Mark 13:5-13
Introduction
In these verses we see Jesus begin to answer one of the questions put to Him in Verse 4. He answers the question, what will be the sign when these things are going to be fulfilled?
These verses describe what life will be like on the earth during the Tribulation. Remember that God will poor out His wrath upon all unbelievers during the Tribulation. And bear in mind that these verses describe what life will be like during the ‘whole’ of the 7 year Tribulation.
The Olivet Discourse mainly directed towards Jewish believers, who will need to persevere during the Tribulation. We see evidence of this in Verse 14. The Abomination of Desolation will occur in the temple in Jerusalem which is in Judea. Most of those living in Judea will be Jews. Jesus reveals what will happen during the Tribulation so that all Jews and Gentiles who come to faith during that 7 year period will be able to persevere and not be deceived.
The Tribulation will be a time of unprecedented deception, warfare, murder and hatred.
Bear all of this in mind as we go through the passage.
Verses 5 to 6
In these verses, Jesus is warning about the danger of being deceived or misled. Deception happens now in the Church Age but it will be greatly intensified during the Tribulation. As soon as the Tribulation begins a great deal of deception will break out.
There will be this great deception at the beginning of the Tribulation because the Church will be removed from the earth before the Tribulation begins. The removal of the Church is known as the Rapture. Therefore, at the beginning of the Tribulation there will only be unbelievers on the earth.
During the Tribulation, a small number of people will be saved but the vast majority of people will remain as unbelievers.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3, Paul tells us that the first thing that will happen during the Tribulation (the Day of the Lord) will be a falling away from the truth (apostasy). That’s why Jesus starts the Olivet Discourse with a warning about deception. Notice in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 how Paul uses the definite article ‘the’ before the word ‘apostasy’. The significance of this definite article is that it will be the greatest apostasy of all time. It will be unprecedented. There are apostate tendencies now but during the Tribulation it will be a greatly intensified and worldwide apostasy. That’s why Jesus said that ‘many’ will be deceived.
The word ‘apostasy’ is translated from the Greek word ‘apostasia’ which means a political or spiritual deflection. During the Tribulation the world is going to rebel spiritually and politically against God. The world at that time will try to build a spiritual and political Babylon.
In Verse 6 of Mark 13, Jesus warns that many will come in His name saying, ‘I am He!’ and mislead (deceive) many. When they say ‘I am He’ what are they claiming to be is Christ or the Messiah. But in reality they are antichrists or false messiahs.
Verses 7 to 8
The Tribulation will be a time of unprecedented warfare. War has always been part of human history and that is still the case now in the Church Age. But during the Tribulation it will be greatly intensified. We see this in Revelation 6:3-4. Notice in Revelation 6:4 the use of the words, ‘great sword’.
In Verse 7 of our passage, Jesus tells the Jewish believers not to be frightened. So, why does Jesus tell them not to be frightened? At the beginning of the Tribulation, Israel makes a 7 year covenant with the Antichrist who protects them. For the first three and a half years he honours the agreement. That means that when war breaks out at the beginning of the Tribulation it is confined to the Gentile world and not Israel. We see this in Daniel 11:39-40.
But half way through the 7 years, the Antichrist breaks the covenant. We see this in Daniel 9:27. At this half way point the Antichrist turns against Israel. So, there is no reason for the Jewish believers to be afraid at the beginning of the Tribulation because Israel is protected from the warfare by the Antichrist. It is only when they see the Abomination of Desolation that they need to be afraid as we see in Verse 14.
The warfare is going to be so severe that it leads to great famine as we see in Verse 8. We see this in Revelation 6:6. But what does it mean in Revelation 6:6 when it says ‘a quart of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a denarius’? The answer is that it will cost a day’s wage for one small meal for one person. This means that there will be mass starvation.
In Revelation 6:8 we see that death will be on a huge scale as a result of war, famine, pestilence and wild beasts during the Tribulation. According to Revelation 6:8 one fourth of the world’s population will die as a result of war, famine, pestilence and wild beasts during the Tribulation.
During the Second World War, 4% of the world’s population were killed. But during the Tribulation it will be 25%. If we were in the Tribulation today, 2 billion people would die. Think about that. If you want to see how bad the warfare will be, take a look at Revelation 14:20.
In Verse 8 of our passage, Jesus says that these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. But what does Jesus mean by ‘the beginning of birth pangs’? When a woman is pregnant, the baby grows inside her and when the baby is ready to be born, she goes into labour. The labour starts when her waters break and she starts to get contractions or birth pangs. These birth pangs gradually get stronger until the baby is born. So, the beginning of birth pangs is the start of the labour. Therefore, Jesus is saying that the signs described in Verses 5 to 8 signify the start of the Tribulation.
So, what does the birth pangs analogy tell us about the Tribulation? It tells us that it comes suddenly without warning. A pregnant woman does not get any warning that she is about to go into labour. It comes on her suddenly. She has no time to prepare herself and when it starts there is no stopping it.
And as we have already seen, the signs in Verse 5 to 8 only occur during the Tribulation. Therefore, should we be looking out for signs that the Tribulation is about to start? The answer is no; we should not be looking out for wars and rumours of war etc in this present age.
Verses 9 to 13
During the Tribulation there will be unpresented persecution and martyrdom for those who come to faith during that period. We see this in Revelation 6:9-11 in which we see believers being killed. At that time, it will be rare for a believer not to be martyred. This is what Jesus is talking about in Verses 9 to 13 of our passage.
In Verse 10 of our passage, Jesus talks about the gospel being preached to all nations during the Tribulation. Although the gospel is being preached to all nations now, it will be done with greater intensity during the Tribulation. We see an example of this in Revelation 11:1-4 with the two witnesses. We see another example in Revelation 14:6.
Why is the gospel preached during the Tribulation? Because God is merciful and does not want anyone to perish. Even though the Tribulation is a time of judgement, God still gives people an opportunity to be saved. Right up to the end, He gives people multiple opportunities to be saved. Despite this, the majority of people on the earth at that time will reject the gospel.
Notice in Verse 11 of our passage, how persecuted believers are helped by the Holy Spirit. He will give them the right words to say when they are arrested. Have you ever been in a situation where the Holy Spirit miraculously puts words in your mouth?
In Verses 12 and 13 we see that the Tribulation will be a time of unprecedented hatred. This hatred is manifest through family members who will turn against each other. And the outcome of this family hatred is death. This shows us just how extreme this hatred will be. And don’t forget that this will be a common occurrence throughout the world. Think about that for a moment. In Micah 7:6 we read, ‘For son treats father contemptuously, daughter rises up against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own household. And as we see in Verse 13 of our passage, believers will be hated by ALL.
And Finally
I hope you are now beginning see how dreadful the Tribulation is going to be. And there’s more to come as we will see in the next study.