Scripture

“For as lightning flashes in the east and shines in the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.”

Observation

The day is coming, says Jesus, when the abomination of desolation foretold by the prophet Daniel will stand in the Holy Place of the Temple. Then people must flee without delay from Jerusalem and Judea. There will be great anguish and suffering.

We must not be misled by people claiming that the Messiah is here. When the Son of Man returns it will be as sudden and obvious as lightning in the sky.

Application

There is so much confusion in the Body of Christ about the End Times and the return of the Lord.

In this section, Jesus is warning His followers about some events that would soon happen. Not long after His crucifixion, nationalistic movements emerged in Israel. A revolution around the year 66 removed the Roman occupying forces from Jerusalem and parts of Judea. The impetus for this was the installation of military banners in the Temple, interpreted by many Jewish leaders as the “abomination of desolation” spoken of in Daniel.

The Romans returned in 70 AD and besieged Jerusalem. They were able to recapture the city and destroyed much of it, including the Temple. It was said that they crucified so many people that the forests were totally cleared of trees.

In Jesus’ time, a generation before these events, many people claimed to be the Messiah. Some stayed in the desert. Movements sprang up claiming that the Messiah had come , but was hidden- a spiritual coming that only the enlightened ones could see.

Jesus says that when He returns, you will not miss it. There will be no secret coming, but a return that the whole world will see.

Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I know that you will come back one day. In the meantime, please help me to be faithful and obedient to you. Amen.