The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 456

he opens for our escape. 8. OalamiUu are miUgated /01' tk sake of the elect. (1) "Woe unto them I" etc. (ver. 19). ]'rightful accounts are found in Josephus of the sufferings of helpless women and children in those "days of vengeance." (2) "But pray ye," etc. (vers. 20-22). We mast labour to make the best of the inevitable. The followers of Obrist in times of calamity should be much in prayer. The prayer that anticipates may mitigate evil. "That your flight be not in the winter," when the ways would ba scarcely passable. "Neither on the sabbath day," lest they should be exposed to the indignation of the Jews, or hindered by their own superstitions. (3) "But for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." The prayers of the good are effective, and the wicked profit by their successes. As there is a community of suffering between the wicked and the good, so is there a community of mitigations between the good and the bad. God rules in human affairs. II. IN RESPECT TO SPIRITUAL DECEPTIONS. 1. He warns them. agaiMt false C'hrists. (1) There were many such about the time of the siege. Some before it (see .Acts v. 36, 87). Others soon after, as Jonathas, who formed an army in Cyrene; and l3archo- chebas, in the reign of Adrian. (2) Those who observe tile signs of our times cannot fail to see false Christe. Not only is there the Roman impostor (see 2 Thess. ii. 3-10) and his Eastern rivals, but many minor deceivers are springing up. (3) As the counterfeit presupposes the genuine coin, so do false Christa indicate the true. As the appearance of false Christe nearly two thousand years ago showed that the true Christ had then come (cf. Dan. ix. 25), so do the appearance of false Christa now presage the approaching second advent of the true. 2. He warns them. against false prophets. (1) False Christa have also their false prophets. Every Mahomet has his Abubeker. (2) Our Lord not only foretold the appearance of these deceivers, but the manner of their proceeding (cf. Acts xxi. 38; Josephus,' Ant.,' xx. 7; 'Wars,' vi. 5; vii. 11). (3) "If it be possible," etc., imports simply that it is difficult to deceive the elect of God ( cf. Acts xx. 16 ; Rom. xii. 18). " To fear the worst oft cures the worst " (Shakespeare). To be forewarned is to be forearmed. "A prudent man foreseeth the evil" (see Prov. xxii. 3; Hcb. xi. 7). (4) Times of great trouble are times of great temptation. 3. He warns them against their deceptions. (1) "Great signs and wonders." The Jews had magical arts, interpreted dreams, and pretended to work miracles and predict the future. (2) The Roman antichrist comes " with all the deceivableness of unrighteousness" (see 2 Thess. ii. 9-11; Rev. xiii. 13, H). If not the elect, the infidels are deceived. They fly from the extreme of ,uperstition into the opposite extreme of scepticism, and so miss the truth. (3) The coming of the true Christ is a grand thing, like the sheet lightning. •So the Roman armies came in public, as the executioners of the Judge, in contradistinction to the stealthy manner· in which the false Christa came. They ca::ne suddenly, without any premonitory whispering as to the "secret chamber." They came universally, for· they filled the land. Like the lightning shining from the east, they entered J udiea from that quarter, and carried their conquests westwe.rd. (4) The coming of Chris~ here also refers to his second personal advent (cf. Luke xvii. 22-37). When a people do by their sins make themselves carcases, God will send his vultures among them (cf. Deut. uviii. 49 ; Heb. viii. 1).- J. A. M. Vere. 29-31.-The signs of the heavens. The earlier verses of this chapter set forth principally the signs from the earth. The "tribulation" referred to here is that consequent upon the siege of Jerusalem in the first place, and in an extended sense may be viewed as continued through the whole period of the dispersion of the Jews. I. THE SIGN OF TllE SoN OF MAN 18 PREOEDED BY REVOLUTIONS. 1. These are described under the figure of the shaking of the powl!/Ts of the heavens. (1) 'l'he ruecbanicaJ heavens bear rule over the physical earth. They are therefore made emblems of government, whether political or religious or both. The shaking of the heavens imports the removal of such governments (see Isa. xiii. 10; xxiv. 23; xxxiv. 4; Jer. iv. 23; Ezek. xuii. 7, 8; Dan. viii. 10; Joel ii. 10, 30, 31; iii. 15; Amos viii 9, 10). (2) 'l'he suu is the symbol of the supreme power in the state, and of monarchy in particular. 'l'he darkor1ing of the sun imports the humiliatiou, if not extinction, of the supreme civil rulers. (3) The moon is the emblem of the ecclesiastical system. Anciently, the times aud ceremonic~ of the Church were measure,\ .1Ld orLlcreu by the 4.G2 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [OH. XXIV, 1--61.