I invite you to turn this morning to Matthew chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24, as we continue our study in the Gospel of Matthew. And one thing to notice as we're reading through this is, obviously, a heavy and a challenging text. But you'll notice the Lord's concern in verse 19: "But alas for women who are pregnant and for those nursing infants in those days." The Lord is concerned about that. And you see that here in his pastoral care of the most needy and those who are the weakest. For his care at times like this, that's what really shines in this passage. So it's very beautiful in that regard.
Let's give our attention to Matthew chapter 24.
"Jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, you see all these do you, not truly i say to you there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down as he sat down on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when these things will be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus answered them: "See that no one leads you astray, for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
And now our text this morning:
"So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place let the reader understand then Let those who are in judea flee to the mountains let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak but alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! play Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on this a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, look here is the christ or there he is do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So if they say to you, look he's in the wilderness do not go out. If they say, look he's in the inner rooms do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
May the Lord bless the hearing of his Word.
The beauty of Matthew chapter 24 such an important chapter, a difficult chapter in many ways but here, I don't want to miss the heart of what this chapter is illustrating: is the shepherding care of the Lord for his flock. You can't miss that in this. It really is the Lord speaking here as the Good Shepherd, and his humanity. You really get a sense of that here in concern for his flock, in concern for his sheep, giving instructions. And he's not bashful in telling us what things will be like, what will happen. He is sovereign in understanding all of this.
It's remarkable because what we see here is the Lord's care to give us guidance when the hard judgments of this age fall. We said that last time as we considered this passage. We can look throughout history and see that all of this has been validated, the things of this present age that are difficult and hard for us to understand. And he knew that. When he told his disciples that the destruction of the temple would come, that caused them great fear, that caused them great consternation. They they saw their existence they saw their life in Jerusalem in the temple. And we drew the comparison to saying, "Imagine if Jesus had said, see all those buildings in DC? Not one stone will be left here upon another That would be distressing! How will we live? What will become of us? We no longer have a nation!" This is exactly the kind of thing they're experiencing. They could not process this.
This is the intention of Matthew chapter 24, when you step back from it, to see that Jesus is giving care, and he's giving instruction to his disciples and his people to understand the things that must shortly take place. Now, that's a very important pastoral point: Jesus cares to do that for us. It's one thing if you have no idea of what's coming; how you're going to make it through that is a scary proposition. But when you have understanding and you know what to expect, and he gives you instruction, if you will listen to that Word, it's great guidance and light through the difficult times of this life.
Jesus wants his people calm. He wants his people trusting. He wants his people, big theme of this chapter Ready ready to go home! The whole Bible's told you this: ready to go at any time, ready to leave this world, ready to go to the place that he's prepared for us. And that, in the interim while we're ready, we are here with purpose, advancing the gospel to the ends of the nation.
This morning, we're considering a few emphases from this all of it discourse really, as Jesus describes the end of Israel through the destruction of the temple and then the end of the world. Through that lens, he shows us a glimpse of the end of the world, leading us to the final coming of Jesus Christ, which has been prophesied all throughout the Scriptures.
If we set the stage right again: you remember that this all comes in the context of Jesus saying, "See, your houses left to you desolate. You will not see me anymore until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Following the life, death, and resurrection, the disciples would not see that his face again until we all together see him come on the clouds of heaven, which he describes in this next section the end of the age and his return now when the disciples heard this, you remember they they came to him and they showed him the buildings of the temple: "You don't You don't mean that temple! You don't mean our temple you can't mean this is coming down!" They could not process this. So think about it: that temple's not here to this day. It happened. He knocked it down. But imagine sitting before it was knocked down, looking at the glory of this temple, all the sacred objects, all that had been built through Israel's history and the plundering of Jerusalem. They thought, "If that happens, that's the end of the world! That's the end of the world!"
This is important because what comes out in this chapter is that fear fear has overwhelmed the disciple the disciples about future events. And so they are the same fears that we live with all the time. It's interesting that when it comes to end time stuff, it comes to eschatology, this has been some of the greatest fear-mongering that has gone on uh in the church and on the bookshelves of scaring people to death about this. And it's it's a strange thing. It makes a lot of money. it makes a lot of money
They want to understand this, and so they come to Jesus, and they ask him. They say, "Tell us, when these things will be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Very important questions. You always have to look at how Jesus responds to the questions that are asked of him. He is very intentional when he is asked questions. And here, essentially, they're asking, "What can we expect? What will this look like? What will happen before the end of the world?"
Now, they had equated this together: the destruction of the temple, the knocking down of the temple, with the second coming of Christ. And he demonstrated, as we looked at last time, that their understanding was wrong. There would be this huge interim period between the destruction of the temple and the advancing of the gospel, as we looked at last time, before the end comes. The gospel will go out into all the nations. It was a long period in between, but they didn't understand this. They didn't see it.
Christ never inspired this as some people have taken this so that the whole chapter would just be read as talking about AD 70. Oh, no, no, no! This this chapter is full of instruction, teaching us about the end of the world and what to expect. That's what you know what we know is the grave air of preterism. Preterism says all this was fulfilled, all the New Testament prophecy passages of eschatology were fulfilled in AD 70. It's a grave error.
We have to appreciate the in principle of interpretation here that Christ teaches this in multiple fulfillments throughout history. And he speaks of the terrible event of AD 70 which is a big event, in the destruction of the temple as a lens through which to think about the end of all things. He wants us to learn from it; he wants us to apply it. There is indeed what you might say multiple fulfillment in this passage, and Jesus also uses hyperbole in this passage to make emphasis, to draw out strong points so that we listen to him.
Now, first 14 verses of chapter 24, he describes the struggles of the present age in which we live until his return. That captures there in verses 4 through 14 the signs of the sign of your coming in the end of the age this. spans The whole age in which we live wars and rumors of wars we've lived this famines pestilences earthquakes in various places the ground will shake under our feet at the most unexpected of times. This is characteristic of this age, and Jesus says, "Their birth pains leading to the final end of all things."
And then he encouraged us, saying, "But that doesn't mean there's no purpose for us here. And this gospel of the kingdom will go out in all the world as a witness, and then the end will come." There's his plan. There's his good plan. He's sending out the good news to the ends of the earth. He's saving people to the ends of the earth. He's gathering his people to the ends of the earth and bringing them into the kingdom. That will continue until his second coming.
That's why we know this passage is not talking just about AD 70, by the way, because that's what we're living now. This is what the book of Acts was all about. But the obstacle to this plan if you have any sort of what we call biblical theology is the temple. The Lord had always planned that in Abraham, all the gentiles of the earth would be blessed. And it would not be in one nation of the earth where the gospel would only be found in Israel and for Israel's unbelief that's why judgment is coming. And so the temple had to come down for this to work this whole plan.
Now, in verses 15 through 28, that's addressed. That's why I give you that background to understand this. Jesus is now addressing the disciples question: "When will these things be? When will these stones on this temple fall?" What we have here is the end of Israel described as the one nation of God's presence on the earth. It's a catastrophic event in history the whole of israel's history it climaxes here on this judgment on Jerusalem that he is talking about in 80 70.
So what does Christ say? That after the various judgments that mark this present age in (verses 4 through 14), he turns to one event that would be the most distressing for them in their lifetime, and it becomes a teaching tool for us.
Look at verse 15: "And when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place let the reader understand..." the
This is a very uh important section. This is a very important word that our Lord is giving us. The abomination that causes desolation the word "abomination" here means anything that's detestable, completely defiling and unclean, that leads to destruction. And Jesus says, "I want you to remember that this was talked about and taught to you in the book of Daniel. Let the reader understand. If you want to understand this, you really do need to go back to Daniel and look at what Daniel described then of what was to come."
This detestable thing will come into the holy place, into the temple, defile it, and it will lead to total destruction. Daniel spoke of this in the 70 week prophecy. He said that in the midst of the seven weeks the 70 weeks there would be an end to sacrifice and offering because of this abomination of desolation. I think of the temple: where is sacrifice and offering today? It's gone. It's gone! So the gospel could go out.
Daniel described this. Jesus says, and he says this is something that has multiple fulfillments throughout history. What Daniel described in 11 uh Daniel 11 31 listen to the language speaking of a king, his armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation."
Jesus is saying, "That's what I'm talking about! Let the reader understand!"
Daniel described a pagan king who would come in and he would defile the sanctuary of the temple, and he would speak blasphemies against God. He would pollute the whole thing, and it would end in desolation in the temple. That happened in 168 BC. We know that epiphany stormed Jerusalem. He desecrated the temple by building an altar upon God's altar in the temple. He killed pigs and offered a sacrifice upon the holy altar in the holy place. And you know that these were unclean. That happened.
And Jesus says that is exactly a template for what will happen in AD 70 the final destruction of the temple will occur in a very similar way and of Jerusalem.
Now, we know this history. The Romans entered the temple under the mighty warrior Titus. He took away all the sacred vessels. He took away the lamp stand. He burned the temple down, and it was an utter bloodbath. If you were to read Josephus, the early historian at the time this is a historian of that day he records this. So this is documented history. It's really amazing, isn't it? These are not just myths. Not only the temple, but the land was left desolate.
I want to read you a portion of this so then you can appreciate what our Lord's doing here, right out of Josephus:
"Throughout the city people were dying of hunger in large numbers and enduring unspeakable sufferings. In every house, the merest hint of food sparked violence, and close relatives fell to blows, snatching one another the pitiful supports from one another the pitiful supports of life. No respect was paid even to the dying. The ruffians those are the anti-Roman zealots searched for them in case they were concealing food somewhere in their clothes or just pretending to be near death. Gaping with hunger like mad dogs, lawless gangs went staggering and reeling through the streets, battering upon the doors like drunkards and so bewildered they broke into the same house two or three times in an hour. Need drove the starving to gnaw at anything. Refuse which even animals would reject was collected and turned into food. In the end, they were eating belts and shoes and the leather stripped off their shields. Tufts of withered grass were devoured and sold."
I read that to you you can go through and look at josephus i read that to you to see that was the most devastating moment in Israel's history.
Now, this is why I want you to hear Jesus in that backdrop. What is he concerned about? What's he concerned about? His people through this. This whole thing is covenantal.
Jesus has already said, "When you see this stuff in history, And I think we have to say, at least to our point in life, some of you have been through war. You've seen the horrors of World War II. You know what could happen. Many of us don't, unless we've been to war now. We've lived in such a peaceable time, we can't imagine this. This is life under the sun."
Jesus said, "I don't want you troubled. I've told you beforehand."
But notice how he helps them. Verse 17: "When you see this coming, don't go get your clothes. Do not go back. It's an appointed time for judgment." And he says it will be a terrible time for those pregnant and nursing babies in those days because you know why? It'll be hard for them to flee. And behind that is a concern: help them. Help them. Pray that when this comes and notice this pray you It will not be in winter or on a Sabbath. Um, winter's cold, and people can't go back to get clothes. You hear the concern? A Sabbath? The Pharisees had so burdened everyone about the Sabbath they couldn't even travel on it. Jesus says, "This day will be one of the greatest tribulation days in history," and Jesus even then says, "For the sake of the elect, I'm going to shorten those days. Because if I didn't, nobody would make it out of Jerusalem!"
Now, I think you have to stand back from that. Of all the fears that people have about the stuff that goes on throughout history and the horrors is that have ravaged through wars and nations and difficulties and what hit Jerusalem in AD 70 from the Romans, on a time of judgment it's an amazing passage of the shepherding care of the Lord.
What are we all afraid of? We're all afraid of death. We're all afraid of war. We're all afraid of life being upended the way that we know it. Of course, if we have the good life, that makes it all the harder, doesn't it?
What did all the zealots do? Well, they went out to fight Rome. They went out to fight Rome. They took up arms against Rome. It was a bloodbath. And at this, at that time, all sorts of deception happened. False christ came revolutionaries promising victory over Rome.
Jesus is concerned that in a time of great tribulation, many will come up and act as deliverers and act as false Christs.
Now, here's good news: we know from eusebius if it is true in his report that many of the Christians listen to the words of our Lord. See why it's so important you're in church? I have to say that you have to listen to what God's telling you. They listened to the word of the Lord, and they fled to Pella. That's kind of a familiar place, isn't it? Pella. And they were safe.
Now, do you see what Christ is doing? He's not saying these things to utterly scare us to death. Yes, judgment's scary. But to deliver his people. Listen to his word carefully.
Now, this is where people take a wrong turn with Matthew 24, as if this had nothing to do with the end of the world. We can just tuck it away, and we don't have to deal with it. No, no, Jesus is not doing that at all. Jesus speaks of multiple fulfillments, and that Jerusalem helps us to understand our place and the way we handle these things in this life.
See, the destruction of Jerusalem points us to the very end. Remember the disciples' question: "When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" He weaves this together, and he wants us to learn.
When you see the abomination that causes desolation standing in the holy place, I think you can say with confidence here: something similar similar will happen again before the end of the world.
Paul described that Second Thessalonians 2: "Let no one deceive you by any means. deception same thing for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first. Now listen to this: and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that's called God or that's worship, so that he sits as God in the temple, showing himself to be god
The same sort of thing he describes before the end of the world: great deception, and some figure will rise up, and he will pollute the sanctuary, meaning that this is going to have somehow take shape in the church. And he wants us to think about this: a falling away, deception, and this kind of thing. And see, it's in the midst of this that Jesus cares for you, his flock. Apply it well.
What's our great fear? What's our great fear? It's the end of the world, second coming. Mine has everything to do, sort of, with thief on the cross. I think about on the great day of judgment you know, we We we will not miss a sports game today we put all these priorities for our kids wrong Your greatest priority for your children should be the Word of God in their life and their deliverance from the judgment to come.
So I think about this. I think about thief on the cross: "If a great day of judgment is coming, Lord, would you remember me and my family?" I think about that. Shouldn't that be our prayer? What about our children? What about our little ones? What about the little ones? What about the weak and the vulnerable who can't travel on days like this? What about our babies?
See, what Jesus is is emphasizing here to encourage us is his care and deliverance of these. Can't you see that here? The language here is total provision for escape. That's the emphasis of Matthew 24: provision for escape. And he's capturing that as an escape from the final judgment.
And you know what's a beautiful thing? is i this just struck me reading this we can pray that the Lord will orchestrate these events so as to keep us from the harm that is coming. "Pray that your flight does not take place on this. Pray this way. Pray that you have safe passage out." That's our Lord. He's concerned to deliver his people.
And notice, whatever hard things come in this age the judgments leading to what seems like here a period of final great tribulation (not as a dispensationalist say, but the whole era is tribulation, but something great at the end jesus is saying, "When you see the judgments of history, here's the pastoral message: don't look back to this world. We're not saving this. We're not going to be here. We are going to be delivered out of this."
It's like we remember we missed this. We've all set up our homes, and we all have. We feel so rooted here. You're not rooted here. Remember Luke? "Likewise, just as it was in the days of lot they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, and planting and building but on the day when Lot went out of Sodom, he went out, didn't he? It's the same thing. Fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them. So it will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let one who is on the housetop let the one who is on the housetop with his goods in the house not come down to take them away. And likewise, let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife."
"See, she was given to us as an example of somebody who constantly looked back to the world. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it."
His purpose here, again, is to teach us that in this present evil age, in the difficulties, in the hardships, and the judgments even if false prophets come and they show great signs and wonders the lord says notice in the heart of this: I will shorten those days for the sake of my elect, because I'm not losing them!"
Now, that's comforting to me, I'm telling you. Beforehand (verse 27): "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For where the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together."
You know what that means? When the world has come to tell me if we don't see this when the world has come to a point of degeneracy and evil and corruption, like the day of Noah, the thoughts and intents of the heart are only evil continually, the flood came, and God sheltered his people. When this kind of evil escalates in the world to the point of crushing us when the world has filled its cup of iniquity and the judgment is right then the Lord comes and rescues us. That's the point here.
Don't fall into the trap, says our it's shepherding care of thinking you will save this. You're not saving America. Saviors will come, saviors will go, but you're not staying here. "No, come out, my people!" This is the language of Revelation: "Be separate. Come out from Babylon, lest you share in her iniquity and receive of her plagues!"
This is why he calls us to be ready. Don't be deceived. "As lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. You're not going to miss this! It's going to be awesome! You don't have to worry about deception on this front because you will never miss the second coming!"
And he wants to comfort us in this. Immediately after all this tribulation toward the end of the world, here's what's going to happen: all of a sudden, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, the powers of the heavens will be shaken. He's using great, it's hyperbole, but it's true. The whole cosmic realm will be thrown into upheaval.
"And dear disciples, you asked about the sign of my coming and of the end of the age. Here it is. You will see me. You will see the sign of my coming appear in heaven. I will return bodily. And there will be great mourning when people see this, but you will look up and you will see me coming with crowds clouds and great glory."
Can you imagine it? No, you can't. I can't either.
The promise here is deliverance. Your hero has come for you. That's the whole imagery of the second coming: is a rescue operation for you to pull you out of this.
Now, having study the Scriptures, think of Egypt and Israel when they were pulled out and had the blood put on the doorpost so the angel passed over them. It's the whole language of Scripture to rescue you and take you to your comfort, in your home.
"He will command his angels and there will be a great trumpet. The whole world will hear, and he will gather his elect from the four winds, one end of heaven to the other."
And you could add First Thessalonians 4 here: "And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Comfort one another with these words. Comfort one another with these words. We're always going to be with him."
The beauty of this is: when God comes in all of his glory, he is coming to take you, his people, to be with him, just as he promised. Not one of his people will be lost. His blood the blood of the Son has purchased from
All the tribes, tongues, peoples, And natures, has purchased a people. All of this must come to pass. And in the middle of this chapter, you'll find a great doctrine that is despised today, but something we should never despise: it is the doctrine of election. "For the elect's sake, those days will be shortened."
If you are here, for whatever you are called to go through, the Lord will intervene and ensure that you are brought to your eternal resting place. Be comforted. That when the Lord comes, you will know. He says, "You won't miss it. For as lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."
The whole message here in this great chapter is: and whatever distress comes, whatever hardship, there is deliverance. He wants you to know that. It's coming. And he cares for the weakest and the vulnerable. He cares to deliver the weak. But he wants us ready. He wants us ready to go home.
I think of Hebrews 10: "Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay." He ties that with this, Isaiah 26: "Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you. Hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by." It's right out of the Exodus. His promise is to deliver you.
So trust him. And in whatever difficult times we face, I think Pastor Voss prayed it so wonderfully this morning, in the difficult times, in the hard times. Look at what you saw this morning. Who did he care for? The little ones. He put a sign on them. It's displayed here: "I care for my little ones. I care for those nursing."
How can you not see the care of our Lord through this? He will deliver us. He will protect us. The sign says that. He will uphold us. But he doesn't want us living in fear, and he doesn't want us holding on to this, because he has something so much better for you, his people.
May we trust him in what he has said.
Let's pray.
Gracious Lord, thank you for a word of comfort and help to us. Thank you for instructing us, even through this challenging passage, on your will for us. And thank you for shepherding us with tender words and good care. That you care so much, oh Lord, for the little ones how comforting that is! You will shield your people, and you will guide them and keep them. And in that confidence, we pray to you today, in jesus name. Amen.