Flee to the Mountains
This phrase "flee to the mountains" is found in Mat 24:16; Mark 13:14; Luk 21:21
Let's look at Matthew:
Mat 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Mat 24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Mat 24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Mat 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day.
The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that the general Caius Cestius Gallus of the Roman armies, was the 1st of all the generals to initiate an attack on the city of Jerusalem. He attacked the surrounding walls (which was acting as a protection wall) for 5 days and after that he stopped. He didn't continue his attack for certain reasons. It was during this period of non-attack mode, that the Jews came out and killed 5300 Roman soldiers and chased the armies away.
See a write up on the general:
From the account, it seems that the Jewish army was winning against the Romans. However, Josephus noticed a rather peculiar happening, and that is many of the eminent Jews ran away from the city, like those fleeing from a ship about to sink. Josephus couldn't understand why the Jews left the city after a short victory over the Romans.
Josephus was a Jew who became a Roman citizen. He was not a Christian and so he did not write from a spiritual perspective but wrote everything as he saw.
Eusebius, who is a Christian and one of the earliest church historian, was a 3rd Century church leader and writer. In fact, he has the only surviving written accounts of the church history in the 1st 300 years. There were very few written accounts and whatever was written by other church leaders could have been lost or destroyed in the war.
See:
In Eusebius book "History of the Church: page 111" he wrote:
[ Furthermore the members of the Jerusalem church, by means of an oracle given by revelation to acceptable persons there, were ordered to leave the city before the War began, and settled in a town in Perea called Pella. To Pella, those who believed in Christ migrated from Jerusalem, and as if holy men had utterly abandoned the royal metropolis of the Jews and the entire Jewish land. The judgement of God at last overtook them for the abominable crimes against Christ and His apostles, completely blotting out that wicked generation from among men.. ]
Q: What was that oracle given by revelation?
A: It was Matthew 24:16 (see above).
This was the common knowledge among Christians even from the 1st Century. When they saw Caius start the assault they just fled, even though the Jewish army enjoyed a short victory over the Romans. For the Christians, they did not see it as a victory for Jerusalem. They took it as a fulfillment of Jesus warning according to Mat 24:16. Jesus ask them to leave, so they left.
John Gill, a respected bible scholar and theologian, said in his book "Exposition of the New Testament (1852)" with regard to Mat 24:16.
[ It is remarked by certain interpreters, that which Josephus took noticed off with surprise, that Caius having advanced to Jerusalem and besieged it, all of a sudden without any cause, raised the siege and withdraw his army when the city might have easily been taken. By which means, a signal was made and an opportunity given to the Christians to make their escape. Which they accordingly did, and went over to Jordan, as Eusebius said to a place called Pella. So when Titus came a few months later to destroy the city, there was not a Christian in Jerusalem anymore. ]
It looks like the Christians took Jesus warnings very seriously in that generation. It was a life and death decision. When they saw the armies start to surround Jerusalem, they fled.
In Mat 24:17-20 Jesus gave very specific and detailed instructions to His disciples.
v17 - make haste, and don't waste any time. If you are on the housetop, don't go back into the house. Don't return to take anything. The flat roof of those days has access to the outside of the building. They also have walkways leading from one housetop to another. The Jews spent lots of time on the housetops. It was like another room to them, maybe to escape the heat or for greater fresh air. With the warning, they can easily jump down from housetop to housetop and run away. They were to leave the city immediately by going to the city gates and flee to the mountains. It was a very serious situation. This was the window of opportunity for them to flee, when the Roman armies are retreating.
v18 - when they are in the fields, don't go back to the city. There is no time to gather anything but to flee away from the city into the mountains.
v17 and v18 is very similar to another historical incident in Jewish history when God rained judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah as recorded in book of Genesis. In the story, Lot and his wife and family were to flee the city.
Gen 19:17 tells us that they were not even allowed to look back but to escape to the mountains. Jesus, being a Jew, knew about this history of Lot and his wife, and He used this story as an example to the Jews as to how to do it.
In a parallel account to Mat 24:17-20, we find in Luke 17:28-32.
Luk 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luk 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Luk 17:31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
Luk 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.
Jesus didn't have to tell them what happened to Lot's wife. He just said "remember her". They all knew what happened to her when she looked back and turned into a pillar of salt ! (an Aramaic idiom).
Jesus showed the correct interpretation of Lot and his wife, to remind the Jews, of the coming judgement and not to go back to Jerusalem, if not they will die.
Mat 24:19 if they are pregnant with a child or are carrying a baby, it is going to be difficult for them in fleeing. The journey will be difficult. The terrain will be difficult. The running and walking will be difficult.
v20 - pray that it will not be in winter or on sabbath. This verse showed us that even Jesus did not know the exact time or exact day when the Day of Vengeance is going to happen. All that the Father God has shown to Jesus was that it is going to happen to that generation and it is very soon. He did not know whether it will happen in winter or summer, or on a Thursday or Friday. If it is in winter, it will be tougher on them, as the days will be short and the nights will be long.
As for the sabbath day, Christians are no longer bound under the Old Covenant of observing the sabbath day. That's why in Acts, we see the disciples did not observe the Sabbath day. For the Christians, Jesus is our sabbath. Jesus said that only the Father knows the day or the hour.
Why did Jesus mentioned about praying that the Day will not be on sabbath day?
It could be that the Jews in Jerusalem are still very traditional Jews in practices. They were in a transition of following after Jesus Christ, and so some of their traditions have not been completely dealt with. The rest of the Jews almost 99% of the population in the city still observe the sabbath very strictly but not the disciples of Jesus.
Another reason could be that on a sabbath day, the Jews have travel restrictions. Their previous rabbi only gave them 2000 steps to walk on a sabbath day, that is less than half a mile. If they truly observe this ritual, then they cannot reach the mountains. Also to enforce this rule, the city gate keepers actually close the gates on the sabbath day, and make it compulsory for Jews not to travel outside the city.
Q: What will happen to them if they do not take heed to these warnings of Jesus to flee away to the mountains?
A: Luke 19:43-44 tells us that the enemy is going to dig a trench around them and encompassed them, and they cannot get in or get out anymore. They will be surrounded by the invading armies.
That was the reason Josephus observed that the Christian Jews were fleeing the city of Jerusalem like people swimming away from a sinking ship.
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