Mark 13:14-23

11. THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION 13:14-23

TEXT 13:14-23

But when ye see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not (let him that readeth understand), then let them that are in Judea flee unto the mountains: and let him that is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house, and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloke. But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that it be not in the winter. For those days shall be tribulation, such as there hath not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never shall be. And except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he chose, he shortened the days. And then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ; or, Lo, there; believe it not: for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, the elect. But take ye heed; behold, I have told you all things beforehand.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 13:14-23

718.

Read Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:37; Daniel 12; Daniel 11 and Matthew 24:15 for help in the meaning of the strange phrase abomination of desolation. Does this refer to an incident at the destruction of Jerusalem or at the end of the world?

719.

Who said let him that readeth understandJesus or Mark?

720.

How could we possibly refer the abomination of desolation to the end of the world when those involved are instructed to flee from Judea to the Mountains?

721.

Why the urgency as suggested in Mark 13:15 through 18.

722.

Are we to believe the destruction of Jerusalem was worse than dropping an atomic bomb on a city? Cf. Mark 13:19.

723.

Who are the elect of Mark 13:20? (This is perhaps one of the most difficult questions to answerbut attempt onemake it thoughtful.)

724.

During what period of time were the false Christs to appear?

725.

The words of Jesus seem to have a direct reference to His apostles is this true? Discuss.

COMMENT

TIMELate Tuesday afternoon, April 4, A.D. 30.
PLACEThe Mount of Olives. After the final departure of Jesus from the temple.

PARALLEL ACCOUNTSMatthew 24:15-28; Luke 21:20-24.

OUTLINE1. What to do when you see the abomination of desolation, Mark 13:14-18. Mark 13:2. The tribulation of those days, Mark 13:19-20. Mark 13:3. A warning against false Christs, Mark 13:21-23.

ANALYSIS

I.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU SEE THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, Mark 13:14-18.

1.

Those in Judea are to flee to the mountains.

2.

He that is on the housetop should not enter the house for possessions.

3.

He that is in the field should not come to the house for his cloak.

4.

It will be very difficult for those in pregnancy or with young children.

5.

Pray it may not happen in the winter.

II.

THE TRIBULATION OF THESE DAYS, Mark 13:19-20.

1.

More severe than any before or after.

2.

Without the providential help of God the whole Jewish Nation would have been lost.

3.

The severity and time of the tribulation was shortened because of the elect.

III.

A WARNING AGAINST FALSE CHRISTS, Mark 13:21-23.

1.

There shall be many claims to Messiahshipdo not accept them.

2.

False Christs and prophets will perform signs and wondersdo not believe them.

3.

These prophetic warnings and careful details should forearm you against that day.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

I.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU SEE THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION.

Mark 13:14. But when ye see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not. In the Authorized Version, after the word desolation, the words spoken of by Daniel the prophet, are introduced, but without sufficient authority. They were probably interpolated from Matthew, where there is abundant authority for them; and thus their omission by Mark does not affect the argument drawn from them in favour of the genuineness of the Book of Daniel, against those, whether in earlier or in later times, who reject this book, or ascribe it to some more recent authorship. The abomination of desolation is a Hebrew idiom, meaning the abomination, that maketh desolate. Luke (Luke 21:20) does not use the expression; it would have sounded strange to his Gentile readers. He says, When ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand. This reference to the Roman armies by Luke has led some commentators to suppose that the abomination of desolation meant the Roman eagles. But this was a sign from without; whereas the abomination of desolation was a sign from within, connected with the ceasing of the daily sacrifice of the temple. It is alluded to by the Prophet Daniel in three places, namely, Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31; Daniel 12:11. We must seek for its explanation in something within the temple, standing in the holy place (Matthew 24:15)some profanation of the temple, on account of which God's judgments would fall on Jerusalem. Now, Daniel's prophecy had already received one fulfillment (B.C. 168), when we read (1 Macc. i. 54) that they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar. This was when Antiochus Ephiphanes set up the statue of Jupiter on the great altar of burnt sacrifice. But that abomination of desolation was the forerunner of another and a worse profanation yet to come, which our Lord, no doubt, had in his mind when he called the attention of his disciples to these predictions by Daniel. There is a remarkable passage in Josephus (Wars of the Jews, iv. 6,) in which he refers to an ancient saying then current, that Jerusalem would be taken, and the temple be destroyed, when it had been defiled by the hands of the Jews themselves. Now, this literally took place. For while the Roman armies were invading Jerusalem, the Jews within the city were in fierce conflict amongst themselves. And it would seem most probable that our Lord had in his mind, in connection with Daniel's prophecy, more especially that at Mark 9:27, the eruption of the army of Zealots and Assassins into the temple, filling the holy place with the dead bodies of their own fellow-citizens. The Jews had invited these marauders to defend them against the army of the Romans; and they, by their outrages against God, were the special cause of the desolation of Jerusalem. Thus, while Luke points to the sign from without, namely, the Roman forces surrounding the city, Matthew and Mark refer to the more terrible sign from within, the abomination of desolationthe abomination that would fill up the measure of their iniquities and cause the avenging power of Rome to come down upon them and crush them. It was after these two signsthe sign from within and the sign from withoutthat Jerusalem was laid prostrate. Therefore our Lord proceeds to warn both Jews and Christians alike, that when they saw these signs they should flee unto the mountainsnot to the mountains of Judea, for those were already occupied by the Roman army (Josephus, lib. iii. cap. xii.), but those further off, beyond Judea. We know from Eusebius (iii. 15) that the Christians fled to Pella, on the other side of the Jordan. The Jews, on the other hand, as they saw the Roman army approaching nearer, betook themselves to Jerusalem, as to an asylum, thinking that there they would be under the special protection of Jehovah; but there, alas, they were imprisoned and slain.

Mark 13:15. Let him that is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything Out of his house. The roofs of the houses were flat, with frequently a little dome in the centre. The people lived very much upon them; and the stairs were outside, so that a person wishing to enter the house must first descend by these outer stairs. The words, therefore, mean that he must flee suddenly, if he would save his life, even though he might lose his goods. He must escape, perhaps by crossing over the parapet of his own housetop, and so from housetop to housetop, until he could find a convenient point for flight into the hill country.

Mark 13:16.And let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloke. This was the outer garment or pallium. They who worked in the field were accustomed to leave their cloak and their tunic at home; so that, half-stripped, they might be more free in labour. Thereafter our Lord warns them that in this impending destruction, so suddenly would it come, they must be ready to fly just as they were. It was the direction given to Lot, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee.

Mark 13:17. But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! Women in this condition would be specially objects of pity, for they would be more exposed to danger. The words, Woe to them! are an exclamation of pity, as though it was said, Alas! for them. Josephus (vii. 8) mentions that some mothers constrained by hunger during the siege, devoured their own infants!

Mark 13:18. And pray ye that it be not in the winter. According to the best authorities, your flight is omitted, but the meaning remains very much the same. Matthew (Matthew 24:20) adds, neither on a sabbath. But this would be comparatively of little interest to those to whom Mark was writing. Our Lord thus specifies the winter, because at that season, on account of the cold and snow, flight would be attended with special difficulty and hardship, and would be almost impossible for the aged and infirm.

II.

THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS.

Mark 13:19. For those days shall be tribulation, such as there hath not been the like from the beginning of the creation. These expressions are very remarkable. To begin with, the tribulation would be so unexampled and so severe that the days themselves would be called tribulation. They would be known ever after as the tribulation. There never had been anything like them, and there never would be again. Neither the Deluge, nor the destruction of cities of the plain, nor the drowning of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, nor the slaughter of the Canaanites, nor the destruction of Nineveh, or of Babylon, or of other great cities and nations, would be so violent and dreadful as the overthrow of Jerusalem by Titus. All this is confirmed by Josephus, who says, speaking of this overthrow, I do not think that any state ever suffered such things, or any nation within the memory of man. St. Chrysostom assigns the cause of all this to the base and cruel treatment of the Son of God by the Jews. The destruction of their city and their temple, and their continued desolation afterwards, were the lessons by which the Jews were taught that the Christ had indeed come, and that this was the Christ whom they had crucified and slain.

Mark 13:20. And except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he chose, he shortened the days. St. Matthew's record (Matthew 24:22) differs from that of St. Mark in the omission of the words the Lord, and the clause whom he chose. If the time of the siege of Jerusalem had lasted much longer, not one of the nation could have survived; all would have perished by war, or famine, or pestilence. The Romans raged against the Jews as an obstinate and rebellious nation, and would have exterminated them. But the Lord shortened the time of this frightful catastrophe, for the elect's sake, that is, partly for the sake of the Christians who could not escape from Jerusalem, and partly for that of the Jews, who subdued by this awful visitation, were converted to Christ or would hereafter be converted to him. We learn from hence how great is the love of God towards his elect, and his care for them. For their sakes he spared many Jews. For their sakes he created and preserves the whole world. Yea, for their sakes, Christ the eternal Son was made man, and became obedient unto death. All things are yours, and ye are Christ'S, and Christ is God'S. It may be added that a number of providential circumstances combined to shorten these days of terror. Titus was himself disposed to clemency, and friendly towards Josephus. Moreover, he was attached to Bernice, a Jewess, the sister of Agrippa. All these and other circumstances conspired in the providence of God to shorten the days.

III.

A WARNING AGAINST FALSE CHRISTS.

Mark 13:21-22. And then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ; or, Lo, there, believe it not; for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets. Josephus mentions one Simon of Gerasa, who, pretending to be a deliverer of the people from the Romans, gathered around him a crowd of followers, and gained admission into Jerusalem, and harassed the Jews. In like manner, Eleazar and John, leaders of the Zealots, gained admission into the holy place, under the pretence of defending the city, but really that they might plunder it. But it seems as though our Lord here looked beyond the siege of Jerusalem to the end of the world; and he warns us that as the time of his second advent approaches, deceivers will arise, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. The word to seduce is more properly rendered, as in the Revised Version, to lead astray. Every age has produced its crop of such deceivers; and it may be expected that, as the time of the end draws nearer and nearer, their number will increase. Sometimes those idiosyncrases in them which show themselves in lying wonders, are the result of self-delusion; but still oftener they are deliberate attempts made for the purpose of imposing on the unwary. Sometimes they are a combination of both. In the cases to which our Lord refers there is evidently an intention to lead astray, although it may have had its origin in self-deceit. In our day there is a sad tendency to lead men astray with regard to the great fundamental verities of Christianity. And the words of St. Jerome may well be remembered here: If any would persuade you that Christ is to be found in the wilderness of unbelief or sceptical philosophy, or in the secret chambers of heresy, believe them not.

Mark 13:23. But take ye heed. The ye is here emphatic. The disciples were around him, hanging upon his lips. But his admonition is meant for Christians everywhere, even to the end of the world. (Bickersteth)

FACT QUESTIONS 13:14-24

852.

How do some critics use Mark (Mark 13:14) against the early date of the book of Daniel? How answered?

853.

How does Luke 21:20 help (us Gentiles) in understanding the meaning of the expression abomination of desolation?

854.

Why is it wrong to conclude that the abomination was the Roman eagles?

855.

Show how Daniel's prophecy had already received one fulfillment.

856.

How does Josephus help us in our understanding of the abomination of desolation?

857.

Why were there so many Jews in Jerusalem when Titus attacked? Why no Christians?

858.

If the occupant was not to come down from the housetop where was he to go? How would this help?

859.

Why return for the cloke?

860.

What words of Josephus help us to appreciate the words of Jesus woe unto them that are with child etc.?

861.

Who would be hindered in a winter flight?

862.

Mention three or four other violent events which are of less violent a character than the overthrow of Jerusalem.

863.

Who confirmed the words of Jesus as in Mark 13:19? Discuss.

864.

Who were the elect of Mark 13:20what great lesson is here for our learning?

865.

Mention one or two of the providential circumstances combined to shorten the days.

866.

Who was Simon of Gerasa?

867.

Who were Eleazar and John?

868.

Show how pertinent the words of Jerome are for our day.

869.

To whom is Mark 13:23 directed?