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Signs of Christ’s Return—Part 4: The End Is Near
(Luke 21:20–24)

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (21:20–24)

The end of history has already been written by God and revealed in the Bible. Mankind is not headed for a utopia, such as those envisioned by Plato, Thomas More, Karl Marx, or others, but rather faces increasing chaos, devastation, and disaster until the end. Humans will create no Shangri-La. Our planet and its occupants also face a terrifying future—far worse than even the most pessimistic environmentalist could ever be willing to imagine.

Ever since the fall, the human race has battled the devastating effects of sin and the consequent curse on individuals, society, and the environment (cf. Rom. 8:20–22). As noted in the previous chapter of this volume, because of that divine curse, there have always been deceivers who twist and pervert the truth, natural disasters that bring destruction and death, and distress in the form of persecution of Christians.

But what lies ahead as the return of the Lord Jesus Christ draws near will be unimaginably worse than anything that has happened in the past, or will happen before the birth pains. Religious deceivers, natural catastrophes, and persecution of believers will escalate to a level never seen. Jesus described the last three and one half years of the final time of tribulation immediately preceding His return as “a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will” (Matt. 24:21; cf. Rev. 7:14).

Wickedness will be collective and unrestrained, dominating life on earth as never before. The Holy Spirit, who currently holds back evil, will no longer do so, permitting sin to run rampant (2 Thess. 2:7). Further, Satan will be allowed to release demons who are presently bound in hell (Rev. 9:1–2) to unleash one final, futile onslaught against God and Christ. At the same time, in addition to wickedness causing chaos, God’s wrath will be poured out with sustained deadly force on the world and its population.

As the tribulation accelerates, events will get progressively worse as God’s judgments intensify. They will consist of three sets of seven judgments each, beginning with the seal judgments (Rev. 6). As the Lord Jesus Christ unrolls the scroll that symbolizes the title deed to the earth (Rev. 5:7) He will break each seal, unleashing a specific judgment on the earth. Out of the seventh seal will come the rapid-fire seven trumpet judgments; out of the seventh trumpet will come the still more rapid-fire seven bowl judgments. The bowl judgments are God’s final outpouring of wrath (Rev. 16:1), and will be followed by the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to destroy the surviving ungodly and gather His saints into His earthly kingdom. He will return to earth visibly and the whole world will see Him (Rev. 1:7). His feet will touch the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem (Zech. 14:4), which will split open and water will flow out and create a river that will run down from Jerusalem into the desert (vv. 8, 10, 11). That will initiate the restoration and renovation of the planet, turning it into paradise regained.

While anticipating Christ’s glorious return is joy to the believer, it should be a terrifying reality for those who reject Him. He will come not only to establish His kingdom, into which those who belong to Him will be gathered alive, but also to kill the ungodly, who will then be condemned to eternal punishment in hell (cf. Matt. 25:31–46). The realization of those dual realities brought the apostle John’s consideration of the Lord’s coming both sweetness and bitterness (Rev. 10:9–10).

The time of tribulation will also be both bitter and sweet. It will not only be a time of unprecedented judgment and wrath, but also of God’s grace in global salvation. The gospel will be preached all over the world by one hundred forty-four thousand zealous Jewish evangelists (Rev. 7), as well as being proclaimed by an angel (Rev. 14:6). The result will be a worldwide revival in which multitudes will be converted to Christ (Rev. 7:9–10).

The credibility of God the Father and the Lord Jesus depend upon the exact fulfillment of the prophecies of Christ’s return. The precise predictions of the events at the second coming recorded in both the Old and New Testaments reflect God’s knowledge of the future. In several passages in Isaiah, God challenged the idols worshiped by Israel to demonstrate their deity by predicting the future:

God stakes His credibility on His Word’s prophesying the future.

The rampant wickedness and the escalation of God’s wrath spoken of in this chapter will be general signs that Christ’s return is near. But in addition, our Lord predicts two specific signs: Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies, and the abomination of desolation will be set up.

JERUSALEM WILL BE SURROUNDED BY ARMIES

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (21:20–24)

Jerusalem has been surrounded by armies repeatedly throughout its history. As one writer notes:

In A.D. 70, forty years after our Lord spoke these words, His prediction that Jerusalem would suffer desolation was fulfilled. The Romans laid siege to Jerusalem, sacked the city, burned the temple, and slaughtered thousands of people.

But no previous assault, including the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, is what Jesus referred to here. It is true that during that Roman siege there were those in Judea who did flee to the nearby mountains, and others who were in the midst of the city did manage to leave before the city was surrounded, while those who were in the country naturally did not enter the city once that massacre and destruction had begun.

The events of A.D. 70, however, were nothing like the days of vengeance of which Jesus spoke. All things which are written were not fulfilled (cf. such unfulfilled prophecies as Zech. 12:1–9; 14:1–11 and the unprecedented outpouring of God’s wrath described in Rev. 6–19). Nor did Jesus visibly return to earth (Zech. 14:4; Acts 1:9–11), judge the wicked (Matt. 25:31–46), and establish His absolute rule here (Rev. 20:4–6).

The phrase days of vengeance is an Old Testament expression that speaks of divine vengeance in the end times (cf. Isa. 34:8; 35:4; 61:2; 63:4; Mic. 5:15), specifically the tribulation, the time of Jacob’s distress (Jer. 30:7; cf. Dan. 12:1). It describes God’s final, eschatological judgment, and is the equivalent of the familiar Old Testament term the Day of the Lord (Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14; Amos 5:18, 20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14; Zech. 14:1; Mal. 4:5).

When those days come, it will be especially difficult for those who are pregnant and … those who are nursing babies. Encumbered as they are, such women will find it difficult to escape the distress upon the land and the wrath poured out on its people. The mass exodus from Jerusalem will mark the end of evangelism, as the believing remnant, protected by God, flees into hiding.

Not all who flee will escape, however. Many Christian martyrs and Jewish unbelievers will fall by the edge of the sword, while others will be led captive into all the nations. In addition, Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles (the period from 586 B.C., when Israel first went into captivity, until Christ returns to establish His kingdom) are fulfilled. The times of the Gentiles obviously did not end in A.D. 70; they will not end until the future day of God’s final vengeance and judgment comes.

THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION WILL BE SET UP

The second sign that the Lord’s coming is near appears in Matthew’s parallel account of the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus referred to “the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (Matt. 24:15). That event, coming at the midpoint of the tribulation, will trigger the severest cataclysms—the time that Jesus, as noted above, called the “great tribulation.”

The word “abomination” refers to something disgusting, repulsive, detestable, and abhorrent to God. In the Old Testament, it describes immoral practices that God hates (e.g., Lev. 18:22–29; Deut. 22:5; 25:13–16; 1 Kings 14:24; 2 Kings 16:3; Prov. 11:1; 12:22; 15:8–9; 20:23; Jer. 13:27). According to Revelation 21:27, “no one who practices abomination” will enter heaven. The ultimate false religion that arises in the end times is represented by a woman

The “abomination of desolation” has its roots in the book of Daniel, where it was referred to three times (9:27; 11:31; 12:11). The prophecy of the seventy weeks describes sixty-nine weeks of seven years each (483 years), culminating in Christ’s first coming and crucifixion (9:24–26) with the seventieth week (seven years) separated and yet to come in the future. At the outset of that seven-year tribulation, the final Antichrist “will make a firm covenant with [Israel] for [that] one week” (v. 27). He will offer to provide protection for Israel and, engulfed by an increasingly deadly world, the nation will accept his offer.

But “in the middle of the week,” Antichrist will show his true colors. “He will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate” (v. 27). The New Testament adds that Antichrist will oppose God and exalt “himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God” (2 Thess. 2:4). Most likely, he will defile the temple by installing an idol of himself inside it (cf. Rev. 13:15). The term “abomination” was used in the Old Testament in reference to idolatry (e.g., Deut. 7:25; 27:15; 29:17; 32:16; Isa. 44:19; Ezek. 7:20; 18:12), and this unparalleled example of blasphemy will be the ultimate act of idolatry.

It will not, however, be without historical precedent. Daniel 11 records an amazingly detailed prophecy that would be fulfilled more than three centuries after Daniel revealed it. The prophecy highlights the career of the Seleucid king of the intertestamental period, Antiochus IV.

The ultimate eschatological meaning of Daniel’s prophecy was foreshadowed, but not at all fulfilled, by the degradations carried out by Antiochus IV. The final abomination of desolation of which Jesus spoke awaits fulfillment in the middle of the seventieth week, three and one half years into the tribulation.

At the same time that the abomination of desolation is set up, Jerusalem will be under massive assault from the world’s armies, under the leadership of Antichrist. The attacking force will be huge, extending from Jerusalem to Megiddo, about sixty miles to the north. This massive assault will cause many professing believers to abandon their faith (Matt. 24:9–12), but not true believers, who will persevere to the end (v. 13). It will also be a time of savage atrocities against the Jewish people, two thirds of whom will be killed, while the rest will call on the Lord and be redeemed (Zech. 13:8–9; cf. Jer. 30:1–8). Zechariah describes the siege and judgment, but also promises the salvation of the nation of Israel (12:1–13:1).

As noted above, the terrors of the great tribulation, initiated by Antichrist’s setting up of the abomination of desolation, will last for three and one half years. That fact is confirmed by several passages of Scripture. Daniel 12:7 says that it will last “for a time [one year], times [two years], and half a time [half a year],” and verse 9 makes it clear that the reference is to an event in the end times. Revelation 11:2 and 13:5 set its length at forty-two months; 11:3 and 12:6 at 1,260 days, all of which add up to three and one half years (1,260 days equals three and one half years based on a 360 day year). A comparison of Daniel 12:12 and 13 reveals that there will be an additional seventy-five days between Christ’s destruction of the forces of Antichrist at the battle of Armageddon and the establishment of His kingdom, perhaps to clean up the remains of the carnage.

Though they will not know the exact day or hour (Matt. 24:36), the twin signs of Jerusalem being surrounded by armies and the setting up of the abomination of desolation will give clear warning to those alive at that time that the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is near.

The church will be spared the unimaginable horrors of the entire tribulation period, being raptured before it begins (John 14:1–3; 1 Cor. 15:51–52; 1 Thess. 4:15–18; Rev. 3:10). Just as the church was not in the first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel’s prophecy regarding Israel, so also it will not be in the seventieth. (For a defense of the pretribulation rapture, see 1 & 2 Thessalonians, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 2002], chap. 11.)

In the meantime, Christians are to be prepared for Christ’s return: