Mark 13:14-23
Introduction
In these verses Jesus is describing what will happen in the second half of the 7-year Tribulation. The last three and a half years are known as the Great Tribulation. We see this in Matthew 24:21. This period is also known as the time of Jacob’s Distress or Jacob’s Trouble as can be seen in Jeremiah 30:7.
During this time, Satan will try to use his forces to exterminate the nation of Israel once and for all. But God has another purpose for this time. God will use it to bring Israel to salvation. Then at the end of the three and a half years, Jesus will return and set up His kingdom on earth.
At the half way point of the 7-year Tribulation the Antichrist will break the covenant he made with Israel at the beginning of the Tribulation. And at the half way point the Antichrist will also set himself up as God in the Jerusalem temple as prophesied by Daniel. We see this in Daniel 9:27.
Bear all of this in mind as we go through the passage.
Verses 14 to 16
In Verse 14 Jesus speaks about the Abomination of Desolation and Mark adds a note about the reader understanding. So, do you understand what Jesus means by the Abomination of Desolation. Jesus is referring to Daniel 9:27. The Abomination of Desolation is a sacrilege that occurs with the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. It also profanes it so that the temple becomes ceremonially unclean.
Let’s take a closer look at what Daniel has to say in chapter 9, verse 27. At the beginning of Verse 27, Daniel tells us that ‘he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week’. ‘He’ is the Antichrist, the ‘many’ is Israel and one week is a 7-year period. To understand why one week represents 7 years you will need to study Daniel’s 70 Weeks prophecy.
So, at the beginning of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will make an agreement with Israel for 7 years which will probably involve trade and defence. Then Daniel tells us that, ‘in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering. The ‘middle of the week’ is half way through the 7 years, which is three and a half years. So, in the first half of the Tribulation the temple will be rebuilt and there will be sacrifices. But half way through the Tribulation, the Antichrist puts a stop to the sacrifices.
Then Daniel tells us that ‘on the wings of abominations will come one who makes desolate’. But what does this mean? It means that the Antichrist will establish a new religion in the temple. The word abomination in the bible is used when talking about idols and idolatry. So, idols will be set up in the temple. In Hebrew, the word translated as wings refers to a pinnacle on the temple. This means that an idol (usually a statue or an image) will be put on the top of the temple. In fact, at the half way point of the Tribulation, idols will be placed in the Holy of Holies and on the top of the temple. This is what Jesus means by the Abomination of Desolation and when it happens it will kick off the second half of the Tribulation.
It is worth pointing out at this point in this study that there are 3 verses in the Book of Daniel that speak of an abomination of desolation. They are Daniel 9:27, Daniel 11:31 and Daniel 12:11. But only two of them are about the Abomination of Desolation that Jesus spoke about. They are Daniel 9:27 and Daniel 12:11. Daniel 11:31 is about Antiochus Epiphanies IV who desecrated the Jewish temple in 167BC. He desecrated the temple by sacrificing a pig in it and by erecting a statue of Zeus in it. In the future the Antichrist will do something similar but different. We see this in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4. The man of lawlessness is just another name for the Antichrist.
So, what instruction does Jesus give to those who see the Abomination of Desolation? He tells those who are in Judea to flee to the mountains. Those who live in Judea are Jews. This shows us that the passage we are looking at in this study is Israel centric. However, it will still be relevant to Gentile believers at that time.
Verses 15 and 16 show us that the Jewish believers must leave in great haste. They will have to leave with such haste that they won’t be able to take provisions for themselves. So, how are they going to survive? I suggest that God will take care of them just like He did for the Israelites in the desert after they fled from Egypt. During the three and half years of the Great Tribulation God will feed and take care of the Jewish believers who flee to the mountains.
Verses 17 to 20
In these verses Jesus emphasises just how dreadful the last three and a half years of the Tribulation will be. We see this especially in Verse 19. In Verse 19 Jesus says that ‘those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of creation which God created until now, and never will’. Jesus is saying that those days will be the worst ever. For instance, in World War 2, 4% of the world’s population died. But in the Book of Revelation, we see that at the 4th seal, 25% of the world’s population dies. Then at the sixth trumpet judgement, 33% more die.
Furthermore, let’s see what Isaiah had to say about the Tribulation in Isaiah 13:9:
‘Behold the Day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate it’s sinners from it.’
Remember that the Day of the Lord is another name for the Tribulation.
In Verse 19 of our passage, Jesus is also alluding to Daniel 12:1:
“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.”
Daniel is talking about Israel. When Daniel says that “there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time” he is talking about the Great Tribulation.
Notice what Jesus says in Verse 20 of the passage we are looking at in this study. He says, “Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved”. Is He saying that the three and a half years will be shortened? No, He’s not. In the Book of Revelation, it says over and over again that the period will last the full three and a half years. No, what Jesus is saying is that the Lord could have made this period longer but He chose to limit it to three and a half years. If He had made it any longer, then no living creature would have survived. All of this shows us just how terrible the Great Tribulation will be.
Verses 21 to 23
In these verses Jesus gives a warning about false Christs and false prophets. The warning is for believers who are alive during the Great Tribulation. We know this by the use of the term ‘the elect’. The elect is another term for believers. The false Christs and prophets try to deceive the elect through false signs and wonders. The only true sign for believers at that time will be Jesus coming in the clouds (the Second Coming).