CHAPTER XXIV. _Christ foretells the destruction of the temple_, 1, 2. _His disciples inquire when and what shall be the sign of this_ _destruction_, 3. _Our Lord answers, and enumerates them-false Christs_, 5. _Wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes_, 6-8. _Persecution of his followers_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:2. _SEE YE NOT ALL THESE THINGS?_] The common text, and many manuscripts, have ουβλεπετε, _Do ye not see_, or _consider_? But the _negative_ particle is omitted by several excellent manuscripts, by the Coptic, Sahidic, Armenian, Ethiopic, Slavonic, Vulgate, and Itala versions, and b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:3. _TELL US, WHEN SHALL THESE THINGS BE?_] There appear to be _three_ questions asked here by the disciples. 1st. _When shall_ _these things be_? viz. the _destruction_ of the _city, temple_, and _Jewish state_. 2dly. _What shall be the sign of thy coming_? viz. to _execute_ these... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:4. _TAKE HEED THAT NO MAN DECEIVE YOU._] The world is full of deceivers, and it is only by taking heed to the counsel of Christ that even his followers can escape being ruined by them. From this to Matthew 24:31, our Lord mentions the signs which should precede his coming.... [ Continue Reading ]
The FIRST sign is _false Christs_. Verse Matthew 24:5. _FOR MANY SHALL COME IN MY NAME_] 1. Josephus says, (War, b. ii. c. 13,) that there were many who, pretending to Divine inspiration, deceived the people, leading out numbers of them to the _desert_, pretending that God would there show them th... [ Continue Reading ]
The SECOND sign, _wars_ and _commotions_. Verse Matthew 24:6. The next signs given by our Lord are _WARS AND RUMOURS_ _OF WARS_, C.] These may be seen in _Josephus_, Ant. b. xviii. c. 9 War, b. ii. c. 10; especially as to the _rumours of wars_, when Caligula ordered his statue to be set up in the t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:7. _NATION SHALL RISE AGAINST NATION_] This portended the dissensions, insurrections and mutual slaughter of the Jews, and those of other nations, who dwelt in the same cities together; as particularly at Caesarea, where the Jews and Syrians contended about the _right_ of the city,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:8. _ALL THESE ARE THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS._] ωδινων, _travailing pains_. The whole land of Judea is represented under the notion of a woman in grievous travail; but our Lord intimates, that all that had already been mentioned were only the first pangs and throes, and nothing in com... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:9. _THEN SHALL THEY DELIVER YOU UP TO BE AFFLICTED_] Rather, _Then they will deliver you up to affliction_, εις θλιψιν. By a bold figure of speech, _affliction_ is here _personified_. They are to be delivered into affliction's own hand, to be harassed by all the modes of inventive t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:10. _THEN SHALL MANY BE OFFENDED, AND SHALL BETRAY ONE_ _ANOTHER_] To illustrate this point, one sentence out of _Tacitus_ (Annal. l. xv.) will be sufficient, who, speaking of the persecution under Nero, says, _At first several were seized, who_ _confessed, and then by_ THEIR DISCOV... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:11. _FALSE PROPHETS_] Also were to be _raised up_; such as _Simon Magus_ and his followers; and the false apostles complained of by St. Paul, 2 Corinthians 11:13, who were _deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the_ _apostles of Christ_. Such also were _Hymeneus_ and _Phil... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:12. _THE LOVE OF MANY SHALL WAX COLD._] By reason of these trials and persecutions from _without_, and those apostasies and false prophets from _within_, the love of many to Christ and his doctrine, and to one another, _shall grow cold_. Some openly deserting the faith, as Matthew... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:13. _BUT HE THAT SHALL ENDURE_] The persecutions that shall come - _unto the end_; to the destruction of the Jewish polity, without growing cold or apostatizing - _shall be saved_, shall be delivered in all imminent dangers, and have his soul at last brought to an eternal glory. It... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:14. _AND THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM SHALL BE PREACHED IN_ _ALL THE WORLD_] But, notwithstanding these persecutions, there should be a universal publication of the _glad tidings of the_ _kingdom, for a testimony to all nations_. God would have the iniquity of the Jews published every... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:15. _THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, SPOKEN OF BY DANIEL_] This _abomination of desolation_, St. Luke, (Luke 21:20), refers to the _Roman army_; and this abomination _standing in the holy place_ is the _Roman army_ besieging Jerusalem; this, our Lord says, is what was spoken of by D... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:16. _THEN LET THEM WHICH BE IN JUDEA FLEE INTO THE_ _MOUNTAINS_] This counsel was remembered and wisely followed by the Christians afterwards. _Eusebius_ and _Epiphanius_ say, that at this juncture, after _Cestius Gallus_ had raised the siege, and Vespasian was approaching with his... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:17. _LET HIM WHICH IS ON THE HOUSE TOP_] The houses of the Jews, as well as those of the ancient Greeks and Romans, were _flat-roofed_, and had stairs on the outside, by which persons might ascend and descend without coming into the house. In the eastern walled cities, these flat-ro... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:18. _NEITHER LET HIM WHICH IS IN THE FIELD RETURN BACK_] Because when once the army of the Romans sits down before the city, there shall be no more any possibility of escape, as they shall never remove till Jerusalem be destroyed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:19. _AND WO UNTO THEM_ (alas! for them) _THAT ARE WITH_ _CHILD_, C.] For such persons are not in a condition to make their escape neither can they bear the miseries of the siege. Josephus says the houses were full of _women_ and _children_ that perished by the famine; and that the m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:20. _BUT PRAY YE THAT YOUR FLIGHT BE NOT IN THE WINTER_] For the hardness of the season, the badness of the roads, the shortness of the days, and the length of the nights, will all be great impediments to your flight. Rabbi Tanchum observes, "that the favour of God was particularly... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:21. _FOR THEN SHALL BE GREAT TRIBULATION_] No history can furnish us with a parallel to the calamities and miseries of the Jews:-rapine, murder, famine, and pestilence _within_: fire and sword, and all the horrors of war, _without_. Our Lord wept at the foresight of these calamitie... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:22. _EXCEPT THOSE DAYS SHOULD BE SHORTENED_] Josephus computes the number of those who perished in the siege at _eleven_ _hundred thousand_, besides those who were slain in other places, WAR, b. vi. c. 9; and if the Romans had gone on destroying in this manner, the whole nation of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:23. _THEN IF ANY MAN SHALL SAY UNTO YOU, LO HERE_ IS _CHRIST_] Our Lord had cautioned his disciples against false Christs and prophets before, Matthew 24:11; but he seems here to intimate that there would be _especial_ need to attend to this caution about the time of the siege. And... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:25. _BEHOLD, I HAVE TOLD YOU BEFORE._] That is, I have forewarned you.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:26. _IF THEY SHALL SAY UNTO YOU, BEHOLD, HE IS IN THE_ _DESERT_] Is it not worthy of remark that our Lord not only foretold the appearance of these impostors, but also the _manner_ and _circumstances_ of their conduct? Some he mentions as appearing in the _desert_. Josephus says, A... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:27. _FOR AS THE LIGHTNING COMETH OUT OF THE EAST, AND_ _SHINETH EVEN UNTO THE WEST_] It is worthy of remark that our Lord, in the most particular manner, points out the very _march_ of the Roman army: they entered into Judea on the EAST, and carried on their conquest WESTWARD, as if... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:28. _FOR WHERESOEVER THE CARCASS IS_] πτωμα, _the dead_ _carcass_. The Jewish nation, which was morally and judicially dead. _THERE WILL THE EAGLES_] The Roman armies, called so partly from their strength and fierceness, and partly from the _figure_ of these animals which was alway... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION_, c.] Commentators generally understand this, and what follows, of the end of the world and Christ's coming to judgment: but the word _immediately_ shows that our Lord is not speaking of any _distant_ event, but of something immediately consequent on cala... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _THEN SHALL APPEAR THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN_] The plain meaning of this is, that the destruction of Jerusalem will be such a remarkable instance of Divine vengeance, such a signal manifestation of Christ's power and glory, that all the _Jewish_ _tribes_ shall mourn, and many will, in con... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _HE SHALL SEND HIS ANGELS_] τους αγγελους, _his_ _messengers_, the _apostles_, and their successors in the Christian ministry. _WITH A GREAT SOUND OF A TRUMPET_] Or, _a loud-sounding_ _trumpet _- the earnest affectionate call of the Gospel of peace, life, and salvation. _SHALL GATHER TO... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 32. _LEARN A PARABLE OF THE FIG-TREE_] That is, These signs which I have given you will be as infallible a proof of the approaching ruin of the Jewish state as the budding of the trees is a proof of the coming summer.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 34. _THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS_] Η γενεα αυτη, _this_ _race_; i.e. the Jews shall not cease from being a _distinct people_, till all the counsels of God relative to _them_ and the _Gentiles_ be fulfilled. Some translate η γενεα αυτη, _this generation_, meaning the persons who were then l... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 36. _BUT OF THAT DAY AND HOUR_] ωρα, here, is translated _season_ by many eminent critics, and is used in this sense by both sacred and profane authors. As the _day_ was not known, in which Jerusalem should be invested by the Romans, therefore our Lord advised his disciples to pray that it mig... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. - 38. _AS THE DAYS OF NOAH - THEY WERE EATING AND_ _DRINKING_] That is, they spent their time in rapine, luxury, and riot. The design of these verses seems to be, that the desolation should be as general as it should be unexpected.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 38. Matthew 24:37, Matthew 24:37.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 39. _AND KNEW NOT_] _They considered not _- did not lay Noah's warning to heart, till it was too late to profit by it: so _shall_ _it be _- and so it _was_ in this coming of the Son of man.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:40. _THEN SHALL TWO_ MEN - _TWO_ WOMEN - _ONE SHALL BE TAKEN,_ _AND THE OTHER LEFT._] The meaning seems to be, that so general should these calamities be, that no _two persons_, wheresoever found, or about whatsoever employed, should be _both_ able to effect their escape; and that _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 41. Matthew 24:40, Matthew 24:40.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 42. _WATCH THEREFORE_] Be always on your guard, that you may not be taken unawares, and that you may be properly prepared to meet God in the way either of _judgment_ or _mercy_, whensoever he may come. This advice the followers of Christ took, and therefore they escaped; the miserable Jews rej... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 43. _IF THE GOOD MAN OF THE HOUSE HAD KNOWN_] "As a _master_ of a _family_ who expected a _thief_ at _any time_ of the _night_, would take care to be _awake_, and ready to protect his house; so do ye, who know that the Son of man _will_ come. Though the _day_ and _hour_ be _uncertain_, continu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 45. _WHO THEN IS A FAITHFUL AND WISE SERVANT_] All should live in the same expectation of the coming of Christ, which a servant has with respect to the return of his master, who, in departing for a season, left the management of his affairs to him; and of which management he is to give an exac... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 46. _BLESSED_ IS _THAT SERVANT_] His blessedness consists in his master's approbation.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 47. _HE SHALL MAKE HIM RULER OVER ALL HIS GOODS._] O heavenly privilege of a faithful minister of Christ! He shall receive from God a power to dispense all the blessings of the new covenant; and his word shall ever be accompanied with the demonstration of the Holy Ghost to the hearts of all th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:48. _BUT, AND IF THAT EVIL SERVANT_] Here are three characters of a bad minister. 1. He has little or no faith in the _speedy coming_ of Christ, either to _punish_ for _wickedness_, or to _pardon_ and _sanctify_ those who believe. It may be, he does not outwardly profess this, but... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:50. _THE LORD OF THAT SERVANT_] Here are _three_ punishments which answer to the _three_ characteristics of the _bad minister_. 1. A sudden death, and the weight of God's judgments falling upon him, without a moment to avert it: this answers to his _infidelity_ and _forgetfulness.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Matthew 24:51. _CUT HIM ASUNDER_] This refers to an ancient mode of punishment used in several countries. Isaiah is reported to have been _sawed_ ASUNDER. That it was an ancient mode of punishment is evident from what Herodotus says: that _Sabacus_, king of Ethiopia, had a vision, in which he... [ Continue Reading ]