Matthew 24:15-22 "Therefore when you see the 'Abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), (16) "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (17) Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. (18) And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. (19) But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! (20) And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. (21) For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. (22) And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.”
In this section we want to discuss the assassination attempt that will be made on the life of the anti-Christ, and the events leading up to that assassination attempt. While He was on the earth the Lord Jesus prophesied about two separate occasions when the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed. And so, in order for the church to escape its destruction, Jesus warned them to flee Jerusalem when they saw specific signs relating to each occasion. The first occasion when Jerusalem was destroyed took place in the year 70 AD, when the Roman army destroyed the city. The sign Jesus gave the church to flee Jerusalem on that occasion, was armies surrounding the city. It is important to note that on this occasion there was no urgency to Jesus’ warning, the reason being that the church was given ample time to leave (Luke 21:5-24). And so the sign of armies surrounding Jerusalem occurred in the year 66 AD, when Roman armies besieged the city but were unable to penetrate its walls. Nevertheless when the Roman armies withdrew that same year, the church recognised the sign Jesus had given them and so they left Judea and Jerusalem[1]. Four years later the Roman armies returned to Jerusalem, but this time they destroyed the city and everyone in it[2]. Nevertheless the church was spared because they had already left the city. The second occasion when Jerusalem will be destroyed, will take place when the armies of the anti-Christ destroy the city. The sign Jesus has given the church to flee Jerusalem on that occasion is recorded in the above quoted passage of scripture, i.e. the Abomination of desolation standing in the temple, referring to the anti-Christ standing in the temple. Unlike the first occasion of Jerusalem’s destruction however, when the sign was given four years in advance; on this occasion the sign will only be given four hours in advance, which is why there is great urgency in Jesus’ warning, for He admonishes the church to drop whatever they are doing and flee to the mountains the moment they see this sign. So how is it possible that the anti-Christ will gain access to the Jewish temple at that time? As the leader of the Muslim world, there are only two ways in which the al-Mahdi will be able to gain access to the Jewish temple; either by invite of the Israeli government or by conquest of the Israeli nation. If he were to gain access by conquest of the Israeli nation however, then the sign would be too late for the saints to flee Jerusalem, because the anti-Christ’s armies would have already occupied the city. And so the only viable alternative is for the anti-Christ to gain access to the Jewish temple by invite of the Israeli government. A likely scenario which could occur is that in order to strengthen diplomatic ties with the al-Mahdi and by extension the Muslim world, the Israeli government will extend an invitation to him to attend, as an honoured dignitary, one of the Jewish feasts in the temple. For the saints who are paying attention during that time; when such an invite is extended by the Israeli government, it will act as the sign for them to leave Judea. In other words they will have enough time to leave in a more organised manner. Nevertheless for the rest of the saints, the sign of the anti-Christ standing in the temple will be their last opportunity to flee before it’s too late.
Revelation 12:6-17 “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. (7) And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, (8) but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. (9) So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. … (12) Therefore rejoice O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time." (13) Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. (14) But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. (15) So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. (16) But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. (17) And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
We have seen that our Lord Jesus warned the saints to flee Judea when they saw the sign of the anti-Christ standing in the temple of God. More specifically, our Lord’s counsel to His saints was that they should flee to the mountains. So which mountains did the Lord refer to? There are only two mountain ranges in Israel and Lebanon. The first is the Mount Hermon range in the Golan Heights at seven thousand three hundred feet. The second is the Mount Lebanon range at ten thousand one hundred feet. And so bearing in mind that both mountain ranges will form part of Israel at that time, it is more than likely that the Jewish saints will flee to the Mount Lebanon range. They will do so not only because it is the higher of the two ranges, but it is also a much more extensive mountain range, thus making it more plausible for the saints to remain hidden there. So why would our Lord instruct His saints to go there? The above quoted passage of scripture gives us the reason, for this passage declares that the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. The woman in this passage is referring to the Jewish believers. And so we see that the reason why the Lord instructs His saints to flee to the mountains is because God has specifically prepared a place for them there, where He will feed them for three-and-a-half years i.e. the full second half of the anti-Christ’s reign. This passage also declares that the woman will be kept from the presence of the serpent during that time. In other words the saints will be afforded divine protection from the anti-Christ’s persecution during that time. It is not clear how many saints will flee to the mountains, but the number must be in the hundreds of thousands because at least sixteen million Jews will be living in Israel at that time. And so clearly God will supernaturally provide both food and protection for the saints. We will discuss how God will accomplish this in a later section.
Michael E.B. Maher
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Jewish%E2%80%93Roman_War [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(70_CE)
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