Put On Your Running Shoes & Head For The Hills! Mark 13:14-37
Notes
Transcript
Handout
As we begin this morning, please turn in your copies of God’s Word to the Gospel of Mark 13:14-37. We will read verses 14-23 shortly, so please have the passage marked and ready.
Last Sunday morning, we looked at what has ended up being a long time frame. This time frame is referred to as The Last Days, and many theologians believe it began with the establishment of the church in Acts 2, and continues until the end of the church age, when, those who hold to the pre-tribulational rapture of the church, believe Jesus calls the church to heaven. We will discuss this a little later this morning. In Mark 13, Jesus was preparing His disciples, as well as us, for what the future holds, and the future is anything but easy. However, His warning was not designed to bring them or us to the point of depression and dispair, but to provide an opportunity to be prepared. But He also wants us to Never forget, no matter how bad things may look, He is our Sovereign Savior and is in complete control. Then, He proceeded to give Battlefield directives: First, Our enemy, the devil, will seek to deceive us. And we may see things happen that are alarming, but if we rest in the sovereignty of God, that alarm will dissipate as we trust in Him, because our hope is not based on our circumstances, but in our Savior. And lastly:
Part of our “being on guard” comes from our preparation for battle, by pouring over God’s Word, seeking to learn the powerful truths we see there, and allowing those truths to transform who we are, as a result, we then become the mouthpiece of God.
This brings us to this morning’s passage. Would you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word? Next Slide
Mark 13:14–23 (ESV)
14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out,
16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.
17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!
18 Pray that it may not happen in winter.
19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.
20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.
21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.
22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.
May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Word, please be seated. Next Slide
As we have discussed the last couple of weeks, the Olivet Discourse takes place as Jesus and the Disciples are seated on the Mount of Olives, looking over Jerusalem. The scene may have looked similar to this. The sun was setting over the City of Jerusalem, it was literally gleaming in the setting sun. I am guessing that Jesus was seated with His back to Jerusalem, giving the Disciples an unobstructed view of the City. There is a part of me that wonders if, as He continues with what we see at the start of verse 14, if He doesn’t turn to His side so He can get a glimpse of the city as well. If you look closely at the center of the picture, you can see what is now the Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock likely sits right where the Jewish Temple sat. I picture Jesus at this point in the Olivet Discourse, pointing to the Temple as he begins to tell the 12 what will take place in the future. As He speaks, His heart is heavy with grief. In Ezekiel 33:11, God, speaking to the Nation of Israel, who at the time, very similar to what was taking place on this day as Jesus was speaking from the Mount of Olives, the Nation of Israel was a wicked people. God declares to the Nation; “Say to them, ‘As I live’ declares the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?’” There is little doubt Jesus is thinking the same thing here. He made that clear just a couple days earlier as He made His way into Jerusalem during the Triumphal Entry, when Luke records in Luke 19:41-42; ‘And when He drew near and saw the City, He wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace? But now they are hidden from your eyes.”
So, with deep sadness, Jesus speaks of the future concerning the City and the people He loved deeply.
Now, something to note as we move forward this morning. This is something we mentioned when we were going through Ezra and Nehemiah. Many of the prophecies in Scripture, both in the Old and New Testament, have a 2-fold or even, in some instances, a multi-fold fulfillment. There is both a near fulfillment and a future fulfillment.
Picture it in this way. Having been raised in my teen years in the mountains of Colorado, I have done my share of hiking in the mountains. Often times as you are on a hike, you see, what appears to be the peak of the mountain in front of you. For those not used to the altitude, there is a sigh of relief, thinking the hike is almost done. But when you reach the summit of that peak, you discover this was one of multiple peaks, as you see another peak rising high above the one you just climbed! This is frequently what we see taking place in prophetic Scripture. There may be multiple peaks of fulfillment, each new peak pointing to the ultimate fulfillment still to come.
In fact, that is one of the ways people were able to discern false prophets from true prophets. They knew that if the near fulfillment of the prophecy didn’t take place, the individual prophesying was a false prophet. Keep this in mind as we continue to look at the Olivet Discourse.
Moving forward in this mornings passage, Jesus introduces: Next Slide
The Abomination of Desolation.
This would mark an event of time when a coming figure would come onto the scene and desecrate the Temple of God, would abolish the daily sacrifice, and set up the worship of a false god.
In Matthew’s account of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus adds, “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel”. In some ways, this could have gone without saying, it was pretty likely that the moment He mentioned the abomination of desolation, the minds of the disciples immediately went to the prophet Daniel. Daniel mentioned this on 3 separate occasions. In Daniel 9:27; 11:31 & 12:11. I mentioned a moment ago, that many of the prophecies in Scripture had both a near fulfillment and a future fulfillment, well this is one of those instances. In Daniel’s case, the near fulfillment took place in 168 BC with Antiochus Epiphanies. He gave himself the name Epiphanies, which meant “manifest god”, but the Jews called him Epimanes, which meant “madman” or “insane one”. He considered himself to be a manifestation of the Greek god Zeus. He had a deep hatred for the Jews and wanted to completely obliterate them from the face of the earth. Well in 168 BC Antiochus conquered Jerusalem. He slaughtered thousands and sold many other Jews into slavery. Additionally, he had an altar of Zeus, which historians believe included an image of himself in the face of the altar, built in the temple. He also had a pig sacrificed in the temple and had it’s blood scattered everywhere.
This would have been the first of the mountain peaks of fulfillment, pointing to the ultimate fulfillment we will look at shortly. There were probably 3 other mountain peaks yet to come, again, all pointing to the ultimate fulfillment. We mentioned the 2nd mountain top peak last week. It took place in AD 40 when the wicked Roman Emperor, Caligula attempted to build an altar of himself in the Temple, of course he did not succeed because he was assassinated before he had a chance to complete it, but it was still a picture of what was to come.
Ironically, the next one took place by the Jews themselves. In AD 66, the Jewish Zealots began a revolt against the Roman Empire. During that revolt, they occupied the Temple permitted criminals to enter the Holy of Holies and even committed murders in the Temple.
The next mountain peak fulfillment took place in 67 AD when the Roman army surrounded Jerusalem to put an end to the Jewish Zealots revolt. In Lukes account of the Olivet Discourse in Luke 21, he writes “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies”. Of course, as we discussed last week, this ended with the complete destruction of the Temple.
Do you recall last week how I mentioned that most Jews from the surrounding towns villages and countryside, fled to the protective walls of Jerusalem, and eventually fled into the Temple itself? Interestingly, there was one particular group of people that did not flee to the protective walls of Jerusalem. Any ideas who that group was? To give you an idea, let’s look at what Luke wrote in Luke 21:20-21.
Next Slide
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.
21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it,
It was the Christians. By the time 67 AD rolled around, they had been taught and retaught from Jesus Olivet Discourse. So, when they saw the Roman army surrounding Jerusalem, rather than flee to Jerusalem, like the rest of the Jews, they “fled to the mountains”. In fact, the Jewish historian Josephus wrote they fled “as swimmers deserting a sinking ship”, which was the exact picture of what Jesus instructed them to do in Mark 13:15 & 16. If you are on a sinking ship, you do not go back to your cabin to pick up your favorite belongings, you abandon ship, knowing that you have no possessions more valuable than your own life.
At this point in time I want you to look at the middle of verse 14. Do you notice the phrase “let the reader understand”. In virtually every translation, that phrase is separated in some way from the rest of the verse. In some with parenthesis, in others by brackets or lines and some of the red letter editions have this phrase in black, not red. This is the case in both Mark and Matthew. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Mark and Matthew added the phrase, not as a quote of what Jesus said during the Olivet Discourse, but to let the later reader know, that what Jesus was saying here was for those in the future as well. And this certainly includes you and me here this morning.
As we move into verse 15 of Mark 13, Jesus then gives the Jews of His day a vivid picture of how serious this was. He begins by saying; “let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out”. Many homes in Israel at that time, used their rooftops almost as a lounge of sorts, and most had external stairs or ladders. Jesus is saying, that when these tragic events take place, they were to exit the rooftop in such a rush that they do not go into the house to retrieve any possessions. In verse 16 He adds, “and let the one in the field not turn back to take his cloak.” The picture here is of someone working in the fields. Often times after a cold night, the farm workers would wear a cloak to the field. As he began to get warmer, he would place the cloak somewhere on the edge of the field. Again, when these events take place, Jesus says, leave the cloak behind and run for your life. He adds even more in verses 17 & 18.
In combining verses 14-18, something interesting emerges.
Next Slide
Jesus Give the Believer A Pass on the Great Commission.
But before we get to thinking, “Hey, life’s pretty tough for me right now, does that mean I’ve got an out?” Verse 19 answers that question with a resounding “NO!”. And please note, in my notes here, No is in bold print, underlined and a different color. Look at verse 19, what do we read? “For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of creation that God has created until now, and never will be.” In other words, things have to be pretty bad before we have an out, on the proclamation of God’s Good News. And to give you a somewhat vivid picture, if you look at what took place at the hands of the Roman’s from 67-70 AD, 97,000 people were taken captive, and 1.1 million died, either by starvation, or at the hands of the Romans, or even at the hands of other frightened Jews. Fast forward to the time of The Holocaust, somewhere between 6-11 million were killed.
So, in the words of Jesus in Mark 13:19, when things get worse than what we see in the pages of history, then we have an out, but until then, we have a job to do. We will talk more about that later. Next Slide
Tribulation to Great Tribulation.
As we finish up this morning, you may recall as we began looking at the Olivet Discourse a couple of weeks ago, I let you know that there are many varied views about the specifics of what Jesus is foretelling in this passage, even more specific regarding what and when these things will take place. I think the Scottish theologian, Sinclair Ferguson, put it well when he said; “A confession of ignorance about the precise significance of some of these statements is nothing of which to be ashamed.” And then he goes on to say, “Adding a dogmatic assurance to one’s interpretation of a passage of Scripture is no guarantee that the interpretation is correct.” As a result, our personal beliefs on the prophetic words of this chapter is not something we can live or die on. But let me share with you my views, all the while making sure you realize, I am in no way dogmatic about how and when these things unfold.
Using my earlier analogy of hiking to mountain peaks, I already mentioned that at this point in history, I believe we have already hiked to 3 separate mountain peaks, only to find, as we crested a peak, there was another peak just over the horizon. In my eyes, all of those earlier peaks were a shadow of what is to come, and each time it gets worse, and to use the analogy Jesus uses at the end of verse 8 of birth pains, they not only increase with intensity, but also frequency.
I believe that as we move from the smaller mountain peaks, those that were just a shadow of what is to come, and move to the final mountain peak in the future, we move forward from the days of Jesus to as many as 2,000 years or more into the future. Based on my understanding of end times prophecies, the church, and by the church I mean all those who have truly placed their faith and trust in Jesus as the Savior and LORD, the church will be raptured before we reach this final mountain peak. This will usher in The Tribulation. The Tribulation is a period that last 7 years and during that time the Antichrist steps onto the world stage. He quickly forms a 7 year treaty with the Nation of Israel. At some point in time, the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt. That leads us to what we read in verse 14. Directly in the middle of that 7 year Tribulation, the Antichrist breaks the treaty, sets up an altar to himself in the temple, forbids the daily sacrifice, and seeks to force everyone to worship him as god. That begins what is called The Great Tribulation, which lasts the remaining 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation. To get an idea what takes place during this time, and how incredibly hard this time was, like no other time in history, read from Revelation 5 through Revelation 19.
It is so bad, that Jesus adds what we read in Mark 13:20, which is: Next Slide
Jesus Shortens the Days.
We read in verse 20; “And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.” Reading in Revelation, from 5-19 gives a pretty vivid picture of what Jesus is talking about here. It also gives you a picture of what Jesus was referring to in verse 8, when He talks about birth pains, because reading those chapters, you see both the increased frequency as well as the increased pain that is unfolding those last 3 1/2 years called the Great Tribulation.
Moving to verse 21 and 22, Jesus tells of many false christs and false prophets that will arise at that time. He also points out that they will have the ability to perform the miraculous. Satan and his minions have had the ability to perform the miraculous many times throughout history. We saw that when Moses faced the Pharaohs magicians in the Book of Exodus, but if the life and words of those doing the miraculous, doesn’t match up perfectly with what we see in the Word of God, we know they are of the devil. But during the Great Tribulation, their miraculous powers will lead many astray. At the end of verse 22 Jesus adds, “to lead astray, if possible, the elect.” The truth is, those truly elect cannot be led astray. Probably what takes place here is that as the believer sees these impostors doing the miraculous, they look at their life and their teaching and see that it does not match up to clear teaching from the Word of God and therefore realize they are not from God. Again let me remind you of what we have discussed the past 2 weeks, the very best way to recognize the counterfeit, is to pour over the pages of Scripture and get to know the real thing.
From here, Jesus moves to: Next Slide
Jesus Second Coming.
One of the reasons I hold to those smaller mountain peaks we have already looked at as pointing to a future undeniable mountain peak, is what we read in verse 19 about the “tribulation as has not been from the beginning of creation” as well as what we read here in verse 24-27. Those in AD 67 would have stated that it had never been worse, but those at the time of the Holocaust would beg to differ, but neither of those cataclysmic events were ever accompanied by what we read in these verses. “the sun darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars following from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken”. This has to a a future event. Which, I believe, takes place at the very end of the Great Tribulation at Jesus second coming.
In verses 28-31 Jesus gives the analogy of the fig tree, noting that when the leaves appear, you know it is almost summer. For the second coming of Jesus, when you see all the signs Jesus mentions in verses 14-23, you know Jesus Second Coming is quickly approaching. But He goes on the make it very clear that we need not waste any time trying to set a date for His return, because, according to verse 32, He Himself-at least at the time he was in human form on earth, doesn’t know.
3 Action Points
I want to close with 3 Action points for us this morning. The first 2 have been laid out repeatedly in chapter 13, one in verse 23, the other in verses 33-37.
In verse 23 Jesus tells us that He is delivering His message so we will:
Be on Guard.
The more we know, the more we will not be fooled by the devils many deceptions.
Then, in verses 33-37 Jesus tells us to:
Keep Awake/Stay Alert
Since we have no idea when His return will take place, we must be attentive to what is taking place, so that when He does return, we will be ready.
Our last action point is, perhaps, the most crucial.
We have a job to do.
If I am correct that Jesus raptures believers before the Tribulation, then until that takes place, we are obligated to share the Good News of what Jesus did on the Cross, that people might have chance to respond before they either die, or the rapture takes place. The only believers that have an out from this, is those during the Great Tribulation, which, by the way, countless will come to Christ during the Tribulation, but that is a topic for another day.
Let’s close in prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank You so much for the truth and the power of Your Word. Father, I pray that as we look at passages like Mark 13, where You did not make things crystal clear to us, that our emphasis would not be on the things that are not clear, but on those things that are clear. And for us this morning, the things that are clear, is that we are living in the end times, and that Your return could take place at any moment. I pray that we would be on guard, that we would be alert, and that we would take seriously the job You have given us to do, in proclaiming Your Good News to the Lost. We pray these things in the Matchless Name of Jesus, Amen.