22nd June 2023

22nd June 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Matthew 24v15-28)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Who or what is the abomination of desolation? Any ideas? Long ago Jesus urged His disciples to flee to the mountains once they saw the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place (v15-16). But the Lord didn't leave us with a great mystery to uncover, He stated that the abomination of desolation was already spoken of by the prophet Daniel (v15). So what did Daniel say? In Daniel 8, the prophet spoke of one who would come and overthrow the sanctuary (Daniel 8v11). This individual was Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a name which means "god manifest". Antiochus attacked Jerusalem, he turned the temple into a centre for worshipping the false god Zeus, he slaughtered almost 80,000 people and he stopped sacrifice to the Lord completely.


Antiochus was an abomination who caused desolation in 163BC but another more fearsome "desolator" was to come. In Daniel 9, the prophet spoke this way "on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” (Daniel 9v27). This "desolator" came at the end of the famous seventy week period and I believe him to be the Roman Emperor Titus. It was Titus (who wasn't yet Emperor) and his armies who surrounded Jerusalem in the year 70 and it was Titus who destroyed the temple (apparently accidentally) and made Jerusalem desolate.


The destruction of Jerusalem was so brutal and bloody that Jesus warned His followers to flee the city and flee quickly when Titus appeared. If they were on the rooftop resting they were not to return to the house (v17). If they were in the field working they were not to return to collect a cloak (v18). The flight from Jerusalem would have been extraordinarily difficult for pregnant women and nursing mothers (v19) and it would only have been made more difficult during the winter or on a Sabbath (v20).


Why did the Romans destroy Jerusalem in the year 70? It came in the midst of the "first Jewish-Roman war" which lasted from the year 66 until the year 73. The Jewish people had risen up against the Romans in the first of three distinct rebellions all of which would stamped out by the might of the Roman Empire.


The historian Josephus painted a desperate picture of the destruction of Jerusalem. Many lives were lost, almost one hundred thousand were taken as slaves, the temple was destroyed, the gold melted and ran down the street mixing with blood, famine fell and it is said that there were even incidents of cannibalism. No wonder Jesus said "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be." (v21)


In the turmoil of those days there were also many false-Christs who rose. Jesus warned that many would appear performing great signs and wonders to even try and lead the elect astray (v24). Christ counselled that the disciples were not to believe the voices that said Christ was in the wilderness or in the inner rooms (v26). The Lord's return was not in the year 70 as some today suggest. We still await His glorious arrival and when He comes it will be like a bolt of lightning coming from the east and shining brightly across the west (v27). In other words, it will be sudden and unmissable. Just as vultures gather over a corpse (v28), so too will this dead and dying world be gathered together on the last day - no one will miss the return of Christ.


What are we to make of all this? It is merely historical narrative so that we can have some idea about the destruction of Jerusalem? No. Christ's warning to His disciples was to prepare them for the tumultuous events of the year 70 and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. But it is also true to say that these verses have a double fulfilment. Before the return of Christ the church will know days of great trouble and distress. Another Titus will arise in the person of the final Antichrist who will wage war against God's people. Many will fall away from the faith, truth will be hated and the Gospel will be despised.


Nevertheless, I do not write these words to cause you to fear. Let me instead remind you that there is a truth that stood as the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and it still stands today. What is this truth? Christ is sovereign over the schemes of evil men and the days of trouble will be cut short for the sake of God's people (v22). It is Jesus who writes the pages of human history and it is Jesus who is the refuge for the faithful. Today we need not flee to the mountains, instead to the mountains we lift our eyes and remember where our help comes - Jesus is His name. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q79 Which is the tenth commandment? The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.
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