Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

24:15 Daniel 9:27 tells of the abomination of desolation. Several times in Jewish history it was thought that this prophecy was being fulfilled--most notably during the days of the Maccabees when Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucid king, ordered that an altar to the Greek god Zeus be constructed in the temple (167 b.c.). He also decreed that swine and other unclean animals were to be sacrificed there, that the Sabbath was to be profaned, and that circumcision was to be abolished. But Jesus clarifies that the complete fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy will be found in (1) the Roman destruction of the temple in a.d. 70 and (2) the image of the Antichrist being set up in the last days (cf. 2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 13:14).

24:16 flee to the mountains. The ancient church historian Eusebius reports that, during the Jewish revolt (a.d. 67), Jesus' warning was fulfilled when Christians fled to the mountains of Pella (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.5.3).

24:17 on the housetop not go down. There will be no time to gather provisions.

24:20 not . . . in winter or on a Sabbath. They should pray that the harshest conditions and most revered traditions not be a hindrance to fleeing.

24:21 great tribulation. The time of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70 was horrible, but the vision Jesus paints will have an even more horrific fulfillment in the future (see note on 24:1-25:46).

24:22 if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. Some suggest this means that, if God's wrath were to continue unchecked against the wickedness of humanity, no one would survive the eventual destruction. Others see in this a reference to a cutting short of either the seventieth "seven" (week) of Dan. 9:27 or the 42 months of Rev. 11:2. It is evident that the reference is not to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, since the unprecedented destruction described in Matt. 24:21 did not take place in 70. The elect includes all those who follow Christ during this period (cf. vv. 24, 31).

24:24 signs and wonders. Supernatural signs and miracles will have the appearance of coming from God but that will actually be the work of Satan and his evil forces. (On testing false prophets, see notes on 7:15-20; 9:34; 1 John 4:1.)

24:26-27 Look, he is in the wilderness . . . Look, he is in the inner rooms. The Messiah will not come secretly to a select group and stay hidden from public view. Rather, he will appear like a flash of lightning--sudden and visible to all.

24:28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. It seems best not to "over-interpret" this striking proverbial expression. It probably means simply that, just as people from far away can see vultures circling high in the air, Christ's return in judgment will be visible and predictable. A similar view is that the vultures suggest the widespread death that will accompany the return of Christ to judge those who have rejected his kingdom. In either case, it will be impossible for people not to see and recognize the return of Christ.

24:29 sun . . . moon . . . stars . . . powers. It is possible that this is entirely literal language (with "stars" perhaps referring to a large meteor shower). Others take it as a mixture of literal and figurative language, and still others take it as entirely figurative, pointing to political judgment on nations and governments. The argument in favor of a figurative interpretation is that this verse echoes possibly figurative language about heavenly disturbances in the OT prophets, such as Isa. 13:10; 34:4; Ezek. 32:7; Joel 2:10; and Amos 8:9. Those arguing for a literal interpretation point to biblical accounts of actual darkness: cf. Ex. 10:21-23 and Matt. 27:45. The idea of the stars falling and the heavens being rolled up is mentioned elsewhere in the NT as well (see Heb. 1:12; 2 Pet. 3:7, 10, 12; Rev. 6:13-14). Whether these events are to be understood as being primarily literal or primarily figurative, it is clear that these will be "earth-shattering" events, through which all creation will be radically transformed at the return of Christ. (Regarding the "new heavens and the new earth," see Isa. 65:17; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1.)

24:30 sign of the Son of Man. Some suggest that this is a type of heavenly standard or banner that unfurls in the heavens as Christ returns in "power and great glory," while others understand it to be the arrival of the Son of Man himself as the sign of the end-time consummation of the age (cf. 16:27; 26:64). mourn. Either a sorrow that produces repentance, or a great sadness of regret in light of coming judgment. they will see the Son of Man (see note on 8:20) coming on the clouds of heaven. This most clearly is end-time language that recalls Daniel's prophecy (Dan. 7:13-14) and points to Jesus' return at the end of the age (cf. 2 Thess. 1:7-10; Rev. 19:11-16). with power and great glory. Christ will be revealed as the eternal ruler of the kingdom of God, designated by the Ancient of Days to receive worship and to exercise dominion over the earth and all of its inhabitants (cf. Dan. 7:13-14). The return of Christ is a literal event, in which Christ "will come in the same way" that the disciples "saw him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).

24:31 A trumpet call is associated in Jewish end-time thought (Isa. 18:3; 27:13) and also in Christian writings (1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:16) with the appearance of the Messiah. his angels . . . will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. The involvement of angels probably indicates that, when Jesus returns, he will not only gather to himself all believers alive on the earth but will also bring with him all the redeemed who are in heaven (cf. 1 Thess. 4:14; Rev. 19:11-16).