The destruction of]

one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive

you,

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled for all these things must come to pass; but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8 All these are the beginning of

sorrows.

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

[Jerusalem foretold.

13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14 And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand :)

16 Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains:

17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house :

18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

20 But pray ye, that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day?

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show

Ver 3. The end of the world.-The Hebrews, by this world, or age, denoted the time before the coming of Messiah, and by the world, or age, to come, the time Tinder Messiah's reign, and the (latter Jews believed that with the destruction of their city and temple would be joined the coming of the Messiah to judg ment, and the dissolution of the world." Kuincel, quoted Smith's Messiah, vol. ii. p. 207. The Commentator referred to by Dr. S. (in our Exposition), is the great Calvin.

Ver. 6. Wars and rumours-that is, wars at home, and rumours of wars abroad.

Ver. 15. The abomination of desolation. -Compare our Exposition and Notes on Daniel ix. 26,27, and xi. 31.

Ver. 17. On the house-top. Mr. Harmer thinks this refers to the outside stairs, frequently connected with the houses in Judea; but a traveller of the name of Willyams has remarked, that the houses in Judea" are all flat-roofed, and communicate with each other; (so that) a person might proceed to the eity walls, and escape into the country, without coming down into the street." Orient. Cust. No. 1210.

Ver. 18. To take his clothes. The ancients per formed their field-work in summer almost naked Ibid, No. 1211.

Ver. 20. Neither on the sabbath day.—A sabbatl.day's journey was about a mile only. The sense of the verse is, Pray that your flight may be in a time when you are likely to meet with no impediments.

Ver. 22. Except those days should be shortened, &c.-that is, if such times were to continue, no flesh of that nation could be preserved; but for the elect's sake, those who had believed, or who should believe hereafter, those days were shortened; so that some of the seed of Abraham were preserved to be witnesses of the truth of the gospel, and to be called at last to enjoy its saving blessings. Comp. Rom. xi. 26." Boothroyd. Nothing but a special providence can account for the people not being at this time wholly extirpated.

Ver. 23. Here is Christ-rather, "The Christ," or Messiah.

Ver. 24. False prophets-that is, heretical and corrupt teachers, who should preach another gospel, and another Saviour. See Gal. i, 6-8.

CHAP. XXIV.

[Jerusalem foretold of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. (D)

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give

(D) Ver. 1-28. Christ foretells the utter destruction of the temple and city.-This second temple (so called), as repaired and beautified by Herod, though not equal to that of Solomon, was certainly a very grand and splendid building; and must appear the more so to the apostles, who, being chiefly fishermen of Judea, had none of them, probably, at this time, seen any of the elegant buildings of Greece or Rome. So solid and durable also appeared the materials of which it was formed, that when their Master spake of its overthrow, they immediately connected it with the end of the world, and with the day of judgment: our Lord, therefore, in the manner of the double prophecies of the Jews, connects these events in the following discourse, making the one typical of the other.

:

To begin with the former, namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, Bishop Newton, in his valuable dissertations, has shown the most striking correspondence between the several predictions and the corresponding events, as related by Josephus and a series of so many surprising coincidences, is perhaps unparalleled in the history of prophecy, and of the world: our room will admit only of very brief particulars. Josephus, it should be remembered, was contemporary with the events, and saw what he describes; nor is he opposed by any conflicting evidence; but, on the contrary, is confirmed by Tacitus, and other Pagan

writers.

In the preceding chapter we find Jesus in the temple, reproving the Pharisees for their hypocrisy, and other crimes. Now he had left the temple, and was seated opposite to it, on the mount of Olives, when his disciples, having withdrawn from the multitude, came privately to inquire of him," When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" It is of importance to observe here (as Dr. Pye Smith remarks), "that this is the language of the disciples, and not of Jesus; and that it must therefore be interpreted in conso nance with what we have reason to believe was the then present state of their know ledge. The disciples viewed the coming of Christ, and the end of the world (or age), as events nearly related, and which would indisputably take place together; but no one can suppose that they had any idea of the dissolution of the Jewish polity, with the attending miseries, as really signified, or included in either of these events..... The occasion upon which they proposed their question was, our Lord's assuring them of the ruin of the magnificent building which they were admiring; one of the principal subjects of their national pride and boasting. "From their very childhood (says a judicious and penetrating commentator) they imagined that the temple would stand to the end of time: and this notion was so deeply fixed in their minds, that they regarded it as impossible for the temple to be overthrown, while the struc

Ver. 24. And shall shew great signs and wonders.— This does not necessarily imply the working of real miracles, but only pretensions to such a power, as in the case of Simon Magus, Acts viii.9 -11.—If it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.-The words if possible, do not denote a natural, but a moral impossibility: a thing which God will not permit." Boothroyd.

Ver. 26. Behold he is in the desert.-It is remarkable, that several of the impostors named by Josephus assembled their followers in the wilderness, or desert, particularly the Egyptian mentioned by St. Luke, Acts xxi. 38. Another pseudo-prophet inticed a multitude of people into the chambers of the temple, where they miserably perished.

Ver. 27. For as the lightning, &c.-The meaning appears to be, that as this surprising meteor shoots in the same instant from east to west, and pervades the whole horizon, so should the Roman armies,

which attend the coming of the Son of man, like a mighty tempest, at once cover the whole land of Israel.

Ver. 28. Wheresoever the carcase is, &c. - We have here a proverbial expression, applied in allusion to the eagles of the Roman standard. Compare Job xxxix. 30. Mr. Ward, late Baptist missionary in India, remarks, that the vultures in Bengal are highly useful, in devouring the dead bodies of men and beasts; and adds, it is astonishing how swiftly these birds collect, wherever a dead body falls though one of them should not have been seen in the place for weeks or months before. Ward's Hindoos vol. i. p. 98.

Ver. 29. Immediately after. There is here no doubt as to either the reading or translation of this passage, and as nearly eighteen centuries have passed since this time, it is most certain they cannot primarily apply to the day of judgment. See also ver.33

ture of the universe remained. As soon, therefore, as Christ told them that the temple would be destroyed, their thoughts instantly ran to the consummation of all things. Thus they connect with the destruction of the temple, as things inseparable, the coming of Christ, and the end of the world. A fond hope, which they had conceived without any authority, that the final perfection of the reign of Christ was very near, and actually present, led them to indulge the extravagant expectation of springing all at once to happiness." (Messiah, vol. ii. 205-207.)

Our Lord's answer, however, so far from confirming this prejudice, goes in some measure to rectify this mistake, by informing his disciples of a great variety of calamitous events which must intervene; of which we shall now take a brief review, interpreting them by the history of Josephus, who, it should be remembered, was no Christian, though he seems to have been half convinced.

The first sign announced to precede these events, was that of false Christs, or pretenders to the character of Messiah; Josephus mentions many, of which the following are expressly noticed in the Acts of the Apostles; Theudas, Judas of Galilee, Simon Magus, and the Egyptian impostor. (See Acts v. 36, 37; viii. 9, 10; xxi. 38.) 2. Josephus' History is full of " and rumours of wars (as predicted ver. 6), particularly during the reigns of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, whereby great numbers were destroyed.

wars

3. "Famines," particularly one mentioned by St. Luke (Acts xi. 28), also by Josephus and Suetonius. Earthquakes in divers places, as in Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, and various other places, as mentioned by the Jewish and Roman historians.

4. "Fearful sights and great signs:' Josephus mentions, among other sights, a comet in the form of a sword, hanging for a long time over Jerusalem; armies fighting in the air: one night the massy brazen gate at the east side of the temple

opened of its own accord; and at another time a voice was heard at midnight from the inner temple saying, "Let us go hence;" and above all, most unaccountable was the conduct of one Jesus, supposed to be an ideot, or insane, who, for several years before the capture of the city, went about exclaiming, "Woe to the city, woe to the people, and woe to the temple ;" and could by no means be silenced; at length, the last time of repeating these words, he added, "Woe to myself," and was immediately killed, as it were by accident.

5. Persecution for Christ's sake is another sign here mentioned, and which the Apostles experienced, both from Jews and Gentiles, more or less, in all countries to which they carried the gospel, which indeed, before the destruction of Jerusalem, extended to the boundaries of the Roman empire, and of the then known world.

6. Our Lord then admonishes his fol lowers to leave Jerusalem, and flee for their lives, immediately as they see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet," erected in "the holy place." This seems evidently to refer to the eagles on the Roman standards, which were planted on the walls of the city, and eventually, as Josephus informs

us,

within the temple itself. And not only were these standards worshipped and sworn hy, but idolatrous images were also often introduced. The appearance of these was the appointed signal for flight to those within the walls; and that flight was to be so sudden, as not to allow them to return home if they were absent, or even to return within their houses to take aught from thence; only to flee over their terraced roofs till they reached the walls, and escaped without. This many did, and par ticularly the Christians, who escaped, some to mount Libanus, and the others to Pella, a small town beyond Jordan, in the territory of Agrippa; insomuch that it is not known that any Christians perished in the final destruction of the city. To the Jews, however, this was the most calamitous

Ver. 30. Tribes of the earth.-Doddr. "Of the land," meaning the land of Israel.

Ver.31. His angels.-There are angels celestial and terrestrial: the latter are generally styled messengers; but the Greek and Hebrew terms are the same for both. In this place both Doddridge and

Campbell (with many others) use the term " messengers," but we confess the change to us appears unnecessary, since we are accustomed to read of the angels of the churches (Rev. i. 20, &c.), as well as of heaven; and we think the equivocal term better preserves the harmony of the double prophecy.

with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass

[of the fig-tree.

drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of

man be.

40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

43 But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made

event that ever they experienced; indeed, the history of Josephus perfectly agrees with the prediction of our Lord, who says, "Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be." Josephus reckons that 1,100,000 Jews perished in Jerusalem; and above 250,000 in other parts of Judea, besides 97,000 captives, and innumerable others, who perished by starvation, and other means. And he sums up all by saying, in remarkable conformity to our Saviour's words, "If the misfortunes of all, from the beginning of the world, were compared with those of

the Jews, they would appear much inferior upon comparison."

After some farther cautions against false Christs and pretended prophets, our Lord predicts the destruction of the Jewish government and city, in terms highly figu rative and poetical. The Jewish polity he compares to a corrupted carcase-" the carcase of dead piety," as Dr. Watts expresses it. And as the eagle scents from afar his prey, and pounces upon it with the force and rapidity of lightning, so did the Romans attack and devour this devoted nation.

Ver. 31. With a great sound of a trumpet Margin, "With a trumpet and a great voice." This is an evident allusion to the Jews' manner of proclaiming their public festivals; and intends, first the trumpet of the gospel, by which both Jews and Gentiles are summoned to attend the standard of Messiah; and secondly, "the voice of the archangel and the trump of God," which shall summons all men to the bar of judgment. 1 Thess. iv. 16.

Ibid. They shall gather his elect from the four winds-that is, from all parts of the earth, as was in part fulfilled at the day of pentecost, Acts ii. 7—11 ; continues still to be fulfilled in the propagation of the gospel, and shall be finally and completely accomplished in the last days.

Ver. 34. This generation shall not pass, &c.-We cannot but think with Doddridge, that the attempt of some critics (though of great name) to interpret this of the Jewish nation altogether, instead of the generation then living, as if the words only meant that

they should never be extirpated, is a very forced and unnatural interpretation, and therefore not to be justified.

Ver. 35. Heaven and earth shall pass away.-We consider this as a strong asseveration that all things shall pass away sooner than the word of God shall fail.

Ver. 36. Knoweth no man (or one), .... but my 'father only.-See Mark xiii. 32.

Ver. 37. As the days of Noe-that is, Noah. Ver.38. Eating and drinking—that is, feasting, or carousing. Marrying, &c.—that is, they were forming new connexions in life. So that all the awful predictions of Noah neither disturbed the festivities of the gay, nor interrupted the social plans of the more sober.

Ver. 40. Then shall two- Doddr. and Campbell, "Two men be (working) together in the field," &c.

Ver. 41. Two women shall be grinding.-This was the usual work of women, See Orient. Čust. No. 414.

ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

49 And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of;

51 And shall cut him asunder, and

[the ten virgins.

appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (E)

CHAP. XXV.

THEN shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

6 And at midnight there was a cry

(E) Ver. 29-51. Farther predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem.-Another set of images are next adopted from Isaiah and Joel, and are certainly the most sublime and beautiful that nature furnishes. The Jewish government is compared to the heavenly bodies, which are all represented as extinguished, and the whole political hemisphere as clothed in darkness and mourning. We have already, in a former volume, quoted, in illustration of this imagery, the sentiments of Sir Is. Newton and Bp. Lowth, the prince of philosophers, and the prince of critics, on this subject. (See our Notes on Isa. xxiv. 21; xxxiv. 4.) It has been customary to apply these passages to the end of the world, and to the day of judgment, and certainly the language is worthy of such an august event; but, as we are told most expressly and most solemnly, that the then present generation should not pass away till all these things should be fulfilled, we feel ourselves compelled (with Dr. Doddridge) to apply this language, in the first place, to the destruction of Jerusalem, though we feel no objection to its more distant reference to the final judgment, which double application is quite in harmony with the typical prophecies of the Old Testament. But what then, it may be asked, can be intended by the sign of the Son of man

in heaven?" The Old Testament frequently speaks of the Almighty as coming in the clouds of heaven, to administer his judgments. See Ps. xviii. 7-12. And the same imagery is used by the prophet Daniel, in reference to Messiah's receiving his kingdom at his ascension: "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days,.... and there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom," &c. (Dan. vii. 13, 14.) And this we conceive to be the very sign here referred to; namely, the description given by Daniel of Messiah's "coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory," to receive his kingdom from the Father.

The following verse, which speaks of Messiah's sending his angels with the sound of a great trumpet, will apply equally to the sending forth his messengers (or apostles) with the gospel trumpet, to convert the world; and to sending forth the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, to awaken the dead, and summons them to judgment. But that the words refer, in their immediate aud primary sense, to the former, as already mentioned, there can be no reasonable doubt, from the following words, "This generation shall not pass till all these things shall be fulfilled."

teeth seems to imply the presence of evil passions.

CHAP. XXV. Ver. 6. Behold, the bridegroom cometh. It appears to have been a custom among the Greeks to conduct their new married couples home at night with torches and lamps: