Warnings of Coming Peril
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2015 · 25 January 2015
Let’s open Matthew 24, as we continue to learn from this great sermon on the second coming by our Lord Jesus Christ. It is known as the Olivet Discourse. The second coming of the Lord Jesus is truly a fascinating subject. The apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:11, “Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” In other words, realizing that Christ will come in judgment, we present the gospel so that men may escape that. And we who are believers serve the Lord knowing that someday He will come to reward us, and we want to be faithful to Him.
The disciples don’t realize that it is yet thousands of years away because they don’t understand that there are really two comings of Christ. He comes the first time in humiliation to die, then there is a long period of time, until He comes the second time in glory to reign. So Jesus answers them, beginning in verse 4, with a sermon about His second coming. Now, some people have tried to say that this is a sermon about the destruction of Jerusalem, that this all was fulfilled in 70 A.D. when the temple was destroyed. For many reasons that is impossible, as we have given many reasons in our previous messages.
And so they ask: “What is the sign that it’s all going to come to an end?” And that’s their question in verse 3 and that triggers the sermon that goes from Matthew 24:4 right through chapter 25. And the Lord responds by giving them a series of signs from verse 4 through 14, which He calls in verse 8 “the beginning of birth pains.” As we said, birth pains are right at the very end, before the birth. And so there will be certain things happening at the very end of man’s age after which the kingdom of our Lord Jesus will begin.
But Jesus goes one step further in verse 15 and says there is one single event that kicks the whole thing off. “When you shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand.” Verse 21 says: “For then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
The “abomination of desolation” happens when the antichrist comes in to the temple which will be rebuilt in the end time; the Jews will be worshiping there. He comes in as their protector and their ally. He comes in as the one who defends them against the threat of Russia and Arab aggression. He comes in to sort of be their savior. Daniel 9 says they sign a treaty with him. He is the leader of a revived Roman Empire, a European confederacy who promises to be the protector of Israel.
And in the middle of a seven-year period he violates his treaty with them, he desecrates their worship in the holy place, he sets up an idol, an image of himself. And according to 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13, he demands the whole world to worship him, and that is the trigger that breaks loose the whole holocaust of the end time. So verse 15 describes that as the abomination of desolation. Abomination means doing a detestable thing; desolation meaning that ruins. A detestable act of idolatry that ruins, that brings sacrilege in the temple of God.
Now, when that happens, all the things from verse 4 to 14 will break loose. Pseudo-saviors will come, wars, rumors of wars, nations against nations, kingdom against kingdom, famines, earthquakes, and people delivered in persecution to be hated and killed. And there will be betrayals and false prophets and sin will run rampant, iniquity will abound and the love of many will grow cold, and all of that is going to be triggered by the abomination of desolation at the midpoint of the seven years.
Satan’s counterfeit king becomes king of the world and he is a demon-possessed, hell-inspired, Christ-hating, God-defying, Christian-killing, Jew-despising man of sin who takes over the reins in the world. And Satan pulls out all the stops to try to destroy all Christians, all Jews, the nation of Israel and try to stop Jesus Christ from establishing His kingdom.
Now, as we come to verses 16 to 28, Jesus warns us. And He warns all the readers who read this, who will know this in the time that it happens. And He warns about four things: calamity, confusion, spiritual collapse, and the second coming. Verse 15 says: “When,” it starts, “When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation” – then go to verse 16 – “then let them who are in Judea flee into the mountains.” Now, when this happens flee. Get out fast because as long as you stay in Jerusalem, you are going to die. You will be persecuted, because the antichrist wants to eradicate Israel.
Satan tries to eliminate Israel, thinking he can thwart the plan of God, which is fulfilled ultimately in bringing Israel to salvation and to their kingdom. Satan has tried to wipe out the Jews throughout history. And when antichrist takes over in Jerusalem, sets up his throne right there in Jerusalem, the Jews that are left there are going to be very vulnerable, and so Jesus says in that day you better run away fast.
And if there happen to be any Christians who refuse to worship the antichrist, you better run too, if you are in Judea. Judea is the area in which Jerusalem is the main city, the southern part of Palestine. In Revelation 13 it says he wants to make war with the saints. And we also know in Revelation 12 that he wants to wipe out Israel. And so Jesus says that when this happens, there should be an exodus out of Jerusalem and out of the land for self-preservation.
Not everybody is going to make it. Go back to Zechariah 13:8 for a moment, “And it will come to pass that in all the land, says the Lord, two parts in it shall be cut off and die.” There’s going to be a terrible slaughter. The holocaust on the Jews of the future is going to be far greater than anything in the past. Two out of three are going to die. Verse 9 says: “A third part will be spared and refined and kept by God.”
Look at Revelation 6:9, when the fifth seal is opened, which is the seal that describes the Tribulation, “Under the altar are the souls of those that were slain for the Word of God and the testimony which they held.” Here are believers. Here are Christians, Gentiles or Jews, out of the Tribulation time who have been martyred for their faith. That’s part of fulfillment. That’s why Jesus says, “Run fast because your life is at stake.”
In fact, verse 16 says: “Flee to the mountains where you can hide.” And then verse 17 gets descriptive, “Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house.” In those days the housetop was where the patio was, there was an outside staircase going up, you still see that in Israel today. If you happen to be caught up there, don’t even go inside to get your belongings, get down the stairs and out of town because when that thing happens, as it says in Revelation, devastation will come and death like a flood.
And so the Lord urges them to retreat for safety. The Lord is not advocating a martyr complex. Verse 18 says: “Neither let him who is in the field return back to take his garment.” “Garment” refers to the outer cloak, and if you’re out there working in the field and you have laid your cloak on the cart far away and you are told that it is happening, don’t go back to the cart to get anything, get out. Satan has taken over and the holocaust is coming quickly.
And then verse 19, “And woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing.” Why? Well, some commentators say because it’s so hard to run when you’re pregnant, no question that that’s true. But there is something more than that in this. When Hosea 13:16 looks at the end time and talks about the salvation of Israel and the bringing back of Israel and how God will bring judgment on those who have judged Israel wrongly, it says, “Samaria is held guilty, for she has rebelled against her God.”
Now when God comes to bring His judgment against those who have rebelled, when God comes to restore, first He must purge. And it says further in verse 16, “They shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces.” When the antichrist comes, it seems that there is going to be the devastation of infants. You see it here prophesied in Hosea, and that also happened when Christ was born. When Satan tried to stop the birth of Christ he massacred many babies. And that is why the Lord warns us in that regard of what is going to happen in that day.
When Satan has total control of the world for a short time, when the church is removed, and when the Holy Spirit, the restrainer has taken back His restraining power, all sin goes unchecked and that is what will happen. And then verse 20, Jesus says: “Pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” It might be cold, it might be raining, and it might even be snowing because there are parts of Israel where there is snow.
Pray that it’s not going to be in a time when you cannot travel fast on the Sabbath day. The radical Jews will stone you if you do that because they hold to the Sabbath law you cannot travel more than 2,000 cubits or approx. 1000 meters. Why? Verse 21: “For then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time nor ever shall be.” The worst time the world has ever known will happen. And that is described in Revelation 6 through 19 in detail.
And that period lasts for three and a half years, as that is clearly given to us, not only in the book of Revelation but also by the prophet Daniel. It says in Daniel 7:25 that this antichrist who comes will be for a time, times, and a dividing of a time. Again a time is one, times is two, and a dividing of a time is a half – three and a half years. That always has been the timeframe in which this great ruler wreaks havoc across the face of the earth. And we saw that in Daniel 12 and in Revelation 11:2 and also in Revelation 13:5.
It is sad to say this, but the true message to give to Israel today is that things are not going to get better, they are going to get much worse. It will be so bad that Zechariah’s prophecy is going to be fulfilled. There will be a desecration and abomination that is going to take the lives of two out of every three people. And in verse 22 it says, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened.”
Now, what does that mean, “shortened”? Well, Jesus says three and a half years, 42 months, 1260 days. Every time the Bible speaks of it, it speaks of the same time period. And no place does it say it will be shorter than that. So the word for shortened could mean it is stopped instantly, it immediately ends. Unless it was terminated fast, even the elect would perish. But there might be a better explanation for that word.
It doesn’t say “except that day,” but it says “those days.” And if you take those 24-hour days, except those 24-hour days should be shortened, that when the abomination of desolation occurs and people start running for their lives, Jews and non-Jews believers, that God supernaturally by His mercy and grace is going to alter the length of daylight in order to give them the protection of darkness.
“Well, where do you get that?” Look at Revelation 6:12-13, in opening the sixth seal there was “a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became like blood 13 and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, even as fig trees casting her untimely figs.” Look in the trumpet judgments of Revelation 8:12, “A fourth angel sounded and a third part of the sun was smitten, third part of the moon, third part of the stars, third part of them darkened and the day shown not for the third part of it.” Daylight will be reduced by one third.
Now, you can relate the word “elect” to Israel as they are called in the Old Testament. We see it in Romans 9 to 11 where Paul talks about Israel as the elect nation, not redeemed Israel, but Israel as a nation. We can also see in the word “elect” the redeemed believers from all nations. So for the sake of preserving His elect nation and His elect redeemed people, He shortens the day so that the antichrist cannot massacre the Jews and believers.
So Jesus says, if you are alive then and you see the abomination of desolation, run as fast as you can. Because severe calamity is coming there will be confusion. All these people run, and the ones that don’t die are all hiding out here. We don’t know how the Lord is going to take care of them, but they are out of the city. And they are very vulnerable as all people in great desperation are.
So verse 23 says watch out for confusion, “If any man says to you, here is Christ, or there, do not believe it.” For there shall arise false Christ’s, and false prophets who point to the one who claims to be the Messiah. And they are going to show great signs and wonders, according to 2 Thessalonians 2 demonstrating power from the devil. Verse 24 says, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
Do you know that that is not possible? Jesus says, no, if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect. But the truly elect who know Christ could never be deceived. When somebody says, “I am Christ,” the Mormon Jesus, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Christ, this Christ, that Christ, you will never deceive one who really knows Christ. John 10:27 says: “My sheep hear My voice, they know Me and I know them.” And if somebody defects to another Christ, they never knew the true Christ.
Verse 25, “See, I have told you beforehand.” He did clear back in Matthew 7, Matthew 15, Matthew 16 and Matthew 23. He’s been telling them all along, “Watch out for these deceivers. Don’t be fooled. Don’t look for some secret Messiah.” Look verse 26, “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” Then how do we know when He gets here?
Verse 27, “For as the lightning comes out of the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” It is like lightning going right across the sky from the east to the west, His coming will be sudden, public, visible, universal, and glorious. And the whole world is going to see it. Look at Revelation 1:7, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him.”
Read Revelation 19:11-15, “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”
Now verse 28, “For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” Now, that’s a little proverb, sometimes they are called eagles, but the word basically has to do with a vulture. And it is simply like an analogy. Christ is going to come as it were a vulture to a dead carcass. The world is going to be so sinfully corrupt, that it lies there as a wretched, decaying carcass to which the Lord will come in judgment to tear and rip that carcass to pieces.
Now, what Jesus is saying is that the world is going to decay and become corrupt and dies. The world is going to be more wretched than ever. Go back to verse 12, the iniquity shall abound. The church is gone. The restraining Holy Spirit has pulled back His power. Sin is rampant. And the world becomes so wretched that it is like the decaying carcass of an animal. God comes down in final judgment. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8, “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Let us pray.