Mark 13:20

And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. AND EXCEPT THAT THE LORD HAD SHORTENED THOSE DAYS, NO FLESH - that is, no human life -- SHOULD BE SAVED: BUT FOR THE ELECT'S SAKE, WHOM HE HATH CHOSEN, HE HATH SHORTENED THE DAYS. But for this merciful "shortening," brought about by a remarkable concurrence of causes, the whole nation would have perished, in which there yet remained a remnant to be afterward gathered out. This portion of the prophecy closes, in Luke, with the following vivid and important glance at the subsequent fortunes of the chosen people: "And they shall fall by the sword, and shall be led sway captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" ...

14-23 The Jews in rebelling against the Romans, and in persecuting the Christians, hastened their own ruin apace. Here we have a prediction of that ruin which came upon them within less than forty years after this. Such destruction and desolation, that the like cannot be found in any history. Promises of power to persevere, and cautions against falling away, well agree with each other. But the more we consider these things, the more we shall see abundant cause to flee without delay for refuge to Christ, and to renounce every earthly object, for the salvation of our souls....

Verse 20. _HAD SHORTENED THOSE DAYS_] _Because of his chosen_, added by D, _Armenian_, and five of the _Itala_. See Matthew 24:22....

EXPOSITION MARK 13:1 AND AS HE WENT FORTH OUT OF THE TEMPLE, ONE OF HIS DISCIPLES SAITH UNTO HIM MASTER, BEHOLD, WHAT MANNER, OF STONES AND WHAT MANNER OF BUILDINGS! This would be in the evening. According to St. Luke (Luke 21:37), our Lord, during the early part of this _week_,_ _passed his nights upon the Mount of Olives, taking his food at Bethany with Martha and Mary, and spending his days in the temple at Jerusalem, teaching the people. It is most probable that he left the temple by the golden gate on the east, from whence the view of the temple would be particularly striking. We learn from St. Matthew (Matthew 24:1.) that our Lord had just been predicting

AND EXCEPT THAT THE LORD HAD SHORTENED THOSE DAYS,.... Had determined that those days of affliction should be but few, and not last long; that the siege should not be longer continued, and the devastations within and without be prolonged: NO FLESH SHOULD BE SAVED; there would not have been a Jew left; that nation and race of men must have been utterly destroyed from off the face of the earth: BUT FOR ELECT'S SAKE, WHOM HE HATH CHOSEN; in Christ, unto eternal salvation; who were either then upon the spot, called or uncalled, or that were to spring from in succeeding times: HE HATH SHORTENED THE DAYS; he hath determined they shall be but few, that a remnant might be saved, and among them his elect; or from whom should descend, such as he had chosen, who should be saved with an everlasting salvation: though the people in general have been given up to blindness and unbelief, yet they are...

CHAPTER 13 _ 1. The Destruction of the Temple Predicted. (Mark 13:1 .Matthew 24:1; Luke 21:5)_ 2. The Questions of the Disciples. (Mark 13:3 .Matthew 24:3; Luke 21:7) 3. The Olivet Discourse. (Mark 13:5. Matthew 24:4; Luke 21

THE ESCHATOLOGIEAL DISCOURSE. The first two verses contain our Lord's prediction of the fall of Jerusalem. To the Jews, such an anticipation would seem blasphemous (_cf._ Acts 6:14). The discourse that follows does not explicitly develop this prophecy. For the abomination of desolation (Mark 13:14) is only a vague reference to the laying waste of Jerusalem, though it does foreshadow some signal profanation of the Temple. (The phrase comes from Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31 *, and means a profanation that provokes horror; _cf._ also 1Ma_1:54; 1Ma_6:7.) The subject of this, the longest speech attributed to Jesus in Mk., is the signs of the end, rat

THE THINGS TO COME (Mark 13:1-37) Mark 13:1-37 is one of the most difficult Chapter s in the New Testament for a modern reader to understand. That is because it is one of the most Jewish Chapter s in the Bible. From beginning to end it is thinking in terms of Jewish history and Jewish ideas. All through it Jesus is using categories and pictures which were very familiar to the Jews of his day, but which are very strange, and indeed, unknown, to many modern readers. Even so, it is not possible to disregard this chapter because it is the source of many ideas about the second coming of Jesus. The difficulty about the doctrine of the second coming is that nowadays people are apt either completely to disregard it or to be so completely unbalanced about it that it becomes for them practically the only d

THE LORD. App-98. SHORTENED. See on Matthew 24:22. NO FLESH. Not as in Mark 13:11) any flesh. SHOULD BE. should have been. ELECT'S SAKE. See note on Mark 13:19, above. He hath shortened. See note on Matthew 24:22, and App-90....

_except that the Lord had shortened_ The word rendered "_shortened_" only occurs here and in the parallel, Matthew 24:22. It denotes _to dock_or _curtail_. It occurs in the LXX. version of 2 Samuel 4:12, where we read that David "commanded his young men, and they _cut off_the hands and the feet" of the murderers of Ishbosheth. If in God's pitying mercy the number of those awful days had not been shortened, no flesh could have been saved. _for the elect's sake_ i. e. for the sake of the Christians. _he hath shortened_ Had the horrors within and without which accompanied the siege of Jerusalem been prolonged, the utter desolation of the country would have been the result. But in mercy they were shortened, (1) by the swift and energetic measures of the invading armies