April 6, 2003 / Volume 7, Issue 14
An Analysis Of Matthew 24 (Part 6)
Matthew 24:21-27
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Matthew 24:21
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Parallel: Mk 13:10; Lk 21:23-24
* Note the specific examples of tribulation listed in Luke's account. |
"But when they went in numbers into the lanes of the city with their swords drawn, they slew those whom they overtook without and set fire to the houses whither the Jews were fled, and burnt every soul in them, and laid waste a great many of the rest, and when they were come to the houses to plunder them, they found in them entire families of dead men, and the upper rooms full of dead corpses, that is, of such as died by the famine; they then stood in a horror at this sight, and went out without touching any thing. But although they had this commiseration for such as were destroyed in that manner, yet had they not the same for those that were still alive, but they ran every one through whom they met with, and obstructed the very lanes with their dead bodies, and made the whole city run down with blood, to such a degree indeed that the fire of many of the houses was quenched with these men's blood."
(Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, 6:8:5)
"...together with those whom they had orders to slay, they slew the aged and the infirmed; but for those that were in their flourishing age, and who might be useful to them, they drove them together into the temple, and shut them up within the walls of the court of the women; over which Caesar set one of his freed-men, as also Fronto, one of his own friends; which last was to determine every one's fate, according to his merits. So this Fronto slew all those that had been seditious and robbers, who were impeached one by another, but of the young men he chose out the tallest and most beautiful, and reserved them for the triumph; and as for the rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old, he put them into bonds, and sent them to the Egyptian mines. Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theatres, by the sword and by the wild beasts; but those that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves. Now during the days wherein Fronto was distinguishing these men, there perished, for want of food, eleven thousand..."
(Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, 6:9:2)
"...Now the number of those who were carried captive during this whole war was collectd to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand, the greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself, for they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army..."
(Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, 6:9:5)
"...they were first whipped, and then tormented with all sorts of tortures, before they died, and were then crucified before the wall of the city... the soldiers, out of the wrath and hatred they bore the Jews, nailed those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to crosses, by way of jest, when their multitude was so great that room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for the bodies."
(Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, 5:11:1)
"...neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world."
(Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, 5:10:5)
"...the misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to these of the Jews are not so considerable as they were..."
(Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, Preface, Section 4)
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Matthew 24:22
And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.
Parallel: Mk 13:20
* refer to notes on Mt 24:16-18 |
"The siege was shortened by various historical events like the stopping of the strengthening of the walls by Herod Agrippa by orders from the Emperor, the sudden arrival of Titus, the neglect of the Jews to prepare for a long siege. ‘Titus himself confessed that God was against the Jews, since otherwise neither his armies nor his engines would have availed against their defences.' (Vincent)."
(Robertson's New Testament Word Pictures, Online Bible Millennium Edition)
"Now as Vespasian was returned to Cesarea, and was getting ready, with all his army to march directly to Jerusalem, he was informed that Nero was dead... Wherefore Vespasian put off at first his expedition against Jerusalem..."
(Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, 4:9:2)
THE CITY WAS SHORTLY THEREAFTER FULLY ENCOMPASSED AND IMPOSSIBLE TO ESCAPE!
"For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embarkment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
(Luke 19:43-44)
"...Titus therefore encompassed the city with this wall..."
(Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, 5:12:2)
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Matthew 24:23-26
Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!' or ‘There!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. 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.
Parallel: Mk 13:21-23
* refer to notes on Mt 24:4-5, 11 |
"Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the truth... but evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."
(2 Timothy 3:8, 13)
"Festus sent forces, both horsemen and footmen, to fall upon those that had been seduced by a certain imposter, who promised then deliverance and freedom from the miseries they were under, if they would but follow him as far as the wilderness. Accordingly, those forces that were sent destroyed boht him that had deluded them, and those that were his followers also."
(Josephus, The Antiquities Of The Jews, 20:8:10)
"...for one Jonathan, a vile person, and by trade a weaver, came thither and prevailed with no small number of the poorer sort to give ear to him; he also led them into the desert, upon promising them that he would show them signs and apparitions... of these many were slain in the fight, but some were taken alive, and brought to Catullus..."
(Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, 7:11:10)
"A false prophet was the occasion of these people's destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day, that God commanded them to get up upon the temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance. Now there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose upon the people, who denounced this to them, that they should wait for deliverance from God; and this was in order to keep them from deserting, and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care by such hopes..."
(Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, 6:5:2)
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Matthew 24:27
For as the light comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of man be.
* refer to notes on Mt 24:30-31 for comments on ‘Son of man' |
"Titus began the wall from the camp of the Assyrians, where his own camp was pitched, and drew it down to the lower parts of Cenopolis; thence it went along the valley of the Cedron, to the Mount of Olives; it then bent towards the south, and encompassed the mountains as far as the rock called Peristereon, and that other hill which lies next it, and is over the valley which reaches to Siloam; whence it bended against to the west, and went down to the valley of the Fountain, beyond which it went up again at the monument of Ananus the high priest, and encompassed that mountain where Pompey had formerly pitched his came, it returned back to the north side of the city, and was carried on as far as a certain village called ‘The House of the Erebinthi;' after which it encompassed Herod's monument, and there, on the east was joined to Titus' own camp, where it began. Now the length of the wall was forty furlongs, one only abated. Now at this wall without were erected thirteen places to keep garrison in, whose circumferences, put together, amounted to ten furlongs; the whole was completed in three days, so that what would naturally have required some months was done in so short an interval as is incredible."
(Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, 5:12:2)
The Roman siege of Jerusalem came with great power, speed and visibility. The city was surrounded, the Romans visible in both the east and the west. The most powerful nation of the world swooped upon Jerusalem, leaving a path of destruction behind.
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We will continue to chart through Matthew 24 next week...
Click here for this week's Answering The Atheist
Is everyone descended from Adam and Eve? Genesis 3:20 says yes, but Hebrews 7:3 indicates that Melchizedek was not descended from them. Is there a contradiction?
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