Do NOT Believe It.?
In Mat 24:22-26, we read of Jesus telling His disciples what NOT to believe, Twice!
Normally, we will tell people what to believe instead of what NOT to believe. By telling them what not to believe is to pre-warn them of the dangers ahead.
What are they NOT to believe?
- here is the Christ, there is the Christ - do NOT believe it
- Here is the prophet, listen to their words - do NOT believe it
- Christ is in the wilderness, Christ is in the inner rooms - do NOT believe it
By narrowing down to "what to believe" and "what not to believe", we can make it into a "believe statement". That's what many churches and organizations have done. These statements define them and their objectives. When Jesus tells His disciples "what to believe" and "what not to believe", He is drawing the boundaries for them, because He knows that in the days ahead, there will be many who will deceive the uninformed, and even quote scripture out of context to justify their objectives.
Q: Why did Jesus tell them "do not believe it"? Why is it important not to believe these things? This is not the first time. Jesus said "I have told you beforehand". That means Jesus has warn them about this before to them. It is like another warning again and again, so that they will not so easily deceived.
In v22, "the days will be shortened". What days? It is the days mentioned in v21. The days of "great tribulation" such as never seen before or shall ever be.
According to historians on AD70, the Roman general Titus wanted to finish the destruction of Jerusalem and squash the Jewish rebellion as quickly as possible. He wanted to complete the task ordered by Emperor Nero, that his father general Vespasian had started. And God had to shorten the days, because of the great destruction that was upon the holy city. The suffering and calamity was just too great.
Furthermore, there were constant in-fightings among the Jewish groups inside the city. The Roman invasion was quickened when there was no unity among the defenders.
The different leadership factions were involved in a power struggle within and this made it easy for the Romans to overthrow them.
Who were these various Jewish groups within the city walls?
They were the various Jewish communities that had fled from the neighboring towns and villages, and were taking refuge inside the security of the city walls.
These Jews were also burning up large stocks of their own provisions so that the Roman soldiers cannot have them. This led to famine and pestilence among the non-combatant Jews.
When we read of such judgement and wrath of God upon Israel, we are reminded of similar judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah. See Mat 10:15; Mark 11:23; Luke 10:12; 17:29.
Jesus drew a parallel between the "last days", "days of vengeance" and "judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah"
v22 talks about the "elect". These were the Jews who believed in Jesus as their Messiah. These are the "remnant" Jews that escaped the destruction. They were saved.
Just like in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his family believed the warnings from God and fled. If Lot had stayed back within the city, he and his family would have been destroyed. Similarly for the Jews believers.
V23-24 tells us that false Christs and false prophets will arise. Jesus said "do NOT believe it". Don't believe that a savior or messiah or redeemer is going to arise and stop this "great tribulation" from happening. Don't believe them. They are fake and false. They will prophesy wrongly just to achieve their objective.
Josephus the Jewish historian tells us of many stories of false leaders that arose and wanted to fight the Roman armies, and the false prophets who deceive the Jewish soldiers of God's deliverance for them.
Q: Why did the Jews (those who did not follow Jesus) chose to believe in these false Christs and false prophets?
A: It is because they refuse to accept Jesus as their Messiah that was promised by their prophets. They believed that the Messiah is going to be a military leader that will win battles against the Gentiles and make Israel great again. So these false Christs and false prophets fit into their mental expectations.
See my earlier post on false christs and false prophets:
https://advancingtruth.blogspot.com/2020/04/false-christs-do-not-be-tricked.html
https://advancingtruth.blogspot.com/2020/04/false-prophets-will-come-not-end-yet.html
Those who believed Jesus and did not believe these false Christs and false prophets were spared the destruction. They escaped the day of vengeance as prophesied in Luke 21:22; Isa 34:8; 35:4; 61:2.
God has removed the kingdom of God from Israel and given it to the believers of Jesus Christ. The kingdom is now ours. The kingdom is no longer a favored nation, but the kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17).
In Josephus book "Wars of the Jews, page 453:", we read of one false prophet who told the Jews to go to the top of the Temple and wait for the signs of deliverance:
[ ..a false prophet was the occasion of these people's destruction who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day that God commanded them to get upon the Temple and that there should be there to receive miraculous signs of their deliverance.
Now there was a great number of false prophets raised by the tyrants to impose upon the people who denounced this to them that they should wait for deliverance from God ... ]
Interestingly, before Jesus came, there were no Jewish records of false Christs. Nobody came in their time claiming to be their Messiah until after the cruxification, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, and then there was a huge number of people claiming to be the Messiah.
Henry Kett wrote in his book "History the Interpreter of Prophecy" in 1800,
[ ..from the death of Herod the Great to the destruction of the Temple, Jewish history is filled with the names of false Christs and false prophets who deceived both Jews and Samaritans. None appeared before this period and not more than one for 5 or 6 centuries after this period... ]
Jesus prophecy about false messiahs was not a random word and hoping to catch one, like so many false prophets today. Jesus was right on the dot, about the rising of false messiahs after Him, and within that period before AD70.
There was a boom in the number of false Christs and false prophets for the period after His resurrection and AD70.
Mat 24:23-24 is telling them not to be fooled by these dynamic or charismatic leaders who had the anointing. There is going to be signs and wonders, but it doesn't mean it is the truth. Anointed men and women may not have the knowledge of truth and can keep people in bondage.
The apostle John was present before Jesus when He gave the warnings in Mat 24:23-24. Later, this is what John wrote in 1 John 4:1-3, and 1 John 2:18
1Jn 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
1Jn 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
1Jn 2:18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
John was confirming what Jesus spoke to them.
1 John was written about 2000 years ago, before AD70, in the timeline of their generation. It was the "last hour" and false prophets were already present in the world at the time of his writing.
Jesus actually warned them twice within Matthew 24, in verse 11 and verse 25.
This was the pattern of God. He always warns His people before a great event or judgement wa going to take place.
Take for example:
- Noah was warned about the flood by a man named Methuselah, who lived till 969 years old. Methuselah's name mean "at his death, it shall be sent".
- Abraham was warned about Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Ezekiel prophesied about the destruction of Israel by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar.
- and many more examples.
Then Jesus continues:
Mat 24:26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
The Jews have a room in the Temple called the "chamber of secrets" or "secret chamber" or "inner chamber". Jesus said, do NOT believe Christ is there. There are actually 2 chambers inside the Temple, the chamber of secrets and the chamber of utensils.
Jesus said, I will not be in them. Do NOT believe them.
