6 But ye will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not disturbed; for all [these things] must take place, but it is not yet the end.
And when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end is not immediately.
But when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be not disturbed, for [this] must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be earthquakes in [different] places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these things [are the] beginnings of throes.
Ye shall not say, Conspiracy, of everything of which this people saith, Conspiracy; and fear ye not their fear, and be not in dread. Jehovah of hosts, him shall ye sanctify; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will be for a sanctuary; and for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
{To the chief Musician. Of the sons of Korah. On Alamoth. A song.} God is our refuge and strength, a help in distresses, very readily found. Therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the heart of the seas; Though the waters thereof roar [and] foam, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
But if also ye should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed [are ye]; but be not afraid of their fear, neither be troubled; but sanctify [the] Lord the Christ in your hearts, and [be] always prepared to [give] an answer [to] every one that asks you to give an account of the hope that [is] in you, but with meekness and fear;
I leave peace with you; I give *my* peace to you: not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it fear.
Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe on God, believe also on me.
And these glad tidings of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole habitable earth, for a witness to all the nations, and then shall come the end.
And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus speaketh the Lord Jehovah concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and thou shalt say, A sword, a sword is drawn; for the slaughter is it furbished, that it may consume, that it may glitter:
Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith Jehovah: Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished. It is sharpened for sore slaughter, it is furbished that it may glitter. Shall we then make mirth, [saying,] The sceptre of my son contemneth all wood? And he hath given it to be furbished that it may be handled. The sword, -- it is sharpened, and it is furbished to give it into the hand of the slayer. Cry and howl, son of man; for it shall be against my people, it shall be against all the princes of Israel: they are given up to the sword along with my people: smite therefore upon the thigh. For the trial [is made]; and what if even the contemning sceptre shall be no [more]? saith the Lord Jehovah. And thou, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together; for [the strokes of] the sword shall be doubled the third time: it is the sword of the slain, the sword that hath slain the great one, which encompasseth them privily. In order that the heart may melt, and the stumbling-blocks be multiplied, I have set the threatening sword against all their gates: ah! it is made glittering, it is whetted for the slaughter.
Or [if] I bring the sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it, and these three men should be in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only themselves should be delivered. Or [if] I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast, and Noah, Daniel, and Job should be in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither son nor daughter: they should [but] deliver their own souls by their righteousness. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!
Therefore will I bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses; and I will make the pride of the strong to cease; and their sanctuaries shall be profaned. Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, but there shall be none. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; and they shall seek a vision from a prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders.
{[A Psalm] of David.} Jehovah is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evil-doers, mine adversaries and mine enemies, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. If a host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; if war rise against me, in this will I be confident.
saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted to thee all those that sail with thee. Wherefore be of good courage, men, for I believe God that thus it shall be, as it has been said to me. But we must be cast ashore on a certain island.
I heard, and my belly trembled; My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in my place, That I might rest in the day of distress, When their invader shall come up against the people. For though the fig-tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive-tree shall fail, And the fields shall yield no food; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood to confirm and to strengthen him. And now will I declare unto thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall enrich himself with great riches more than all; and when he hath become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece. And a mighty king shall stand up that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of the heavens; but not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion wherewith he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside these. And the king of the south, who is one of his princes, shall be strong; but [another] shall be stronger than he, and have dominion: his dominion shall be a great dominion. And after the course of years they shall join affinity; and the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make equitable conditions: but she shall not retain the strength of her arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm; and she shall be given up, she and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in [those] times. But out of a shoot from her roots shall one stand up in his place, who shall come to the army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shew himself mighty. He shall also carry captive into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall subsist for more years than the king of the north; and [the same] shall come into the realm of the king of the south, but shall return into his own land. And his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through; and he shall return and carry the war even to his fortress. And the king of the south shall be enraged, and shall come forth and fight with him, with the king of the north, who shall set forth a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given into his hand. And when the multitude shall have been taken away, his heart shall be exalted; and he shall cast down myriads; but he shall not prevail. For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former; and shall certainly come at the end of the times of years with a great army and with much substance. And in those times shall many stand up against the king of the south; and the violent of thy people will exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall. And the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mound, and take the well-fenced city; and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, for there shall be no strength to withstand. And he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the land of beauty, and destruction shall be in his hand. And he shall set his face to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; and he shall practise; and he shall give him the daughter of women, to corrupt her; but she shall not stand, neither shall she be for him. And he shall turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many; but a captain for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease: he shall turn it upon him, without reproach for himself. And he shall turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land; and he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. And in his place shall one stand up who shall cause the exactor to pass through the glory of the kingdom; but in a few days he shall be broken, neither in anger nor in battle. And in his place shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom; but he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. And the overflowing forces shall be overflowed from before him, and shall be broken: yea, also the prince of the covenant. And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully, and he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. In time of peace shall he enter even into the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers: he shall scatter among them prey, and spoil, and substance, and he shall plan his devices against the fortified places, even for a time. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall engage in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall plan devices against him. And they that eat of his delicate food shall break him, and his army shall be dissolved; and many shall fall down slain. And both these kings' hearts [shall meditate] mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper; for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. And he shall return into his land with great substance; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall practise, and return to his own land. At the set time he shall return, and come towards the south; but not as the former time shall be the latter; for ships of Chittim shall come against him; and he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant; and will practise; and he shall return and direct his attention to those that forsake the holy covenant. And forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, the fortress, and shall take away the continual [sacrifice], and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he pervert by flatteries; but the people that know their God shall be strong, and shall act. And they that are wise among the people shall instruct the many; and they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, [many] days. And when they fall, they shall be helped with a little help; but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And [some] of the wise shall fall, to try them, and to purge and to make them white, to the time of the end: for it shall yet be for the time appointed. And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every ùgod, and speak monstrous things against the ùGod of ùgods; and he shall prosper until the indignation be accomplished: for that which is determined shall be done. And he will not regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women; nor regard any +god: for he will magnify himself above all. And in his place will he honour the +god of fortresses; and a +god whom his fathers knew not will he honour with gold and silver, and with precious stones and pleasant things. And he will practise in the strongholds of fortresses with a strange +god: whoso acknowledgeth him will he increase with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over the many, and shall divide the land [to them] for a reward. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and overflow and pass through. And he shall enter into the land of beauty, and many [countries] shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. And he shall stretch forth his hand upon the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape. And he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; and he shall go forth with great fury to exterminate, and utterly to destroy many. And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the mountain of holy beauty; and he shall come to his end, and there shall be none to help him.
Seventy weeks are apportioned out upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to close the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make expiation for iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal the vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies. Know therefore and understand: From the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah, the Prince, are seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. The street and the moat shall be built again, even in troublous times. And after the sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with an overflow, and unto the end, war, -- the desolations determined. And he shall confirm a covenant with the many [for] one week; and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and because of the protection of abominations [there shall be] a desolator, even until that the consumption and what is determined shall be poured out upon the desolate.
Alas! sword of Jehovah, how long wilt thou not be quiet? Withdraw into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
Peace is looked for, and there is no good; a time of healing, and behold, terror. The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: the whole land trembleth at the sound of the neighing of his steeds, and they come, and devour the land, and all it contains, the city and those that dwell therein.
Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation is stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as a man for the battle, against thee, daughter of Zion. We have heard the report thereof: our hands are grown feeble; anguish hath taken hold of us, pain as of a woman that travaileth.
My bowels! my bowels! I am in travail! [Oh,] the walls of my heart! My heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace: for thou hearest, my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the clamour of war. Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed; for the whole land is wasted: suddenly are my tents laid waste, my curtains, in a moment. How long shall I see the standard, [and] hear the sound of the trumpet? For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have no intelligence; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Come, my people, enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself just for a little moment, until the indignation be past. For behold, Jehovah cometh out of his place to visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth upon them; and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
Behold, ùGod is my salvation: I will trust, and not be afraid; for Jah, Jehovah, is my strength and song, and he is 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.