I am involved at this time in a study of the Olivet Discourse in my current study series of the Gospel of Mark. Four of Jesus’ disciples came to him, privately, as he sat atop Mount Olives, overlooking the city of Jerusalem and its Temple. They asked him to explain some shocking statements he had made just prior to leaving the city. During Jesus’ preliminary statements leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, he told his disciples they would need to flee Judea once they saw the abomination that would bring desolation (Mark 13:14).
Daniel, the prophet, also describes this time of trouble, but many translators have both Daniel and Jesus describing what seems to be the most terrible time in history, but are they correct (Daniel 12:1; Mark 13:19)? Many believers today assume Jesus’ warning concerns the end of time, itself. If this is true, however, what did Jesus mean by and never shall be, which implies time continues? Therefore, logic demands that Jesus couldn’t be speaking of the end of time or the end of the world / universe (cp. Matthew 24:3). So, what was he saying? Some translators[1] render Daniel 12:1 to say the time of trouble was the worst since the nation of Israel began, which makes sense in light of the fact that time continues. Other translations could be understood this way, as well, but one’s preconceived interpretation often prevents this being noticed.
Nevertheless, Mark records Jesus saying there was nothing like this trouble “from the beginning of the creation, which God created, unto this time, neither shall be” (Mark 13:19), which seems to point to the greatest in all history, including the Genesis Flood. What can be said of this? The key to understanding Jesus’ Olivet Prophecy is that he was describing what Daniel prophesied. Daniel said, there would “be a time of trouble, such as has never occurred since the beginning of the nation until then…” In other words, both Jesus and Daniel were speaking of the creation of the Jewish nation or the beginning of the Old Covenant.[2] They were not pointing to the creation of the world. 70 AD and the events leading up to it were the worst that ever happened to the Jews or ever could happen to them, because their covenant with God ended there. Thy have none today!
Notice what Jesus says in Mark 13:20. Speaking of the tribulation. which would be greater than any before or afterward that affected the Jews, he said, “unless the Lord had shortened the days no flesh would survive, but for the elect’s sake, the Lord shortened the days.” How would God shorten the days? If the tribulation was to last for a week of years (Daniel 9:24, 27), how could God shorten what he himself claimed would last 7 years? Can God contradict himself? Surely, when he claimed it would take 7 years to make the covenant firm (Daniel 9:27), he also knew he would need to shorten the days of the tribulation (Daniel 9:26) for the elect’s sake (Mark 13:20).
According to Daniel 9:26 the tribulation has to do with war and the destruction of the city (Jerusalem) and the Sanctuary (the Temple), but how was this shortened? According to Adam Clarke’s Commentary:
Josephus computes the number of those who perished in the siege at eleven hundred thousand, besides those who were slain in other places,[3] and if the Romans had gone on destroying in this manner, the whole nation of the Jews would, in a short time, have been entirely extirpated; but, for the sake of the elect, the Jews, that they might not be utterly destroyed, and for the Christians particularly, the days were shortened… When Titus was viewing the fortifications after the taking of the city, he could not help ascribing his success to God. “We have fought,” said he, “with God on our side; and it is God who pulled the Jews out of these strong holds: for what could machines or the hands of men avail against such towers as these?”[4]
Again, according to the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges:
Had the horrors within and without which accompanied the siege of Jerusalem been prolonged, the utter desolation of the country would have been the result. But in mercy they were shortened, (1) by the swift and energetic measures of the invading armies, and (2) by the infatuation of the besieged. On his part Titus encircled the city with a wall five miles in extent, and fortified it with thirteen strong garrisons in the almost incredibly short space of three days, and Josephus makes special mention of his eagerness to bring the siege to an end. On the other hand, the leaders of the factions within slew the men who would have taught them how the siege might be prolonged, burnt the corn which would have enabled them to hold out against the enemy, and abandoned the towers, which were in reality impregnable. Thus, the city, which in the time of Zedekiah (2Kings 25:1-6; Jeremiah 39:1-2) had resisted the forces of Nebuchadnezzar for sixteen months, was taken by the Romans in less than five.
Thus, the Lord was merciful in that he brought the war to a speedy end, when it could have continued for a much longer period of time, completely destroying the whole Jewish population, including those who were believers.
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[1] See such translations as: HRB; LEB; LITV; NET; TLV.
[2] See my earlier study in 2Peter – “The End of All Things Is at Hand”
[3] See Josephus; Wars of the Jews, 6.9.3
[4] See Josephus; Wars of the Jews, 6.9.1
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