Verses 16-22

Matt 24:16-22
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (KJV)

Here Jesus instructed Christians living in Judea to flee the area when the "abomination of desolation" takes place. This is when the persecution will become most severe. As Revelation 13 says, all who refuse to worship the "Beast" will have a death sentence. When the Antichrist enters the Temple, in the middle of the 70th week, claiming to be God, and demanding worship, it is time to head to the hills.

Jesus' instructions concerns specifically those living in Judea, because this will be the center of persecution. However, since Revelation indicates that this persecution will be world-wide, we may have to leave the cities as well, finding refuge in "the mountains." No doubt, some places will be much worse than others, so we should seek God for wisdom regarding any evacuation plans. In any case, at this point in time, it will be decision time for many believers. Those with their roots in the materialism of this world will find it difficult to leave their homes, their "stuff," and their family members who refuse to go.

In Jesus' two discourses on this day, the Temple Discourse, and the Olivet Discourse, he twice instructed His followers to pray for something specific.

Matt 24:20
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
(KJV)

Luke 21:36
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
(KJV)

Why would He instruct them to pray that they would not need to flee in winter, or on the Sabbath? Regarding winter, the reason one would not want to flee to the mountains is because it would be very cold. It is bad enough to have to suddenly flee with basically just the shirt on your back. But, to go to the mountains without adequate shelter and provisions, during winter, when there is no food or shelter, will be extraordinarily difficult. Likewise, fleeing on the Sabbath from Jerusalem and Judea will be very difficult. Jerusalem comes to a standstill on the Sabbath. Borders are closed to some traffic, and retail stores are closed. Getting food and fuel would be very difficult, and a large number of people evacuating past check points will be next to impossible. So, praying for ease of evacuation seems quite practical for those living in the greater Jerusalem area. Of course, we can make this applicable to our situations, too, depending on where we live. We need to be thinking and praying about our own evacuation plans.

Also, Jesus instructed them to pray that they would be accounted worthy to escape all these things. In the context of Luke, where Jesus was instructing the disciples on the Temple Mount, it is clear that "all these things" from which they were command to pray for escape, included both the tribulation AND the destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in AD 66-70. Luke 21:12-24 describes the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, with similar commands to flee when the Roman army surrounded the city. According to Church history, the Christians living in Jerusalem in AD 66-70 heeded Jesus' warnings to flee, and they were spared. But, the Jews, who did not believe Jesus, stayed behind, and were starved, slaughtered, and carried off as slaves by the Romans. But, the same discourse goes on to describe the things that will come on the earth in the tribulation just before Christ comes, in verses 25 and following. So, when Jesus said to "pray that you would be counted worthy to escape all these things," He included their escape from both the destruction of Jerusalem, and the events of the tribulation. For us living in the last days, the Christians' escape from Jerusalem in AD 66-70 shows how we might escape the events of the tribulation. And, it was not by a "rapture," but by fleeing to safe areas. We need to be praying about our escape from the intense hardship that will immediately follow the "abomination of desolation."

Matt 24:21-22
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
(KJV)

Here, Jesus made a direct reference to the book of Daniel for a second time. Earlier, in verse 15, He mentioned Daniel's prophecy of the 70th week, with the "abomination of desolation" in the mid-point. Here, Jesus was referring to the following passage.

Dan 12:1
1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
(KJV)

Next, Jesus speaks of just how bad it is going to get. He said that unless the days had been shortened, no flesh would survive. That is pretty bad.

The shortening of the days of "great tribulation" has caused some confusion. In fact, the pre- wrath view relies heavily on this verse, claiming that the "great tribulation" that Jesus spoke of will be less than the 3 1/2 years of Daniel's prophecy. But, in my opinion, Jesus is not saying that this period will be shortened beyond the period of time predicted in Daniel. He is simply saying that the great tribulation will be so bad, that if it was allowed to go on beyond 3 1/2 years, nobody could survive. Therefore, it has been limited to 3 1/2 years.

One thing that is interesting about this verse, is that in Mark's parallel account of it, Jesus used the past tense, rather than the future tense, as in Matthew.

Mark 13:20
20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.
(KJV)

So, according to Matthew, God will shorten the days, but according to Mark, He has shortened the days. This implies to me that the 1260 days are already the "shortened" days. The reason Matthew uses the future tense, is because the tribulation has not arrived yet, but the "shortening" seems to already be figured into the numbers of days given in Daniel and Revelation, in my opinion.

Now, we come to a very important point. Who are the "elect" that Jesus refers to in this verse? No doubt, they are the same "elect" in verse 31, who will be gathered at the sound of the trumpet. The New Testament uses this term much more frequently than the Old Testament. And, in virtually every case, it refers to Christians. The only exceptions are one case where it refers to Jesus, and another to angels. Every other time it refers to Christians. In this context, it is quite apparent that it refers to the disciples, because Jesus repeatedly used the personal pronouns "you," "ye," and "yourselves" in this discourse, placing His followers [to whom He was speaking] in the tribulation scenes. So, in order to be grammatically correct, Jesus' followers, who were seen apart from unbelieving Israel, must experience the tribulation. Secondly, as we saw in the first article on Matt. 24, Jesus had just turned his back on the people of Israel. He spoke of the disciples replacing the Jewish leaders as the shepherds of God's people of faith. It was the disciples who assumed the role of Elders of the Church. They are the ones who Jesus commanded to take this very message to the Gentiles, [Matt. 28:19,20].

Go to: Matt. 24:23-28
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