BEN F. VICK, JR.
In last week's article, I mentioned that the song as titled and some of the lyrics are not scriptural, even though some modern translations change the word "quickly" to "soon" in Revelation 22:20. Neither our Lord (while he was on earth), nor the angels, nor the apostles knew when his return would be. He will come as a thief in the night (2 Peter 3:10). Yet date-setters and prognosticators have taught that the Lord's return is imminent, near, at hand. There is no doubt that the Lord came in judgment upon the city of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, but that is NOT the second coming of our Lord.
It has been suggested that the song's title is not wrong because it will not be long before we quit the walks of men. However, the song is not entitled: "We Shall Meet Jesus Soon," but "Jesus Is Coming Soon." An apparent reference to his second coming, not our departure from this life.
Jesus said the gospel would be preached in all the world before the end of the Jewish state. Keep in mind that the law of Moses had ended at the cross (Col. 2:14), but many Jews were still attempting to follow it. However, it had been nullified. In that Olivet discourse, he said to Peter, Andrew, James, and John, "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." (Matt. 24:14.)
Within thirty years of the Lord's pronouncement, the gospel had been preached in all nations. Paul wrote to the Colossian saints, "For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth." (Col.1:5-6.) A few lines later, he said, "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister." (Col.1:23.) In Romans, Paul said, "But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." (Rom. 10:18.)
After mentioning distant signs of the destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus then began to show signs of destruction closer to Jerusalem. He said:
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day. (Matt. 24:15-20.)
What is "the abomination of desolation"? There have been many suggestions. One possibility made was in A.D. 40 when the Roman emperor Caligula had planned to erect a statue of himself in the temple. In his Late Great Planet Earth, Hal Lindsey suggested several abominations of desolation. According to John MacArthur, the abomination of desolation "is an event that will happen in the future time known as the tribulation." (Website: "Grace To You.”) These speculations are wrong. Men cannot be satisfied with the Lord's answer.
The expression "abomination of desolation" related to one event, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army in A.D. 70. The Lord said, "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." (Luke 21:20.) Luke recorded earlier, "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." (Luke 19:41-44.) The idolatrous Romans did desecrate and destroyed the temple.
When the Jews saw the Roman army surrounding the city of Jerusalem, they were to flee to the mountains. Those who believed the Lord's word fled to Pella, on the eastern side of the Jordan River. One on the housetop was not to go down to gather anything out of his house. Time was of the essence. If one was in the field, he was not to return to Jerusalem to get his clothes. Pregnant women and those nursing babies would have difficulty in travel. Such will make no difference when the Lord comes the second time. Jesus said, "pray ye that your flight not be in the winter, neither on the sabbath day." Why? Inclement weather and muddy roads would make travel harder.
Why pray that the abomination of desolation does not occur on the sabbath? The Seventh Day Adventists would argue that this is proof that the sabbath had not ended at the cross since the sabbath law was still in force. However, it was the Jews who were attempting to practice that which had been made null and void. The Jewish authorities would close the gates on the sabbath day. So, those wanting to escape would be held against their will.
Further, Jesus said, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." (Matt. 24:21-22.) "Then," when would there be great tribulation? When they saw the abomination of desolation. This tribulation did occur. It took place in A.D. 70. There was nothing like it before or after the destruction of the city. Macknight says (and I quote): "In short, from the beginning of the siege to the taking of the city, there were slain by faction, by famine, by pestilence, and by the enemy, no less than eleven hundred thousand in Jerusalem." (A Paraphrase and Commentary on the Harmony of the Gospels, Vol. II, p. 424.) God shortened those days to deliver the elect; otherwise, no flesh would have been saved.
To be continued.