In the previous section, the Lord Jesus pronounced to His disciples the coming desolation of Jerusalem and its temple. This prompted several questions relating to when these things would come to pass. The following verses introduce Jesus’ explanation on what they can expect and also, what they shouldn’t expect in relation to this.
THE WARNINGS (Matthew 24:4-8)
And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
It’s important to note that, from the beginning of this response to their inquiry, the Lord addresses them as “you” (2nd person plural) and not “you” (3rd person plural). This wasn’t some vague group of people that no one could identify. He explicitly focuses His discourse upon them personally and in return, there is no warrant to push the fulfillment of these passages into the future. First, they are warned not to allow others to deceive them and that they stay focused upon what He was about to share. His exhortation is driven by a warning to not be mislead by people and signs. Interestingly, while the following texts are meant to inform the disciples on how not to be misled, and what signs wouldn’t call for the end, in many prophetic writings and presentations today, these are the signs that these authors and speakers are looking for. Regular world events such as earthquakes, plagues, wars and famines are pointed out by these prophetic experts as the signs of His coming and this causes many today to make speculations that those signs indicate that the end of history is very close.
The first warning is to beware of those who would come “in my name” proclaiming to be the Christ. These were false Christs who would desire to lead many astray. N.T. France points out that: “He would be coming “in Jesus’ name” not because he is impersonating Jesus but because he is claiming the role and title which properly belong to Jesus.[1] Some would publicly claim an authority belonging to the Messiah and in return deceive many. In a time when the Jewish people were occupied by the Romans, they were looking for their Messiah who would conquer the invaders and reign much like in the days of King David. There was a real “Messianic emotionalism” in the air to finally see Israel victorious over its enemies through the leadership of the promised anointed one. It would have been easy for a believer in 1st century Israel to be deceived by the Messianic fever. Prior to the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies, tensions had become high, and many were declaring themselves as the coming saviour of Israel. These false Messiahs were in the same category as false prophets and with the winds of war blowing, frantic people were looking everywhere for a man to bring them hope. Many were presenting themselves in this way just prior to the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.[2]. We will evaluate this further when we examine vs.23-24.
Prior to moving on, we need to provide a little more context pertaining to the idea of wars and rumours of wars. The PAX ROMANA (Roman Peace) was a period of freedom from the strife beginning in the reign of Augustus (27 B.C. – 14 A.D.) and ending with the rule of Marcus roughly around 161 A.D. This was a period of relative peace throughout the Roman Empire. A prominent historical website gives us a good overview of the PAX ROMANA:
This 200-year period saw unprecedented peace and economic prosperity throughout the Empire, which spanned from England in the north to Morocco in the south and Iraq in the east. During the Pax Romana, the Roman Empire reached its peak in terms of land area, and its population swelled to an estimated 70 million people. Nevertheless, Rome’s citizens were relatively secure, and the government generally maintained law, order, and stability. The Pax Romana began when Octavian became the leader of the Roman Empire.[3]
With that said, the coming of Nero certainly disrupted that peace for a time just prior to the siege of Jerusalem. Kenneth Gentry writes:
Nero (lived: AD 37-68; ruled AD 54-68) is the emperor who formally engaged the Jewish War that results in the destruction of the temple stone by stone. In his Olivet Discourse, the Lord is giving signs for the temple’s destruction (Matt 24:2-3). These signs really begin to erupt in a world-shaking manner when Nero dies in the midst of the Jewish War (June AD 68). At Nero’s death, the Pax Romana is severely breached. At that time the Roman Civil Wars erupted, including the turbulent “Year of Four Emperors” (June AD 68- June AD 69). In fact, the turmoil of this period is so severe that it almost leads to the collapse of the Roman Empire[4].
The point in stating all this is that the Lord Jesus spoke these words during the time of the PAX ROMANA. It was a bold statement when uttered since there were no real wars looming in those days. The Zealot’s revolt only began in 66 A.D. This uprising could easily have been seen as a war to end all wars for these Galileans. As we’ll see, large roman legions were brought in to suppress the revolts and this brought trouble for the masses in Israel. The Lord exhorts them that in seeing these things, that they should not fear that the end has arrived. These wars and rumours of wars would be present in their generation[5] but the “end” (telos) would not come until the gospel would be preached in the whole world (v.14). The Lord furthers the description of the war and rumour of wars in the expression nation rising up against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Political unrest between rivalries should also not alarm them.
The Lord advances His exhortation by explaining that even earthquakes and famines shouldn’t sway their focus. We know that there were many great earthquakes in the next few years including in Asia Minor (A.D. 61), Italy (A.D. 62) and even in Jerusalem (A.D. 67). Once again, Kenneth Gentry writes:
Tacitus mentions earthquakes in Crete, Rome, Apamea, Phrygia, Campania, Laodicea (of Revelation fame) and Pompeii during the time just before Jerusalem’s destruction. Severe earthquakes plague the reigns of the Emperors Caligula (AD37-41) and Claudius (AD 41-54). According to Seneca (ca. 4 BC -AD 65), others occur in Asia, Achaia, Syria, and Macedonia[6].
It should also be noted that the book of Acts records two more local earthquakes (Acts 16:26) and let’s not forget the great earthquake in Jerusalem in Matthew 27:51 at the crucifixion of the Lord. The commonality of earthquakes during that season at least can explain why the Lord exhort them not to fall into the trap of being deceived.
These disciples would also experience severe famines in their lifetime. We note that Luke records a great famine all over the world during the reign of Claudius (Acts 11:28) and Josephus records this during the rule of Claudius also:
Nay, further, a little before the beginning of this war, when Claudius was emperor of the Romans, and Ismael was our high priest, and when so great a famine was come upon us, that onetenth deal [of wheat] was sold for four drachmae, (Antiquities 3.320)[7]
These presages would not spell the end itself but would be like birth pangs pointing to the coming of the end and in return the coming of a new birth. The Old Testament refers to birth pangs as suffering of a city or a nation (Isaiah 13:8; Jeremiah 6:24; 22:23; Micah 4:9-10. In John’s gospel, the Lord Jesus utilizes the example of a woman’s labour to express the sorrow they would feel in His death and the joy they’d experience in His resurrection. Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. (John 16:21-22). A New Covenant, New Jerusalem and a New Temple would be ushered in shortly after these words were uttered and the Old would fade away (Hebrews 8:13).
THE DISCIPLES’ SUFFERING & BETRAYAL (Matthew 24:9-10)
Let’s now move to Matthew 24:9-10:
“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
The term “then” seems to guide us through a loose chronological order to link the wars, famines and earthquakes with the persecution of the disciples[8]. The Lord uses the third person pronoun “You” this time to communicate a more general group. This doesn’t mean that they are a group some 2000 years in the future but probably the disciples to whom He’s speaking with and others. These and other disciples will be “delivered”, which echoes the outcomes of the life of John the Baptist, Jesus, and many of His followers. This would include suffering and death which the Lord previously warned they would encounter if they were willing to follow Him. Matthew is thinking further ahead than Mark and Luke who seem to focus this section more upon the persecution in Jerusalem at the hands of the Jewish leaders, roman governors, and Herod (Mark 13:9). The apostles experienced persecution at the hands of their fellow countrymen on many occasions[9]. He could be looking to the missionary work of the apostle Paul to the inhabited roman world (Gentile Nations) just a few short years later. One can see this persecution at its height just prior to the destruction of the city at the hands of Nero, who persecuted the Christians from November AD 64 – June AD 68 in some of the most barbaric ways. The main emphasis however is that all this suffering will be “because of My name”. The name of Jesus Christ would invoke such a hatred from sinners that it would lead to the persecution and martyrdom of His followers. The gospel goes out into a hostile world and the world doesn’t want it nor do they want Jesus as their king[10].
While it could be expected that those opposed to the message of the Kingdom of the Messiah would oppress them, the true test would come from those within. During the time of this persecution, many who professed Christ and a brotherhood with believers would fall away and betray them (hand them over). This was not merely an abandonment of the faith but a literal betrayal where trusted believers would deceive them in the same way as Judas betrayed Jesus in the garden.
[1] France P. 902
[2] Gentry lists a total of 16 potential candidates prior to AD 70 – See The Oliver Discourse Made Easy P. 67-68
[3] https://www.ushistory.org/civ/6c.asp
[4] The Olivet Discourse Made Easy, Kenneth Gentry, Victorious Hope Publishing, 2010, Pages 71-72
[5] An argument has been made that “end” in v.6 refers to the “end of the age” in v.3 however two different words are used for end: συντέλεια (v.3) and τέλος (v.6)
[6] The Olivet Discourse Made Easy, Kenneth Gentry, Victorious Hope Publishing, 2010, Pages 75
[7] Also see 20.51-53;101.
[8] The parallels in Mark 13:9-13 & Luke 21:12-19 seem to have been spoken during the discourse and Matthew adds these sayings that were left out. Strangely, Matthew inserts them into Matthew 10:17-22.
[9] There are many references to the persecution of Christians in the book of Acts (i.e. 4:3, 5:18-33 ect), in Paul’s epistles (2 Corinthians 11:24; 2 Thess 2:14-15, Hebrews 10:32-34) and in the Book of Revelation (2:9; 3:9)
[10] While we believe that these texts were fulfilled in the lifetime of the disciples, we do not exclude the fact that Christians have suffered persecution in history and continue even today to be faithful to their Lord in times of oppression.
The Moncton Herald 