Matthew 24:15–35

The time when enemies will destroy Jerusalem city

Jesus warned about the time when enemies will destroy Jerusalem city. He gave practical advice to the people who would see it happen. He encouraged people who would live in the times after that event. He wanted them to take the Good News to everyone in the world.

For a Jew, one prophecy just did not seem possible. It was that an enemy would destroy Jerusalem. Surely, that could not happen. Jerusalem was their capital city. God was there. Yet this is exactly what Jesus said would happen.

Jesus did not give many prophecies while he was on earth. But he did give prophecies about two events. First, there was his death. Second, there was the time when he would come back to life. This chapter contains almost all of the rest of the prophecies. But the things that he said about Jerusalem were wonderful. And history proved that his words were correct. Some people have even said that his words were too exact. So, these people have an idea. They think that Matthew must have written his book after the events happened!

Jesus said when these events would happen. Some of the people who were listening to him would still be alive (Matthew 24:34). He was speaking in about AD 30. In AD 70, the Romans completely destroyed Jerusalem. Most of what Jesus said in Matthew 24:15–26 is history. It is in official records. Nobody could tell about the future like this man! Jesus was not just a prophet. He is called the Word in John 1:1–18. ‘The Word was God.’ Enemies did destroy Jerusalem. That showed that Jesus was right. He was, and he still is, the great King. People of all nations belong to his kingdom. (Read Matthew 24:29–31.)

Jesus repeated several OT verses in this passage. He repeated:

• Isaiah 13:10 and 34:4 in Matthew 24:29
• Daniel 7:13–14 in verse Matthew 24:30a
• Zechariah 12:10–14 in verse Matthew 24:30b. And, in Matthew 24:31, he used
• Isaiah 27:13; Deuteronomy 30:4 and Zechariah 2:6. (This is clear in the Greek translation of the OT.)

These verses help us to understand Jesus’ words.

Questions

• Many terrible things have happened to the Jews. But they still exist. Does God still have a purpose for the Jews today?
• Jerusalem city has been very important in world history. Why do you think that this is true?
• What things from this passage could encourage the members of your church? How safe can we expect to be in wars? How safe can we expect to be when there are earthquakes? (This is when the earth shakes.) Can we expect God to keep us physically safe?

More explanation

Josephus, a writer of history, tells about the time when enemies destroyed Jerusalem city.

The Romans ruled the Jews in Jesus’ time. (Note: The Romans were the people from Rome. This was a great capital city.) The Roman Empire included the many countries that they ruled. In AD 66 the Jews decided to refuse their rule. Then a Roman General, Titus, attacked Jerusalem. He destroyed the Jews’ capital city in AD 70.

Josephus lived from AD 37 to AD 100. One of his history books was called ‘the Jewish War’. This book shows how accurate Jesus’ words were. (Note: Famine means that there is no food. This is often because of a lack of rain. But on this occasion, it was because of the Romans. They would not allow any food to go into the city.)

Josephus wrote:

Then the famine got much worse. It destroyed all the people who were in houses. And it destroyed whole families. The upstairs rooms were full of women and children who were dying. The narrow roads of the city had many dead bodies of old people. Children and young men wandered about. They looked like shadows. They fell down dead.

It was not possible to bury them. The people who were ill could not do it. The people who were well enough did not do it. There were two reasons for this. First, the number of bodies was so great. Also, the healthy people did not know how soon they would die themselves. Many people died as they were burying other people. Many of them went to their coffins (boxes to hold bodies) before they actually died. Nobody cried. The famine stopped any natural feelings. Those who were about to die looked at the dead people with dry eyes and open mouths. There was a deep silence too. It seemed like night in the city. As every one of them died, they were looking at the Temple.

Josephus also told the story of a woman. She killed and cooked her baby. He said that the Romans were going to take things from the houses. But they found entire families of dead people. The upstairs rooms were full of dead bodies. These strong men had seen many ugly sights before. But they looked at this terrible sight. Then they left. And they did not touch anything.

The Romans made 97 000 Jews prisoners. But more than 110 000 Jews died at that time.