p. 7 | Signs of the Approaching End by W. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 17, 1915

Signs of the Approaching End

By W. A. S.

Part 1. Events in the Fall of Jerusalem

CHRIST had spoken of the coming desolation of the sacred temple. The disciples were astonished. “Master, see,” said one, “what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” The Saviour replied:—

“Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Mark 13:2.

A Question Answered: “What Shall Be the Sign?”

As soon as they were alone, on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the city, the disciples came to Jesus, saying:—

“Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matt. 24:3.

At the disciples’ question, the Saviour’s prophetic vision looked forward through the coming years and centuries. Replying, he described the fall of Jerusalem; foretold in a sentence the experiences of his church through dark centuries to follow; then described the coming of the latter days, with signs showing his second advent near at hand; and, finally, pictured the scenes of his own glorious appearing in the clouds of heaven. The fullest record of the discourse is found in the twenty-fourth of Matthew.

A Striking Parallel

The first portion of the prophetic discourse (verses 4-14) deals with general conditions that were to prevail both in the last days of the Jewish state, and, on a yet larger scale, in the course of history leading to the last days of the world. There was so close a parallel between these times that Christ, in one description, answered both questions asked, When shall these things come upon Jerusalem? and What shall be the signs of the end of the world?

The prophetic word foretold the rise

of false Christs, the coming of wars, famines, and earthquakes, “in divers places.” The believers saw these things fulfilled in that generation before Jerusalem fell; but as we read the prophecy, we see the wider application and yet larger fulfillment through the course of history since that day, these things increasing in the earth as the end draws near. Before the end of the Jewish state, the believers carried the gospel to all the known world of their day. See Col. 1:23. In these latter days we are seeing the yet wider proclamation of the gospel, as foretold in the fourteenth verse: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

Jerusalem’s Last Days

We may note most briefly some of the events of Jerusalem’s last days. Christ had forewarned the believers:—

“Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”

Having rejected the true Christ, the nation was open to deception by the false. We catch just a glimpse of the fulfillment in the book of Acts. But in secular history the full story is told. Ridpath says:—

Never was a people so turbulent, so excited with expectation of a deliverer who should restore the ancient kingdom, so fired with bigotry and fanaticism, as were the wretched Jews of this period. One Christ came after another. Revolt was succeeded by revolt, instigated by some pseudo-prophet or pretended king.—“History of the World,” Vol. I, page 849.

During the Saviour’s life and ministry a divine hand had held the elements of violence in check to a great extent; but as the light was rejected more and more, the spirit of evil had its way unrestrained. Dr. Mears well describes the changed conditions in these words:—

The narrative of the evangelists presents a tranquil scene, a succession of attractive pictures, in striking contrast to the bloody and tumultuous events which crowd each other in the pages of Josephus.—“From Exile to Overthrow,” page 256.

Thus the events led rapidly on toward the day of Jerusalem’s fall, so long foretold by the prophets.

The Sign to the Believers

The disciples had asked for a sign; and Christ gave to the believers a sign by which they might know when the time to flee out of Jerusalem had come. Here Luke’s Gospel gives the fullest record:—

“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” Luke 21:20-22.

The unbelieving of Jerusalem and Judea could not conceive that their city, so long protected and favored of God, could be destroyed. Not even the appearance of the Roman armies could shake their blind self-confidence. But at the first sight of the encircling armies, the Christians knew that the time of flight was at hand. But how to flee was the question, with the compassing lines drawn close about the city. Moreover, the Zealots, the furious war party in power, would be little likely to allow any number to pass out to the Roman forces.

Just here God’s providence made a way of escape. Cestius, the Roman commander, after having partially undermined one of the temple walls, suddenly decided to defer pushing the attack. “He retired from the city,” says Josephus, “without any reason in the world.” (See “Wars,” book 2, chap. 19.) And the Zealots flew out after the retiring Romans, furiously attacking the rear guards.

Then those watching Christians knew that the time for quick flight had come, according to Christ’s prophecy uttered thirty years before. They fled out of the city and out of the country round about.

Through all the years, Christ’s prophecy had exhorted them, “Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” Matt. 24:20. The prayer was answered, for it was in the autumn and on a week day that the flight was made. Watching for the sign, and instantly obeying, they were delivered.

Thus it was that when the Romans returned later to the siege, never to give over till the city fell, none of the Christians were overwhelmed in its destruction. Even so are we to watch the signs of our own times, that we may escape those things that are coming upon the earth, and be ready to “stand before the Son of man.”

The Prophetic Word Fulfilled

Christ had declared that the temple, the pride of the nation, would be utterly destroyed. In the last siege, the Roman commander tried to spare the magnificent pile. When the Jews made it their chief fortress, because of its massive strength, Titus remonstrated with them, saying:—

If you will but change the place wherein you will fight, no Roman shall either come near your sanctuary nor offer any affront to it; nay, I will endeavor to preserve you your holy house whether you will or not.—Josephus’s “Wars,” book 6, chap. 2.

But the prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. The people seemed possessed with fury. The hardened Roman pagans were astonished at their suicidal rashness. Titus’s efforts to save the temple failed, and it went down in ruins as Christ had foretold.

The disciples of Christ had called his attention to the immense blocks of stone that composed the temple walls. “See what manner of stones,” one said. When Titus examined these same stones, after the fall of the city, he is said to have declared:—

We have certainly had God for our assistant in this war, and it was no other than God who ejected the Jews out of these fortifications.—Id., book 6, chap. 9.

Rather, we would say, in the light of Scripture teaching, the destruction that came upon the city was but the fruit of its own way. God’s guardian care had long protected the city of David. When his protection was finally thrust aside, and the people put themselves in the power of the great destroyer, divine justice could no longer save the city from the judgments that were bound to fall upon persistent transgression against light.

The lesson is one of those written “for our learning upon whom the ends of the world are come.” Jerusalem, in that generation of great light and high privilege, fell because it knew not the time of its visitation. Still Christ’s sad lament bears its warning to the ears of men: “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace.” Luke 19:42. W. A. S.