Matthew Chapter 24 Vrs 1 - 28
Matthew Chapter 24 Vrs 1 - 28
Matthew Chapter 24 Vrs 1 - 28
The reader should understand what this means. Matthew probably wanted his readers to think about the reference from Daniel. It described a dangerous situation. So, people should be prepared for a bad time like that. Foreign kings had tried to destroy the *Jewish religion. And by the time when Matthew wrote, the *Romans were already fighting a war with the *Jews. Verses 16-18 When the first signs of trouble come, people must escape quickly. They must not spend time to try to collect any goods. They must escape as fast as possible. Jesus advised them to escape to the mountains. This was practical advice because the caves there could provide shelter for the people. Eusebius, a writer, said that Christians left Jerusalem when the *Romans attacked it later. Christians crossed the River Jordan, and they found safety in a city called Pella. The *Jewish writer called Josephus describes other peoples actions. They thought that they would be safe. So they stayed in Jerusalem because the city had strong walls. The *Jews believed that the *Temple would protect them. But Titus, the *Roman leader, camped outside the city for five months. He waited for the people to starve and die. Verse 19 When this happened, some women would be expecting babies. Other women would have very small children. Jesus warned that it would be terrible for them. Mothers would suffer when they could not feed their children. Josephus said that people in Jerusalem were very hungry during the *Roman attack. One mother even killed her baby and ate it. Verse 20 In the winter, it was difficult to travel. The weather was bad and the paths were muddy. The river would have filled with water. People could escape only slowly. And *Jews believed that they should travel only a short distance on Gods rest day. Verse 21 The *Jewish writer Josephus tells how terribly people suffered in Jerusalem. Thousands of *Jews died while the *Romans were fighting them. Their dead bodies were all still in Jerusalem when the *Romans entered the city. (This was 70 years after Christ was born. It happened in the year *AD 70). And they hated the sight of all the dead bodies. Thousands more *Jews became slaves when the *Romans took them as prisoners. The *Romans took many prisoners to other countries. Verse 22 God controls the events in the world. He does not want people to suffer for a long time. He will not allow anyone to destroy the people that he has chosen. The *Jews were the people that he had chosen. So these words may refer to when the *Romans defeated the *Jews in Jerusalem. But Christians are the people whom God has chosen also. So the words may refer to other times when people suffer too. Many such bad times will happen before the world ends.