Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
On the road to Calvary Jesus told the pitying women of Jerusalem who wailed for Him without believing in Him to weep for themselves and their children instead. The plea for mountains to fall and hills to cover is the longing of the guilty to be hidden when condemnation for sin comes upon them. It first meant the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, when its people would suffer famine and the horrors of war and long for covering, and many of those women and their children would perish in fulfillment of their own cry for His blood to be upon them. That fall of Jerusalem stands as a symbol and sign of the final destruction of the impenitent world, when all who persist in sin and slight the mercy purchased by His death will face unbearable sorrow at the coming of the Son of man with God's mighty hosts. For Christ as the green and innocent tree bore in crucifixion the wrath due to the sins of the world, so far greater terror awaits the dry trees who guiltily reject that mercy.
Setting on Way to Calvary
On the road from the judgment-hall to Calvary Jesus spoke to the daughters of Jerusalem who wailed for Him out of common pity and humanity, not because they believed Him to be a teacher sent from God. He told them to weep not for Him but for themselves and their children. The women who were moved at the sight had come undesignedly into that procession to the crucifixion.
This took place after the news of His condemnation had spread throughout Jerusalem, when a vast multitude of people of all classes and all ranks flocked toward the place of crucifixion. Disciples and believers from the city and the surrounding region joined the throng that followed the Saviour. They did so under the promise of the priests and rulers not to molest Christ's followers if He Himself were delivered to them.
At that moment He was being led from Pilate's court with the cruel cross prepared for Barabbas laid upon His bruised and bleeding shoulders. He had taken neither food nor drink since the Passover supper, and after agonizing in Gethsemane, enduring betrayal and the flight of His disciples, being taken to Annas and to Caiaphas and to Pilate and to Herod and back to Pilate, and bearing insult upon insult and mockery upon mockery and two scourgings, He was too weak to carry it. A crown of cruel thorns pierced His temples and left traces of blood upon His face, yet He was making a voluntary sacrifice, bearing Himself with firmness and dignity and speaking no word but what glorified God. Human nature could bear no more, so He fell fainting beneath the burden, while the crowd showed no compassion but taunted Him for being unable to carry the heavy cross.
The saying belongs to His facing the Jewish priests and rulers, who forced the Roman governor to carry out their will. It belongs also to the taking away of the Bridegroom, when mourning and fasting become fitting for the disciples. He was delivered into the hands of wicked men, with His own nation clamoring for His blood, mocked by Herod and his soldiers with a crown of thorns and a purple robe and a reed, and scourged as the worst of criminals while the murderous Barabbas was chosen in His place. Then He was lifted up on the cross to die as a malefactor, though He had been hoped to take David's throne. To see Him in whom hopes of eternal life were centered so humiliated tries faith and makes hope and courage fail, leaving days of trial and temptation when the presence of the Comforter is not clearly discerned.
Terror of Coming Judgment
The cry to the mountains to fall and to the hills to cover is the longing of guilt to be hidden when condemnation for sin arrives. It is what the impenitent will wish for when they stand exposed in judgment.
Its first fulfillment came in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, when its people suffered amid famine and the horrors of war and longed for covering. Many of those very weeping women with their children perished in that siege, blindly fulfilling their own cry for His blood to be on them and on their children. Yet Jerusalem's fall is a symbol and a sign pointing beyond itself to the final destruction of the impenitent world.
The same cry therefore belongs also to a wider judgment at the end of the world, when all the impenitent and unbelieving will suffer condemnation for their sins. It will fall upon those who persist in sin and slight the mercy purchased by His death. Their sorrow and misery will be unbearable, so that they will call for mountains and hills to cover them. That terror will come at the coming of the Son of man, attended not by a murderous mob but with God's mighty hosts.
The force of the warning is explained by the green and the dry trees. The green tree is the innocent Christ, upon whom the wrath due to the sins of the world was allowed to fall in death by crucifixion. If God permitted that for the Redeemer, far greater terror awaits the dry, those guilty, impenitent and unbelieving who reject the mercy secured by His death.
On the road to Calvary Jesus told the pitying women of Jerusalem who wailed for Him without believing in Him to weep for themselves and their children instead. The plea for mountains to fall and hills to cover is the longing of the guilty to be hidden when condemnation for sin comes upon them. It first meant the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, when its people would suffer famine and the horrors of war and long for covering, and many of those women and their children would perish in fulfillment of their own cry for His blood to be upon them. That fall of Jerusalem stands as a symbol and sign of the final destruction of the impenitent world, when all who persist in sin and slight the mercy purchased by His death will face unbearable sorrow at the coming of the Son of man with God's mighty hosts. For Christ as the green and innocent tree bore in crucifixion the wrath due to the sins of the world, so far greater terror awaits the dry trees who guiltily reject that mercy.
Setting on Way to Calvary
On the road from the judgment-hall to Calvary Jesus spoke to the daughters of Jerusalem who wailed for Him out of common pity and humanity, not because they believed Him to be a teacher sent from God. He told them to weep not for Him but for themselves and their children. The women who were moved at the sight had come undesignedly into that procession to the crucifixion.
This took place after the news of His condemnation had spread throughout Jerusalem, when a vast multitude of people of all classes and all ranks flocked toward the place of crucifixion. Disciples and believers from the city and the surrounding region joined the throng that followed the Saviour. They did so under the promise of the priests and rulers not to molest Christ's followers if He Himself were delivered to them.
At that moment He was being led from Pilate's court with the cruel cross prepared for Barabbas laid upon His bruised and bleeding shoulders. He had taken neither food nor drink since the Passover supper, and after agonizing in Gethsemane, enduring betrayal and the flight of His disciples, being taken to Annas and to Caiaphas and to Pilate and to Herod and back to Pilate, and bearing insult upon insult and mockery upon mockery and two scourgings, He was too weak to carry it. A crown of cruel thorns pierced His temples and left traces of blood upon His face, yet He was making a voluntary sacrifice, bearing Himself with firmness and dignity and speaking no word but what glorified God. Human nature could bear no more, so He fell fainting beneath the burden, while the crowd showed no compassion but taunted Him for being unable to carry the heavy cross.
The saying belongs to His facing the Jewish priests and rulers, who forced the Roman governor to carry out their will. It belongs also to the taking away of the Bridegroom, when mourning and fasting become fitting for the disciples. He was delivered into the hands of wicked men, with His own nation clamoring for His blood, mocked by Herod and his soldiers with a crown of thorns and a purple robe and a reed, and scourged as the worst of criminals while the murderous Barabbas was chosen in His place. Then He was lifted up on the cross to die as a malefactor, though He had been hoped to take David's throne. To see Him in whom hopes of eternal life were centered so humiliated tries faith and makes hope and courage fail, leaving days of trial and temptation when the presence of the Comforter is not clearly discerned.
Terror of Coming Judgment
The cry to the mountains to fall and to the hills to cover is the longing of guilt to be hidden when condemnation for sin arrives. It is what the impenitent will wish for when they stand exposed in judgment.
Its first fulfillment came in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, when its people suffered amid famine and the horrors of war and longed for covering. Many of those very weeping women with their children perished in that siege, blindly fulfilling their own cry for His blood to be on them and on their children. Yet Jerusalem's fall is a symbol and a sign pointing beyond itself to the final destruction of the impenitent world.
The same cry therefore belongs also to a wider judgment at the end of the world, when all the impenitent and unbelieving will suffer condemnation for their sins. It will fall upon those who persist in sin and slight the mercy purchased by His death. Their sorrow and misery will be unbearable, so that they will call for mountains and hills to cover them. That terror will come at the coming of the Son of man, attended not by a murderous mob but with God's mighty hosts.
The force of the warning is explained by the green and the dry trees. The green tree is the innocent Christ, upon whom the wrath due to the sins of the world was allowed to fall in death by crucifixion. If God permitted that for the Redeemer, far greater terror awaits the dry, those guilty, impenitent and unbelieving who reject the mercy secured by His death.