6 And news will come to you of wars and talk of wars: do not be troubled, for these things have to be; but it is still not the end.
And when news of wars and troubled times comes to your ears, have no fear; for these things have to be, but the end will not be now.
And when you have news of wars and talk of wars, do not be troubled; these things have to be, but it is still not the end. Nation will go to war with nation, and kingdom with kingdom: there will be earth-shocks in different places; there will be times when there is no food; these things are the first of the troubles.
Do not say, It is holy, about everything of which this people says, It is holy; and do not be in fear of what they go in fear of. But let the Lord of armies be holy to you, and go in fear of him, giving honour to him. And he will be for a holy place: but for a stone of falling and a rock of trouble to the two houses of Israel, and to the men of Jerusalem, for a net in which they may be taken.
<To the chief music-maker. Of the sons of Korah; put to Alamoth. A Song.> God is our harbour and our strength, a very present help in trouble. For this cause we will have no fear, even though the earth is changed, and though the mountains are moved in the heart of the sea; Though its waters are sounding and troubled, and though the mountains are shaking with their violent motion. (Selah.)
But you are happy if you undergo pain because of righteousness; have no part in their fear and do not be troubled; But give honour to Christ in your hearts as your Lord; and be ready at any time when you are questioned about the hope which is in you, to give an answer in the fear of the Lord and without pride;
May peace be with you; my peace I give to you: I give it not as the world gives. Let not your heart be troubled; let it be without fear.
Let not your heart be troubled: have faith in God and have faith in me.
By going through all these things, you will keep your lives.
And this good news of the kingdom will be given through all the world for a witness to all nations; and then the end will come.
Son of man, say as a prophet, These are the words of the Lord: Say, A sword, a sword which has been made sharp and polished: It has been made sharp to give death; it is polished so that it may be like a thunder-flame: ... And I have given it to the polisher so that it may be taken in the hand: he has made the sword sharp, he has had it polished, to put it into the hand of him who gives death. Give loud cries and make sounds of grief, O son of man: for it has come on my people, it has come on all the rulers of Israel: fear of the sword has come on my people: for this cause give signs of grief. ... So then, son of man, be a prophet, and put your hands together with a loud sound, and give two blows with the sword, and even three; it is the sword of those who are wounded, even the sword of the wounded; the great sword which goes round about them. In order that hearts may become soft, and the number of those who are falling may be increased, I have sent death by the sword against all their doors: you are made like a flame, you are polished for death.
Or if I send a sword against that land, and say, Sword, go through the land, cutting off from it man and beast: Even if these three men were in it, by my life, says the Lord, they would not keep safe their sons or daughters, but only themselves. Or if I send disease into that land, letting loose my wrath on it in blood, cutting off from it man and beast: Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, by my life, says the Lord, they would not keep son or daughter safe; only themselves would they keep safe through their righteousness. For this is what the Lord has said: How much more when I send my four bitter punishments on Jerusalem, the sword and need of food and evil beasts and disease, cutting off from it man and beast?
For this reason I will send the worst of the nations and they will take their houses for themselves: I will make the pride of their strength come to an end; and their holy places will be made unclean. Shaking fear is coming; and they will be looking for peace, and there will be no peace. Destruction will come on destruction, and one story after another; and the vision of the prophet will be shamed, and knowledge of the law will come to an end among the priests, and wisdom among the old.
<Of David.> The Lord is my light and my salvation; who is then a cause of fear to me? the Lord is the strength of my life; who is a danger to me? When evil-doers, even my haters, came on me to put an end to me, they were broken and put to shame. Even if an army came against me with its tents, my heart would have no fear: if war was made on me, my faith would not be moved.
Saying, Have no fear, Paul, for you will come before Caesar, and God has given to you all those who are sailing with you. And so, O men, be of good heart, for I have faith in God that it will be as he said to me. But we will be sent on to a certain island.
Hearing it, my inner parts were moved, and my lips were shaking at the sound; my bones became feeble, and my steps were uncertain under me: I gave sounds of grief in the day of trouble, when his forces came up against the people in bands. For though the fig-tree has no flowers, and there is no fruit on the vine, and work on the olive comes to nothing, and the fields give no food; and the flock is cut off from its resting-place, and there is no herd in the cattle-house: Still, I will be glad in the Lord, my joy will be in the God of my salvation.
And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede I was on his side to make his position safe and make him strong. And now I will make clear to you what is true. There are still three kings to come in Persia, and the fourth will have much greater wealth than all of them: and when he has become strong through his wealth, he will put his forces in motion against all the kingdoms of Greece. And a strong king will come to power, ruling with great authority and doing whatever is his pleasure. And when he has become strong, his kingdom will be broken and parted to the four winds of heaven; but not to his offspring, for it will be uprooted; and his kingdom will be for the others and not for these: but not with the same authority as his. And the king of the south will be strong, but one of his captains will be stronger than he and will be ruler; and his rule will be a great rule. And at the end of years they will be joined together; and the daughter of the king of the south will come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she will not keep the strength of her arm; and his offspring will not keep their place; but she will be uprooted, with those who were the cause of her coming, and her son, and he who took her in those times. But out of a branch from her roots one will come up to take his place, who will come against the army, forcing his way into the strong place of the king of the north, and he will take them in hand and overcome them: And their gods and their metal images and their fair vessels of silver and gold he will take away into the south; and for some years he will keep away from the king of the north. And he will come into the kingdom of the king of the south, but he will go back to his land. And his son will make war, and will get together an army of great forces, and he will make an attack on him, overflowing and going past: and he will again take the war even to his strong place. And the king of the south will be moved with wrath, and will come out and make war on him, on this same king of the north: and he will get together a great army, but the army will be given into his hand. And the army will be taken away, and his heart will be uplifted: he will be the cause of the downfall of tens of thousands, but he will not be strong. And again the king of the north will get together an army greater than the first; and he will make an attack on him at the end of years, with a great army and much wealth. In those times, a number will take up arms against the king of the south: and the children of the violent among your people will be lifting themselves up to make the vision come true; but it will be their downfall. So the king of the north will come, and put up earthworks and take a well-armed town: and the forces of the king of the south will make an attempt to keep their position, even the best of his army, but they will not have strength to do so. And he who comes against him will do his pleasure, and no one will be able to keep his place before him: he will take up his position in the beautiful land and in his hand there will be destruction. And it will be his purpose to come with the strength of all his kingdom, but in place of this he will make an agreement with him; and he will give him the daughter of women to send destruction on it; but this will not take place or come about. After this, his face will be turned to the islands, and he will take a number of them: but a chief, by his destruction, will put an end to the shame offered by him; and more than this, he will make his shame come back on him. Then his face will be turned to the strong places of his land: but his way will be stopped, causing his downfall, and he will not be seen again. Then his place will be taken by one who will send out a man with the glory of a king to get wealth together; but after a short time destruction will overtake him, but not in wrath or in the fight. And his place will be taken by a low person, to whom the honour of the kingdom had not been given: but he will come in time of peace and will get the kingdom by fair words. And his forces will be completely taken away from before him and broken; and even the ruler of the agreement will have the same fate. And from the time when they make an agreement with him, he will be working falsely: for he will take up arms suddenly with a small force, Against fertile places, and will make waste a part of the country; and he will do what his fathers have not done, or his fathers' fathers; he will make distribution among them of goods taken in war and by force, and of property: he will even make designs against the strong places for a time. And he will put in motion his power and his strength against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south will go to war with a very great and strong army: but he will be forced to give way, because of their designs against him; And his fears will overcome him and be the cause of his downfall, and his army will come to complete destruction, and a great number will be put to the sword. And as for these two kings, their hearts will be fixed on doing evil and they will say false words at one table; but it will come to nothing: for the end will be at the time fixed. And he will go back to his land with great wealth; and his heart will be against the holy agreement; and he will do his pleasure and go back to his land. At the time fixed he will come back and come into the south; but in the later time it will not be as it was before. For those who go out from the west will come against him, and he will be in fear and will go back, full of wrath against the holy agreement; and he will do his pleasure: and he will go back and be united with those who have given up the holy agreement. And armies sent by him will take up their position and they will make unclean the holy place, even the strong place, and take away the regular burned offering and put in its place an unclean thing causing fear. And those who do evil against the agreement will be turned to sin by his fair words: but the people who have knowledge of their God will be strong and do well. And those who are wise among the people will be the teachers of the mass of the people: but they will come to their downfall by the sword and by the flame, being made prisoners and undergoing loss for a long time. Now at the time of their downfall they will have a little help, but numbers will be joined to them in the town, and in their separate heritages. And some of those who are wise will have wisdom in testing themselves and making themselves clean, till the time of the end: for it is still for the fixed time. And the king will do his pleasure; he will put himself on high, lifting himself over every god, and saying things to be wondered at against the God of gods; and all will be well for him till the wrath is complete; for what has been purposed will be done. He will have no respect for the gods of his fathers or for the god desired by women; he will have no respect for any god: for he will put himself on high over all. But in place of this he will give honour to the god of armed places, and to a god of whom his fathers had no knowledge he will give honour with gold and silver and jewels and things to be desired. And he will make use of the people of a strange god to keep his strongest places; to those whom he takes note of he will give high honour: and he will make them rulers over the mass of the people, and will make division of the land for a price. And at the time of the end, the king of the south will make an attack on him: and the king of the north will come against him like a storm-wind, with war-carriages and horsemen and numbers of ships; and he will go through many lands like overflowing waters. And he will come into the beautiful land, and tens of thousands will be overcome: but these will be kept from falling into his hands: Edom and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon. And his hand will be stretched out on the countries: and the land of the south will not be safe from him. But he will have power over the stores of gold and silver, and over all the valued things of the south: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians will be at his steps. But he will be troubled by news from the east and from the north; and he will go out in great wrath, to send destruction on, and put an end to, great numbers. He will put the tents of his great house between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain: but he will come to his end with no helper.
Seventy weeks have been fixed for your people and your holy town, to let wrongdoing be complete and sin come to its full limit, and for the clearing away of evil-doing and the coming in of eternal righteousness: so that the vision and the word of the prophet may be stamped as true, and to put the holy oil on a most holy place. Have then the certain knowledge that from the going out of the word for the building again of Jerusalem till the coming of a prince, on whom the holy oil has been put, will be seven weeks: in sixty-two weeks its building will be complete, with square and earthwork. And at the end of the times, even after the sixty-two weeks, one on whom the holy oil has been put will be cut off and have no ...; and the town and the holy place will be made waste together with a prince; and the end will come with an overflowing of waters, and even to the end there will be war; the making waste which has been fixed. And a strong order will be sent out against the great number for one week; and so for half of the week the offering and the meal offering will come to an end; and in its place will be an unclean thing causing fear; till the destruction which has been fixed is let loose on him who has made waste.
O sword of the Lord, how long will you have no rest? put yourself back into your cover; be at peace, be quiet.
We were looking for peace, but no good came; and for a time of well-being, but there is only a great fear. The loud breathing of the horses comes to our ears from Dan: at the sound of the outcry of his war-horses, all the land is shaking with fear; for they have come, and have made a meal of the land and everything in it; the town and the people living in it.
The Lord has said, See, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation will be put in motion from the inmost parts of the earth. Bows and spears are in their hands; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice is like the thunder of the sea, and they go on horses; everyone in his place like men going to the fight, against you, O daughter of Zion. The news of it has come to our ears; our hands have become feeble: trouble has come on us and pain, like the pain of a woman in childbirth.
My soul, my soul! I am pained to my inmost heart; my heart is troubled in me; I am not able to be quiet, because the sound of the horn, the note of war, has come to my ears. News is given of destruction on destruction; all the land is made waste: suddenly my tents, straight away my curtains, are made waste. How long will I go on seeing the flag and hearing the sound of the war-horn? For my people are foolish, they have no knowledge of me; they are evil-minded children, without sense, all of them: they are wise in evil-doing, but have no knowledge of doing good.
Come, my people, into your secret places, and let your doors be shut: keep yourself safe for a short time, till his wrath is over. For the Lord is coming out of his place to send punishment on the people of the earth for their evil-doing: the earth will let the blood drained out on her be seen, and will keep her dead covered no longer.
See, God is my salvation; I will have faith in the Lord, without fear: for the Lord Jah is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Matthew 24
Commentary on Matthew 24 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 24
Mt 24:1-51. Christ's Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Warnings Suggested by It to Prepare for His Second Coming. ( = Mr 13:1-37; Lu 21:5-36).
For the exposition, see on Mr 13:1-37.