The Gospel Of Matthew Chapter 24 Part 8 The Abomination Of Desolation And Final Judgment Of Sinners

Matthew 24:15-22  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16  Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17  Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18  Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. :19  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20  But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.  

In our last post, we studied about the abomination of desolation that Daniel prophesied about and we learned about God's prophecy clock.

His clock began ticking the day when Artaxerxes issued a decree allowing the Jews in captivity to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of God.

His clock consists of seventy weeks of seven days, or 490 years.

We saw that the Jews used a 360 day calendar and when converting it to the solar, 365 day calendar, we saw that 490 years exactly equals 476 years.

Moving forward 476 years from the date of Artaxerxes' decree in 444 B.C. we arrive at 33 A.D. which coincides with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and the week of His passion, sufferings, death, burial and resurrection that followed.

This is when Messiah was "cut off" in accord with Daniel's prophecy.

At this point, God's prophecy clock stopped because the age of the church began, which the prophets did not know about because it was a mystery hid in God before creation!

The next event that must happen before the last seven years of God's prophecy clock starts up again, is the resurrection of life and the rapture of Christ's church (See John 5:24-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Let us now return to Matthew's record of Jesus' words to learn more about the end of the world and the tribulation period.

Christ's second warning about false Christs and false prophets that will certainly emerge to deceive believers.

Matthew 24:23-24  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 

Jesus gave a second warning about false Christs and false prophets who will seek to deceive the Jewish people and lead them astray (See Matthew 24:5; 24:11).

Josephus was a Jewish historian and he tells of several false Christs that came on the scene after Jesus ascended to heaven.

These included men like Simon Magus, Dositheus; Jonathon and Barcocab who used deception to pretend that they could produce signs and wonders.

Jesus' warning is "Don't believe them."

During the tribulation or that last seven years of God's prophecy clock, false Christs and false prophets will proliferate.

They will be able to produce signs and wonders that deceive people.

To underscore how convincing the lying signs and wonders will be, Jesus said that if such a thing were possible, the very elect of God could be deceived. 

The elect of God are those who are chosen for salvation based upon the perfect foreknowledge of God.

God knows my life from beginning to end, and He saw the day that I would respond to the gospel of Christ and call upon the LORD to save me.

Thus, a believer in Christ is said to be chosen in Christ and made one of God's elect, destined for salvation according to God's perfect, omniscient foreknowledge (See Ephesians 1:3-6).

The church has been called home to heaven at the rapture, so those who believe the scriptures in the tribulation period, are mostly Jewish people.

Those who are the elect of God and in Christ, can never be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus (See Romans 8:28-39).

The apostle Paul also warned about the antichrist and his reign which will correspond with the abomination of desolation that Daniel and Jesus warned of.

The apostle John chronicles the rise of antichrist in the book of Revelation which I recommend to read if you want to learn more detail.

Let us hear more detail from Paul concerning what the antichrist and his false religion will be like.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-12  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

When Paul speaks of "he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way" he is referring to the Spirit of God who ministers through Christ's church.

The word "letteth" means to hinder or oppose when the King James Version was translated. The Spirit of God has always hindered the Devil's work on earth.

The Spirit of God indwells each Christian when we are born again and He unites us to each other and to Christ, our Head.

Therefore, when the church has been raptured, the Spirit of God's hindering ministry will be over and evil will explode unimpeded.

After the rapture of Christ's church, the antichrist will be revealed and this corresponds with the abomination of desolation.

This will happen at the mid point of the seven years of great tribulation, when he betrays Israel and demands to be worshiped as God.

Notice how Paul describes the antichrist: His rise to power is orchestrated by Satan.

He will be empowered to work lying signs and wonders that deceive people into worshiping him.

The Jews were warned by Jesus to flee to safety in a place where God will protect and provide for their needs.

All the Jewish people who believe God's Word, will flee as Jesus said to do.

Only unbelieving Jews and Gentiles will remain in Jerusalem and they will believe the lying wonders of antichrist.

Why will they believe a lie? Because they rejected the gospel and the love of God toward man.

Unbelief always condemns the unbelieving one before God and He will send a "strong delusion" so that they will believe lying wonders of the Devil.

In this manner, all wicked sinner's stubborn unbelief assures that they will be eternally damned and suffer in Hell.

Such signs and wonders will seem so real that the very elect saints of God might be deceived, if such a thing was possible.

We are reminded that we must know the scriptures because God's Word is our tool to detect and deflect spiritual error and satanic heresy.

Jesus continued with His warnings about the last days and the end of the world.

Matthew 24:25-28  Behold, I have told you before. 26  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28  For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.  

Jesus said that if anyone claims that Christ has appeared in the desert, do not go with them and do not believe them.

If they claim that Christ is in some secret place, do not believe them and do not go with them.

Next, Jesus began to speak of the signs of His coming as King and Judge of all the earth.

Christ's coming will be sudden like a bolt of lightning.

It will be brilliant and illuminating like a bolt of lightning.

A lightning bolt releases tremendous power and rapidly spreads over large swaths of the sky.

Some lightning bolts rapidly spread over hundreds of miles in an instant.

Mega lightning bolts release three terawatts of power that are up to five times hotter than the surface of the sun.

God's first creation act was to command "Let there be light and there was light."

Jesus Christ who is God manifest in the flesh, said "I am the light of the world."

The scriptures are said to be "a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path."

The entrance of the scriptures into the heart of man brings light and understanding.

All of these truths are meant concerning Christ's return to the world in final judgment.

Revelation 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 

The idea here is that the wicked will be judged when Christ returns. THe lightning bolts remind us that the Word of God is that sharp sword that goes out of His mouth and He will smite the nations with His Word.

Thus, there will be many carcasses slain by the Word of God and this is why eagles and vultures will gather to consume their corpses.

The Christian's resource is the mighty Word of God and our teacher is the indwelling Spirit of God.

Doom and destruction for the wicked will come and God's wrath will be poured out upon all who reject the gospel of His Son.

Let us live in accord with God's Word,

Let us be faithful to love and serve our Lord even as we love and serve others like He did.

Let us be Christ's faithful witnesses and share the good news of the gospel of Christ with as many people as we can.

Bob