BEN F. VICK, JR.
Though under a different title, I have been writing about the Lord’s teaching concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. Most of his teaching on this subject is found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. However, there are other references in the Bible and out of the Bible of the horrible event.
When the “abomination of desolation” was seen, the Jews were to flee from the city. If they were on the housetop, they were not to go down to gather anything but get out. If they were working in the fields, they were not to go back to the city. It would be terrible if a woman was with child or had a nursing baby at the time because of the difficulty in fleeing quickly. They were to pray that this event did not occur during the winter or on the sabbath because of the difficulty in traveling or even getting out of Jerusalem. At that time, there would be great tribulation. Thayer defines the Greek word (θλίψις) “of the afflictions of those hard pressed by siege and the calamities of war.” Another Greek lexicon says of this word in this context: “of distress that is brought about by outward circumstances.” There was nothing like it or after it (Matt. 24:21). If the mercy of God had not shortened those days, no flesh would have been saved.
During this siege, some were attempting to get others to follow them, claiming to be Christ or leading them to Christ (Matt. 24: 23-26). Like Jannes and Jambres (2 Tim. 3:8), they purported to do great signs and wonders to deceive the elect. Macknight comments:
Hence many arose, pretending to be Messiah, and boasting that they would deliver the nation; the effect of which was, that the multitude giving credit to these deceivers, became obstinate in their opposition to the Romans, whereby their destruction was rendered both the more severe, and the more inevitable…. The partisans of the false Christs might pretend that Messiah was concealed a while for fear of the Romans; and the weaker sort of Christians, without this warning, might have imagined that Christ was actually returned to deliver the nation in its extremity, and to punish the enemies; and that he would shew himself as soon as it was proper.
Jesus further explains, “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” (Matt. 24:27-28.) Macknight says, “The coming of the Son of man shall be in a very different manner, and for very different ends, from what you are imagining. It shall be like lightning, swift, unexpected, and destructive.” Just as lightning comes swiftly and unexpectedly, the Son of man will come, but not personally. His servants, the Roman army, will come, who will destroy the city by his authority. As God used Nebuchadnezzar to take Jerusalem, God would use Titus and the Roman army to end the Jewish nation as the eagles devoured the prey.
Matthew records, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:” (Matt.24:29.) These highly figurative expressions point out that the Jewish polity, both civil and religious, would be destroyed.
The Jews would no longer be a people united under one form of government which they administered. They would no longer possess their own country. This language is not unusual in describing the downfall of a nation. Isaiah describes the destruction of Babylon using similar words: “For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: The sun shall be darkened in his going forth, And the moon shall not cause her light to shine.” (Isa. 13:10.) The language in Matthew 24:29, Wallace says, “The signs in the heavens, the darkening sun and falling stars, refer to the falling of Jewish dignitaries, casting down of authorities and powers, long established, and signified the darkness that settled upon the Jewish state.” (God’s Prophetic Word, p. 254.)
When darkness would cover the Judean state and the Jews would no longer be able to worship at the temple, the sign of the Son of man would appear. Jesus said, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matt. 24:30.) No better comment on these verses can be read than what Wallace wrote:
The coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven is not a reference to the second coming of Christ but to the coming foretold by Jesus to Caiaphas in Matthew 26.64: “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Jesus told Caiaphas that he would see it, he would be a living witness to these events. The reference to the Son of man coming “with power and great glory” and “sitting on the right hand of power” is emphasis on the magnitude of the things that occurred. The Son of man came in power in the transpiring events.
15. Sending forth his angels – verse 31: “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Here is the grand announcement of the world-wide success of the gospel, the universal expansion of Christianity after the destruction of Jerusalem. The angels of this verse were messengers, emissaries of the gospel. The gathering of the elect from the four winds meant that these messengers would carry the gospel to every nook and corner of the inhabited world. This is history of what occurred. With the downfall of Judaism the greatest foe of the church was removed, the path cleared of the chief obstacle, resulting in the universal sweep of Christianity. The knowledge of God covered the earth as waters cover the sea. (Ibid, pp. 254-255.)
Jesus’ answer to the questions asked by his four apostles concludes with these lines: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” (Matt. 24:32-34.) Jesus’ parable of the fig tree was for the purpose of showing that just as the fig tree gives a sign of summer’s nearness, so would there be signals of the closeness of Jerusalem’s destruction. Jesus clarified that all the things he mentioned would be fulfilled in that generation. Forty years later, the prophecy was fulfilled.