Matthew 24:15, commentary and pictures

Christ spoke these words on the Mount of Olives shortly before Gethsemane, joining the destruction of Jerusalem and His return in one description that reaches to restitution, redemption, and the renovation of the earth. The abomination standing in the holy place was in its first meaning the Roman idolatrous standards set on holy ground outside Jerusalem's walls, that is the siege by the Roman armies. Its appearance was the appointed warning that judgment was near and those in Judea must flee at once to the mountains without delay, and the Christians who obeyed about forty years later escaped so that none perished in the city's destruction. That overthrow was only a partial fulfillment and stands as a type of the final destruction of the world by fire, so the prophecy applies more directly to the last days when the world stands on the threshold of a crisis never before witnessed. The added direction to understand commands the reading of Daniel the prophet, whose prophecies give instruction for the close of earth's history and are sure to come to pass, and as the siege was the sign for flight from Jerusalem so the enforcing of the papal Sabbath will warn God's people to leave the cities, calling all true believers to watchfulness, endurance to the end, and the worldwide witness of the gospel of the kingdom before the end comes.

Setting and First Fulfillment

Christ spoke these words on the Mount of Olives shortly before entering Gethsemane, in answer to the disciples' question about the signs of His coming and the end of the world. The discourse joins the destruction of Jerusalem and His return in one description, with words reaching beyond the fall of Jerusalem to the final judgment. It presents the important events in the history of the world and the church between His first and second advents, including Jerusalem's destruction, persecution, and signs in the heavens. It sketches that history on to the complete restitution of all things, following the church in warfare and suffering to promised redemption, and describing the final triumph of God's people, the destruction of Satan and all his followers, the total extirpation of evil, and the renovation of the earth as the everlasting inheritance of the saints. Its signs and prophecies point to the nearness of His coming, though its day and hour are not revealed.

In its first application the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place is the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies. It is the Roman idolatrous standards set up on holy ground a short distance outside Jerusalem's walls.

Their appearance was the warning sign that Jerusalem's judgment was near and that those in Judea must flee at once to the mountains. They were to flee without delaying even to retrieve belongings or gather possessions, lest they be caught in the destruction. The warning was to be heeded about forty years later at Jerusalem's destruction, when the Christians who obeyed it escaped and none perished in the city's destruction.

The ruin of Jerusalem and the desolation of the temple received only a partial fulfillment in its overthrow. That destruction is used as a type and symbol of the final destruction of the world by fire and of the final ruin that shall overwhelm the world, so the prophecy has a more direct application to the last days. The world now stands on the threshold of great and solemn events, with a crisis before it such as has never been witnessed, yet God's kingdom rules over all, the program of coming events is in the Maker's hands, and He has the destiny of nations as well as the concerns of His church in His charge.

Understanding Daniel's Prophecy

The inserted call to understand is a command to read Daniel the prophet and to understand him with reference to events affecting Christ's followers. Prophecy is not sealed up or placed beyond human comprehension. To claim that prophecy can never be understood is to deny that it belongs to God's revelation to humanity. Portions reaching to the close of earthly governments stayed beyond understanding until the time of the end, when their fulfillment would make much of the prophecy plain.

Daniel's prophecies give important instruction concerning events at the close of the world's history. They also give the time of Christ, and the Jewish people were granted the privilege of recognizing their fulfillment in Jesus in the timing of His anointing, of His death, and of the going of the gospel to the Gentiles. What was shut up until the time of the end is then opened by fulfillment and by running to and fro in observing and thinking upon the time, bringing increased knowledge regarding that time. The approach of Christ's coming can and must be known from Daniel, though the exact day and hour cannot be known. Enough is made known by Daniel and by the signs of the times, as leaves show summer is near, to lead people to prepare for His coming as Noah prepared the ark.

The events foretold in Matthew 24 will surely come to pass as part of Jesus' prophecies of His second coming. They are sure predictions forming a sure word of prophecy that is the foundation of faith, to be brought to the attention of all and to be carefully studied and explained together with the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation and with Jesus as the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Ministers and teachers are to present them in place of matters of lesser consequence, since they are not of minor consequence but essential truth that decides the eternal destiny of souls. The present is the time when these predictions are being fulfilled, and their unmistakable fulfillment shows Christ's coming is at hand and calls the church to awake.

Final Warning and Readiness

Just as the encirclement of Jerusalem by Roman armies was the signal for those in Judea to flee to the mountains, so in the later fulfillment a decree enforcing the papal Sabbath will be the warning for God's people to leave the large cities for the smaller ones, and then the smaller ones for secluded places. The standing of the abomination of desolation in the holy place also marks the final closing work, when Satan impersonates Christ so that people will think their prayers for Christ's coming and deliverance have been answered.

The predictions surrounding this verse are being fulfilled in the present time, and their unmistakable fulfillment shows that Christ's coming is at hand. Waymarks have been set all along the path of the many years since Christ spoke, to show the inhabitants of the world their fulfillment and to make faith more definite and tangible. They belong to the signs of the times that should awaken those who know the truth out of lethargy and move them to feel their responsibility for the work. The events foretold will surely come to pass.

The chapter in which the verse stands portrays the condition of the church at His coming and outlines the events and perils of the last days. It warns of coming judgments, applied to cities whose inhabitants dishonor God and reject warnings, and it makes the nearness of the end an opportunity to warn the perishing world. What is before God's people comes suddenly and in a short time whose what is known but whose when is not, and it is instruction to prepare for the great conflict. Because iniquity abounds, men and women must make determined efforts to keep wide-awake spiritually, to preserve first love, to endure unto the end to be saved, to stand firm for principle when tested, to humble the heart daily, to put on the beautiful garments of Christ's righteousness, to impart the light received, and to live in earnest zeal, watchfulness and readiness, for indifference to the signs that precede the revelation of the Son of man is sinful. Those with genuine faith hold a definite message for the time of the end, that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations before the end comes, and that the world must receive the final message of mercy.