Please allow me to offer a very brief exegesis as it is presented in the four gospels. If you need further explanation, I will be happy to provide it.
Outline by Glen Rogers
Jesus is explaining the Great Tribulation that was to befall Jerusalem. Combining the synoptic gospels gives us a comprehensive account of this discussion. Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.
I. Jesus Foretold the Destruction of the Temple.
A. Those present were Jesus, Peter, Andrew, James, and John.
Combining all three gospel accounts we see there are five questions asked by these four men in response to Jesus' revelation about the destruction of the temple.
“When will these things be?”
“What will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” Luke 21:7
“What will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?” Mark 13:4
“What will be the sign of your coming?” They immediately equated the destruction of the temple to the idea of the coming of the Lord.
What will be the sign “of the end of the age?” They equated the destruction of the temple with the end of that age. Everything that follows in this chapter is in direct response to these five questions.
B. Context specifics: These things are
Event specific – He is describing the destruction of Jerusalem.
Time specific – They were limited to that generation.
Geographically specific – They were limited to Jerusalem/Judea.
Target specific – The temple
Instrument Specific – The Roman Armies, Luke 21:20
C. Jesus presents five deceptive things which he tells them would not be relevant to the time of the destruction of the temple, yet would precede that event. He has already warned them in verse four not to be deceived about the nature of these things.
“See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will
hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not
alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There
will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the
beginning of birth pains.” 4-8
There would be false Messiahs ”claiming, ‘I am the Christ.’” We know these were numerous in Judea prior to the siege of Jerusalem which we will look at later.
There would be “wars and rumors of war.” Before the fall of Jerusalem, the entire world was at war with Rome, but more specifically, there was constant tension and rebellion between the Jews and Rome over a number of issues that the Jews found egregious.
Nations would rise up against one another.
There would be famines. Famines raged in Judea in the mid first century, Acts 11:28.
There would be earthquakes.
There were many in the region of Asia Minor and Horn, etc during the reign of Nero. Mt. Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 killing an estimated 16,000 people.
- Pestilence
All of these were things they would witness in their lifetime that would precede the destruction of the temple; but Jesus tells them they were not to be deceived by these things for they were only the beginning of birth pains. These were thus, not indicators of the end but would have been proclaimed so by the false christs.
II. Relevant Events to Precede the Destruction of Jerusalem,
These would specifically target Christians.
A. The apostles would be delivered up to death.
"Then shall they deliver you up unto tribulation and shall kill you:
and all of you shall be hated of all the nations for my name's sake."
Peter, James, and Paul, died under Nero before AD 70. According to tradition, many of the apostles died before AD 70, but not all. Some apostles survived until near the end of the first century. So, some of the apostles lived long enough the witness the events Jesus described in this chapter just as Jesus said they would. John was one such apostle. He was the only apostle we can verify who died a natural death.
B. There would be global opposition to Christianity and betrayal.
“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will
hate one another.”
C. There would be apostasy. “And shall lead many astray.” This was well documented in the epistles during the days of Paul and Peter. 2 Peter 3, Galatians 1, Acts. 20, 1 John 4:1-6, Jude 17 and 19, and Hebrews. 6:4-8.
D. There would be an increase in lawlessness. We see the fulfillment of this in Paul's writings.
“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now
restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.” 2
Thessalonians 2:7.
E. “The love of many would grow cold.” This was the charge Jesus leveled against the Church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:4 “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”
F. During this time, there would be the global expansion of the gospel. We know this happened within the life time of the apostle Paul.
This begin in Acts 2 when Jews who had assembled “from every nation under heaven” believed the gospel. After the celebrations of Pentecost were over, these new converts took that gospel home with them when they returned to their respective nations.
In Colossians 1:23, Paul affirms,
“If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast,
and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard,
which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I,
Paul, was made a minister,”
Colossians was written between AD 62-64.
3. In Romans 1:8 he says,
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your
faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.”
Romans was written in AD 60.
4. In 1 Thessalonians 1:8 Paul declares,
“For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in
Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God
has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.”
1 Thessalonians was written in AD 63.
III. Revealed Indicators, 15-22
Jesus then gave them some revealed indicators that specifically pointed to the end of which he spoke in verses one and two; and with this he issues a warning to the apostles.
“Therefore, when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him
understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his
house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies
in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on
the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not
been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever
shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be
saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”
A. “The ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel,” Daniel 9:26-27,
“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for
Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the
city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till
the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a
covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week, He
shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of
abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the
consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”
Jesus applies the “abomination of desolation” spoken of in Daniel 9:26-27 to the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. That event would be witnessed by that generation. He warned them,
“Therefore, when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let
him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the
mountains.”
The “abomination of desolation” would be the standards of the Roman army that would be placed in the “holy place.” This is confirmed by Luke 21:20-21.
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its
desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the
mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not
those who are in the country enter her.”
When that generation saw the Roman army coming to surround Jerusalem, they were to immediately flee to the mountains in order to escape the judgment that God was sending upon Jerusalem.
Jesus confirmed his covenant, the New Covenant, for one week. In the middle of the week (3 ½ years into his ministry) he was “cut off” – crucified. This put an end to the sacrifices and offerings of the old covenant. The Jews would continue in vain to offer sacrifices that had been rendered null and void by the crucifixion of Christ for another 40 years until the destruction of the temple. It would still be another 3½ years from the crucifixion until the completion of the covenant week when the Samaritans and the Gentiles were brought in with the conversion of the Samaritans and the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8.
B. “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Christians fled to the mountains of Pela, 20. See also Zechariah 14:5-7.
C.
“Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of
his house. Let him who is in the field not go back to get his
clothes.”
In order to escape the impending destruction of Jerusalem, time was of the essence. Jesus warned them to flee immediately.
D.
“Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in
those days.”
Escape would have been slow and difficult for the women who were pregnant and those with small children.
E. “Pray that your flight may not be in winter.” Having to deal with the harshness of the winter would have made their escape more difficult in view of the extreme urgency and hardship of travel, 17-22.
F. “Or on the Sabbath.” The gates of the city would be closed preventing any escape from the city.
G. Why the urgency?
1.
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since
the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
In Luke 21:20, Luke records an even clearer picture of this.
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, recognize that her
desolation is near.”
This gives definition to the abomination of desolation of which Jesus speaks in Matthew's account from Daniel 9.
2.
“And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but
for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”
It is important to remember the temporal and geographical context to which this statement belongs. As bad as this destruction was, it would be limited in both time and severity. Had the Lord not shortened those days, no one in the city or even those who had escaped would have survived. The elect refers to those Jews who had embraced the gospel and fled the city. (See Benson on this verse.) This would be an event that at least some of the apostles would witness.
IV. The Proclamation of False Messiah’s, 23-25
Notice, the warning of encountering false messiahs was to the apostles.
“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’
do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and
show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Look,
He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner
rooms!’ do not believe it.”
A. Many false messiahs rose up during that time: Among these were such men as:
Judah the Galilean of about AD 6 or 7 is mentioned in Acts 5:37. He is also mentioned by Josephus.
Theudas, from AD 45, is mentioned in Acts 5:36. He too, is mentioned by Josephus in Antiquites.
There was also the unnamed Egyptian mentioned in Acts 21:38 as
”the Egyptian who incited a rebellion some time ago and led four
thousand members of the ‘Assassins’ into the wilderness?”
- The most prominent false messiah to arise was Shimon Ben-Kosiba in AD 66 and died during the destruction of the Jerusalem in AD 70. (You might also see Benson)
Bear in mind, in the mind of the first century Jew, the Messiah was thought to be someone who would deliver them from Roman oppression, not save them from their sins. Many such men of that time rose up in rebellion against Rome and were destroyed. Jesus was warning his apostles not to go after these men.
B. False prophets
Josephus represents the false prophets of that time as "magicians and sorcerers." He says they led the people out into the deserts promising miracles of deliverance.
Gill relates the account of one Akaba who was one of such false prophets. Akiba attempted to persuade the people to embrace Barcochab as the Messiah applying many prophecies to Barcochab.
