Last week we examined the first part of Jesus’s Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24:1-14. In that portion of the prophecy Jesus told us the conditions that would exist during this current age: deception, wars, pestilence, earthquakes, persecution, etc. In verse 8 He uses the metaphor of labor pains which probably indicates these signs will progressively intensify as we move toward the end, just as the frequency and intensity of labor pains increase as mother transitions toward birth.
We found these same signs in Revelation 6. I have provided a simple chart so you can visualize the parallel. In that passage the restraint is lifted (2 Thess. 2:6) and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse are released. That immensely increases the severity of these signs as they unfold during the tribulation period, so much so that one fourth of the world’s population is killed (Rev. 6:8). Can you imagine almost two billion people dying within a few years?i Between 70 and 85 million people died during World War II. That includes deaths by disease, famine, and other civilian casualties as well as military personnel. It was the deadliest military conflict in human history.ii But in comparison to the devastation caused by the Antichrist, World War II was a minor skirmish. The World War II deaths are only 4% of what will be killed in Revelation 6.
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
In Matthew 24:15 Jesus prophesied the abomination of desolation: “‘Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place’ (whoever reads, let him understand).” That is an end-time pivotal event. It is the height of human arrogance and rebellion against God. It triggers an outpouring of God’s wrath like this world has never seen.
We know from our study of Daniel 9:27 that this event happens in the middle of the seven-year tribulation period.iii “Then he [Antichrist] shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week [three and a half years into the tribulation period] He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.” This is the abomination of desolation that Daniel prophesied.iv
When Antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel and desecrates the sanctuary, he will unleash an unprecedented attack on the Jews. His betrayal will be sudden and unforeseen by the Jews. They will be unprepared for the assault, and the only thing they can do is run. And that’s exactly what Jesus tells them to do in verses 16-21: “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
The language here is very similar to that used by Luke in his instructions for responding to the first century crisis. This is one reason interpreters get the events confused. Both Matthew and Luke are quoting from Jesus’s Olivet Discourse. But Luke is focused on the first-century destruction of the temple, and Matthew is focused on the abomination of desolation that occurs during the tribulation period.v As we have said, the first century event is a portend of the end-time event. For that reason, there are many similarities. And in both cases, those in Judea will be unprepared for its coming. Therefore, in both cases a speedy exit is the only means of survival.
In His discourse Jesus spoke in terms that His immediate audience would understand. Coming down off the housetop, for example, was directly applicable to the first century setting in Judea.vi Everything Jesus says here makes sense to those who are listening to His discourse. But the message is this: make a hasty exit because the persecution will unfold rapidly. You won’t have time to gather your things. Just get out as quickly as you can. That advice is applicable to the first century Jews who fled Jerusalem in the first century, and it is applicable to those in Judea when Antichrist breaks his treaty during the tribulation period.vii
This is an example of how redaction criticism is necessary in interpreting this discourse.viii We must understand that Luke is using portions of the Olivet Discourse to communicate his message, and Matthew is using quotes of Jesus’s prophecy to communicate the message God is giving through his gospel. If we just view the gospel writers as mere historians, we will have difficulty sorting this out. Why do we have three synoptic gospels instead of only one? God is giving us revelation in different ways through Matthew, Mark, and Luke. If that were not the case, He could have just given it in one gospel. What are the implications of this? It means Luke is not giving exactly the same message as Matthew. Each one is giving truth that the Holy Spirit directs for that author. Redaction criticism is valid because we recognize that the gospel writers were under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the selection of how they would present their message.ix
So, Luke uses these quotes from Jesus to communicate the urgency of the situation in the first century, and Matthew is using quotes from the discourse to communicate the urgency that will exist in Judea in the middle of the tribulation period.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MATTHEW’S AND LUKE’S ACCOUNTS
When we examine the differences between Matthew’s account and Luke’s account this distinction becomes evident. Let’s look at a few of those differences.
(1) They introduce the subject very differently. Luke 21:20 begins, “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. . . .“ In contrast, Matthew 24:15 begins, “Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place.” In each case, the observation is to trigger the quick response. But armies surrounding Jerusalem is very different from the abomination of desolation in the holy place. Consider this: if Luke’s readers in the first century had waited until they saw a desecration of the holy place, they would have been killed. It would have been too late to flee! We know that from the historical accounts.
The first century desecration that is sometimes suggested happened after the people had been slaughtered and the temple was burned. Tasker and others point to Titus’s soldiers carrying the Roman ensigns with the image of the emperor into temple as the desecration.x Josephus says, “There did they offer sacrifices to them.”xi But observing that event as a sign for first century Jews to flee would have been no help at all: the warning would have been meaningless. Ccommenting on this incident, John Nolland writes, “The nearest thing to a Roman profanation of the temple that Josephus reports happened quite late on, when the city and the temple were in flames.”xii So in verses 21:20-24, Luke is not talking about the end-time abomination of desolation that Matthew 24:15 references. He is talking about the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. which did serve as a harbinger of the greater judgment that would come during the end-time tribulation period.
(2) Matthew and Mark include the exhortation, “whoever reads, let him understand” which is absent in Luke. In Luke there is no need for this exhortation to study the abomination of desolation in Daniel since that author is not making a direct reference to that. On the other hand, to put the abomination of desolation in proper context of future developments, one needs to understand Daniel’s prophecy. For example, we know the abomination of desolation happens in the middle of the seven-year tribulation period from Daniel 9:27. Therefore, both Matthew and Mark refer the reader back to Daniel using the statement: “Whoever reads, let him understand.”
(3) Matthew does not have the explanation in Luke 21:22: “For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled [all things concerning the first century days of vengeance].” In His lament over Jerusalem Jesus prophesies over that city: “See! Your house is left to you desolate” (Matt. 23:38). The destruction in 70 A.D. is a fulfillment of that prediction concerning “the days of vengeance.” Luke has already revealed why this destruction came on the city. In Luke 19:41-44 he wrote, “Now as He [Jesus] drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’”xiii
(4) Luke 21:24 includes the condition that follows the fall of Jerusalem: “And they [those in Judea, especially Jerusalem] will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” That prophesies the exile of the Jews that began in the first century and has continued through the centuries during the church age. During that time “Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles.” Jerusalem will be controlled by gentile nations.xiv How long will this go on? Luke says, “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” This statement would not properly follow Matthew’s prediction of the abomination of desolation because there the exile and “the times of the Gentiles” is approaching its end, not its beginning.
(5) Matthew also marks the timing of his account with the statement in 24:21: “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” “For then [that’s the time marker: following the abomination of desolation event described in verses 15-20] there will be great tribulation.” Was there tribulation in the 70 A.D. event? Yes, Josephus tells us that 1,100,000 people were killed during the siege.xv Horrific suffering accompanied that event.xvi But it was not a “great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
Compared to the deaths of one fourth of the world’s population predicted in Revelation 6:8, the 70 A.D. destruction is relatively incidental, less than one percent! It was a local calamity highly significant to the Jewish people. But there have been events of greater tribulation since and will be even greater during the end-time tribulation period. Matthew and Mark are using the abomination of desolation as a signal to indicate the beginning of the intense tribulation that would follow during the last three and a half years prior to Christ’s second coming.xvii
(6) Luke does not include the statement found in Matthew 24:22: “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.” In the first century the nations did not have the capacity to annihilate all humanity. That ability came with the development of nuclear weapons. Now and during the end time, the potential that “no flesh would be saved” is very real.xviii Luke was not addressing such a time. In Luke’s gospel the “times of the gentiles” would follow the destruction of Jerusalem.
(7) In his Olivet Discourse account Matthew includes this vivid description of Christ’s return in 24:27: “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Luke does not include that in his Olivet Discourse. Instead he places that quote in Jesus’s prediction of the Parousia in Luke 17:24.xix This is a subtle difference between the accounts, but it is by no means accidental.
(8) Maintaining the chronological sequence of events, Matthew places the time of cosmic signs in the heavens and the coming of Christ immediately after the great tribulation. Notice how Matthew 24:29 begins with the timing of these events. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. . . .”
In contrast, Luke simply states the future event in 21:25-27: “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” In Luke’s gospel, what lies between his detailed account of the temple’s destruction in 70 A.D. and the Parousia? It is stated in verse 24: “the times of the Gentiles.”
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
Luke does not give details concerning the end-time tribulation period the way Matthew and Mark do. But he does come along beside them in his description of the parousia (Luke 21:25-27) which in his gospel follows “the times of the Gentiles” (21:24).
Some preterists try to avoid the obvious implications of erroneously identifying Matthew 24:15-22 with the destruction of the temple (70 A.D.) by spiritualizing/allegorizing the coming of the Lord described in Matthew 24:29-30 and Luke 21:25-27. They interpret the cosmic phenomena “symbolically as political disasters, and the gathering of the elect (Mk. 13:27) [according to their interpretation] refers to the mission of the church.” They adopt the view developed by “J. M. Kirk (Matthew Twenty-Four, Philadelphia, 1948) and R. V. G. Tasker (The Gospel according to St. Matthew, 1961, 225-228) that in Mk. 13 (and Mk. 8:38; Mt. 10:28) parousia language is used symbolically to describe the fall of Jerusalem as the vindication of Jesus. . . .” Using this allegorical method of interpreting the text, their view is that “the parousia took place in AD 70. . . .”xx
The astronomical disturbances described in Matthew 24:29 will coincide with the second coming of Christ. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” The only reason to make that symbolical is that a literal interpretation defeats the preterist position. Everybody knows that those signs did not happen in 70 A.D. Everybody knows that Jesus did not return in glory and power in 70 A.D. So, you either abandon the preterist position or you allegorize verses 29 and 30.
Look at the darkening of the sun when Jesus was crucified. All three synoptic gospels (Matt.27:45; Mk. 15:33; Lk. 23:44) tell us the sun was darkened that afternoon. It was not just symbolical; it literally happened! When the ten plagues fell on Egypt, Pharaoh responded because they were literally happening. There is no good reason to allegorize the coming of Christ in Matthew 24:30. There is no reason to allegorize the cosmic events surrounding His return either.xxi
Matt 24:29-30 says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” I’ve got good news: that’s really going to happen! John tells us in Revelation 1:7, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.”
In Acts 1:11 the two angels told the disciples, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” He ascended in a glorified body. He will return in a glorified body. The ascension was not an invisible, spiritual event. It was literal. It was visible. They saw Him ascend. And the promise is, “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
The language used in Matthew 24:30 is reminiscent of Daniel 7:13-14: “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.” What a glorious day that will be!xxii
Now let’s read Matthew 24:15-31 so we can appreciate the chronological flow of the text. It begins at the middle of the tribulation period.
“Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.
[Then there is a warning about the deception that will be happening at that time. We will talk about that some more in a moment].
“23 Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 ‘Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.’ [The word translated eagles should be translated vultures (NIV).
This is a proverbial way of saying: It will be obvious. Verse 28 reinforces verse 27. When you see a group of vulture circling in the air, you know there is a corpse at that location. You don’t have to ask somebody where its at. You know. There may be an allusion to the millions killed at the battle of Armageddon. Christ’s coming will be an event that leaves no question that He has come. Jesus is making this clear, so people won’t be deceived by false Christs.]
[Now we come to the end of the tribulation period.]
“29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Why does Jesus give the warning about deception in verses 23-28? It is a major concern in His mind. Remember in verses 4-14 He warned about deception during the church age. Like birth pains that will increase as history moves toward its conclusion. When the Antichrist comes in Revelation 6:2 he comes on a white horse with deception. That is the first thing he does.
Second Thessalonians 2:3 says, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come [the parousia mentioned in verse 1] unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed.” Now listen to the emphasis on deception in verses 9-12: “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Revelation 13 talks about the false prophet who supports the Antichrist who is referred to as “the beast.” Revelation 13:13-14 says, “He [the false prophet] performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast. . . .” Revelation 13 gives significant detail about the deception during the tribulation period. When the Bible talks about end times, it consistently warns of deception.
We live in a day when deception has increased. There’s always been deception. Ever since the serpent spoke to Eve in the garden, Satan has been persuading people with his lies.xxiii But it is increasing rapidly. Anybody can be a prophet on the internet. The availability of false teaching has increased exponentially with the world wide web. That’s one reason sound doctrine is so important in the hour we live. We must “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). We do that primarily by faithfully proclaiming the truth.xxiv
What is the greatest concern for our wellbeing in the days ahead? With the events that have occurred this last year, we are aware of plagues, shortages, and civil unrest. Some prudence needs to be exercised in regard to those possibilities. But when you weigh the massive amount of Scripture warning us against deception in comparison to making sure we have enough food on hand or making sure we are equipped to defend ourselves, without question the greatest concern is deception.
How do we avoid deception? We guard our hearts (Prov. 4:23). We don’t allow place for any resentment or unforgiveness in our hearts toward others. We continually draw close to the Lord and follow Him as our Shepherd. We don’t neglect this great salvation. We stay in prayer. We stay in the word. We nurture a love for the truth.
You are probably doing those things. But I want to encourage you to not grow weary in that. Keep pressing into God. Keep feeding your spirit with His word. Keep seeking first His kingdom and He will take care of you in any and every situation.
ENDNOTES:
i The structure of the book of Revelation is debated among scholars. However, the statement made by martyrs during the fifth seal and the answer in 6:9-11 indicates that the first four seals occur before the end of the tribulation with most expositors placing them in the first half of the tribulation period. Cf. Pentecost, Things to Come, 187.
ii “World War II casualties,” Wikipedia. Accessed 2-24-21 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties. Current world population is 7.8 billion. Using 1.5 billion deaths for his calculation back in 2002, Grant Osborne says, “That is more than all the wars in the last 200 years put together.” And keep in mind that the deaths during the tribulation period happen within a few years. The devastation is unimaginable! Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Moises Silva, ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002) 283.
iii It is interesting that there is no mention of the rapture of the church prior to Matthew 24:15. Considering the significance of the resurrection of the just, the absence of that event here is telling and tends to support the posttribulation position.
iv See also Daniel 11:31; 12:11. Cf. Osborne, Revelation, 414.
v Both Matthew and Mark focus on the abomination of desolation that occurs in the middle of the tribulation period. To keep the presentation simple, we are concentrating on the comparison of Matthew and Luke.
vi Of course, Jesus would speak in the context of His day and the gospel writers would do likewise. The application of the message in a future culture would be based on the principle being taught, in this case, leave immediately. Difficulties associated with the sabbath mentioned in verse 20 would have relevance in modern Israel where the sabbath is observed in the last days. The shutting down of transportation opportunities on a sabbath day would make the flight more difficult. In Jesus’s day the roofs on the houses were flat and were used for various functions like drying out vegetables, prayer, etc. “The staircase from the roof was on the outside of the house; one could descend without entering the house.” Jesus was communicating urgency when He told them to not go back into the house to get anything (vs17). Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993) 113. Bock insightfully points out that Luke does not quote Jesus’s instruction to not go back into the house when he is speaking of the first century destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 21:20-), but does include it when he addresses the end-time crisis in Luke 17:31. Darrell Bock, Luke 9:51-24:54, 1678. Bock points out other contrasts between the Matthew/Mark accounts versus Luke’s account as well (pp.1675-1682).
vii The instruction in Matthew 24:15-21 is given to people living in a specific region (Judea) whether living there in the first century on during the end-time tribulation period. For that reason this portion of Matthew 24 is of particular interest to Jews. However, the abomination of desolation itself will carry consequence for God’s dealings with the entire world.
viii Unlike higher criticism that undermines confidence in the authority of Scripture because of its false, naturalistic pre-assumptions, redaction criticism is a useful, necessary exposition tool. Cf. William Klein, Craig Blomberg, and Robert Hubbard, Jr., Introduction to Biblical Interpretation (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 1993) 330; Robertson McQuilkin, Understanding and Applying the Bible (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1992), 30–32, 265-266; David A. Black and David S. Dockery, eds., New Testament Criticism & Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991). s. v. “The New Testament, History, and the Historical-Critical Method,” by D. A. Hagner, 77–83. 199-226.
ix Failure to properly recognize the divinely inspired redaction by the gospel writers can easily result in misinterpretation due to over-harmonizing the synoptic gospels. Luke is zeroing in on the immediate crisis that will come in 70 A.D. Matthew and Mark place their emphasis on the abomination of desolation that comes in the middle of the end-time tribulation period.
x This would be idolatrous and considered a desecration of the sanctuary. Cf. R. V. G. Tasker, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Tyndale Bible Commentaries, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1961) 229.
xi Josephus, Josephus: Complete Works, trans. by William Whiston, The Wars of the Jews, Book VI, (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1981) 583.
xii John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text, The New International Greek Testament Commentary, I. H. Marshall and D. A. Hagner, eds. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 2005) 971. Caligula’s plan to set up a pagan altar and standards is sometimes suggested as the first century desecration, but that plan never got executed. Cf. D. A. Carson, “Matthew” in Matthew, Mark, Luke, EBC, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 8, F. E. Gabelein and J. D. Douglas, eds. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1984) 500.
xiii Bock comments, “Luke would probably suggest that the reason for the city’s collapse was its failure to respond to the day of its visitation, that is, the coming of Messiah (Luke 19:41-44; 13:34-35).” Darrell Bock, Luke 9:51-24:54, 1679.
xiv To discern the times one must watch how history develops in the city of Jerusalem. It is easy for people to get focused on activity in their own nation or locality, but end-time prophecy revolves around Jerusalem and the nation of Israel.
xv Josephus, Josephus: Complete Works, trans. by William Whiston, The Wars of the Jews, Book VI, Ch. 9 (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1981) 587. From his limited first century experience Josephus identified the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. as the worst since the beginning of the world. But this is sorely inadequate support for identifying that event with the Matthew 24:21 statement. “Jos. War 1.12: ‘Accordingly, it appears to me that the misfortunes of all people, from the beginning of the world, if they be compared to these of the Jews, are not so considerable as they were.’” As quoted by Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, 975.
xvi For example, Josephus records a mother killing, roasting, and eating her child. Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book VI, Ch. 9, no. 4, p. 579.
xvii Several commentators point out Mark’s use of the masculine participle after the neuter abomination (13:14) as indication he is connecting the event with a person as Paul did in 2 Thessalonians 2. Matthew’s use of the neuter participle may remind us it is an idolatrous object and event.
xviii Of course, the end of the human race could come through other means as well. But the Matthew 24:22 statement emphasizes the universality of the calamity, in contrast to the localized calamity in 70 A.D. There is debate among scholars concerning the phrase: “but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.” Some think that shortening has already been incorporated in the three and a half years designated between the abomination of desolation and the parousia. Other inject the possibility that in mercy God might shorten the three and a half years. If that is the case, it adds another layer of uncertainty as to the day and hour of Christ’s return. Cf. Moo, “The Case for the Posttribulation Rapture Position,” in Gleason L. Archer, Jr., Paul Feinberg, Douglas Moo, and Richard R. Reiter, Three Views on the Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, or Post-Tribulational? By (Grand Points: Zondervan Publishing, 1996) 209.
xix Additionally, the warnings about deception that Matthew places in 24:26-28 records are also placed in Luke 17. Luke replaces the instruction in Matthew 24:17-18 with instruction to get out and stay out of the city (Luke 21:21). He places those instruction with his Parousia material in Luke 17:31.
xx I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text, The New International Greek Testament Commentary, I. H. Marshall and D. A. Hagner, eds. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1978) 776-777. Marshall goes on to identify weaknesses of this view saying, “nothing in the context leads us to believe that an unusual sense is to be found here; in fact the clear temporal sequence (Mk. 13: 24, 25) suggests that an event after the fall of Jerusalem is in mind” (emphasis his).
xxi Douglas Moo lists three major problems with the preterist view: “First, the language of Jesus’ ‘Coming’ with clouds (dependent on Dan. 7:13) probably always has reference to the parousia in the New Testament. Second, the cosmic signs of Mark 13:24-25 are held by the author of Revelation to be future (6:14-17)—and he is probably writing after AD 70. Third, and perhaps most important, is the virtually technical status that the word parousia had attained by the time Matthew and Mark wrote their gospels. The word, used I Matthew 24:27, 37, and 39, always, when it is modified by ‘Christ,’ refers to the climatic coming of Christ in glory at the end of history in the New Testament (1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thess. 2:1, 8; James 5:7, 8; 2 Peter 1:16; 3:4; 1 John 2:28). Douglas J. Moo, “A Case for the Posttribulation Rapture,” in Blaising, Hultberg, and Moo, Three Views on the Rapture, 215.
xxii See also Zechariah 14; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-12; Revelation 19:11-16.
xxiii Cf. John 8:44; 2 Cor. 11:14; 1 John 2:18, 22-23.
xxiv Cf. 2 Tim. 4:1-4.
