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Author: Stephen Weller
619 words, 3 minutes read time

A Time of Great Suffering

Scripture: Matthew 24:20-21; Mark 13:20; Luke 21:23-24

In the previous lesson we looked at the need of urgency of escape when sudden danger comes. In this lesson we will look at the great distress that Jesus says will come upon the Jewish people.

^{Lk 21:23} Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. ²⁴ They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Verse 23 seems to indicate two different time periods. The first would be A.D. 70 when Jerusalem was under seize and the second would be the greater judgment at the end of the age. Most of what Jesus is saying about the coming destruction and much suffering seem to relate to this earlier time. Comments about pregnant and nursing women and falling by the edge of the sword and being led away captive would seem to relate to this earlier time, but the language of great distress upon the earth and until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, seem to suggest the later date.

The two time periods will see very different kinds of warfare. The instructions given by Jesus in the overall section use language which seems to indicate conditions related to the earlier kind of fighting, not at the end of the age when airplanes and missiles are used along with other advances in warfare. In either case it will be an especially difficult time for pregnant and nursing women.

^{Mt 24:20} Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. ^{Mk 13:20} And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.

When the time comes for them to escape, Jesus tells them to be praying that it does not occur during the harshness of winter or on a Sabbath which would create a hindrance for those who hold to Sabbath traditions. This seems to apply to the earlier time, as there would be such short notice under a missile attack.

The siege and destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was horrible, but it will pale in comparison to what will happen at the time of the great tribulation in end times; a time like no other time in all of history. That time will be so horrible with the use of nuclear and other advanced types of warfare that if not cut short by the Lord’s intervention, human life on earth could be extinguished. Since God has plans for the human race beyond the tribulation time, he brings the warfare to an end to protect those, like in the days of Noah, to again repopulate the earth.

Conclusion

There is so much evil and violence in the world today which results in so much suffering, especially among the vulnerable, but that will only increase as spiritual darkness continues to enslave the world with its bondage of sin. But the worse is yet to come when “there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.” (Matthew 24:21 ESV).