The Great Tribulation Mt, 24:15-28

We'll be moving into this passage here in Matthew 24. Remember, two weeks ago we started off with an intentional and purposeful detour, if you will, from the book of Revelation, taking a look here at the end of chapter 23 and starting into chapter 24. Today, as Josiah read for us, we'll be taking a look at verses 15 through 28 in chapter 24. Remember, as we were talking about last week, verses 4-14 are talking about not the present church age, but are talking about the beginnings of the tribulation period. So it's not describing the current church age.

At any rate, as we go into this next passage, starting with verse 15, we're going to notice that this passage is very Jewish in character. have us look at briefly here. I've highlighted in the blue some words here that kind of jump out of this passage, and I've selected particular verses that show it. And for example, here's verse 16 that says, those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Well, that's a very Jewish thing to say, right? Having to do with the land of Israel. Or to take another for instance here, verse 20, I pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. So those are some strong indications that this is for Jews in Israel and not Christians of this age.

Important distinction for us to make, okay? Now, as we looked at this aspect of the passage in more detail, we'll proceed through it and see other indications that this passage is distinctly and definitely a Jewish character. But there's something else that's important for us to take a look at, and that's to kind of keep the timeline in front of us as well. You have something similar to this in your handout on page 1.

And the point being here that what we looked at here in the first part of Matthew 24, 4 through 14, that dealt with the first half of the tribulation. What we're embarking on here with today's passage is the last half and specifically it begins with this event that takes place in the very middle of the tribulation period. So just so we can keep this time frame in mind and keep our perspective in place. Now, let's take our understanding of this passage that this message is directed to Israel. Let's take our understanding of this passage that it refers to the time from the midpoint of the tribulation period and then into the last half. Let's take that understanding and then move into the passage here.

Let's take a look at verse 15. Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which is spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, let the reader understand. The word therefore is of course, so that we'll look at what the prior verses are, therefore. So, contrary to what you might have been thinking here, this term, abomination of desolation, doesn't refer to a teenager's bedroom floor.

It does not. It's a term that is used three times in the book of Daniel. I know that by experience. It's a term that's used three times in the book of Daniel, and it means it is a violation of the temple so repulsive as to make the temple completely unfit for its intended purpose. If we take the words one at a time, we gain some further insights.

For example, abomination. Delegma in the Greek. You say that all the time, right? Delegma refers to a detestable idolatry. It comes from a Greek word that means a horrible, nauseating stench. How about that? It's awful. It's terrible. The desolation, eromosaios in the Greek, refers to creating a total absence of people. That's why this word desolation comes across. So here is this horrible, nauseating, abominable stench that creates this desolation. It's an awful thing.

If we put the picture together, it's telling us that this horrible, nauseating presence in the holy place, this idolatrous presence, would make the temple unconscionable for a godly Jew to use. That's what it's talking about. It makes the temple unconscionable for a godly Jew to use.

Now, let's do a bit of review, just to make sure we're all on the same page. Last February, you remember back then, right? Last February, we went through a study of Daniel 9, 24 through 27. And I have some good news for you. We're not going to cover it all again this morning. But what I do want to bring this up for is this. In this last week of the 70 weeks, This last week is the tribulation period. It's a period of seven years.

And we bring this up because right there at the very end of that time, in the middle of this week, is a time in the middle of Daniel 9.27 where he talks about this abomination of desolation. I'll read it. 927b, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop, that is, the Antichrist, to sacrifice and grant offering, and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate. He comes in and completely violates the temple so that it is unusable by a godly Jew."

Now obviously if you need to go over that, look at it again, listen to the tape or whatnot, that's fine. But we bring this up because Christ makes reference to the prophet Daniel. This is what he's talking about. And we have these passages where this is highlighted.

Now, the Lord refers in here to the holy place. And as we look at the holy place, one of the things that we see, the holy place has, is this Greek, Tapohagio. Now, topo, you've heard of like a topographic map, and it's a place map, having to do with the topography. This is where we get our word that goes as a part of a topographic map, and it has to do with a place map. Here it's the holy place, this location that is holy, this place that is holy. It's the inner part of the naos, or the temple. We'll take a look at a picture in a bit so that we've got a good sense of it.

When Christ said these words, there was no question in the disciples' mind what that meant. And there's a couple of reasons why there's no question. All these Old Testament passages refer to the Holy Place. It's not used in some other sense. It is always referring to that, to this place in the temple.

Furthermore, as they're sitting on the Mount of Olives, what are they looking at? They're looking across the little valley into Jerusalem. And right in front of him is the temple. They're seeing it right in front of him as he's speaking. And if you were to get a little bit more of an upper elevation view of that temple, this is what you would see. Looking down in it, there were certainly the courts that were around it where people could gather and Gentiles were even allowed to come into this area. But this area is the area he's talking about and they would enter through this doorway That's the entrance into the holy place. That's what he's talking about. And if they can't, from their perspective, if they can't exactly see in there, they can at least see the building from the place where they're looking at.

So it's very clear when he talks to them about it, what he's referring to. Okay. Now, at the end of verse 15, we see a curious set of words. Let the reader understand. Now, did that make you scratch your head? Maybe. Maybe not. But it's a curious set of words. Why would he put that in there? And when you read the Bible, don't you want to understand everything? But here's why I think he put this in there. Typically when we read God's Word, certainly we want to understand.

But what he's saying is this is pivotal. Make sure you get the insight on this. Because You need to understand this so that the rest of what he says is going to make sense. If you don't get this, you'll miss out on what the rest of it's talking about. Also, remember when we had the time chart on there, this is pivotal in order to nail down the time frame where this is happening. This is happening in the middle of the Tribulation period, and what will take place will take place from that middle of the Tribulation period towards the end. So he's trying to make sure that we zero in on that and get an understanding of it.

Now, the reason he's saying let the reader understand is what he is about to say next is a critical response. There will be a need for the Jews, and again this is focused on the Jews, there will be a need for them to respond straight away once they see that this is taking place. So let's read verses 16 through 18 with that insight.

Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in the house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. So what's he talking about here? He's again being very geographically specific.

They are at that moment in Judea. Here's a picture of Israel at the time. And so here's this area of Judea here. Here's Jerusalem. Here's Bethlehem. This area in here would be Judea. And you think, like those who are in this area, when this time comes, let them take note of this because that will be the time to flee. And one of the things as we look at this passage that stands out, he's making it really clear as he's speaking to these Jews who live in this area of Judea.

He's saying, get out fast. Get out now. The Lord makes three statements here. The first statement is put in positive terms. Let those who are in Judea, they must flee to the mountains. Now one gets the impression that this doesn't mean to sort of mosey along. Begin planning to gather your stuff, right? He uses that term, flee. It means run. The mounds will provide places to hide and to scatter. Then notice the overall pattern. The Lord starts off with a positive statement, then comes off with two negative statements to follow.

The two negative statements refer first to this issue of the flat-topped house. I think it's helpful at that point to get an idea what kind of houses they had in those days. I don't know about you, Nancy and I some years back, as a matter of fact it was about 20 years ago, we actually built a house, didn't get to live in it, but we built a house and it had a steep roof. We didn't go up on the roof unless you had to. It was one of those one-to-one slopes. It just wasn't a place to hang out. It wasn't comfortable. When you're on the brink of sliding off, it just isn't the place to be.

Here, however, the houses were typically built flat and it was common to have this flat roof and they even had laws about having to have this little parapet around the edge so that you wouldn't be inclined to just simply step off. So the flat roof was the norm. They would go up there to just relax. They would go up there to pray. They would go up there to like dry fruits and vegetables and things of that sort. So that was common. One other thing to note it was typical for them to have an outside stairway up to that roof.

Typically the stairway, unlike our usual thinking where most of the time we'll have our stairways inside, their stairways were typically on the outside of the building. So that's why it makes sense when our Lord says, if you're up on top of the roof, don't go down and go inside, because when you go down, you're already outside. Don't go inside. He says, once you're down, leave. So it's communicating here the imperative. Don't hang around. Run! Go! Take off! And so that's the picture that he's giving here. Then, one other thing.

So whoever is to go on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in the house. Whoever is in the shield must not turn back to get his cloak. You see, typically what would happen during the time when you'd be working out in the field, in that part of the world, it would be warm. Except perhaps at night, things would cool off and you might wish you had some kind of a coat.

He's saying, don't bother. He says, the imperative to get moving, to run, is so strong, don't hang out. Don't wait around, don't even take the time to go back, run. So there's this consistent message, three different warnings, get out of there, move fast.

Now, then the Lord turns at this point to some cautions, circumstances under which you hope you don't find yourself. And he lays it out this way in verses 19 and 20. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. But pray that your flight will not be in the winter or on a Sabbath. Now, I have some more good news for you. I have never been pregnant. But my wife has, and the three of our children, and I greatly respect her for carrying each of those children.

What we find here These are hazards of circumstance and timing warnings. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. If you think of this, this creates a difficult circumstance for having to fly. Either you're carrying this extra weight and it's kind of awkward, or nursing this baby, either way, you know what the concern is when you're fleeing? For the safety of this child. This great concern under those conditions for the safety of the child. That's what's going to be, you know, kind of pulling at you. And it's not just that you'll be hindered, it's also just that there's this immense concern.

My son and daughter-in-law having had this baby a little over a week ago, you know, Everything is focused on this little child and and the idea of having to flee in the midst of that not to speak of all the stuff you have to have to have a baby these days and Whatnot and to care for the baby, but it's just concern for the child is is utmost here under these conditions And that's why he brings this both whether pregnancy or nursing It's it's a risk. It's a concern He also though talks about pray that it might not be in the winter now in the winter time certainly there are risks of just plain being cold, but there's other things too. It snows in some of the higher elevations over in the land of Israel, but particularly one of the risks they would have is flooding. And guess what happens when you go to cross creeks and rivers? They're now swollen with these flood conditions, and now here you are trying to negotiate this swollen creek or stream or river in the midst of that. Furthermore, Pray that your flight may not be on a Sabbath. Now, I remember one of the things that the Jews had to contend with, they had rules about how far you could travel on a Sabbath, right?

And that distance was just about the same as the distance between our Lord and his disciples. Remember where they were? They were sitting on the Mount of Olives. From there to the temple was about a Sabbath day's journey. So they had a good example sitting right there in front of them. Boy, it's amazing how much of this fits, right? They had this Sabbath day's journey distance between them and the temple that was sitting across the valley in front of them.

Pray that it not be on a Sabbath, because the Jew was not permitted to travel on a Sabbath more than that distance. So they would be constrained and restricted if that were the event. Now, the Church Age believer is not concerned about that, right? But the Jews certainly would be.

Now, then he tells them why this risk is so very, very great. Up till now, he's said, get out fast. Up till now, he's said, well, I hope this isn't the condition and circumstance that you have to face. Now he's going to tell them why. Verse 21 and 22.

For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short." So now we have to look at what are the character of those days.

And some key words kind of jump out at us there. He uses the word for, and that's what he's using it for, is he's giving him an explanation. This is the because. This is the why. This is the explanation for all the examples and circumstances he's given to this point.

Up to this point, he's told us things will be difficult. Up to this point, he's told them that there will be rough times. But when this one prophesied event takes place, things are going to change radically for the worse. Then we'll begin a time of, what did he call it?

Great tribulation. Great trouble. Previously, remember, he said what was happening up to that point, remember there's earthquakes, famines, wars, rumors of wars, and what is it? Beginning of birth pangs. Beginning. Now, the real thing comes on. Now it's coming on with intensity. This word great, great tribulation, this is megas, huge tribulation. The magnitude of the trouble and distress will be unimaginable, horrific, he's telling them. There has never been a time like it, nor will there ever again be a time like it.

Then our Lord says that those days will be cut short. He does not mean that the time will be any less than what it's already been said to be. He doesn't say, alright, it's not going to be seven years anymore, I'll make it five, just for you. That's not what he's saying. What he is saying is that the time will be held to its limits. There will be certain specified things that will take place, there will be a certain specified time, but no more. That's it. Otherwise, why? Nobody would live through it. That's what he means by being cut short. But then notice he uses this term, and we've got to think about this a minute.

What is this thing about the elect? You might be wondering yourself and thinking, now who are these elect that Jesus is talking about? And if you've asked yourself that question, good for you. The elect that he is talking about gets illuminated by this. One of the things we showed last week is that the passage that we're looking at this morning has parallel passages in Luke and in Mark and Mark adds one little phrase that I think helped give us some insight this parallel passage in Mark 13 20 as this key phrase unless the Lord had shortened those days no life would have been saved but for the sake of the elect whom he chose he shortened the days if we back up into Deuteronomy at a couple of different passages Deuteronomy 4 37 and and 10 15 What we find is consistently, the Lord loved the forefathers and so because of them he chose their descendants after them. Consistently conveying this message. You see it?

These are those that are elect. Again, the focus is very Jewish. It may indeed include, in the sense of offering some mercy here, those who are not Jewish but are believers. But certainly there's a focus here on those who are Jewish, and he is speaking to those in a Jewish sense. Okay.

Now, the warnings from verses 16 through 22 have been of a physical nature. Now notice how the character of our Lord's warnings begin to change a little bit. Let's look at verses 23 through 27. Then if anyone says to you, behold, here is the Christ, or there he is, do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, behold, he is in the wilderness, do not go out, or behold, he is in the inner rooms, do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be." Now there's a clear message that our Lord is seeking to deliver here as He says these words. And the bottom line in this is this.

There's no private or local appearances. No private or local appearances intended here. This coming of the Lord will not be a private event, it won't be a local event. When the arrival of the Messiah and His second coming takes place, it will not be such that anybody is going to pass the information along to somebody else by rumor or word of mouth or by special position of information. It won't be somebody coming along and saying, hey, we've got the inside scoop on this guy, I just want to let you know, here he is. It won't be any of that. Nobody is going to be able to, or have to, point out, here he is, to let you know, or let those know who are living at that time.

Verse 24, that we just looked at here, is a blossoming of verses 5 and 11. Verses 5 and 11 warn about it. Verse 24, it's coming into full bloom. You see, what Satan wants is a profusion of confusion. a profusion of confusion. That isn't any different from what he wants now, is it? But it's more intense and directed. It is focused upon the Jews at this point in time.

Let's look at a phrase here that comes up. This phrase is signs and wonders. Turns out that phrase signs and wonders shows up multiple times in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. And on top of that, there are a number of passages where simply the word sign or signs or wonder or wonders is used. Frequently it seems to be used almost as an abbreviation for this longer phrase, signs and wonders.

And it's funny, when we look at it in the Old Testament, we find a pattern. The Old Testament refers to signs and wonders as something that God does. It's a very consistent picture. Signs and wonders in the Old Testament are something that God does. He does it before the Jews. An interesting change comes about in the Gospels.

The Lord's first coming is recorded there, and it refers to signs and wonders in a negative light, referring either to the present unbelief or looking forward to this deception, including this point here. In our Lord's first and second coming, the signs and wonders are an issue with negative overtones. And then there's this time in between Acts and the Epistles, except for briefly looking ahead to this time of deception, typically the signs and wonders are looked at as validation and verification that what the apostles are saying is true. So, interesting pattern here. The Lord's first coming, there's a negative overtone, to signs and wonders, and in the second coming, a negative overtone to the signs and wonders, specifically here, the deception at the end of the tribulation period. Now, what the Lord lays out here are the characteristics of His coming. The characteristics of His coming are such as this. His coming will be a globally evident event. In terms of geography, it'll be widespread. As this lightning flashes from the east to the west, it'll be something geographically that will be known and apparent. It'll also be universally evident.

It won't be something that will be, in secret, announced by some special group or telling you, go here or go there. It will be recognized as His coming. Interesting, as we started the book of Revelation in Revelation 1-7, it opened with this, Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him. That doesn't sound like a secret coming, does it? Every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. There will be a universal recognition. that it is Him coming.

It will be extraordinary. He'll be coming in the clouds when we come with Him. And it will not be subtle. It will not be some event where people will have to point it out to you and say, see, here He is, and you didn't notice it. No, it will definitely be noticed.

Then we look at verse 28. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. Now, I have to come to you and say a great many folks have offered a great many interpretations of what this means. And furthermore, I think some of your translations, particularly King James, translates this as eagles gathering. But I think what we have to do is look at this passage and say, okay, what was our Lord intending to convey here? And make sure we're not trying to convey more than that.

First of all, this word translated vultures or eagles, ayatoi is the name, and it basically means large carnivorous birds. So it can include vultures, eagles, and birds of that category. Now, in the same way that vultures or even eagles, if they're hungry enough, will begin circling around carrion, and they create a sign. I remember on my folks' farm when some animal would die out in the woods, you would see these vultures circling and you'd know there's something going on over there and they don't gather for nothing.

It's a definite sign. Furthermore, anybody who's in the area can see it. It shows the signal. So what's this saying? It's saying that this Ominous sign here is very certain it will not be something that is in secret It will be evident to every anyone who takes a look at it now One point we've kept coming back to in this passage is that our Lord is speaking to Jews You notice that we keep coming back to that point Our Lord is speaking to Jews The ominous event that takes place in the middle of the temple in Jerusalem It's a Jewish event, isn't it? Once that event takes place, what's the warning?

Get out of there! It's a geographical issue, isn't it? It talks about Judea. It talks about the flat rooftops. It talks about the Sabbath. It talks about circumstances. Pregnancy, winter, things of that sort. Very Jewish. But even as we notice these things, let's notice something else.

When our Lord speaks to us through the letters of the apostles, like Paul, the concerns that our Lord lays out here don't seem to be anything like it, do they? Did you notice that? When the apostle Paul is writing, he doesn't seem to focus on that. As a matter of fact, where does he write several of the epistles from? Prison. What chance does he have to run there? And then what does he say? Does he talk about things like what's happening in the temple? Or when this takes place, you know, run out into the wilderness? He doesn't talk about those things, does he?

He talks about the fact that we've been identified with Christ. Rather than telling us how to survive, Paul tells us that to live is Christ, but to die is gain. Notice the contrast? rather than insights on how to be saved to make it through to the very end. Paul writes to us about the fact that we've already been blessed with blessings that are untouchable in the heavens.

Immense contrast. You notice that? You see, the contrast between those who are believers of this, the church age, and the conditions of Israel are stark. They're amazing. actually, and it's important we don't get them confused. We need to be very careful about the teachings we listen to that will potentially confuse those.

If we look at this passage and interpret ourselves into the midst of it, we're going to get concerned with where we are earthly. We're going to be concerned about what are the earthly circumstances and events, and we'll be focused upon that. Whereas as we look at the epistles written directly to the church, we look and we see not earthly concerns, but heavenly concerns. And we see instead riches that are untouchable and conditions that cannot be changed. Conditions that God's fixed in place. We need to be careful who we're listening to. There are those, for example, who will teach that the Church is going to go through the Tribulation.

And if that's the case, you'd better look at this passage we just read and take it personally. Right? If it's not the case, then we need to look at it and recognize that it is for the Jews and not for ourselves. And then we need to take a look and say, well, if that's not my specific personal concern, then what is?

And make that distinction. That's why these distinctions are not just theological, doctrinal, up-in-the-air kinds of issues. They're not just sort of theoretical things that I don't have to contend with. In fact, they are very real. What counts? What's permanent? What do I have to concern myself with as a believer versus looking at these things here, as Christ is laid out, that are specifically zeroed in and focused on the Jews. They reveal God's character. They reveal God's workings with the Jews.

But the confusion of ourselves with Israel is a serious mistake. The amazing thing is, though, as we look at this, we have a different past, we have a different present, And we have a different future. See that? So these things are not just theological mumbo-jumbo. They're in fact things that count very much. They're in fact things that matter a great deal.

The amazing thing is though, is the amazing grace of the same God. It's the same Lord, but dealing with us differently. Let's pray. Lord, as we look at this passage, we see your personal concern for these people whom you have chosen. And yet, Lord, as we look at it too, we see not only your concern and provision for them, we also see, Lord, the great contrast with where we stand. And Lord, how our own lives are not wrapped up on which day are we observing, and which place are we, and what do we do next physically here on earth. But Lord, instead, we can count upon riches that this world cannot touch. We can count upon blessings that this world knows nothing of. And Lord, we look to you now this morning. We just ask that you would focus our hearts, focus our minds, Lord, and draw us to set our minds on things above. And we just pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.