Hey everybody! Thank you for joining me in daily Bible reading as we seek to glorify Jesus, know Him more, and interpret the truth of His Word.
If this is your first time going through the Bible, I am incredibly excited to have you here. If this is your 5000th time, I am humbled that you are here and hope you grow in your relationship with Jesus along with me. May we all seek to know Him more and apply what we learn to further our mission of spreading the gospel. If you missed a day and want to catch up, visit the archives page HERE! But there is no shame if you start today! Day 281, Matthew 24:20b — The End Times: Perilous Times Matthew 24:20b (NASB1995) “or on a Sabbath.” Context Matthew 24 contains Jesus’ detailed discourse about the end times and His second coming, answering the disciples’ questions about when the end will come and what sign to look for regarding the end and His coming. Many confuse the events mentioned in vs. 3-13, thinking these are signs of the end. In reality, these events are not signs but merely birthing pangs (v. 8). However, the end has now come with the sign of the abomination of desolation. Review Yesterday, we continued Jesus’ end times discourse and read His laments for women who are pregnant, nursing, or with small children during the time of tribulation. As mentioned in vs. 17-18, the need to abandon everything in a moment poses impossible hardship for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Also, escaping a city’s coming doom by crossing a river and climbing up a mountain into caves is difficult enough on its own. Thus, Jesus shares a deep sympathy for the women who will face such difficulty. Jesus also tells His disciples to pray that their flight is not during the winter. Those fleeing during the winter will face intense challenges, as winter provides restricted traveling conditions. In winter, roads in Palestine were practically impassable with mud, and many rivers would flood. These severe winter conditions immobilized even the largest armies and made passing small creeks and rivers nearly impossible. Furthermore, fleeing in the winter without one’s cloak (v. 18) would leave one to suffer the bitter cold without added protection. Thus, many would either freeze to death or starve because of food scarcity. Discussion Today, we continue Jesus’ end times discourse and His warnings to flee at the sign of the abomination of desolation. Along with Jesus telling His disciples to pray their flight is not in the winter (v. 20a), He tells them to pray that it is not “20b on a Sabbath.” But what does Jesus mean by praying one’s flight is not on the Sabbath? Jewish Sabbath law stated that a person must not travel over two thousand cubits—1,050 yards—during the day.[1] It also prohibited riding horses, mules, and other means of transportation, making fleeing that much more difficult and restricting a person to walk within the limited distance.[2] With this knowledge, one’s first thought might be to assume Jesus is implying the Sabbath must be kept. However, this was a man-made restriction based on the distance of the measurements of a city to its walls (Num. 35:5). That passage in Numbers says that there should be a two thousand cubit distance in every direction of pasture lands for the Levitical cities. But God never commanded a travel restriction based on this. Some early Jewish Christians obeyed this law, though, which prohibited them from traveling on the Sabbath and would have prohibited their flight in this tribulation-related scenario.[3] Notably, many Jews faced this very reality when they had to decide to honor this prohibitive law or flee during Antiochus’ terror in 167 B.C.[4] During this time, many ignored the view that said it was better to allow oneself to be killed than to flee on the sabbath by understanding the practical life-saving demands of an emergency.[5] Sadly, even though it was permissible to violate the Sabbath to save one’s life, those who failed to acknowledge the urgency of the situation would not cooperate and faced death.[6] However, Jesus is not implying that His disciples should pray for their flight to not be on the Sabbath because they have travel restrictions but because of other reasons. These reasons include a variety of traditions that most devoted Jews honored. Notably, Jesus understood many early Christian Jews would remain reluctant to do away with every Sabbath tradition.[7] Some traditions that would hinder one’s flight were how those fleeing would find towns inaccessible because most closed their gates on the Sabbath.[8] Additionally, even if some towns kept their gates open, most Jews closed their businesses on the Sabbath—a tradition that many businesses still do today (e.g. Chick-fil-A). This would leave those fleeing with no way to purchase food or supplies along with remaining barred out of various towns.[9] Because of these traditional practices, provisions would remain unobtainable and make one’s flight extremely difficult. Thus, Jesus means for His disciples to pray for their flight to not be on the Sabbath because—since Christians will need to run for their lives—they need nothing to hinder their flight.[10] We will continue Jesus’ end times discourse tomorrow. Application This statement confused me for some time after first reading it. Why would Jesus mention the Sabbath here? This is yet another reason why it is important to study the context of Scripture to better understand the truth. When read in its historical context we find that Jesus deeply understood the potential hazards and hindrances that would keep His people from avoiding the coming atrocities. Thus, Jesus’ statement about the Sabbath has nothing to do with honoring the Sabbath as a mandatory law—a truth that Paul reiterates in Romans 14—but reminding His followers to pray that the day of their flight does not come with additional stumbling blocks. This is a prayer that we should all pray daily. Although, not just regarding enduring the apocalyptic tribulation but for our everyday lives. We will face many stumbling blocks and hindrances to our faith throughout our lives. However, we are not alone in these trials and tribulations because Christ has given us His Spirit and revealed Word to help us endure and overcome all things. While we may or may not face the great tribulation, we all face varying trials every day that seek to keep us from having a peaceful life in Christ. But we cannot allow ourselves to be overcome by these trials. We also cannot ignore the truth that these trials will come. We must remain diligent and ready to face whatever life throws at us and stay faithful to Christ and endure to the end. May we praise, worship, honor, and glorify Jesus every day in all that we do while continually pursuing righteousness, holiness, and forgiveness as He forgave us. Looking Ahead Thank you for joining today’s daily Bible reading! Next, we read Matthew 24:21. I hope you join me! I have made commenting available, so please feel free to discuss the reading and ask questions. If you do not want to discuss publicly, you can reach out to me privately. We are on this journey together. References [1] Philip Comfort and David R. Veerman, “Life Application Bible Commentary New Testament.” [2] Craig Keener, “IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition.” [3] Doug O’Donnell, “New International Greek Testament Commentary.” [4] Ibid. [5] Ibid. [6] Keener, “IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition.” [7] Knox Chamblin, “Mentor Commentary.” [8] Ibid. [9] Ibid. [10] Comfort and Veerman, “Life Application Bible Commentary New Testament.”
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