Matthew 24:15-24 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.
After the Spirit fell upon the believers in Jerusalem, Peter proclaims, with the words of the prophet Joel, that the world is in its last days. He quotes the prophet, In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18) Jesus says in the days before He comes again, the world will be in great distress. Many calamitous events will cause people to seek out Messiahs to explain what is happening in the world. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. (Matthew 24:5) People will be aware of wars, battles and conflicts. They will be cognizant of earthquakes, famines, and natural disasters happening around the world. These kinds of events have occurred from the beginning of time, but in our present world, people easily hear about the wars, battles, and conflicts that are taking place at any one time through the media. Jesus says people will HEAR about these violent and disturbing events, and they will know that famines, earthquakes and natural disasters ARE HAPPENING. In the last days, people will be very much aware of the difficulties and disasters that are striking the earth. Humans have been living in the last days for centuries, for millenniums. What Jesus prophesied is prevalent to mankind’s existence, but hearing about them and their meaning is not so common. However, now we see Jesus talking about the very last days in a more precise way. When you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Jesus began his prophetic words by talking about the destruction of the Temple. This is shocking to the disciples so now their ears are opened to what He is saying. He tells them the Temple will be desecrated. The disciples might have already known that the Temple had been despoiled earlier by the Greeks. Antiochus IV Epiphanies ascended to the throne and pursued a policy of Hellenization. Religious observances of Sabbath and circumcision were outlawed. A statue of Zeus was erected in the temple, and Jews were commanded to offer sacrifices to it. But now Jesus is telling them about a different time, something that will happen in the future. He tells them that the Temple will not only be destroyed, but there also will be another desecration of the Holy of Holies. In 70 AD we find the Romans not only destroying the Temple, but piling up dead bodies around the altar. Hundreds were killed in the Temple by the Legions of Rome. Some believe they also sacrificed pigs on the altar; the boar was the Legions’ emblem on their shield and standards. This may be speculation. The people in the city of Jerusalem were killed by the hundreds of thousands. If this is the time Jesus is talking about, it is true that the people should flee to the mountains: then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. This revolt of the Jews was smashed. Later in 135 AD, the Jews revolted again; then the Jews were forced to leave Jerusalem. At this time the Romans scattered them throughout their kingdom as slaves. Even though these events were horrendous, many people believe a future desecration of the next Temple will happen, under the reign of the Antichrist. Regardless of our understanding of Jesus’ prophecy, we do know that we are as Peter stated in the last days.
Much of what Jesus prophesies in Matthew 24 lines up well with nuclear war. If we expand Jesus’ words to the end times for the whole world, we can easily see why people need to abandon the cities quickly. Nuclear attacks would produce considerable devastation, making it difficult for humans to survive. Jesus says that God will intervene to save his elect from being completely wiped out. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. We can see such an event happening when we hear Jesus’ words, Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. (Matthew 24:29) The amount of dust and particulates that would be thrown into the atmosphere would cause the sun to be darkened and the moon to disappear from view. And the stars would seem to move. Definitely, everything would be shaken. Peter tells us that in the last days, disaster will hit the world beyond human belief. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. (2 Peter 3:10) Violence is so much a part of man’s makeup that nothing is beyond his willingness to destroy others. Over the years since Jesus’ death, there have been at least one billion people killed by violence. Wars, battles, and conflicts have always been part of man’s history. In Europe alone since the Tenth Century there have been over 700 conflagrations. Some of these wars lasting hundreds of years. In our last century, millions have been killed in Europe. Why select Europe only as an example of violence? We look to Europe because the culture of Europe with its Christian influence is considered by many to be enlightened, supposedly more so than other cultures in the world. However, even in the hearts of sophisticated societies, the demon of violence exists, the willingness to kill and destroy. When we expand this condition of violence to all people, everywhere, the wars, battles and conflicts are too numerous to count. In the deepest jungles, in the most desolated places on earth where humans live, destruction and hurt lie in the hearts of men. When Jesus is talking about the end times, He speaks of man destroying man. Such evil that God will shorten the days to keep men from destroying themselves. But then and only then will the Son of Man appear. He took on the form of a man, turning the world upside down, allowing himself to be the victim of man’s violent nature. He paid the complete price for man’s redemption through the blood He shed for their sinful nature. The Man of Peace and Justice brought his sinless nature to men so they could be born again through his redemptive sacrifice.
Paul experienced all kinds of violence and rejection. People followed him from one community to the next, trying to kill him. He was threatened in the cities and on his travel between the cities. Paul knew violence; he knew the nature of people. When he taught the Good News, some ridiculed and mocked him. They derided him for teaching what they considered drivel, the Good News that Jesus saves. Paul gave his life to save some, even though many were his adversaries. However, knowing people as they are, experiencing evil from the hands of men, Paul talks to Timothy about even a worse time coming. There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) Paul is talking about a clearer prediction of the last days than even Jesus’ prophecy. Jesus’ word are more nebulous, harder to determine what they mean. We speculated on what Jesus is referring to when he talks about the abomination that causes desolation. Who really knows? Who knows the when, who, and why of it? No one really knows. Most of what people say about Jesus’ words are speculations, assumptions. But Paul’s words describe the condition of men’s hearts in the last days in precise language. He describes the lack of love and caring for others that will exist in the souls of men and women. Now even in intimate interactions people will be self-absorbed. They will be self-willed, pursuing self-aggrandizement. This kind of behavior can easily be seen in our day, for we have our computers to fulfill our dreams and fantasies. Our interactions do not have to include any others than those we find supportive. We have few in our lives to ameliorate the worst ideas that we carry in our minds. We can delve into wickedness if we desire—no one will know. Paul says, people will be lovers of themselves, orienting their lives exclusively for their own pleasure. Parents, children, households find the computer central in their lives. Each person is seeking his or her computer when he or she wakes up in the morning. Paul describes well what happens when we separate ourselves from others, by taking deep dives into our computers. We become partisan, we learn to hate, we learn to despise others who disagree with us. We seek to gratify our lust, our need for pleasure. We seek out games to play all day; we are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. We believe we have found our elixir for life. However, rather than freeing us for more positive interactions with the people closest to us, it separates us to our silos. The bondage of self-indulgence of self-awareness becomes our life. We do not consider this time as terrible, but Paul says, these will not be good times in the last day. People will love themselves instead of God. They will seek money and boast in their pride as they become abusive, disobedient and sinful in other ways. Finally they will have a form of godliness but no power. As with Jonah who was running from God, we become entangled with the weeds of self. Jesus said, the last days will be traumatic to all who live on the earth. Paul tells us, the last days will be terrible because of the way people think and live, but we who are around this breakfast table look for and welcome the soon return of our Lord.
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