unbelievers would reveal to Romans a secret so potentially useful to themselves. (Study Josephus intriguing note: Wars, II, 20, 1: were those fugitives only Christians, only unbelievers, or both?)

Presumably, then, this code-word for Jerusalems H-hour would remain unintelligible for heathen readers. But why should Jesus, or Matthew, wish to hide vital truth from Gentiles, if this could mean their physical safety? Simply because these instructions are not needed by non-Christian Gentiles living anywhere in the world, but by those Christian Jews yet dwelling in Jerusalem during the critical period in question. Any pagans antagonistic to Jews generally or who would sympathize with Roman policy, if aware of a fantastic plan whereby many eminent Jews (Christians) could escape the Roman grip on Jerusalem, could have hindered Christians flight and thwarted Jesus warning, by simply reporting His plan to Roman authorities. These, in turn, could have taken countermeasures to expose and capture even Christian Jews along with their unbelieving brethren. Unquestionably, any Gentile Christians resident in Judea would receive explanations from their Jewish Christian brethren.

If these considerations have worth, then not only Jesus original statement, but also Matthews record thereof antedate the fall of Jerusalem. Matthew penned his document at a time when the critical code-word still had practical usefulness in its undecodified form, i.e. before 70 A.D. Composition after this date would more likely have eliminated this vagueness and not called attention to critical signs which, because documented after the fact, would be outrageous hypocrisy and more highly suspect as a forgery. As it stands, however, the cryptic word is evidence of an early date.

(Let him that readeth understand.) This parenthetical remark is either Jesus words or Matthews urgent note:

If Jesus said it, He meant, When you read Daniel, grasp what he meant by this cryptic phrase, abomination of desolation. Even Daniel was told to know and understand, since the revelation was not easy to understand. One needs a mind experienced in dealing with Gods past revelations. However, Mark does not even mention Daniel, so the primary emphasis is on the critical clue itself, more than on its literary origin. Even without reference to Daniel, any patriotic Jew who ever attended the Dedication Feast knows what Daniel meant by desolating sacrilege (1Ma. 4:36-59; 2Ma. 10:1-8; Josephus Ant. XII, 7, 7; Joh. 10:22 ff.).

Rather, this parenthetical exhortation is addressed by the Evangelists to their readers: Dear reader, fix this unique, final signal firmly in mind, so that you will remember it and escape at the time indicated. This warning argues that the Gospel was written prior to the first march of the Romans on Jerusalem under Cestius Gallus, A.D. 66.

So, why affirm that the abomination of desolation was spoken of by the prophet Daniel? Does Jesus intend to identify the fulfilment of Daniels famous prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (Dan. 9:20-27)? Opinion is greatly varied on this point, simply because it is difficult to give a conclusive beginning or ending date satisfactory to all, without ignoring some important data. Unfortunately, Dan. 9:24-27 is not the only possible source of the expression quoted by Jesus, since abomination of desolation appears also in Dan. 11:31; Dan. 12:11 in undoubted reference to Antiochus Epiphanes. Because this pagan brute had taken Jerusalem and in 168 B.C. outraged Jewish religious feeling by erecting an altar to Zeus in the Temple thus profaning it, the Jews since that time feared that an analogous sacrilege could be repeated. What happens once can happen again. This realization loaded the expression with the tremendous emotional force it possessed as a sign of an approaching disaster for Jerusalem and its Temple. Clearly understood by the Jews of the Greek period, this stereotyped phrase was already applied by the author of 1Ma. 1:54 to the outrage perpetrated by Antiochus IV. (Cf. also 1Ma. 6:7.) Thus, without intending to indicate the fulfilment of a specific prophecy, Jesus could still have utilized this historico-literary allusion, since this unforgettable point of reference evoked a horrifying image and created an emotional impact something like Remember Pearl Harbor! to the Americans after December 7, 1941.

It is unquestionably tempting to believe, with Kik (Matthew XXIV, 26) that our Lord quotes from the prophecy of Dan. 9:24-27. But while it may be sure that the prophecy of Dan. 9:24-27 finds its fulfillment in the atoning sacrifice of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem (ibid., 51), is it likely that Jesus would have risked the clarity of the all-important signal whereby Christians could escape the impending wrath upon Jerusalem, by basing it on a prophecy which itself depends upon critical calculations for the clarity of its undoubted fulfillment? Consider these questions:

Are the seventy sevens to be considered 490 literal years or symbolic periods?

Are these solar or lunar years?

Is the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem from which calculations are to begin:

The decree of CYRUS (B.C. 536; Ezr. 1:1 ff.)? If so, 483 (=7 + 62 heptads) years end in 53 B.C. in no apparent connection with Christ.

The decree of DARIUS I (B.C. 519; Ezr. 4:24; Ezr. 6:1)? If so, 483 years end in 36 B.C.

The decree of ARTAXERXES I (B.C. 457; Ezr. 7:7-28)? If so, 483 years end in 26 A.D. and the 490 years (70 heptads) end in 33 A.D.

Thus, while it is conceivable that Jesus could point to Dan. 9:24 ff. which would be completely fulfilled in His generation, the above-mentioned uncertainties render it less likely that He would pinpoint the critical signal by linking it with the interpretation of a prophecy like that of Daniels Seventy Weeks, because it was too complicated for the common people.

If we presuppose that Jesus is thinking in terms of the LXX and no other version, the expression, desolating sacrilege (t bdlugma ts ermses), appears as such only at Dan. 12:11 in the LXX, a reference to Dan. 11:31, but not to Dan. 9:26 where a plural form is used. This distinction is important beyond simple linguistics. Daniel makes three uses of expression, abomination of desolation or its equivalent, but they do not refer to the same object. In fact, in Dan. 9:26 he speaks of events leading up to and contemporaneous with the Messiah, but in Dan. 11:31 and Dan. 12:1 he forepictures events during the Maccabean era. This makes the abomination of desolation in Dan. 9:26 ROMAN, and that referred to in Dan. 11:31 and Dan. 12:11 GREEK. Taken together, these literary allusions furnish a grisly foreshadowing of the final desolating sacrilege accomplished by the Zealots, Idumeans, Assassins and other terrorists and finally by the Roman army in 6670 A.D. But, to establish the literal fulfillment on Dan. 9:24-27, one must begin from the correct starting point in order correctly to calculate the events down to the coming of Christ and the establishing of the Church. However, because the definite date for the conclusion of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel is not specified in the prophecy itself, readers from 33 A.D. onward would still need to trust Jesus to know when the abomination of desolation predicted in Dan. 9:24-27 must occur. Thus, the Christians comprehension of the complete fulfillment of Dan. 9:24-27 would have to await the events themselves. For this, Jesus provided a signal based on a historico-literary allusion too painfully clear for misconception, based not on Dan. 9:27, but on Dan. 11:31; Dan. 12:1.

So, because Jesus warning would be perfectly valid without it, it is unnecessary to affirm that He intended hereby to interpret Daniels prophecy as an ancient prediction of the Roman invasion of His own times. Rather, for His own purpose He apparently borrows Daniels expression because of its vivid historical connotations. He intimates that what Antiochus Epiphanes did against Jerusalem would find tragic repetition in what the Romans would do, even though not literally predicted by Daniel in Dan. 11:31 or Mat. 12:11. He means, then, When you see the slightest suggestion that the agonizing history of Jerusalems pollution and desolation by Antiochus Epiphanes is about to be repeated, escape before you are trapped in the doomed city. One of the incredible sidelights of the final siege was the presence of a Greek general who, with Titus ungrudging permission, led his Macedonian troops in an unspectacular assault on Jerusalems wall. His name? Antiochus Epiphanes! (Wars, V, 11, 3).

Another important conclusion may be drawn from Jesus wording: our Lord considers the author of the wording in question to be Daniel the prophet himself, not some unknown understudy or later disciple who supposedly edited Daniels work. Nor is he some unknown Jew of Maccabean times who foisted off his own reading of history down to his own times, as if it were actually a prophecy by the ancient Jewish hero of Babylonian and Persian times. (Cf. critical introductions to the book of Daniel.)

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF DANIELS WORDS

If the abomination of desolation is to be a precise, decisive signal to warn believers of Jerusalems imminent downfall, the following conditions must be met:

The signal must involve an abomination, i.e. an outrage of Jewish religious sentiments. The sacrilege can be accomplished by anything God has taught His people to regard as idolatrous. (Cf. the bronze serpent, 2Ki. 18:4; Jer. 4:1; Jer. 7:30; Eze. 5:9; Eze. 5:11, esp. Eze. 5:14; also Molech the abomination of Moab, Chemosh the abomination of Ammon 1Ki. 11:5 ff.; 2Ki. 23:13.) Josephus terms the Roman ensigns images because of Caesars image thereon and because of the worship offered them (Ant. XVIII, 3, 1; War, VI, 6, 1). Various near-sacrileges occurred before 70 A.D. When Pilate stubbornly insisted on introducing Roman standards bearing Caesars effigy into Jerusalem, he faced so resolute a resistance he was compelled to concede and remove them (Ant. XVIII, 3, 1). Vitellius, Pilates contemporary and president of Syria, was persuaded by Jewish leaders not to march his armies across Jewish territory, because of the idolatrous insignias on Roman banners (Ant. XVIII, 5, 3). While these abominations brought no desolation, because each respective crisis was averted, yet they reveal the depth and intensity of Jewish aversion to the Roman banners, due to the abomination involved.

The sacrilege must also threaten desolation, i.e. it must be a religious outrage that brings desolation in its wake. This code word is no merely stereotyped phrase, since the event portended was life-menacing. When in 168 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanes took Jerusalem by treachery and committed sacrilege by building an idol altar dedicated to Olympian Zeus upon Gods altar, slew swine upon it and compelled Hebrews upon pain of death to forsake Gods worship, he desolated the religious basis of Israels national existence (Ant. XII, 5, 4; 1Ma. 1:41 ff; 1Ma. 6:7; 2Ma. 6:1-5). So, the original abomination of desolation was instigated by a foreign conqueror, the result of a disastrous war in which the City and Sanctuary were desecrated, ending sacrifice and offering. (Cf. Dan. 11:31; Dan. 12:11.) This suggests that pagan armies would perpetuate the sacrilege. (Cf. Luk. 21:20.)

The signal must be standing in the holy place where it ought not to be set up (Mar. 13:14). Where, however, or what is this holy place? The Temple? Jerusalem? the Holy Land itself? To be an effective signal, it must be visible, obvious to all, unmistakable: when you see. Hence, it cannot be half-hidden in the interior of the Temple house where presumably no eyes, but those of a few priests or the desecrators of the holy place, could penetrate. So, the holy place need not mean even the Temples grounds, consecrated to God but desecrated in some way by pagan armies. Rather, because He had made it His dwelling place, the entire Holy City belonged to God, and even to threaten its holiness by idolatrous banners is to desecrate it. (Cf. Mat. 5:35.) So reasoned the Jews (Ant. XVIII, 3, 1).

The signal must occur at a time when Christians would be in a condition of real liberty to flee from Jerusalem despite the Citys encirclement by foreign troops (Mat. 24:16; Luk. 21:21). This could occur under the following conditions:

Roman armies could flood across Palestine, taking city after city, moving ever closer to the capital. However, their troop movements and the establishment of Roman garrisons of occupation do not close up all escape routes whereby Christians could escape, although Jerusalem is virtually surrounded, even if not totally besieged. (Cf. Wars, IV, 9, 1.)

Jerusalem itself is totally surrounded by Roman troops in siege positions, rendering escape virtually impossible, but, for some incredible and unexplained reason, the siege is suddenly lifted and the Roman legions unexpectedly retreat, granting a moment for Christians to evacuate the City. Thus, the sign cannot occur during or after the final Roman siege has begun.

But it must also occur before Jerusalems sectarian defenders render all escape impossible by considering it a desertion of their cause to abandon the City and tantamount to joining the Romans. Hence, it cannot have occurred after the Zealots locked Jerusalems gates against the possibility of escape or desertion by its inhabitants.

Any reference to events that do not meet these requirements must be judged mistaken, because Jesus intended this critical signal to function successfully and be of practical help to His people. If, for example, the abomination of desolation must be thought of as (1) the desecration of the Temple by the outrages committed in the Temple by Jewish terrorists themselves (Wars, IV, 6, 3) of (2) the erection of the Roman standards within the Temple (Wars, VI, 6, 1), then, where is the Christians freedom to escape the City?

One thing this sign cannot mean, knowledgeable sources might confidently assert, is an army besieging Jerusalem, since escape from the city would be impossible once the siege began! Who but Jesus could be trusted to know that, even though Jerusalem were surrounded by a formidable military power, escape would still be incredibly possible by a totally improbable lifting of that siege? Who but a true Prophet could foresee with unerring certainty that a well-armed, well-disciplined army would inexplicably lift a successful siege from a desperate city and simply march away without any reason in the world (Wars, II, 19, 47). Who could predict this with such confidence as to make this obviously improbable event the very sign which would permit His followers to discern the critical moment to escape? And yet, this is the interpretation given by Luke (Luk. 21:20). The abomination of desolation, then, is to be a pagan army planting its idolatrous banners on soil that belongs to Gods people within His Holy City.

The fact that vile abominations were imported by the Roman conquerors AFTER the citys desolation is no argument against this interpretation. Rather, the appearance of these outrages against God occurred too late to save any lives. The common sense of Jesus implies that the critical signal be given in time for Christians to escape BEFORE the final siege began, whereas both in the case of Antiochus Epiphanes (Wars, I, 1, 12; Ant. XII, 5, 3f.) and in that of Titus conquest, the abomination connected with its permanent desecration occurred AFTER the city was taken,

THE FULFILLMENT OF JESUS PROPHECY

Although the Jews were not by any means united in their attitude toward Rome, they still longed for a political Messiah as a solution to their national situation increasingly infected with the disease of creeping revolt. Many vindictive blood baths and retaliatory measures took place in which hundreds of Romans, Samaritans and Jews were slain or severely wounded. The most significant took place in November of 66 A.D., convincing a vast group of eminent Jews to flee the City. Other Jews, when they saw the war approaching to their metropolis [i.e. Jerusalem], left the feast, and betook themselves to their arms . . . (Wars, II, 19, 2). In concept, this closely parallels Jesus warning: When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation has come near. The unbelieving Jews saw it and armed themselves to fight Cestius Gallus and the Romans; the Christians saw it and abandoned the city. Josephus describes the daring escape mechanism thus (47):

Cestius, observing that the disturbances that were begun among the Jews afforded him a proper opportunity to attack them, took his whole army along with him, and put the Jews to flight, and pursued them to Jerusalem. He then pitched his camp upon the elevation called Scopus. . . . But when Cestius was come into the city, he set the part called Bezetha . . . on fire; as he did also to the timber-market; after which he came into the upper city, and pitched his camp over against the royal palace; and had he but at this very time attempted to get within the walls by force, he had won the city presently, and the war had been put an end to at once; but Tyrannius Priscus, the muster-master of the army, and a great number of the officers of the horse had been corrupted by Florus, and diverted him from that his attempt; and that was the occasion that this war lasted so very long. . . . Thus did the Romans make their attack against the wall for five days but to no purpose. And now it was that a horrid fear seized upon the seditious, insomuch that many of them ran out of the city, as though it were to be taken immediately; but the people upon this took courage, and where the wicked part of the city gave ground, thither did they come, in order to set open the gates, and to admit Cestius as their benefactor, who had he but continued the siege a little longer, had certainly taken the city; but it was, I suppose, owing to the aversion God had already at the city and the sanctuary, that he was hindered from putting an end to the war that very day. It then happened that Cestius was not conscious either how the besieged despaired of success, nor how courageous the people were for him; and so he recalled his soldiers from the place, and by despairing of any expectation of taking it, without having received any disgrace, he retired from the city, without any reason in the world.

Cestius mode of retreating practically invited the Jewish insurrectionists in Jerusalem to follow him away from the City in hope of galling him at every opportunity. Rather than take decisive action by marching to Antipatris directly, he kept stalling his departure at each encampment until so many Jews surrounded him that the Roman troops were outnumbered (Wars, II, 19, 9).

So the Jews went on pursuing the Romans as far as Antipatris; after which, seeing they could not overtake them, they came back and took the engines [of war, i.e., catapults, etc.], and spoiled the dead bodies; and gathered the prey together which the Romans had left behind them, and came back running and singing to their metropolis; when they had themselves lost a few only, but had slain of the Romans five thousand and three hundred footmen and three hundred and eighty horsemen.

It was at this critical moment, while the terrorists pursued the retreating Romans, Josephus (Wars, II, 20, 1) remembers, After this calamity had befallen Cestius, many of the most eminent Jews swam away from the city, as from a ship when it was going to sink. Who were these people? While the Jewish historian names a few, were there no Christians in that mass exodus?

Further, that the time factor was critically limited is evident in a further note by Josephus (Wars, II, 20, 3): But as to those who had pursued after Cestius, when they were returned back to Jerusalem, they overbore some of those that favoured the Romans by violence, and some they pursuaded by entreaties to join with them. Later, even the slightest intimation that someone was making plans to leave Jerusalem was justification for the insurrectionists to slit his throat (Wars, V, 10, 1)! How important it was to believe Jesus and abandon the City on time! The opportunity for escape was fearfully limited. The door was left open when the terrorists and others rushed out of Jerusalem in pursuit of the Romans, but the door slammed shut as they returned. The time to go had comeand GONE. Those who saw that Cestius Gallus had entered an important suburb of Jerusalem, Bezetha, and visibly pitched his camp opposite the royal palace just outside the inner wall, proudly displaying his idolatrous Roman standards in his camp, recognized the sign of which Jesus had spoken years before. So while the pagan army retreated, the Christians fled. Unquestionably Cestius Gallus had planted Roman insignias within the city of Jerusalem in 66 A.D. Although his camp was situated outside an older wall, the site on which he chose to erect his camp was the New Town, or Bezetha suburb. This addition to Jerusalem was surrounded by a wall that linked it to the capital proper. So, a desolating sacrilege had appeared at Jerusalem and gone, leaving an escape route open for Gods people. (See Wars, V, 7, 2.)

It should be noticed that Cestius retreat was not the only opportunity for Christians to flee the City. It was merely the best one. There was temporary respite from the Roman advance on Jerusalem, when Vespasian suspended operations against it due to the death of Nero in A.D. 6870 (Wars, IV, 9, 2). During the short reigns of Galba, Otho and Vitellius (A.D. 68, 69), Vespasian and Titus simply waited due to the tension mounting in the Roman Empire. This afforded little opportunity for many to escape from Jerusalem, however, since the Zealots in Jerusalem and the Romans encompassing the city on all sides practically deprived them of this liberty (ibid., 1). Some even managed to escape the Citys fate after the Zealot-Idumean pollution of the Temple (ibid., 7, 1; see also on Mat. 24:24).

2. Urgent, practical instructions for rapid escape (24:1620)

Mat. 24:16 Then let them that are in Judea flee unto the mountains. Up to this point the Lord was advising disciples not to panic in the presence of misleading signs by acting hastily on the basis of superficial judgments about the times. Now He must protect them against the ill-advised fanaticism of the rebels who would hope that God would miraculously deliver Jerusalem from its assigned destiny. (Cf. Wars, V, 11, 2.) This error compounded their confusion and funneled them all right into the Roman meat grinder. Here, too, the ancient observation would find another appropriate application: Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will (Dan. 12:10).

Those that are in Judaea are those who believe Jesus enough to act on the signal He gives. Judea may or may not include all of Jewish-controlled Palestine. Luke often uses this geographic term in this sense, but Matthew seems to use it here in the more limited, provincial sense, i.e. only the area south of Samaria, not all of Jewish territory. Certainly, Judea involves Jerusalem directly, as Luke adds: Let those who are inside the city depart and let not those who are out in the country enter it (Luk. 21:21). Christians who would actually be dwelling in the target area at the moment by the warning, who would see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, would otherwise think to take refuge in the City as a place of perfect security. There would have been no reason whatever to urge believers to attempt a physical escape, if Jesus had in mind His own Second Coming when we will no longer need to escape, but shall finally rise to meet Him in the air. The keyword is flee from the would-be disaster zone, Judea.

Flee unto the mountains. Is it not most singular that anyone should advise leaving a city as well-fortified as Jerusalem which could withstand a long siege and enjoyed a superior military advantage over its attackers? To the common-sense observer of the day, the question was, Why should these otherwise sensible people become fools for sake of their Christ? But the true wisdom of the Christians was amply justified by its results. In fact, if God Almighty is planning to rain down judgment on a city and warns His people to abandon that locality, it is the height of folly NOT to leave! (Cf. Jer. 51:45 f.; Gen. 19:14-22.)

Part of the cause of the magnitude of the tragedy surrounding Jerusalems death lay in the fact that, shortly before the final siege-works closed the city, on the feast of unleavened bread, which was not come . . . Eleazar and his party opened the gates of this . . .temple, and admitted such of the people as were desirous to worship God into it (Wars, V, 3, 1). Vast multitudes of Jews and proselytes poured into Jerusalem despite the war-time conditions, to worship at the Passover (Wars, VI, 9, 3). Confident of Gods protection, they crowded into what, ironically, would prove to be their grave, sealed in by their own people (Wars, V, 1, 5). Jesus ordered His people, Flee! (See also Eusebius, Ecclestical History, III, 5.)

To the mountains. Because Jerusalem itself is located on a ridge in the hill country of Judah, hills surround it both on the north and south. Even though these hills themselves are not high, still, in contrast to the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea far below them, they would seem mountains by contrast. So, where are the mountains to which Christians must flee? Eusebius ( Eccl. Hist., III, 5) reports:

The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city, and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella.

Pella is located east of the Jordan River in the edge of the hill country of Perea between the Jabbok and Jarmuk Rivers, south of Gadara, southeast of Scythopolis (Bethshean) northwest of Gerasa. This city of the Decapolis lies about 4 km (2.5 mi.) from the Jordan. This location so near the river is not yet well into the higher hills of Perea farther east. So, in what sense would an escape to Pella be tantamount to flight to the mountains? Josephus (Wars, IV, 8, 2) contrasts the hill country of Cisjordan with that of Transjordan thus:

[Jericho] is situated in a plain; but a naked and barren mountain of a great length, hangs over it, which extends itself to the land about Scythopolis [Bethshean] northward, but as far as the country of Sodom and the utmost limits of the lake Asphaltitis [Dead Sea] southward. . . . There is an opposite mountain that is situated over against it, on the other side of the Jordan; this last begins at Julias [Bethsaida Julias, see Luk. 9:10; Mar. 8:22; Joh. 6:1] and the northern quarters, and extends itself southward as far as Somorrhon, which is the bounds of Petra in Arabia.

So, Jesus could speak of the mountains and be understood by others as referring to what we might call hills in contrast to the Alps or the Rockies. In fact, at some point in their eastward rush, Christian refugees must cross the Jordan River. Were they to cross opposite Pella from the valley of Bethshean, they must descend to the rivers level at 259 m ( 850 ft.) below sea level. Coming out on the other side, they must climb out of the inner Jordan Valley (Zr) onto the wider Jordan plateau only 137 m ( 450 ft.) below sea level. Then they would begin the real climb to the 874 m (2868 ft.) above sea level in the first 10 km (6.2 mi.). This represents a total gain of over 1134 m (300 ft.). Although such tall hills, of course, do not compare with Mount Hermon to the north, anyone walking that particular stretch of country would be ready to call those hills mountains. Regardless of which route Christians took to arrive at Pella, they would be moving from the level of the Jordan River at whatever crossing they chose, toward the Gilead mountain range that arises to an average height of 1220 m (4000 ft.) above the Jordan Valley, or to about 915 m (3000 ft.) above sea level.

Hendriksen (Matthew, 858) offers four arguments for rejecting the fourth century assertion that the Christians went to Pella: Scholars who have made a special study of the early history of the Jerusalem church doubt this fourth century A.D. report. They tell us that a. in order at this time to get to Pella, believers would have had to break their way through lines of Roman soldiers; b. the people left in Pella were filled with bitter hatred against all Jews, including Christian Jews; c. Pella could not have provided housing for all the refugees; and d. if the escape had been attempted at a slightly earlier date, the Christians would have fallen into the hostile hands of the fanatical Jewish freedom-fighters.

Unhappily, these arguments ignore several important points and contain several false assumptions involving both the geography of Palestine and the chronology of the Roman occupation of Palestine.

Certainly, if the fleeing Christians took the Jericho road and either of the two roads flanking the Jordan River for easier travel north to Pella, they might have encountered Romans. The same could be affirmed of travel straight north to Bethel, Shechem, Scythopolis and Pella. However, if they entered the hilly country northeast of Jerusalem, bypassing any towns garrisoned by the Romans or occupied by Zealot sympathizers, it is far less likely that they would have encountered enemy troops. Engines of war could not be hauled over those hills with ease, and the infantry would be worn out by the constant climbing and descents. The same is also true for the refugees themselves, but they have at least gained the advantage of staying away from the main-travelled routes leading to Jerusalem.

What inhabitants of Pella would not receive the fleeing Jewish Christians? Pella was one of the cities whose population has been DESTROYED by Jews in retaliation for the anti-Jewish massacres in Caesarea (Wars, II, 18, 1). Thus, along with other abandoned cities of the Decapolis, Pella could well have been settled by Jewish Christians fleeing from Jerusalem. Josephus specifically states: some cities they destroyed there and some they set on fire . . . some they burned to the ground entirely demolished. But he is silent about the fate of Pella and other Decapolis cities, limiting himself to say they laid waste the villages of the Syrians and their neighboring cities, which perhaps refers only to their inhabitants. It was shortly after the above-mentioned massacres that Cestius Gallus encircled Jerusalem (Wars, II, 19, 1, 8). Then he retreated, leaving the way for Christians to flee from the capital to these abandoned cities of Decapolis.

Although we may presume that, despite persecutions, the Jerusalem Church remained of significant size even to the times of Pauls great, final visit (cf. Act. 21:17-22), for how many refugees must lodging be found in Pella? Because of the earlier massacre of its inhabitants, the Christians would become the majority, if not the exclusive population, to take possession of the property of the former inhabitants of the now practically empty city.

While it is true that after Vespasian swarmed into Palestine, there were Roman garrisons in Bethel and Ephraim, blocking that route (Wars, IV, 9, 9), earlier, however, immediately after the disastrous retreat of Cestius Gallus (Wars II, 19, 18; 20, 1), that route would have been relatively open. In fact, both Jewish insurgents and Roman troops together were moving northwest away from Jerusalem toward Antipatris. The fanatics, thus, were led AWAY from the Christians escape route by the retreating Romans, leaving even the critical well-travelled highways to the northeast quite free.

EASE OF ESCAPE DEPENDS ON TIMING. If the signal came before Vespasian arrived in Palestine after the debacle of Cestius Gallus at Jerusalem, then Christians would have been quite free to desert the capital and travel to Pella and other cities.

The Hindrances of Possessions (24:17f.)

Mat. 24:17 Let him that is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house. On the housetop pictures the flat-roofed constructions so common around the Mediterranean. The limited, and in some areas almost non-existent, snowfall permits builders to create a roof terrace to gain further living space and storage. In Scripture, the paved, flat roof was a place for drying flax (Jos. 2:6), for privacy and rest (1Sa. 9:25 f.), for prayer (Act. 10:9), as an observation post (Isa. 22:1) or a place from which to make public announcements (Mat. 10:27). Jesus does not order His followers to escape by jumping from rooftop to rooftop until they could reach the city wall and let themselves down nor does He order them not to descend from their own rooftop in an orderly manner. Rather, they are not to go down to take out the things that are in the house. Life preserved is more than possessions conserved. Anyone who has ever moved his possessions from one town to another and must decide which items were absolutely essential and which things might be abandoned without loss, understands the time-consuming, decision-making process that would hinder the instant flight of the householder. Further, transporting cumbersome household goods would require further precious time to secure the necessary transport. Speedy removal of a house full of goods collected over a lifetime was out of the question, but the temptation would arise to try it anyway. Therefore, Jesus enjoins instant, unencumbered escape while there was still time.

Mat. 24:18 And let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak. Here is a Christian farmer working his ground near Jerusalem, lightly dressed only for sweaty field work. The warning signal to flee catches him at work, without his long robe that serves as an overcoat and, in the case of the poor, also doubles as a blanket at night (Deu. 24:12 f.; Exo. 22:26 f.). But even this vital item of clothing is to be abandoned in favor of departure without delay. Jesus is emphasizing an exodus so hasty that people would be evacuated with just the shirt on their back!

Unavoidable Personal Hindrances (24:19)

Mat. 24:19 But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! This woe depicts the plight of both believing and unbelieving mothers alike in those fateful days (Luk. 23:28 f.). Any mother would suffer. Due to excruciating hunger during the famine of the siege of Jerusalem, Jewish mothers devoured their own children, just as God said they would (Deu. 28:49-57; cf. Wars V, 10, 3; VI, 3, 4f.). Contextually, however, Jesus reference is to the Christian mothers who, because pregnant, or because nursing children, would not be able to travel rapidly for long, forced marches plunging through rough country without provisions or adequate shelter,

Hindrances Beyond Christians Control (24:20)

Mat. 24:20 And pray ye that your flight be not in winter, neither on a sabbath. Pray means that God is not unaware of your plight nor unconcerned about you in those terrible uncertainties nor are those trials an evidence He had abandoned His people. Rather, even though your escape cannot be avoided, your suffering may be alleviated. You should continue to beseech Him for what might seem to be trivial blessings, but which could make all the difference between succumbing and survival.

Your flight: what is contemplated is the believers escape, hopefully not during certain periods. Obviously, none of these directions concern Christs Second Coming, because under what conditions may the believers rising to meet the Lord in the air be considered an escape from dangers of earth, a flight not to be conditioned by winters or sabbaths? Must God be besought to send Jesus back to earth on the off-season, but not on the weekend?

Travel in civil-war conditions would not be safe in the best of weather. (Cf. 2Ch. 15:5 f.) But in the winter, cold, rainy weather, shorter daylight hours, bad or non-existent roads and unfordable, swollen rivers would all contribute to limit freedom of travel. Worse, camping out in such weather would be prohibitive, except for the most desperate fugitives. Winter might even bring snowfall (1Ma. 13:22). Further, the fields through which the Christians must pass would not furnish any but the crudest emergency food.

The total rout of Cestius Gallus occurred on the eighth day of the month of Dius, or Marchesvan, in the twelfth year of Nero (A.D. 5468). This would be late October or early November of A.D. 66. So, these prayers were essential, because, although their flight occurred about three weeks after the Feast of Tabernacles in which people had been camping out in and around Jerusalem (Wars, II, 19, 1ff.), the early rains would normally begin in that period (Deu. 11:14). Their prayers should be addressed therefore to Him who controls the rain.

Neither on a sabbath. Never would this warning have any worldwide significance, except in that country where strict, superstitious reverence for the Sabbath would have prohibited long-distance travel on Saturday, i.e. in Palestine. (Cf. Ant. XVIII, 8, 4; XIV, 4, 2f.) That Mark does not mention the sabbath is not so much out of regard for his Gentile readers, as that this detail would not affect them outside of Palestine, whereas Matthews inclusion of this detail would be extremely pertinent in Israel. There a centuries-old tradition, coupled with proud patriotism, had taken root, which refused to take offensive action against ones national enemies on the Sabbath. Even if Christians themselves might with justification describe their fleeing from the Roman horror as defensive action, zealous bigots might quarrel with their interpretation and impede their escape. Further, if city gates were locked (cf. Neh. 13:19 ff.) or Sabbath closing of stores made the purchase of food for the journey or the hiring of lodging impossible among the orthodox (cf. Neh. 13:15 ff.), dangerous delays would mount up.

And what of those Jewish Christians whose ingrained habit continued to hold one day above another (Rom. 14:5 f.)? Their cultural orientation might still cause them to think of the Sabbath as a day on which no work might be done. (Study Act. 21:20 b26.) Because Jewish believers still observed many cultural mores, perhaps many in Jerusalem still acted on Saturday as they always had, even though they knew it had been surpassed by Christ. Nevertheless, even though Jesus sabbath doctrine (cf. Mat. 12:8-11) was elastic enough to permit life-saving escape, yet those who would not travel more than a sabbath-days journey would travel no more than a kilometer away from the danger zone.

3. Motivation: great, unprecedented tribulation (24:21)

Mat. 24:21 for then shall be great tribulation. For connects this great tribulation with the hasty escape just mentioned to avoid the punishment of Jerusalem (Mat. 24:20). That this cannot be the great tribulation of Revelation 7 is evident because the sufferings of Matthew 24 are punitive justice poured out by God on an unbelieving Israel and from which the Christians could escape alive on earth by following Jesus instructions. They would actually avoid this great tribulation meant here, whereas those who must suffer it and die in it were the wicked of Israel who had crucified their Messiah, persecuted His Church and filled up the measure of their fathers (Mat. 23:23 ff.). Contrarily, those who come out of great tribulation in Revelation 7 are the victorious from every nation, tribe, people and tongue who have been purified by the blood of Christ (Rev. 7:14 ff.). There are simply TWO great tribulations, one through which the unbelieving in Israel passed, and the other which Christians must endure. The fact that they were sometimes contemporaneous must not confuse us regarding their perpetrators, their intentions nor their victims. The Jewish great tribulation of 6670 A.D. must not be confused for the trials suffered by Christians during the present age down to Christs coming (Rev. 7:14).

Great tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no and never will be. This language appears to depict an event so horrible that Jerusalems demolishment must be sought by relating the prophecy to some later, even future temple. But three motives induce us to conclude otherwise:

God had already used this kind of language before: How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it (Jer. 30:7). Uniquely grand and terrible would be that later day intended, but Jeremiah proceeds to explain that its occurrence would be completely earthly as the events in world politics would permit Gods people to return to their homeland. (See Jeremiahs context.) Further, Daniel too wrote: There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then (Dan. 12:1). And yet, despite the horrors of that distress, the deliverance of Gods people was guaranteed, because at that time your peopleeveryone whose name is found written in the bookwill be delivered.

This same thought form was considered appropriate by Jesus contemporary, the Pharisean(?) author of Assumption of Moses Mat. 8:1, to describe the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes:

And there shall come upon them a second visitation and wrath, such as has not befallen them from the beginning until that time, in which He will stir up against them the king of the kings of the earth and one that ruleth with great power who shall crucify those who confess to their circumcision. . . .

Josephus (Wars, Preface, 4) lamented:

Accordingly it appears to me, that the misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to these of the Jews, are not so considerable as they were.

Josephus (Wars, V, 10, 5) further noted:

Neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world.

After tallying the number of captives of 97,000 and those who perished during the entire siege at 1,100,000, whether by pestilence, famine or murder, Josephus then concludes in highly wrought, emotional language: The multitude of those that therein perished exceeded all the destructions that either men or God ever brought upon the world. While it is fashionable to dismiss Josephus for exaggeration, one must consider his lament in the light of its theological and spiritual significance, evident even to this Jewish observer.

Now, if it be thought that Jews are given to hyperbole when describing monstrously horrible facts, should not Jesus prepare His disciples to face this particular disaster by using language appropriate to the terrible grandeur and spiritual significance of the events portrayed? If it be argued that the fall of Jerusalem, however indescribable its horrors, is nevertheless beggared by comparison with the Nazi holocaust that wiped out a greater number of Hebrews, let it be recalled that the magnitude of what Jesus predicts is not to be evaluated merely in terms of the number of lives or the value of the property lost. Rather, its meaning lies in the kind or quality of the catastrophe.

This great tribulation must be adjudged such in light of the sentence Jesus had just pronounced upon Israel (Mat. 23:29-36, esp. Mat. 23:35). If the punishment of that nation was to be the proper judicial climax to a process of rejecting Gods witnesses from the beginning of the world until now, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the death of Zachariah, consummating in the crucifixion of Israels Messiah, then it should not be surprising that unparalleled privations, torture and slaughter should accompany this terrible visitation of Gods wrath so horrible as to defy description. (Cf. Luk. 21:23 and similar language used by the author of 1Ma. 1:64 to describe the original abomination of desolation. See also 1Ma. 9:27.)

One of the significant differences between the great tribulation suffered by the Christians (Rev. 7:14) and that endured by the Jews (Mat. 24:21) is that to a significant degree the latter was self-inflicted. Without diminishing the seriousness of the heartless slaughters of Jewish people by Syrians and others (Wars, II, 18), the most damage to Hebrew people during the final hours of their Holy City came from their own countrymen, not so much from the Romans (Wars, IV, 5, 35). In fact, Vespasian astutely refused to seek military advantage in the civil war raging inside the city, lest he thereby instantly unite the Jews against the Romans. So he determined to let his enemies destroy each other with their own hands (Wars, IV, 6, 2). The degree of barbarity rose to such heights that Jews considered the dead most happy (ibid,, 6, 3). Josephus (Wars, V, 6, 1) chronicled:

For they never suffered anything that was worse from the Romans than they made each other suffer; nor was there any misery endured by the city after these mens actions that could be esteemed new. But it was most of all unhappy before it was overthrown, while those that took it did it a greater kindness; for I venture to affirm, that the sedition destroyed the city, and the Romans destroyed the sedition, which was a much harder thing to do than to destroy the walls; so that we may justly ascribe our misfortunes to our own people and the just vengeance taken on them by the Romans.

Not least among the miseries was the entire absence of any mercy shown fellow Jews who happened by the evil destiny of war to be on the wrong side, or in possession of food or valuables sought by Jewish plunderers who went from house to house, assaulting, robbing and killing. No moral law, no honor, no mercy! Where was that superior righteousness that Israel had flaunted before the benighted pagans?

Not least among the agonies was the soul-wrenching anguish of doubt, Why does not God save us, His people, racked and wretched as we are? To be abandoned by God must be the most heart-rending tragedy imaginable for anyone, and it was theirs in that dark hour. This was literally the end of an era (suntlia to ainos, Mat. 24:3).

So, this great tribulation is, for us, now past, because the destruction of Jerusalem was the gruesome climax of that period. This is not to say, unfortunately, that all, or even any, tribulation is over for the Christians, since, in fact, Jesus was not even discussing this latter issue. After 70 A.D. John still considered himself a sharer in the Christian tribulation (thlpsis, Rev. 1:9). Temptations and crises of every kind will plague us down ,to the last minute before our Lords return, simply because evil shall be left in the world until that time. (See notes on Mat. 13:24-30; Mat. 13:36-43; cf. Act. 14:22; 1Th. 3:3 f.; 2Th. 1:4 f.; Rev. 7:14.) However, the horror-filled death-throes of Jerusalem and its Temple are past.

But what is there to fear, then, if this all be over? What encouragement to righteousness is there, if modern man must contemplate this event as all but forgotten in the dust of history? Much every way! Jesus has been proved true as an authentic spokesman for God. All that He foretold about OUR future may be studied with far more serious reflection, and all that He commands must be obeyed with greater promptness and eagerness. We may trust Him for leadership during our trials.

4. Duration: short but terrible (24:22)

Mat. 24:22 And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elects sake those days shall be shortened. Those days are the ruthless bloodbath just described (Mat. 24:21), identified as those days in which Christians must flee from Judea (Mat. 24:19) at the time of the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place (Mat. 24:15). See also Mar. 13:17; Mar. 13:19 and Luk. 21:23 which use in those days to identify this period. No flesh: Jesus is discussing only Hebrew flesh, i.e. the entire Jewish people, not all of humanity. Everyone in Israel would have been wiped out in the Roman malestrom that would take the nation and all its people with it. Jesus uses saved here, not of spiritual salvation, but in the sense of avoidance of death. (Cf. Mat. 8:25; Mat. 27:40; Mat. 27:42; Mat. 27:49.)

A remarkable series of events contributed to the abbreviation of the sufferings:

The earlier emperor Claudius had forbidden Agrippa to complete significant fortifications that would have rendered Jerusalems northern flank virtually unimpregnable (Ant. XIX, 7, 2), Consequently, both Cestius Gallus (Wars, II, 19, 4) and Titus (Wars, V, 6, 2; Mat. 7:3) found the wall around the New City (Bezetha) easier to demolish. This tightened his vice-like grip on the capital sooner.

Shortly before Titus arrived at Jerusalem, the three-way civil war within the city shortened those days in a surprising manner (Wars, V, 1, 4). One of the terrorists

. . . set on fire those houses that were full of corn, and of all other provisions . . . as if they had, on purpose, done it to serve the Romans, by destroying what the city had laid up against the siege, and by thus cutting off the nerves of their own power . . . almost all of the corn was burnt, which would have been sufficient for a siege of many years. So they were taken by the means of famine, which it was impossible they should have been, unless they had thus prepared the way for it by this procedure.

Internal dissension divided and seriously undermined Israels defenders.

Due to battle fatigue and fear compounded by emotional stress caused by desertions and their own physical distress, the Jewish terrorists nerve was broken to the point they even abandoned unassailable bulwarks. Josephus (Wars, VI, 8, 4f.) reflects,

Here one may chiefly reflect on the power of God exercised upon those wicked wretches, and on the good fortune of the Romans; for these tyrants did now wholly deprive themselves of the security they had in their own power, and came down from those very towers of their own accord, wherein they could have never been taken by force, nor indeed by any other way than by famine. And thus did the Romans, when they had taken such great pains about weaker walls, get by good fortune what they could never have gotten by their engines; for three of these towers were too strong for all mechanical engines whatsoever. . . . So they now left these towers of themselves, or rather they were ejected out of them by God himself, and fled. . . . So the Romans being now become masters of the walls, they both placed their ensigns upon the towers, and made joyful acclamations for the victory they had gained, as having found the end of the war much lighter than its beginning; for when they had gotten upon the last wall without any bloodshed, they could hardly believe what they found to be true. . . .

After inspecting this fortification, the Roman general himself could not but confess, We have certainly had God for our assistant in this war, and it was no other than God that ejected the Jews out of those fortifications; for what could the hands of men, or any machines, do towards overthrowing those towers (ibid., 9, 1)!

Crowded conditions were created by the Paschal crowds that had poured into the Holy City just prior to its encirclement by the Romans. Because of the scanty provisions, the pestilence created by festering corpses and the hideous brutality, survival of anyone became a debatable question.

These factors, taken together, facilitated the Roman victory, took off the pressure against Rome and essentially shortened those days. The Roman siege of Jerusalem lasted from shortly before the Passover on the fourteenth of Nisan until the eighth of Elul in Vespasians second year (Wars, V, 3, 1; 13, 7; VI, 10, 1). Thus, from April to September, Jerusalems capture was completed in the relatively brief span of five months. By contrast, it had taken Nebuchadnezzar over a year and five months to bring the city to its knees (Jer. 52:4-7; Jer. 52:12).

But for the elects sake those days shall be shortened. Even the abbreviation of the time allotted for the troubling of Gods people was a concept in vogue in Jewish apocalyptic literature. (Cf. 2 Baruch 20:1f.; 83:1.) There, however, the elect are the righteous in Israel and the days of judgment would punish the Gentiles, the apostates and glorify the proselytes to Judaism. But here, according to Jesus, who are the elect?

The elect, in Scripture, is a term always to be understood from Gods point of view, ideally referring to those whom He chooses to be His people. But His election is not unconditional, for His choice presupposes their free choice to be His by loving, obedient faith. Hence, here, the elect are those Jewish Christians who as the remnant of visible, national Israel, formed the nucleus of the new Israel of God (Rom. 11:5-7; Gal. 3:7-9; Gal. 3:26-29; Gal. 6:16; Eph. 1:4; Php. 3:3) as well as converted Gentiles (Rom. 11:11-32). To affirm that the elect must refer exclusively to Gods former people, national Israel, is to forget that Matthew, though himself a Jew, has already taught that true participation in Gods program is not a question of parentage (Mat. 3:8-10) personal power (Mat. 7:22 f.), pampering and past privileges (Mat. 8:10 ff.; Mat. 11:20-24; Mat. 21:33 to Mat. 22:14), or perspiration (Mat. 20:1-16), but a question of proper priorities and appropriate openness with God. No unbelieving Hebrew could be described as elect in this definitive sense.

So, because it is exegetically impossible that Jesus could have spoken so ambiguously as to embrace both the converted and the unconvertible of Israel under the term, the elect, He refers here, as also in Mat. 24:31, to the people of the Messiah, the free citizens of the Kingdom (Mat. 17:26), who lived to see and hear the very things for which the fathers had long waited (Mat. 13:17) and enjoyed the personal knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom (Mat. 13:11). In short, the elect are those fortunate (from the Jewish standpoint: Luk. 14:15) people who lived in the days of the Messiah and served Him, the Christians. For them the critical days shall be shortened, for although they fled from Jerusalem in time and were relatively safe from immediate danger, they could not avoid other privations elsewhere in Palestine spawned by the war: famine, pestilences, shortages and other break-downs in every area of civil life wrecked by the war,

To know that those days shall be shortened brings comforting assurance and hope. This affirmation fairly sings its confidence, infusing its certainty into believing hearts:

Gods true Prophet, Jesus of Nazareth, knows that the terrible days just described will not go on forever. They will end. This fact convinces believers that it is worth it to hold on patiently till the end.

Neither Satan, nor Rome nor the evil men in the land are either final or omnipotent. The duration of the suffering has already been established by the determinate planning of Almighty God who is in full control, notwithstanding the soul-crushing terror stalking the land.

This shortening is even a decree of mercy for Jerusalem, for if it blesses Christians, it also gives respite to the tormented survivors of Jerusalems siege because the terrors would be over for them too, since even Roman treatment of captives would be merciful by comparison to the barbarities suffered from their own people.

This hope confirms another conclusion by evidencing how misguided is any rapture theory that imagines Gods people to be caught up out of this world before the great terrible tribulation. If our text is thought to be evidence of the final great tribulation (Rev. 7:14), and not merely of the Jewish sufferings at Jerusalem in 70 A.D., then what are the elect doing present in the tribulation? If they were all previously caught up to heaven, according to the rapture theory, then why must the days of the tribulation be shortened for the elects sake?

Ulterior confirmation of the correctness of the view that the great tribulation here pictured by Matthew refers to the shocking debacle of 70 A.D. comes from Luk. 21:23 f. where this same period is thus summarized: For great distress shall be upon the earth (land?) and wrath upon this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive among the nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Avoiding all the Jewish rhetoric of Matthew and Mark to describe these dramatic events, Luke furnishes important interpretative details:

Great distress upon the earth (angk megl ep ts gs). G, here rendered earth, can also refer to a land, a district, a region or country. (Cf. Arndt-Gingrich, 156.) So, Jesus may be discussing merely the land par excellence highest in the Hebrew mind, Palestine. His parallel phrase, wrath upon this people, confirms this view, because this people, contextually, refers to Jerusalem and the dwellers of Judea (Luk. 21:20 f.; cf. Mat. 24:24).

What would happen to Israel could only be termed wrath, probably of both God and men. Although Titus himself was mild and conciliatory to the end (Wars, VI, 2, 14; 4:37; esp. 6:2; 8, 2), the Roman legions were the appropriate rod of Gods wrath. (Cf. Wars, V, 1, 3; 8, 2; 9, 3f.; 13, 5; VI, 1, 5; 9, 1.) Roman vengeance simply punished Israels violations of the Old Covenant (Deu. 32:35; Deu. 28:15-68; cf. Hos. 9:7; Jer. 5:29), not to mention their refusal of Gods Son and His messengers (Mat. 23:34-39). Jerusalem well deserved both the Roman and the Divine wrath.

Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles. (Cf. Mat. 24:2; Wars, VII, 1, 1.) This city has literally gone under the heel of Gentiles from A.D. 70 onward, as Romans and a host of other Gentiles dominated it down to the time of the Arabs. Rather than promise the fondly hoped-for restoration of Gods kingdom to Israel (Act. 1:6), the Lord revealed that Israels fate would be dispersion and disintegration and the Citys destiny is desolation.

The effect of this disaster would be lasting, but not necessarily eternal; simply until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The simplest interpretation of this key time-limitation is that the desolation would last until the Gentiles, as instruments of Gods government of the world, had completed this punitive judgment on the City and its people, the Jewish nation itself.

However, because the expression, the times of the Gentiles (kairoi ethnn), may correctly speak of the opportunity which God grants the Gentiles, not merely to punish Israel, but primarily to enjoy His grace, Jesus means that the aforementioned disaster would continue during the period when the gracious offer of salvation is granted the Gentiles through the Gospel. (Cf. Mar. 13:10; Rom. 11:25; Mat. 21:43.) Bruce (Training, 327) sees this special period of Gentile opportunity as corresponding to the time of gracious visitation enjoyed by the Jews, referred to by Jesus in His lament over Jerusalem. Then he concludes:

It is incredible that Jesus should speak of a time of the Gentiles analogous to the time of merciful visitation enjoyed by the Jews, and imagine that the time of the Gentiles was to last only some thirty years. The Jewish kairs lasted thousands of years: it would be only mocking the poor Gentiles to dignify the period of a single generation with the name of a season of gracious visitation.

Alford (I, 637) is probably correct to notice that the times (kairoi) is plural because the gentiles is plural: each Gentile people having in turn its kairs.

NOTE, however, that nothing is affirmed here about what will occur once the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Jesus does not affirm that the Jews will return to Jerusalem under the same terms they always enjoyed prior to their loss of the Holy City. That Jews have returned to the City is a fact of modern history, but their conversion either to the complete message of the Old Testament or to the Christ of the New Testament is not. Rather, the period in question may end when the Gentile world per s rejects Christ, just as the Jewish dispensation ended when the Hebrews as a people turned Him down. In fact, after the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, God could bring world history to a complete halt, judge everyone and start eternity rolling for us, without so much as one backward glance at Jerusalem, Palestine or Jews.

Another important observation: contrary to many views of Mat. 24:29-31 based on the expression, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, it may be correctly inferred that an indefinite period of time would follow Jerusalems fall, so that Christs return to earth could not be expected shortly after the Judean crisis. As will be seen, immediately after the tribulation of those days (Mat. 24:29) may be interpreted in its natural sense, because it is not the Second Coming of Christ that is being announced for the period directly following Jerusalems destruction. (See on Mat. 24:29.)

5. Warning: no hope of Christs personal coming during the siege (24:2328)
a. Despite apparently miraculous signs, all false hopes of deliverance raised by false prophets must unswervingly be disregarded (24:2326)

Mat. 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ, or, Here; believe it or not. Then (tte), i.e. during the same general period referred to before (in those days, then, Mat. 24:19-22), thus, in the last, distress-filled days prior to the overthrow of Jerusalem. Although the appearance of false hope can plague Christians of any era, the peculiar uncertainties of a war-torn, first-century Palestine could stimulate unwarranted trust in rumors that Christ had returned to earth. This would tempt Jewish believers living in the Diaspora to flock to Palestine because of their love for Jesus and for their religious homeland. But it would also draw them right into the Roman trap just before it would spring shut. Jesus would not have His people lay down their lives unnecessarily for a wrong-headed nationalistic movement with which they should have no true, spiritual affinity or association.

If any man shall say unto you. . . . Contrary to false rumors, Jesus true appearance will be so obvious and convincing (Mat. 24:27) that there will be no need for false intelligence reports by charlatans! Believe it not: this command is repeated in v. 26 to make its force emphatically clear. Here is a severe test of ones discipleship: whom shall I believe when my world is falling apart? Jesus would guard His followers from losing Christ while believing themselves about to find Him!

The fact that Jesus reiterates this warning (Mat. 24:4) is thought by some to be a change of subject from the perils surrounding the Jewish War to the Second Coming, for, say they, He could not have desired merely to repeat information already given, unless it related to another subject as, in this case, the Second Coming. On the contrary, the breakdown in communications between Christian groups that could occur in the chaos of the crumbling nation might well entice those congregations to rally behind anyone who held out a glimmer of hope for the doomed nation. This explains why our Lord must make His point emphatically clear by repeating it, especially in connection with the great tribulation of A.D. 6670.

Mat. 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. For: this verse and those following reinforce Mat. 24:23 by way of parenthetical explanation. Jesus will not leave this point until Mat. 24:27. The excited cry, Here is the Christ! or There! (Mat. 24:23) is not to be believed because it involves false claims put forward by imposters, backed by deceptive credentials. Here the Lord returns to an earlier theme (Mat. 24:5) to clarify a particular point. But the fact that He is doing this helps to determine to what time period the information most specifically refers. The contention that history knows little if anything of such false Christs prior to the Destruction of Jerusalem has no validity, because it does not ask the right question. We must ask WHAT KIND of messianic concept moved the masses, and even Jesus disciples, in the first century. Only thus will become clear WHAT KIND of great signs and wonders would have been so appealing as to tempt Gods precious nucleus, the remnant that believed Jesus, into abandoning the true Christ for false christs. (Examine texts like the allurements and challenges Jesus was offered to become a Jewish Messiah: Mat. 4:9; Mat. 11:2; Mat. 16:21 f; Mat. 27:39-43; Luk. 22:49; Joh. 6:14 f; Joh. 7:3-4; Act. 1:6.) These texts reveal the basely materialistic, nationalistic messianism of Jesus contemporaries and explain the power of the temptation to all who held such notions. (See notes on Mat. 18:1; Mat. 20:20-28.)

So, a false Christ was not an Antichrist in the Johannine sense (1Jn. 2:18 ff.; 2Jn. 1:7) or even one who would necessarily perform lying wonders by Satanic power, in the Pauline sense (2Th. 2:9), but a demagogue in Israel who pretended to be everything Jesus was not, but who would give Israel the kind of Christ Israel longed for but which Jesus refused even to offer. False prophets, in the Old Testament sense, are men who offered false hopes to a doomed, unrepentant Israel. (Cf. Jer. 8:10 f; Jer. 14:14-16; Jer. 20:1-6; chap. 23; Jer. 27:9-21; chaps. 28, 29; Jer. 37:19; Ezekiel 13; Eze. 14:9-11; Eze. 22:28; chap. 34.)

Josephus history documents the appearance of a number of politico-military messiahs who cruelly deceived themselves and the people with unfounded schemes for re-establishing the ancient independence of the theocracy as they conceived it (Wars, II, 13, 4; VI, 5, 2f.). Although the Lord had predicted the appearance of false prophets before the end (Mat. 24:5), there would also be impostors during the Roman siege of Jerusalem too. Josephus (Wars, VI, 5, 2f.) recounts:

A false prophet was the occasion of these peoples destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day, that God commanded them to get up upon the temple, and there they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance. Now there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose upon the people, who denounced this to them, that they should wait for deliverance from God; and this was in order to keep them from deserting, and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care by such hopes. Now, a man that is in adversity does easily comply with such promises; for when such a seducer makes him believe that he shall be delivered from those miseries which oppress him, then it is that the patient is full of hopes of such deliverance. . . . Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend, nor give credit, to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation; but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see the minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them.

Surprisingly, despite guards set to prevent their escape (Wars, V, 1, 5), many succeeded in leaving Jerusalem by one means or another, even after its encirclement by the Romans (Wars, IV, 6, 3; 7, 1; V, 10, 1; 13, 7; VI, 2, 3). Even after that horrible carnage had begun within the city, people could yet be duped by false claims to speak for God and promise Israels deliverance, and not even think of abandoning the doomed city. Because eventually 40,000 people were saved, whom Caesar let go whither everyone of them pleased (Wars, VI, 8, 2), even during the worst fighting and with the greatest menace from fiercely suspicious Zealots inside the City, the temptation would still be high to remain in the fortress protected by God. So, Jesus warning is also His attempt to save even beyond the last minute anyone who would believe Him in those horrifying circumstances and flee the City.

McGarvey (Fourfold Gospel, 621) caught the spirit of the times:

Nothing is more natural, however, than that the excitement attendant upon the ministry of Jesus should encourage many to attempt to become such a Christ as the people wanted. The Gospels show so widespread a desire for a political Christ that the law of demand and supply would be sure to make many such.

These all, the false deliverers and those taken in by them, fell for the temptation which Jesus resisted firmly to the end. His polestar was the program of God. Troubled times tempt men to embrace anything that promises relief, and, without anchors, they welcome deceptions, instead of clinging to the help promised by God through the Scripture.

So as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. That ominous condition, if possible, must stir each believer to the core, What kind of Christ-concept do I have, that would expose me to being led astray? What signs would function so effectively as finally to deceive me? The possibility of fatal deception by imposters, in fact, is in direct proportion to the degree each believer uncritically and perhaps unwittingly already accepts the basic presuppositions on which the imposters claims are based: desire for national independence from Rome, greed for gold, lust for power, blind commitment to the proposition that God is inextricably bound to bless the nations political and economic future. Here is the choice: do we follow the popular theories, or do we trust Jesus instead?

Mat. 24:25 Behold, I have told you beforehand. Why foretell these events? (Cf. Joh. 16:1-4.) Three reasons suggest themselves:

Despite the frightening prospects that are enough to paralyze decisive action, remember: you are thoroughly prepared to face this future with information and courage. You are not among the unbelievers who must wring their hands in despair over the dark unknown that looms over them. Rather, you know both the extent and the God-ordained limitations of that period (Mat. 24:34). Further, you now possess directives for your conduct and for Gospel proclamation during the intervening years, and specific instructions about what to do when the final crisis of Jerusalem arrives at last. It is a stabilizing force and comfort to know that I have already clearly foreseen and foretold it forty years before the storm finally breaks, and have given you sound advice.

So, forewarned is forearmed. The very appearance of impostors, since I, the true Christ, have warned you, will actually save you from being deceived. Their coming will prove I was right, justify your faith in me and save you. With these advance warnings that every rumor that Jesus had returned are false, Christians could calmly and without hesitation refute them as they arose. Because signs and wonders could be produced by false prophets (Deu. 13:1 ff.; Act. 8:9 ff.; 2Th. 2:9 f.; Rev. 13:13 f.), such wonders alone were not a final, definitive test of ones divine authority. The context of Gods well-authenticated revelations were to serve as a check. (Cf. Isa. 8:20.) In this case, Jesus offers His own word as that framework with which to test others claims.

Although He does not use the emphatic pronoun, I (eg), in which case His point would be more emphatic, nevertheless, by calling attention to the prediction, He obtains the same result: Notice, I have made you a prediction (ido proerka humn). Jesus has just placed His own prophetic ministry to the supreme test. If things do not take place as He predicted, HE TOO IS A FALSE PROPHET. This challenge is but one more way for Him to present His prophetic credentials. (See my notes on prophetic credentials, Vol. III, 377f.) By so doing, He puts everyones discipleship to the test: does each believe He knows what He is talking about? Do I trust Jesus that much?

Mat. 24:26 If, therefore, they shall say unto you. (See notes on Mat. 24:23.) After furnishing the background for His order not to be duped by anyone who pretends to announce Christs return, He amplifies it by listing other situations wherein the deceptive announcement could come.

Behold, he is in the wilderness. Not only would the deserted wastes of Palestine furnish an excellent base camp and mustering area for revolutionaries, but also a tempting quiet solitude for monastic contemplation under the leadership of imposters masquerading as ascetics of the old school. For those who rejected John the Baptist (cf. Mat. 11:2-19), a text like Isa. 40:3-5 could be distorted and pressed into service for sectarian ends. The Qumran sect, for example, chose the wilderness to await the Messiah. Consider the case of Theudas. (See on Mat. 24:5.) Jesus warning against going out into the wilderness is intensely practical, for it happened again under Felix (Ant. XX, 8, 6; cf. Act. 21:38) and again under Festus (ibid., 10).

Behold, he is in the inner chambers. The presumably secret return of Christ linked with the claim He was in hiding until the moment of public revelation would entice the ignorant who claimed not to know where Christ should come from. (Cf. Joh. 7:27.) Such secrecy, enforced by the charlatans and accepted by the gullible, would furnish maneuvering room for the pretenders to foment revolt and develop in their followers the psychological dependence essential to create a cohesive movement.

Go no farther . . . believing it not. So saying, Jesus pushes the disciples confidence in His prophetic announcement to its logical conclusion: whose word will you follow? that of these false christs, however attractive, or this order given by me, your Master and Lord? What you do about either will decide your true loyalty. Believe it not means, BELIEVE ME!

b. Christs true coming will be too obvious to require prophetic announcement (24:27)

Mat. 24:27 For: what follows explains why none of the above-mentioned false announcements of Christs return are to be believed. As the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. (Cf. Luk. 17:23 f.) In contrast to a localized coming marked by gradualism and the concealment and secrecy of the false christs who promise a revelation to a select few, the Second Coming will be so obviously visible as to need absolutely no advance publicity. By calling it the coming (he parousa), Jesus implies that there would be only one such appearance and no prior secret raptures about which any prophets on earth could make the aforementioned predictions.

There cannot be a supposed double reference in this verse (1) to His coming in providence to destroy Jerusalem, and (2) to His return on the Final Day. His coming in judgment on Jerusalem would be attended by clear signs indicating the approach of the critical hour, permitting Christians to escape the worst. But His final return will give no forewarning, but will strike like lightning, unexpectedly; not locally, but obvious to the entire world; not hidden temporarily only to be revealed by degrees, but everywhere, instantaneously and unmistakably visible; not in shoddy secrecy, but in brilliant, heavenly glory beyond all possibility of imitation.
Although the disciples first asked about the coming of the Son of man (Mat. 24:3), this is the first time in this discourse Jesus mentioned His coming (parousa to huio to anthrpou). By using the word which became one of the usual technical terms for the Second Coming (parousa), He meant no other than His personal return at the end of the present world age. (Cf. 1Co. 15:23; 1Th. 2:19; 1Th. 3:13; 1Th. 4:15; 2Th. 2:1; Jas. 5:7 f.; 2Pe. 1:16.) How, then, is it possible for Him to insert information about His final return into a context that unquestionably involves problems connected with the final years of the Jewish state and the fall of Jerusalem? It is because the disciples had wrongly connected Jesus Second Coming with the fall of Jerusalem. Hence, they too would be easily deceived by false announcements in that fateful era (Mat. 24:3). So, He must inform them that the Second Coming shall not require private prophetic preannouncements.

However, just because He has now mentioned His Second Coming does not mean He will continue to elaborate on it at this point. Many have assumed that this is His procedure in Mat. 24:29-31. Instead, it was sufficient for His purpose to assure the disciples that His coming, WHEN IT EVENTUALLY TOOK PLACE, would not be concealed, as preached by imposters, but perfectly evident to everyone. This first glance at His glorious return is inserted here only to illustrate how completely it contrasts with the views thereof preached by the ignorant. Hence, there is no need at this point to ask where Jesus changed over from discussing Jerusalems fall to begin answering the disciples question about the Second Coming. This is rather an insertion to clear up a misconception, not evidence of a complete change of subject.

c. Israels hopeless deadness cannot but attract scavengers (24:28)

Mat. 24:28 Wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Eagles (aeto) would be better translated vultures, because the birds pictured here are carrion-eaters, whereas eagles, for the most part, kill their own food. (Cf. Arndt-Gingrich, 19; I.S.B.E., 885f.; however, see Job. 39:30 b.) Further, the figure Jesus uses is not so much that of a swift flight of eagles that plummet on their yet-living prey (cf. Deu. 28:49; Jer. 4:13; Jer. 48:40; Jer. 49:22; Lam. 4:19; Hos. 8:1; Hab. 1:8), as that of the congregation (eki sunachthsontai) of vultures around the carcass. While for us, eagles and vultures are two distinct birds, the ancients classified the vulture among the eagles. (Aristotle, Annimal History 9, 32; Pliny, Natural History 10, 3; Hebrew uses nesher indiscriminately for eagle [see the above passages], or vulture, Mic. 1:16; Pro. 30:17.)

Earlier (Luk. 17:37), when questioned about WHERE these events would occur, He responded with this proverbial expression. To determine the sense and application of this striking aphorism we must recognize it for what it is, a proverb. Not to be taken literally, it stands symbolically for some other, literal reality. Expanded, Jesus observation, would be, See, you can recognize that the decaying remains of a corpse is lying on the ground, because of the vultures hovering over it. These make it evident to the observer that there is little or no life in what was once alive, only death and corruption. But what, in Jesus allusion, is the carcass and what the vultures?

Because He had just spoken of His Second Coming, some apply His proverb to this event, believing that wheresoever cannot limit His reference exclusively to one place like Jerusalem. Rather, wherever the condition of spiritual deadness is found, the sudden, punitive vengeance of the coming Christ will plummet, like the eagle to seize its prey. Granted, Jesus words have the generalized ring of a proverb with multiple applications. However, to what specific case did He refer it this time? Further, the aforementioned objections to eagle are applicable here.

Contextually, Jesus is returning to His warning about false christs and false prophets whose excited pronouncements about a returned Christ could attract and destroy Gods elect. In this case, the carcass would be the general moral corruption that invested the Jewish nation, while the vultures picture the imposters who profit from this spiritual confusion to serve their own interests.

However, since Jesus larger context includes the destruction of Jerusalem, the carcass could be Jerusalem while the vultures would be the Roman army. Precisely because of the deteriorated political situation in Palestine, Rome had to intervene to bring order out of chaos. (Study Josephus diagnosis of Palestinian politics from 6070 A.D., Ant. XX, 8, 5; cf. chaps. 511, also his Wars, Preface, 2.) There is no necessity to notice the use of eagle symbols on Roman banners, for two reasons: (1) Jesus meaning would be the same without any direct reference to them, and (2) to take eagles literally of the Roman standards but interpret the carcass symbolically is illegitimate hermeneutics. Further, this interpretation is less direct and obvious, since, in this paragraph, Jesus was not discussing Jerusalems being surrounded by armies with their eagle banners, His immediate concern being the appearance of imposters raucously gathering around Israel like vultures to fatten themselves on Israels moral putrefaction.

Either way, whether He means false prophets or Roman soldiers, Jesus argues that no hope of deliverance from God could be expected, just destruction and elimination of Jerusalems glory. There would be no angels to liberate Israel, just vultures to devour the carcass.

FACT QUESTIONS

Cite the New Testament texts that indicate that the Gospel could have been universally proclaimed throughout the entire world in the first century.

What did Jesus mean by the abomination of desolation? Prove your answer by indicating from what source He quoted that phrase or where the reader must go to get an explanation for it.

The words let the reader understand, are inserted in parentheses. Who said them and why?

Explain how believers were to react to the one, clear, final signal that the desolation of Jerusalem was about to occur. What evidence is there that they reacted correctly?

Explain why people in Judea, an already hilly country, are told to flee to the mountains. What mountains are meant? How did the early Christians carry out Jesus directions?

Explain why Jesus thought there would be so many people on the housetop.

Explain why someone out in the country would want to enter Jerusalem to take his mantle. What is this article and why is it important?

Explain why people should not take anything that is in (their) house.

Explain why pregnant women and nursing mothers are singled out for special notice in the escape instructions.

10.

What hindrances to escape are peculiar to winter or to the sabbath in Palestine?

11.

If the great tribulation was to be totally unprecedented since the beginning of the creation of the world (Mar. 13:19), how can Luke with propriety summarize Jesus words that identify the particular sufferers as this people will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles? In what sense is the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the Jewish state rightly described as great tribulation?

12.

Who are the elect for whose sake the Lord would shorten the days of tribulation: the Jewish people per se, or Jewish Christians alone? Defend your answer.

13.

What are some of the historical factors in the crack of the Jewish commonwealth that not only precipitated its fall but also shortened the length of its tribulation?

14.

How could false christs and false prophets show signs and wonders? Reveal the source(s) of their persuasive power.

15.

Explain the allusion to the carcass and the eagles in context.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(14) Shall be preached in all the world.The words must not be strained beyond the meaning which they would have for those who heard them, and they were certain to see in all the world (literally, the inhabited earth, as in Luk. 2:1; Act. 11:28) neither more nor less than the Roman empire; and it was true, as a matter of fact, that there was hardly a province of the empire in which the faith of Christ had not been preached before the destruction of Jerusalem. Special attention should be given to the words, a witness unto all the nations, i.e., to all the Gentiles, as an implicit sanction of the work of which St. Paul was afterwards the great representative. So taken, the words prepare the way for the great mission of Mat. 28:19.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

14. Gospel of the kingdom The doctrines of Messiah’s universal kingdom. Shall be preached in all the world In all nations, and thereby the Messiah’s universal kingdom, become universally acknowledged. Mark says the Gospel must be published among all nations. It is certainly difficult to study these various phrases, Gospel of the kingdom in all the world unto all nations among all nations, without seeing the necessity of bringing them into association with those many texts which describe the conversion of the world to Christianity. Certainly the narratives of the travels of the apostles into distant countries, as late tradition has specified, are too scanty, if not too apocryphal, to be quoted as the fulfilment of this verse. For a Witness Witness that all men might believe. Joh 1:7. Our Lord does not here say, as some construe his words, that the Gospel shall be preached for a witness against all nations, but to all nations. Assuredly God does not send the Gospel to increase men’s condemnation. This would make it intentionally the poison rather than the bread of life. Then shall the end come What end? Unless our Lord answered very deceptively, he meant the end about which they inquired, namely, the end of the world. Nor is it of the slightest consequence to argue that our Lord here does not say that all the world will be converted, and that its conversion will last a long mundane period. To describe the millennium is not his purpose. He alludes to it, in order to show his disciples that the tribulation of the destruction of Jerusalem is not the tribulation of the judgment; for the predestined universal spread of the Gospel stands between them. The millennium first, and then the second advent.

We may also add that there is a sort of perspective in prophecy. The nearer event, as in a painting, is drawn full size, but the more distant dwindles to a point. See note on Mat 23:39.

On the whole, perhaps, all this paragraph is clear. Commotions and persecutions shall come, but these are not the tokens of the END. On the contrary, you shall be preserved from their power, that you may secure that universal Gospel diffusion for which the Church is founded and suffers, and which lies between the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

“And this Good News of the Kingly Rule will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then will the end come.”

Jesus finishes this solemn section on a high note. Let them not doubt that through all the experiences of His followers, their testimony will go on, so that the Good News of the Kingly Rule will be ‘proclaimed’ in the whole world for a testimony to all nations. The people of God may sometimes be down, but they will not be out. And His work will go on and prosper. Indeed sometimes when we look at church history, and then look at the church, we can only wonder that it has survived. And yet the wonder is that today there are more true Christians in the world than ever before (even if there are also many false ones whose apparent love has grown cold, or has always been cold). God has triumphed in spite of the failings of His people. And we should note that this Good News of the Kingly Rule is not some half-baked message for a lesser age (indeed in Mark it is ‘the Gospel’). It is the message described in chapter 13 and proclaimed by Jesus Himself, and by His disciples, and by Paul in Rome (Act 28:23; Act 28:31). It is ‘the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ’ (Act 28:31). It is ‘righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Rom 14:17). It is the Gospel of the present age (Mar 13:10).

‘To all the nations.’ That Jesus knew that the Good News must reach out to all nations is apparent as early as Mat 8:11. The only question was the timing, and we have seen how gradually His ministry had extended towards Gentiles (compare Mat 12:18; Mat 12:21; Mat 15:21 onwards). Now the time has come for full openness in the outreach of the Gospel. There was a limited sense in which this universality was fulfilled at Pentecost, where men ‘from every nation under Heaven’ were gathered (Act 2:5). It could also have been seen as fulfilled when the empire was evangelised so that the Gospel had gone out ‘throughout the whole world’ (see Rom 1:8). But today we are aware that He meant it literally, and that His aim is to reach to every part of the world (see Mat 28:19-20). And then the end will come.

This should not have surprised them. It was an axiom of the prophetic teaching that in the end all nations would be brought under God’s rule. To Abraham the promise was given that through his seed all the nations of the world would be blessed (Gen 12:3). The Servant was to ‘bring forth justice to the Gentiles’ (Isa 42:1) and indeed be ‘a light to the Gentiles, that you (the Servant) may be my salvation to the ends of the earth’ (Isa 49:6 compare Isa 42:6). ‘The nations’ would seek to the root of Jesse (i.e. a son of the Davidic line – Isa 11:10), and ‘will come from the ends of the earth — and will know that My name is Yahweh’ (Jer 16:19; Jer 16:21). Compare also Mal 1:11; Psa 96:10; Psa 96:13).

We should note here how important the proclamation of the Gospel to the whole world is seen to be. While wars and natural disasters will go on and on, and Jerusalem may be destroyed, it is not those events, but the final successful proclamation of the Gospel that will affect the time of His coming. Compare for this 2Pe 3:9. That is the final aim of this age.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Mat 24:14. This Gospelshall be preached in all the worldand then, &c. Then shall the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the Jewish polity, come to pass; when all nations shall be, or may be, convinced of the crying sin of the Jews in crucifying the Lord of glory, and of the justice of God’s judgments upon them. Some imagine that by all the world is meant only the whole land of Judea, the very words of the text being used bythe Septuagint and by Josephus himself in this sense. But that something more than this must be meant will appear, if we consider, that though the Acts of the Apostles contains only a small part of the history of a few of the apostles, yet even in that history we see the Gospel was disseminated, and had taken root in the most considerable parts of the Roman empire. As early as the reign of Nero the Christians were grown so numerous at Rome, as to raise the jealousy of the government; and the first general persecution commenced against them under pretence of their having set the city on fire. The Gospel was preached by St. Paul in Arabia, and through the vast tract from Jerusalem to Iconium, in Lycaonia, and in Galatia, through all Asia Minor, in Greece, round about to Illyricum, in Crete, Italy, Spain, and Gaul. Clement, who was his cotemporary and fellow-labourer, says of him in particular, “that he was a preacher both in the East and West; and that he taught the whole world righteousness, and travelled as far as the utmost borders of the West.” And if such were the labours of one apostle, what must have been the united labours of them all? We have still remaining the Epistles of St. Peter to the converted Jews in Pontus, Asia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia. The Ethiopian eunuch converted by Philip probably carried the Gospel into his own country. It appears, indeed, from the writers of the history of the church, that before the destruction of Jerusalem the Gospel was not only preached in the Lesser Asia, and Greece, and Italy, the great theatres of action then in the world, but was likewise propagated as far northward as Scythia, as far southward as Ethiopia, as far eastward as Parthia and India, and as far westward as Spain and Britain. Our ancestors of this Island, though as remote from the scene of our Saviour’s actions as almost any nation, probably heard the preaching of St. Simon: there is indeed much more probability that the Gospel was preached here by St. Paul; and there is absolute certainty that Christianity was planted in this country in the days of the apostles, before the destruction of Jerusalem. The evidence of Eusebius and Theodoret abundantly prove itto have been a fact; and St. Paul himself, Col 1:6; Col 1:23 speaks of the Gospel’s being come into all the world, and preached to every creature under heaven. See also Rom 10:18. Though the success of the apostles was so great, yet the difficulties which they had to encounter were no less than the superstition, the prejudices, and the vices of the whole world. From a view of the Jewish and Gentile world it is evident, that every thing which most strongly influences and tyrannizes over the mind of man, religion, custom, law, policy, pride, interest, vice, and even philosophy, was united against the Gospel; enemies in their own nature very formidable and difficult to be subdued, had they even suffered themselves, to be attacked upon even ground, and come to a fair engagement; but, not relying upon their own strength only, they intrenched themselves behind that power of which they were in possession, and rendered themselves inaccessible, as they imagined, to Christianity, by planting round them, not only all kinds of civil discouragements, but even torments, chains, and death. These were the difficulties which Christianity had to struggle with, and over which she at length so prevailed, as to change the whole scene of things, overturn the temples and altars of the gods, silence the oracles, humble the impious pride of the emperors, confound the presumptuous wisdom of the philosophers, and introduce into the greatest part of the known world a new principle of religion, holiness, and virtue. But what were the instruments of so stupendous a work! a few illiterate persons, many of whom were fishermen! The state of the first preachers of the Gospel, and of their opposers, was this: the latter were possessed of all the wisdom, authority, and power of the world; the former were ignorant of human science, contemptible, and weak. Which of them then, according to the natural course of human affairs, ought to have prevailed? The latter, without all doubt! and yet not St. Paul only, but all history, and our own experience assure us, that the ignorant, the contemptible, and the weak, gained the victory over the wise, the mighty, and the noble. See Bishop Newton, West on the Resurrection, and Dr. Young on Idolatry, vol. 2.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mat 24:14 . Having just uttered the words , Christ now reveals the prospect of a most encouraging state of matters which is immediately to precede and usher in the consummation indicated by this , namely, the preaching of the gospel throughout the whole world in spite of the hatred and apostasy previously mentioned (Mat 24:9-10 ff.); , Euthymius Zigabenus. The substantial fulfilment of this prediction is found in the missionary labours of the apostles, above all in those of Paul; comp. Act 1:9 ; Rom 1:14 ; Rom 10:18 ; Rom 15:19 ; Mat 28:19 ; Col 1:23 ; Clem. 1Co 5 .

.] According to de Wette, the author here (and Mat 26:13 ) so far forgets himself as to allude to the gospel which he was then in the act of writing . The here may be accounted for by the fact that Christ was there and then engaged in preaching the gospel of the Messiah’s kingdom, inasmuch as eschatological prediction undoubtedly constitutes an essential part of the gospel. Consequently: “hoc evangelium, quod nuntio.”

.] must not be limited to the Roman empire (Luk 2:1 ), but should be taken quite generally : over the whole habitable globe , a sense which is alone in keeping with Jesus’ consciousness of His Messianic mission, and with the which follows.

, . . .] in order that testimony may be borne before all nations , namely, concerning me and my work , however much they may have hated you for my name’s sake. The interpretation of the Fathers: , is therefore substantially in accordance with the context (Mat 24:9 ), though there was no need to import into the passage the idea of the condemnation of the heathen, which condemnation would follow as a consequence only in the case of those who might be found to reject the testimony. There are other though arbitrary explanations, such as. “ut nota illis esset pertinacia Judaeorum” (Grotius), or: “ut gentes testimonium dicere possint harum calamitatum et insignis pompae, qua Jesus Messias in has terras reverti debeat” (Fritzsche), or: “ita ut crisin aut vitae aut mortis adducat” (Dorner).

] and then , when the announcement shall have been made throughout the whole world.

] the end of the troubles that are to precede the Messiah’s advent, correlative to , Mat 24:8 . Comp. Mat 24:6 ; consequently not to be understood in this instance either as referring to the end of the world (Ebrard, Bleek, Dorner, Hofmann, Lange, Cremer), which latter event, however, will of course announce its approach by catastrophes in nature (Mat 24:29 ) immediately after the termination of the dolores Messiae .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Ver. 14. For a witness unto all nations ] While, with Moses, it slayeth the Egyptian, sayeth the Israelite, is a savour of life to some, of death to others, who shall be left without excuse by the Gospel preached to them, as those that by their obstinacy have wilfully cut the throats of their own poor souls, refusing to be reformed, hating to be healed. Sure it is that the last sentence shall be but a more manifest declaration of that judgment which the Lord in this life, most an end, by his word hath passed upon people.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

14. ] We here again have the pregnant meaning of prophecy. The Gospel had been preached through the whole ‘orbis terrarum,’ and every nation had received its testimony, before the destruction of Jerusalem: see Col 1:6 ; Col 1:23 ; 2Ti 4:17 . This was necessary not only as regarded the Gentiles, but to give to God’s people the Jews, who were scattered among all these nations, the opportunity of receiving or rejecting the preaching of Christ . But in the wider sense, the words imply that the Gospel shall be preached in all the world, literally taken , before the great and final end come. The apostasy of the latter days , and the universal dispersion of missions , are the two great signs of the end drawing near.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mat 24:14 asserts the same thing with regard to the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom: time for preaching it in the whole world, o all nations, before the end. Assuming that the terminus is the same this statement seems inconsistent with that in Mat 10:23 . But the aim is different in the two cases. On the earlier occasion Jesus wished to ensure that all Israel should hear the gospel before the end came; therefore He emphasised the shortness of the time. Here He wishes to impress on the disciples that the end will not be for a good while; therefore He emphasises the amount of preaching that can be done. Just on this account we must not strain the phrases . ., . They simply mean: extensively even in the heathen world. But they have the merit of setting before the disciples a large programme to occupy their minds and keep them from thinking too much of the coming catastrophe.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

gospel of the kingdom. See App-140.

of = concerning. Genitive of Relation. App-17.

preached = proclaimed. App-121.

world = the (then) habitable world. Greek. oikoumene. See App-129. The civilized as distinct from barbarian. Not the same word as in either Mat 24:3 and Mat 24:21.

for = to, or with a view to. Greek. eis. App-104.

nations = the nations.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

14.] We here again have the pregnant meaning of prophecy. The Gospel had been preached through the whole orbis terrarum, and every nation had received its testimony, before the destruction of Jerusalem: see Col 1:6; Col 1:23; 2Ti 4:17. This was necessary not only as regarded the Gentiles, but to give to Gods people the Jews, who were scattered among all these nations, the opportunity of receiving or rejecting the preaching of Christ. But in the wider sense, the words imply that the Gospel shall be preached in all the world, literally taken, before the great and final end come. The apostasy of the latter days, and the universal dispersion of missions, are the two great signs of the end drawing near.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mat 24:14.[1039] , THIS Gospel of the Kingdom) sc. which Jesus preached.-, shall come) The verb does not signify merely to approach, but to arrive, nay, actually to be present.[1040]- , the end) spoken of in the following verses, on which account we find , therefore, in the next verse. Before that end, Peter, Paul, and others alluded to in Mat 24:9, had concluded their apostolate.

[1039] ) This was accomplished before the destruction of Jerusalem. Col 1:23.-V. g.

[1040] denotes progress to, or arrival at, a place; , that the progress has been effected, and the arrival taken place; so that must be rendered, not I come, but I am come.-(I. B.)

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

kingdom

world

kingdom (See Scofield “Mat 3:2”).

world oikoumene = inhabited earth.

(See Scofield “Luk 2:1”)

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

this: Mat 4:23, Mat 9:35, Mat 10:7, Act 20:25

shall be: Mat 18:19, Mar 16:15, Mar 16:16, Luk 24:47, Act 1:2, Rom 10:18, Rom 15:18-21, Rom 16:25, Rom 16:26, Col 1:6, Col 1:23, Rev 14:6

and then: Mat 24:3, Mat 24:6, Eze 7:5-7, Eze 7:10

Reciprocal: Psa 102:22 – General Eze 7:2 – An end Dan 12:4 – many Mat 13:38 – field Mat 26:13 – Wheresoever Mar 13:10 – General Luk 2:1 – all Luk 9:2 – General Act 1:8 – unto Act 2:5 – under Rom 1:8 – the whole 1Th 2:16 – for 1Pe 4:7 – the end 1Pe 4:10 – good Rev 3:10 – all

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached.

Mat 24:14

Christianity was left with Christians to be transmitted. God has appointed that men should be instructed by their fellows, and Revelation lays us under the obligation of communicating its message to others. Christianity is a trust for our own good, but also for that of others. No one has a right to be called a Christian who does not do something towards the discharge of this obligation.

I. This is our duty.

(a) Towards non-Christians in our colonies and possessions. As fellow-subjects with us; as having intercourse with us by commerce and other relations.

(b) Towards other races. As of one family with ourselves. That, however low and debased their condition, they may be helped to rise.

II. For this reason navigation and commerce should be consecrated to the service of religion; by helping in its propagation; as a discharge of our trust. Remembering thateven the bare establishment of Christianity in a place has its value; as a witness before and call to men. We can see but a little way ahead, and must be content to sow in faith, leaving the increase with God.

III. Societies are needed to bring men together, that their united efforts may do what they could not singly perform. Such work for foreign missions has a reflex benefit to us at home: strengthening faith here; making the Gospel a witness here also. If all this were seen, how little more persuasion would be needed! If the Gospel had its proper influence on Christians, then it would speedily settle Christianity in every land.

Bishop Butler.

Illustration

Into the charter of the East India Company, when renewed in 1813, Wilberforce and other friends of missions succeeded in introducing the following resolution amongst others: That it is the duty of this country to promote the interest and happiness of the native inhabitants of the British dominions in India, and that such measures ought to be adopted as may tend to the introduction among them of useful knowledge and of religious and moral truth; and further, that in furtherance of the same objects sufficient facilities should be afforded by law to persons desirous of going to and remaining in India, for the purpose of accomplishing these beneficent designs.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

4:14

World is from a Greek word that Thayer defines, “The inhabited earth.” The end means the end of Jerusalem as the climax of the war. That event occurred in 70 A. D., and the Gospel was to have been offered to all the nations of the (civilized) world by that time. Hence the great commission of the apostles (chapter 28:19 and Mar 16:15) was fulfilled in the first century, which agrees with Rom 10:18 and Col 1:23. The Lord was not willing for Jerusalem to be destroyed until the Gospel had been offered to the entire extent of human inhabitants on earth, hence He supervised the whole revolution as far as the dates were concerned.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

[And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world.] Jerusalem was not to be destroyed before the gospel was spread over all the world: God so ordering and designing it that the world, being first a catechumen in the doctrine of Christ, might have at length an eminent and undeniable testimony of Christ presented to it; when all men, as many as ever heard the history of Christ, should understand that dreadful wrath and severe vengeance which was poured out upon that city and nation by which he was crucified.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

Mat 24:14. This gospel of the kingdom, etc. The preaching of the gospel throughout the Roman world preceded the end of the Jewish state; the promulgation of the gospel throughout the whole world will be the sign of the end of this world.

For a testimony unto all the nations. To them, if they accept; against them, if they reject it. It is not revealed here, which result will preponderate. If the former, this is a cheering note in a doleful prophecy; if the latter, this is the saddest part of the prophecy. In either, case, the duty of sending the gospel everywhere remains. The universal extension of missions, no less than the great apostasy, is a sign of the approach of our Redeemer. This prediction stimulated the Apostles and should stimulate us.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Here our blessed Saviour comforts his disciples with a threefold consideration.

1. That his gospel, how hated and persecuted soever, should be plainly and persuasively preached: The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached. Therefore called the gospel of the kingdom, because it discovers the way to the kingdom of heaven.

Observe, 2. The extent of the gospel’s publication, It shall be preached unto all nations, that is, to the Gentile world; not only among the Jews, but among the chief and principal nations of the Gentiles.

Observe, 3. The design and end of the gospel’s publication, and that is, for a witness or testimony; namely, for a witness of God’s grace and mercy offered to sinners, and of their obstinacy who reject it.

Learn thence, That the preaching of the gospel, wherever it comes, proves a testimony to them to whom it comes. To the humble and teachable, it is a testimony for, to the scorners and despisers, it is a testimony against; or in the words of the apostle, To some it is the savour of death unto death; to others, the savour of life unto life. 2Co 2:16

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Mat 24:14. This gospel of the kingdom Namely, of the kingdom of God; shall be preached in all the world Not universally; this is not yet done; but in general, through the several parts of the world, and not only in Judea. And this was done by St. Paul and the other apostles, before Jerusalem was destroyed; for a witness to all nations that I am the Christ. And then shall the end come Of the city and temple: that is, when all nations shall, or may be convinced, by the preaching of the gospel, of the crying sin of the Jews in crucifying the Lord of glory; then shall the justice of God bring these dreadful judgments upon that people. The Acts of the Apostles, it must be observed, contain only a small part of the history of a small number of the apostles, and yet even in that history we see the gospel was widely disseminated, and had taken root in the most considerable parts of the Roman empire. As early as in the reign of Nero, as we learn from Tacitus, (Annal., l. 15.) the Christians were grown so numerous at Rome as to raise the jealousy of the government, and the first general persecution was commenced against them, under pretence of their having set fire to the city, of which the emperor himself was really guilty, but wished to transfer the blame and odium of the action on the poor innocent Christians. Clement, who was contemporary and a fellow-labourer with Paul, says of him, (see his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians,) that he was a preacher both in the east and west, and that he taught the whole world righteousness. And if such were the labours of one apostle, though the chief of them, what were the united labours of them all? It appears indeed from the writers of the history of the church, that before the destruction of Jerusalem the gospel was not only preached in the Lesser Asia, Greece, and Italy, the great theatres of action then in the world; but likewise propagated as far north as Scythia; as far south as Ethiopia; as far east as Parthia and India; as far west as Spain and Britain.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Verse 14

In all the world. Before the destruction of Jerusalem, the gospel had been preached through all the regions of the then known world.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

24:14 And this {d} gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the {e} world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

(d) Joyful tidings of the kingdom of heaven.

(e) Through all that part of the world that people live in.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Another characteristic of this second half of the Tribulation period is that during those years the good news concerning the coming of the messianic kingdom will reach the ears of virtually everyone on earth. "And" ties this verse into the period in view in Mat 24:9-13. The "gospel of the kingdom" is the same good news that John the Baptist, Jesus, and the disciples had preached, namely, that the kingdom was imminent (Mat 3:2; Mat 4:17). Later revelation informs us that the 144,000 Jewish missionaries that God will protect during the Tribulation will provide the leadership in this worldwide gospel proclamation (Rev 7:1-8; Rev 14:1-5). Undoubtedly the message will be similar to the message John, Jesus, and the original disciples preached. They preached that people should get ready for the inauguration of the messianic kingdom by believing in the King, Jesus. Undoubtedly, too, some people will believe and others will not.

"For those who accept the message, entrance into the kingdom awaits. But eternal damnation accrues to those who refuse the gospel of the kingdom." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 272.]

"This is not exactly the same message the church is proclaiming today. The message preached today in the Church Age and the message proclaimed in the Tribulation period calls for turning to the Savior for salvation. However, in the Tribulation the message will stress the coming kingdom, and those who then turn to the Savior for salvation will be allowed entrance into the kingdom." [Note: Barbieri, p. 77.]

"This verse does not teach that the Gospel of God’s grace must be spread to every nation today before Jesus can return for His church. It is the Lord’s return at the end of the age that is in view here." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:87.]

In answering the disciples’ second question, Jesus explained that there would be many signs of His coming and the end of the present age. Wars, rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes would be relatively common occurrences (Mat 24:6-8). The signs would include the worldwide persecution of His disciples, the apostasy of some, the success of false prophets, and increased lawlessness (wickedness). The love of some disciples would cool, but others would persevere faithfully as the gospel would extend to every part of the earth (Mat 24:9-14). Then the end (of the Tribulation) would come (Mat 24:14; cf. Mat 24:3).

"In general, these signs have been at least partially fulfilled in the present age and have characterized the period between the first and second coming of Christ." [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 183.]

However, we should expect complete fulfillment in the future. Revelation 6-18 gives further information concerning this time.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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