Two Great Events
Truth Taught- There are two great events that Jesus uses as historical markers, one is the fall of Jerusalem and the other is His return. We currently live in the era between those events. His desire is that we are ready when He does return.
Mark 13:2–4 (ESV)
2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”
The disciples, like practically all people in Jesus’ day, desired to know when these things would occur.
These things, of course being what they asked about, the destruction of the Temple. When will this take place?
So, for us to continue, I think it’s very important that we seek our Lord’s purpose in what He tells His contemporary followers. He really highlights three things…
A. He speaks in terms of two great events…
The two great events or markers are the destruction of the Temple and Jesus’ second coming. We know from historical accounts that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple took place in 70AD under Titus the Emperor. So, we do have that date.
Much of this Chapter deals with that already accomplished prophecy that impacted Jesus’ contemporary followers.
We live in the time period called the Last Days that is the time between these events…the destruction of the Temple and the return of Christ.
B. He is concerned about His followers…
Don’t be deceived. Don’t be led astray. Stand firm. Stay awake are all phrases that show us His purpose in tell them and us about these events.
Jesus never gives a time answer. He does not date the events. Many through the years have set a date on certain events and every time they were wrong.
C. He speaks in terms of a sequence of events but not in terms of the time of the events…
What our Lord does do, however, is place a sequence of events. The events have a fixed order but not a time schedule. Of course, God knows exactly when these things will happen, He knows the exact time schedule.
Please Stand in honor of God’s Holy, Inspired, and Inerrant Word
Gracious and Glorious Father, this is Your word,
2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
So, Father we ask that You would equip us then by Your Word to see Christ, to love Christ and to follow Christ for Your glory…Amen.
Mark 13:14–23 (ESV)
14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter. 19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. 20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.
1. When Should the Inhabitants of Judea Flee? (13:14-18)
14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter.
Jesus tells them they are to flee when they see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be
I pray the Lord gives us understanding here because there is a command, let the reader understand. So, with divine aid, we should try our best to understand this passage.
The big issue to begin with is what is the abomination of desolation?
Matthew 24:15–16 (ESV)
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
With v. 14 we come to a critical juncture in the discourse. To this point Jesus has referred to general signs that would characterize the period preceding Israel’s collapse. Here in v. 14, though, he refers to one sign that unmistakably signals that the prophesied destruction is at hand. It would serve to alert the people of that generation as to the proximity of Jerusalem’s ruin. In response to the question, “When will these things be?” Jesus now answers “When you see . . .” (v. 14).
Abomination of Desolation is literally, the abomination that causes desolation. In the OT, “abomination” = an object of disgust, hatred, something that causes revulsion; an idolatrous offense or affront to the true worship of God.
Four places in the Book of Daniel we read this phrase, Abomination of Desolation or the Abomination that makes Desolate. In each case these phrases refer to the Babylonians (The King of the North) entering the Temple and restricting the normal worship of God and placing pagan symbols in the Temple. This is called the Abomination of Desolation.
The Abomination is the pagan symbol placed in the Temple. It makes the Temple desolate. God’s presence being replaced with pagan worship. When Jesus left the Temple, He said…
Matthew 23:38 (ESV)
38 See, your house is left to you desolate.
Jesus is speaking of an Abomination that is to come during His generation. The Daniel abomination was long past. Jesus tells His followers, there will be something like that take place in the Temple and when you see it, it’s time to flee the city. You see how He gives them an event to mark their exit but not a time.
Jesus is echoing let the reader understand Daniel 12:10 as Daniel states,
Daniel 12:10 (ESV)
10 Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.
Our Lord is saying these things but it’s Mark who adds the inspired commendation for the reader, let the reader be wise and understand these things.
For Jesus’ contemporary followers they were to watch for an event much like the Abomination in Book of Daniel and when they see it, they should flea the city.
History tells us it was the Roman Army. The Roman Army enter the city and placed images of the Emperor in the Temple when this happened, a wise Christian knew it is time to flee the city.
15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter.
Tradition and History tell us that these instructions of Jesus were in fact followed by Christians in Judea and Jerusalem. Some point to the fact that, in late 66 a.d., the Christian community, under the leadership of Symeon (a cousin of Jesus), withdrew to the village of Pella in Perea, a mountainous region east of the Sea of Galilee. History records that the commander Cestius mysteriously and without warning ordered his troops to withdraw. This gave the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem an opportunity to flee the city in accordance with Jesus’ advice (Lk. 21:21). According to Josephus, after Cestius’s siege and retreat the Christians left Jerusalem like swimmers from a sinking ship (Book 2, Ch. 20:1). By all accounts, no Christian died in the holocaust that engulfed Jerusalem shortly thereafter. William Whitson (1737), Josephus’s best-known English translator, writes:
“There may be another very important, and very providential, reason be here assigned for this strange and foolish retreat of Cestius; which, if Josephus had been now a Christian, he might probably have taken notice of also; and that is, the affording the Jewish Christians in the city an opportunity of calling to mind the prediction and caution given them by Christ about thirty-three years and a half before, that ‘when they should see the abomination of desolation’ [the idolatrous Roman armies, with the images of their idols in their ensigns, ready to lay Jerusalem desolate], ‘stand where it ought not;’ or, ‘in the holy place;’ or, ‘when they should see Jerusalem encompassed with armies,’ they should then ‘flee to the mountains.’ By complying with which those Jewish Christians fled to the mountains of Perea, and escaped of Cestius, this destruction” (Book 2, Ch. 19:6b).
2. The Tribulation Preceding Our Lord’s Return (13:19-23)
19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. 20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.
The tribulation that befell Jerusalem in the Jewish War 66AD-70AD was great tribulation. It is a prophetic glimpse of the Great Tribulation that precedes the coming of Jesus.
Jesus begins to alternate now between the events of His contemporary disciples that mark the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple with events which also must precede His return.
So, the Fall of Jerusalem is a sort prototype of the Tribulation that will precede our Lord’s second coming.
Jesus’ language is a little difficult to decern which event He is referring to. It seems that from verse 19 on, Jesus is speaking no longer of the tribulation surrounding the City of Jerusalem but the Great Tribulation that will precede His return.
Here are some indicators…
19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.
Jesus couldn’t say that about the Fall of Jerusalem but only about the Great Tribulation in the future…even our future.
There will never be a tribulation like the one coming.
20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.
Apart from God’s divine intervention in those days during the tribulation Jesus speaks of, it would be humanly impossible to survive this coming devastation. God will intervene on behalf of the elect.
21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.
Now, just like Jesus warned His contemporary followers to stay awake and watch and not be deceived by false prophets and false christs, so He repeats the same directive and warning for us. We must also be vigilant and watchful.
Application…
Think of being watchful as your spiritual bug-out bag. In Jerusalem, our Lord told His followers what signs to look for. There would be the Abomination of Desolation. When they saw it, they were to flee the city. We saw from historical accounts, they did just that and went to the mountains. They had to be ready all the time. They had to be watchful because they had to know when to flee.
For us, there is nowhere to run to. This Tribulation will be so massive that there will be nowhere to humanly escape. Jesus tells us God will intervein to save His people, Jesus calls us the elect and Daniel calls us those whose name is written in the Book of Life.
Daniel 12:1–3 (ESV)
12 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
We don’t have a bug-out bag with supplies to live on while we are in the mountains of Judah. Our bug-out bag is spiritual.
Are you spiritually ready to meet God? He will intervein and cut those days short Jesus tells us. This intervention is only for the elect.
20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.
Are you ready? Is your spiritual bug-out bag ready? Do you know Jesus as Lord and Savior and are you loving Him and His people? Are you fighting the sin in your life so as to be holy and to represent our Lord well?
If the answer is no, then when the event happens you will not be saved but left to die. Then after death comes the judgement.
I want us to be confident in what Jesus has told us. All the words that He said to His contemporaries came true in great detail some 30 years later. Those who fled were saved.
His Words are also true for us. It will happen, Jesus will return. Just like Jerusalem fell Jesus will come again. Are you ready?
Resources Used:
My Sermon from Matthew 24
Mark by William Lane
Mark by James Edwards
Words of grace
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