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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

GOD HAS SHOWN MERCY. FOR THOSE WHO REJECT THAT, THERE IS ONLY THE JUSTICE AND VENGEANCE OF GOD WHICH IS ETERNAL DAMNATION.

GOD HAS SHOWN MERCY. FOR THOSE WHO REJECT THAT, THERE IS ONLY THE JUSTICE AND VENGEANCE OF GOD WHICH IS ETERNAL DAMNATION.


Luke Chapter 19

The words of Our Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in red.


19:10 "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

19:11 As they were hearing these things, he added and spoke a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately be manifested.

19:12 He said therefore: "a certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.

19:13 And calling his ten servants, he gave them ten pounds and said to them: Trade till I come.
19:14 But his citizens hated him and they sent an delegation after him, saying: 'We will not have this man to reign over us.'
19:15 And it came to pass that he returned, having received the kingdom: and he commanded his servants to be called, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading,

19:16 And the first came saying: 'Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.'

19:17 And he said to him: 'Well done, thou good servant, because thou hast been faithful in a little, thou shalt have power over ten cities.'
19:18 And the second came, saying: 'Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.'
19:19 And he said to him: 'Be thou also over five cities.'
19:20 And another came, saying: ' Lord, behold here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin.
19:21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up what thou didst not lay down: and thou reapest that which thou didst not sow.'
19:22 He saith to him: 'Out of thy own mouth I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up what I laid not down and reaping that which I did not sow.
19:23 And why then didst thou not give my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have exacted it with usury?'
19:24 And he said to them that stood by: 'Take the pound away from him and give it to him that hath ten pounds.'
19:25 And they said to him: 'Lord, he hath ten pounds.'
19:26 But I say to you that to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: and from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him.
19:27 But as for those my enemies, who would not have me reign over them, bring them hither and slay them in my presence."


19:28 And having said these things, he went before, going up to Jerusalem.

19:29 And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethania, unto the mount called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples,

19:30 Saying: "Go into the town which is over against you, at your entering into which you shall find the colt of an ass tied, on which no man ever hath sitten: loose it and bring it.

19:31 And if any man shall ask you: 'Why are you loosing it?' You shall say thus unto him: Because the Lord hath need of it.' "

19:32 And they that were sent went their way and found the colt standing, as he said unto them.

19:33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said to them: "Why are you loosing it?

19:34 But they said: "Because the Lord has need of it."

19:35 And they brought it to Jesus. And casting their cloaks over the colt, they set Jesus on it.

19:36 And as he went, they spread their cloaks upon the road.

19:37 And when he was drawing near, being now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole company of his disciples began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice, for all the miracles that they had seen,

19:38 Saying: "Blessed is he who comes as king, in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

19:39 And some of the Pharisees, from the crowds, said to him: "Master, rebuke thy disciples."

19:40 He said to them: "I tell you that if these keep silence, the stones will cry out."

19:41 And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying:

19:42 "If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes.
19:43 For the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round and straiten thee on every side,
19:44 And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee. And they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation."
19:45 And entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein and them that bought.

19:46 Saying to them: "It is written: My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves."

19:47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. And the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people sought to destroy him.

19:48 And they found not what to do to him: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.




The Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians

The day of the Lord is not to come till the man of sin be revealed. The apostle's teachings are to be observed.


2:1 And we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and of our gathering together unto him:

2:2 That you be not easily moved from your sense nor be terrified, neither by spirit nor by word nor by epistle. as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand.



Chap. 2. Ver. 2. Spirit . . . utterance. . . letterindicate three possible sources of their belief that the parousia is imminent. Spirit refers to some falsely claimed revelation, utterance may be a statement of Paul’s which was misunderstood, or wrongly attributed to him, the letter seems to be one forged in Paul’s name.



2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition


Ver. 3. . . The parousia must be preceded by a great apostasy, i.e., a great religious revolt, and the advent of the man of sin, i.e., Antichrist. Son of perdition, one entirely deserving of eternal punishment.



Ver. 3. The day of the Lord will not come. These words have been inserted to complete the sentence, which in the original is elliptical. The expanded reads "Let no man deceive you by any means: for the day of the Lord will not come unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition"




2:4 Who opposeth and is lifted up above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God.


Ver. 4. In the temple, that of Apostate Jerusalem which the full consensus of the Church Fathers declare he will rebuild - i.e. the Temple of Remphan; and in the Apostate shell of the former Christian church, which he perverts to his own worship: as the Freemasons have done to the Vatican.



Ver. 4. Antichrist will be characterized by great impiety and pride. He sits in the temple of God, etc. He will aspire to be treated as God and proclaim that he is really God.


2:5 Remember you not that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

2:6 And now you know what restrains him, that he may be revealed in his proper time.


Ver. 6. What restrains him. The Thessalonians knew the obstacle. We also know that it is Jesus Christ.

2:7 For the mystery of iniquity is already at work: only that he who is at present restraining it, does still restrain, until he is gotten out of the way.


Ver. 7. Mystery of iniquity, the evil power of Satan’s threefold prevarication and total Apostasy from God, of which Antichrist is to be the public exponent and champion. He who is at present restraining it. The obstacle is now spoken of as a person. Some point out that Michael the archangel and his heavenly army are obstacles, and this is true, which now prevent the appearance of Antichrist – but the primary obstacle is, as St. Justin Martyr teaches: Jesus Christ Himself; when the great Apostasy is complete, then in effect, Christ is “gotten out of the way.”



2:8 And then that wicked one shall be revealed: whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: him




Ver. 8. When Christ appears in glory, He will inflict defeat and death on Antichrist by a mere word of command.


2:9 Whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power and signs and lying wonders:



Ver. 9 – 10. By the aid of Satan Antichrist will perform prodigies which men will falsely regard as miracles, and by means of which they will be led to adopt sinful practices.




2:10 And with all wicked deception to those who are perishing. For they have not received the love of truth that they might be saved.

2:11 Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying:



Ver. 11. God shall send. . .That is God shall suffer them to be deceived by lying wonders, and false miracles, in punishment of their not entertaining the love of truth.


Ver. 11. 'God sends.' God will allow their willful rejection of truth to have its natural results of spiritual blindness, impenitence and damnation. A misleading influence, or, “a delusion.” Theoperation of error - the Greek reads: "energian planes" or literally the energy of delusion, which is exactly and actually the fallen spirits of the devils and demons conjured by pagan religion, especially by idolatry. NOW, currently, the Assisi delusion of the Apostates, Ratzinger and Wojtyla and many others present with them, is a very real and prime example. To give oneself over to this is to invite utter and complete damnation of oneself by God.

2:12 That all may be judged who have not believed the truth but have consented to iniquity.



2:13 But we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of God, for that God hath chosen you firstfruits unto salvation, in sanctification of the spirit and faith of the truth:



Ver. 13. First-fruits, i.e., earliest believers in the gospel. Some manuscripts read: “from the beginning.” That is, God called them from all eternity.


2:14 Whereunto also he hath called you by our gospel, unto the purchasing of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.




2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast: and hold the teachings, which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle.


Ver. 15. Teachings, i.e., his teachings whether given orally or in writing. Concerning Apostolic teaching – the oral is included in the written at the point we have the whole New Testament complete, i.e. with the completion of St. John’s Gospel.


2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God and our Father, who hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope in grace,





2:17 Exhort your hearts and confirm you in every good work and word.


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See this. The final trap: The Justice of God: Pax et Securitatis


Pax et Securitatis (peace and security) is the ancient Roman pagan religious inscription on the altar of Caesar in Thessalonika. It meant worship Caesar and be secure under the Roman peace - or die. (see St. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians here in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, peace and security; then shall sudden destruction come upon them, as the pains upon her that is with child, and they shall not escape.) Christian martyrs throughout time have chosen to worship God instead of whatever version of Caesar has claimed a false title of divinity for himself. The final Antichrist will claim to be the god over all false gods. See 2Thess 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, 4 Who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. 5 Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 

Genocides of the forces of Antichrist throughout the world and the False Peace of Vatican II Assisi Ecumenism as the answer promoted by the False Prophet are the Devil's way to push the apostates throughout the world (all those who do not confess the Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ) to take the mark of the Beast and be damned forever with the Devil.










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Special Palestine Cry Blog articles: The Justice of God: As in the days of Noah: Matthew 24 - As in the days of Noah







At the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman general Titus in A.D. 70, only the leader of the Pharisees Rabbi Jochanan ben Zacchai escaped by his cowardly act of murder and deception after already having incited the Jews to the second worst act of rebellion against God by actually cursing God in God’s own temple. The first worst act of rebellion was to commit the double crime of Deicide murdering God’s own Messiah Jesus Christ and Perfidy never repenting of that Deicide. While setting the rest of the Jews at each other he faked his own death and secretly arranged to be and was so removed alive from the city during the siege that destroyed the temple and the city of Jerusalem.

Jochanan ben Zacchai then asked for and received the sponsorship and help of the Roman Emperor Vespasian and with that then reorganized the Satanic Priesthood of the Naasseni (the Babylonian sect of the Jews which were the Haburah the serpent worshippers), i.e the Pharisees’ Sanhedrin, in Jamnia (Yavneh).

His successor, Rabbi Gamaliel (II), circa 90 A.D., continued the curses against Christ and the Christians made in the temple by the Jew Satan Worshippers, the Naasseni. This was originally just before the destruction of the temple by the Roman General Titus.  This was the "curse against the noẓerim and the minim" (Christ and the Christians) added to the Eighteen Temple Benedictions then. This was the abomination of desolation that Jesus Christ warned about in Matthew 24. It has been recited at every "authorized" synagogue since then – ALL OF THESE SYNAGOUES ARE THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM IS THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION.

At Jamnia the Satanic cult of Pharisee Rebbis led by Rabbi Gamaliel (II), supposedly on the authority of the first Gamaliel who taught Saul and interceded for the Christians decades earlier, spouted the wide mouth frog vitriol and claimed to close the canon of Scripture against (the so called by Jamnia only) “apocryphal books” which were in fact the real Old Testament Canon of Scripture of the Biblical original Hebrew text and the Septuagint text which was faithful to that, and also against the New Covenant (New Testament) Scriptures which were the Gospels and the Book of the Acts and the Epistles and the Book of the Revelation all of which proclaimed the Truth that Jesus is the Immortal Son of God and the Messiah of God in the flesh confessed by Jew and Gentile Christian alike.

At the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. God’s judgment fell on the bloody and Satanic Jews, which the Christians escaped, having been prophetically forewarned by Christ to flee the abomination of the desolation and did so and fled to Pella directly East of the Jordan in the Decapolis area before it occurred.

The Christians flourished while the judgment of God came upon the Jews which just increased the furor of the always bloody and perfidious and demonically hardened of heart Jews clinging to their crime of Deicide hoping to secure favor from Satan (the Naas of the Naasseni  which was the Satanic Jews’ Priesthood of Babylon, the Jews Haburah, from the 6th century B.C. and was called the sect of the Pharisees at the time of Our Only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and which persecuted Him unto death – but He rose again.


Another Satanic Hoax of the Apostate Jews.

2005 Announcement anticipating their bloody stunts to fake the coming of the Apostate Jews’ false messiah which is in actuality the Antichrist, the Dajjal, the Yiddish ha maschiah. It was supposed to all have happened by 2007 (2008 at latest) since that was 40 years from the Jews bloody invasion of the Noble Sanctuary in 1967, these are part of the prophetically forewarned wars of the Antichrist. Biblically, forty years is a “generation.” That false timeline of the Jews had been geared for that forty year period to gain the support of the Apostate Christian Zionist sect of damned heretics – it has led to the Anglo-American support of the Antichrist’s wars against God and God’s people, Christian and Muslim alike in the Middle East and around the world. God will judge America and England without mercy for the complete merciless actions of the United States and Great Britain. False Antichrist Israel Gog and Magog of the Zionist Jews is destined ONLY for everlasting perdition in hellfire with Satan their ruler forever.

Senior Sephardi Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri

Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri - "With the help of G- d [Kaduri means the Devil, belial, Satan, Iblis], the soul of the Mashiach [Kaduri means a demon or even Satan himself] has attached itself to a person in Israel." See Note 1 at the bottom.

“ba” in Graeco Egptian Pagan Necromantic Sorcery is the soul of a human being, the nephesh or psuche. “ka” is a demon from Satan, or in the worst form of Satanic possession is a fallen angel or even Satan himself.

The following is the power source of the Jews and Judaism, known as “superforce” in the Apostate Vatican and is the core of Freemasonry (including especially in Washington D.C. politics all of which are owned by the Freemasonic influence) and is the central Diabolic preternatural presence in Mormonism and the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the rest of all of the Diabolic cults in the world.

That is the pagan Graeco Egyptian destruction of the “immaculate children” by ripping their entrails out to secure the demon (the “ka”) supposedly attached to the young infant’s soul (the “ba”) this is the most horrid necromantic sorcery performed by murdering children (any of these three young babies-children: preborn ripped from the mother’s womb, or just after birth, or a young child). This is the core of the Jews’ blood murder of children down through the ages and the Jews’ (Alan Guttmacher and the rest of the Jews who perpetrated abortion of Gentiles) foisting upon the world the abomination of abortion. This was the core of the cults that worshipped Satan by murder blood sacrifice in the ancient world. Included are the cults of Moloch and Chemosh in the Levant and Melkart of Carthage (Hercules of Greek pagan religion) and the rest stretching from the ancient world into the 6th century A.D. in the Mediterranean and continued to the present by Jews’ in secrecy (the so called blood libel – it is no libel, it is all true).  


MATTHEW 24
CHAPTER XXIV.

Christ foretells the destruction of the temple: with the signs that shall come before it, and before the last judgment.  We must always watch.

1 And *Jesus being come out of the temple went away.  And his disciples came to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2 And he answering, said to them: Do you see all these things?  Amen, I say to you, *there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he was sitting on Mount Olivet, the disciples came to him privately, saying: Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the world?
4 And Jesus answering, said to them: *Take heed that no man seduce you:
5 For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ: and they will seduce many.
6 And you shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars.  See that ye be not troubled.  For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places.
8 Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows.
9 *Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be scandalized, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many.
12 And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold.
13 But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come.
15 *When therefore, you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by **Daniel, the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand.
16 Then let them that are in Judea flee to the mountains:
17 And let him that is on the house top, not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 And let him that is in the field, not go back to take his coat.

19 And woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days.
20 But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the *sabbath.
21 For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be.
22 And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect, those days shall be shortened.
23 *Then if any man shall say to you: Lo, here is Christ, or there: do not believe him.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if it were possible) even the elect.
25 Behold, I have told it to you before hand.
26 If therefore, they shall say to you: Behold he is in the desert: go ye not out: Behold he is in the closets, believe it not.
27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth, even unto the west: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 *Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.
29 *And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn: *and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty.
31 *And he shall send his Angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect, from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.
32 Now learn a parable from the fig-tree: when its branch is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh.
33 So also you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Amen, I say to you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
35 *Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour no one knoweth, no not the Angels of heaven, but the Father alone.
37 *And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away: so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field: the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill: the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
42 Watch ye, therefore, because you know not at what hour your Lord will come.
43 But this know ye, *that if the master of the house knew at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open.
44 Wherefore be ye also ready, because at what hour you know not, the Son of man will come.
45 Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his family, to give them meat in season?
46 *Blessed is that servant, whom, when his lord shall come, he shall find so doing.
47 Amen, I say to you, he shall set him over all his goods.
48 But if that evil servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming:
49 And shall begin to strike his fellow-servants, and shall eat, and drink with drunkards:
50 The lord of that servant shall come, in a day that he expecteth not, and in an hour that he knoweth not:
51 And shall separate him, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites.  *There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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*

1 - 3:  Mark xiii. 1 - 4.; Luke xxi. 5 - 7.
1:  A.D. 33.; Mark xiii. 1.; Luke xxi. 5.
2:  Luke xix. 44.
3:  Matthew v. 1. John vi. 3.
4 - 8:  Mark xiii. 5 - 8.; Luke xxi. 8 - 11.
4:  Jer. xxix. 8.; Ephes. v. 6.; Coloss. ii. 18.
5:  Matthew xxiv. 11, 24.; Jer. xiv. 14.
7:  II Par. xv. 6.; Is. xix. 2.
9 - 14:  Mark xiii. 9 - 13.; Luke xxi. 12 - 19.
9:  Matthew x. 17.; Matthew x. 21, 22.; Luke xxi. 12.; John xv. 20.;  John xvi. 2.
11:  Matthew xxiv. 5, 24.; II Peter ii. 1.; I John iv. 1.
13:  Matthew x. 22.
14:  Matthew xxvi. 13.; Mark xvi. 15.; Col. i. 5,6,23.
15 - 22:  Mark xiii. 14 - 20. Luke xxi. 20 - 24.
15:  Mark xiii. 14.; Luke xxi. 20. --- ** Dan. ix. 27.
17, 18:   Luke xvii. 31.
19:  Luke xxiii. 29.
20:  Acts i. 12.
21:  Daniel xii. 1.; Apoc. xvi. 18.
23 - 25:  Mark xiii. 21 - 23.
23:  Mark xiii. 21.; Luke xvii. 21, 23.
24:  Matthew xxiv. 5, 11.; Dt. xiii. 1.; Apoc. xix. 20.; II Th. ii. 9.
27:  Luke xvii. 24.
28:  Job xxxix. 30.; Luke xvii. 37.
29 - 31:  Mark xiii. 24 - 27.; Luke xxi. 25 - 28.
29:  Isai. xiii. 10.; Acts ii. 20.; Apoc. vi. 12,13.; Is. xxxiv. 4.; Ezech. xxxii. 7.; Joel ii. 10.; Joel iii. 15.; Mark xiii. 24.; Luke xxi. 25.; 
30:  IV Esr. xiii. 32; Zach. xii. 12.; Apoc. i. 7.; Matthew xvi. 27.; Matthew xxvi. 64.; Daniel vii. xiii.; Mark viii. 38.;  Luke ix. 26.; Apoc. xiv. 14.
30, 31:  I Thess. iv. 16.
31:  1 Cor. xv. 52.; 1 Thess. iv. 15.; Matthew xiii. 41.; Isaiah xxvii. 12, 13.
32, 33:  Mark xiii. 28, 29.; Luke xxi. 29 - 31.
33:  James v. 9.; Apoc. iii. 20. 
34, 35:  Luke xxi. 32, 33.  
34 - 36:  Mark xiii. 30 - 32.  
34:  Matthew xxiii. 36. 
35:  Matthew v. 18.; Mark xiii. 31.; II Peter iii. 12.; Psalm ci. 27.; Psalm cxviii. 89. 
36:  Matthew xxv. 13.; Zach. xiv. 7.; Mark xiii. 32, 35.; Acts i. 7.   
37 - 39:  Luke xvii. 26, 27.  
37:  Gen. vii. 7.; Luke xvii. 26.
38:  Luke xx. 34.; Gen. vii. 13.  
40, 41:  Luke xvii. 34, 35. 
42:  Matthew xxiv. 50.; Matthew xxv. 13.; Mark xiii. xxxiii.
43, 44:  Luke xii. 39, 40.
43:  Mark xiii. 35.; Luke xii. 39.
45 - 51:  Luke xii. 42 - 46.
45:  Ps. ciii. 27
46:  Apoc. xvi. 15.
47:  Matthew xxv. 21, 23.
48:  Matthew xxv. 19: II Peter iii. 4.
49:  Dt. xxi. 20. 
50:  Matthew xxiv. 42.
51:  Matthew viii. 12.; Matthew xiii. 42.; Matthew xxv. 30.
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MATTHEW 24

CHAPTER XXIV.

Ver. 1.  After the fatigues of preaching and teaching, Jesus towards evening left the temple, as it is in the Greek, eporeueto apo tou ierou, and went towards Mount Olivet, where he was accustomed to spend his nights, as we learn from S. Luke, c. xxi. v. penult.  Jans. — His disciples came to shew him the buildings, not moved by curiosity, for they had seen them frequently before, but by pity; because he had on a former occasion, and only just before in Jerusalem, threatened the destruction of the temple and city, hoping that the splendour and magnificence of so fine a structure, consecrated to God, might alter his determination, as S. Hilarius observes.  But the anger of God, provoked by sins, is not to be appeased with stones and buildings.  He therefore answered them: (Jans.)

Ver. 2.  Do you see all these things?  Examine again and again all this magnificence, that the sentence of heaven may appear more striking. — A stone upon a stone.  We need not look on this as an hyperbole.  The temple burnt by the Romans, and afterwards even ploughed up.  See Greg. Naz. orat. ii. cont. Julianum, Theodoret l. iii. Histor. c. xx. &c.  Wi. — Julian the apostate, wishing to falsify the predictions of Daniel and of Jesus Christ, attempted to rebuild the temple.  For this purpose, he assembled the chief among the Jews, and asking them why they neglected the prescribed sacrifices, was answered, that they could not offer any where else but in the temple of Jerusalem.  Upon this he ordered them to repair to Jerusalem, to rebuild their temple, and restore their ancient worship, promising them his concurrence in carrying on the work.  This filled the Jews with inexpressible joy.  Hence flocking to Jerusalem, they began with scorn and triumph to insult over the Christians.  Contributions came in from all parts.  The Jewish women stripped themselves of their most costly ornaments.  The emperor opened his treasures to furnish every thing necessary for the building.  The most able workmen were convened from all parts; persons of the greatest distinction were appointed to direct the work; and the emperor's friend, Alipius, was set over the whole, with orders to carry on the work without ceasing, and to spare no expense.  All materials were laid in to an immense quantity.  The Jews of both sexes bore a share in the labour; the women helping to dig the ground, and carry away the rubbish in their aprons and gowns.  It is even said that the Jews appointed some pick-axes, spades, and baskets, to be made of silver, for the honour of the work.  Till this time the foundations and some ruins of the walls had remained, as appears from S. Cyril, in his catechism xv. n. 15. and Euseb. Dem. Evang. l. viii. p. 406.  These ruins the Jews first demolished with their own hands, thus concurring to the accomplishment of our Saviour's prediction.  They next began to dig a new foundation, in which many thousands were employed.  But what they had thrown up in the day, was, by repeated earthquakes, the night following cast back again into the trench.  When Alipius the next day was earnestly pressing on the work, with the assistance of the governor of the province, there issued, says Ammianus Marcellinus, such horrible balls of fire out of the earth near the foundations, as to render the place inaccessible from time to time to the scorched workmen.  And the victorious element continuing in this manner obstinately bent, as it were, to drive them to a distance, Alipius, thought proper to abandon, though reluctantly, the enterprise.  This great event happened in the beginning of the year 363, and with many very astonishing circumstances is recorded both by Jews and Christians.  See the proofs and a much fuller account of this astonishing event, which all the ancient fathers describe as indubitable, in Alban Butler's life of S. Cyril of Jerusalem, March 18th.  Thus they so completely destroyed whatever remained of the ancient temple, that there was not left one stone upon another; nor were they permitted by heaven even to begin the new one.  Maldonatus.

Ver. 3.  Tell us, when shall these things be?  and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the world?[1]  We must take good notice with S. Jerom, that three questions are here joined together.  1. Concerning the destruction of Jerusalem; 2. of the coming of Christ; 3. of the end of the world.  Christ's answers and predictions in this chapter, are to be expounded with a reference to the three questions.  This hath not been considered by those interpreters; who expound every thing here spoken by Christ of the destruction of Jerusalem; nor by others, who will have all understood of his coming to judgment, and of the end of the world.  Wi. — It is probable the apostles themselves did not understand that they were asking about two distinct events.  Being filled with the idea of a temporal kingdom, they thought that Christ's second coming would take place soon; and that Jerusalem, once destroyed, the Messias would begin his reign on earth.

Ver. 4.  And Jesus answering.  Various are the interpretations given here.  Some will have it refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place, A.D. 70; and others, to the end of the world.  That of S. Chrys. seems to be very conformable to the context, and is followed by many.  He explains all, to the 23d verse exclusively, of what shall precede the destruction of Jerusalem; nor is there any circumstance which cannot easily be referred to that event, as will appear from a careful and attentive observation of the history of the Jews, and of the Church at that time, in the writings of Josephus and Eusebius.  Even the preaching of the gospel to the whole world, which seems to favour the contrary explanation, is by the same father said to have taken place before the destruction of Jerusalem.  S. Paul tells the Colossians, that even in his time the faith was spread all over the world.  The abomination of desolation may be explained of the Roman soldiery, or, of the seditious zealots, who, by their murders and other atrocities, polluted the temple.  See Josephus, b. 4. and 5. of the Jewish war.  As deicide was a crime peculiar to the Jews and exceeded every other crime, their punishment was severe above measure.  Had the Almighty punished them to the full of what they had deserved, not one of the Jews would have escaped.  But as he formerly would have spared Sodom and Gomorrha, had there been found therein ten just men to avert the impending ruin; so shall these days of affliction be shortened for the sake of some who believe.  The verses subsequent to the 22d, are explained by S. Chrys. of the second coming of Christ, previous to the general judgment.  Jans. — Such as wish for a more particular explanation of every thing preceding the 23d verse, how it applies to the Jews, may consult the concordance of Jansenius, who thus concludes his observations: "Hitherto we have explained all things of the destruction of Jerusalem, which prophecies, though they principally regarded the times of the apostles, may be of use to us in two ways.  1. It will confirm our faith, when we see clearly fulfilled whatever was distinctly foretold of this people; and may serve to increase our fears, when we reflect, that what is immediately added concerning the day of judgment, shall be fulfilled with the same rigorous exactitude and certainty.  It is another effect of divine Providence for the increase of our faith, that this prophecy, which was to take place with regard to Jerusalem, is not mentioned by S. John, who lived long enough to see it accomplished, but by the other evangelists, who died long before the event.  2. It should animate us in the practice of virtue, and gratitude to reflect, that whatever tribulations happen to the Church, or throughout the earth, all co-operate to the advantage of the elect.  Such as will be good, have nothing to fear."  Jans.

Ver. 5.  For many will come.  One of these was Simon Magus, who in the Acts (c. viii. v. 10.) is mentioned as calling himself the power of God; hence the apostle S. John (1 ep. ii. 18,) says, and as you have heard that Antichrist cometh, even now there are become many Antichrists.  By Antichrists I understand heretics, who, under the name of Christ, teach doctrines different from Christ; neither is there any reason for us to be surprised, if many be seduced, since our Lord declares that many will be seduced.  S. Jerom. . . .  This alone will be sufficient for us to know the false doctrines taught by Antichrist, when they assure us that they are Christ; for we do not read in any part that Christ said so of himself.  The miracles he performed, the doctrines he taught, and the virtues he on every occasion exhibited, were proofs sufficient to convince us that he was the Christ.  There is need of the assistance of God to overcome the snares laid for us by hypocrisy.  Origen. — Among these impostors were one Theodas, (Acts v. 36,) the impious Egyptian, (Acts xxi. 38,) Judas of Galilee, Menander, and several others who preceded the destruction of Jerusalem; but many more will precede the destruction of the world.  This therefore is the first sign, the seduction of many souls from the true faith by heresies, and is common to both events.  Jans. — See much more in Barradius, tom. iii. l. 9, c. 2, where he collects various illustrations from Josephus and profane authors.  M.

Ver. 6.  Shall hear of wars.  Most authors understand this second sign of the Jewish wars which preceded the ruin of Jerusalem; others of the wars of Antichrist, previous to the end of the world.  Both are very probable.  The first is proved from history, and from the events; the latter, from what we learn from the Apocalypse, will certainly happen.  M. — These things must happen, as is said of scandals and heresies, not absolutely, but considering the malice of man, and the decree of God, by which he had determined to punish the Jews.  Maldonatus.

Ver. 7.  And there shall be, according to the proverb, loimoV meta limon, plague after famine, both natural daughters of war, with intestine divisions, earthquakes, and other calamities; the third sign. . . .  As the bodies of men generally grow weak and faint previously to dissolution, so will it be with the earth before the destruction of the world; so that this inferior globe will be shaken with unusual convulsions, as if making its last effort for existence.  The air filled with destructive vapours will turn to the ruin of men, and the earth exhausted of its natural fertility, will refuse its accustomed support to the sons of Adam.  Hence will arise wars and famines, insurrections, rebellions, and mobs; some driven on by famine and want, others by ambition and avarice.  But if the corrupted heart of man shall refuse to depart from its evil ways, these calamities shall be increased; for all these are only the beginnings of more dreadful sorrows.  Origen.

Ver. 9.  Then shall they deliver you up, &c.  The fourth sign, common to both these events, shall be the persecution raised against the Church, which will be two-fold; it will regard both body and soul.  See Luke xxi. 12.  Mark xiii. 9.  All this happened to the apostles previously to the siege of Jerusalem, as well as to the martyrs in subsequent times.  A similar persecution, attended probably with additional severity, will most probably be the lot of the faithful during the reign of Antichrist.  The calamities, bloodshed, and utter ruin which took place at the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, are a figure of the still more dreadful calamities, bloodshed, and ruin to be expected towards the end of the world; and which should be frequently present to our minds.  The late learned and venerable prelate Walmesly admonishes all parents to stand prepared for the bloody trial themselves, and to teach their children to be ever ready to meet, with Christian resignation, the awful and approaching event; for the rest of the world, as we learn from revelation, will be taken by surprise, as the people at the deluge.  Yes, this last may literally be styled a bloody trial; for the Church, which was purified with blood, began in blood, increased in blood, and will end in blood.
                        Sanguine mundata est ecclesia, sanguine cœpit,
                        Sanguine succrevit, sanguine finis erit.
The last chapter of the Apocalypse, which is the last communication of the divine will to man, is deserving our frequent and very attentive perusal.  In it Jesus Christ, by his repeated warnings, wishes to awaken us to a sense of that day of general retribution, saying: surely I come quickly: behold I come quickly: and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to his works.  (Behold the merit of good works proceeding from faith and charity.)  With what earnestness have the servants of God, in every age, prayed with S. John: (ibid) Come, Lord Jesus; come, put a final end to the reign of sin and Satan; come, admit thy elect, who have been purified in the waters of the great persecution, and in the blood of the Lamb, to thy heavenly bosom; to that happy sanctuary and asylum, where no hunger or thirst, no scorching heat of the sun, no fiery temptation will any more reach or molest them; where the sigh and the groan will not be heard; where all tears will be wiped away from every eye, and where they will be inebriated at the torrent of immortal delights, and will see and enjoy the Lord Jesus, without any apprehension of offending him, for ever and ever.  A.

Ver. 11.  And many false prophets shall rise, like those lying teachers mentioned by S. Peter, (2nd Ep. c. ii. v. 1) who shall bring in sects of perdition, (i.e. heresies destructive of salvation) bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

Ver. 12.  And because iniquity hath (literally, shall) abounded, shall arrive at its height, the charity of many, carried away by the force of bad example, will grow cold; and scarcely, even among Christians, will a person be found willing to assist Christians, lest he may be known for a Christian.  Of this we have an example, 2 Tim. iv. 16, At my first answer, no man stood with me, but all forsook me: may it not be laid to their charge; but the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me.  Maldonatus.

Ver. 13.  But he that shall persevere to the end, in the midst of this trying and afflicting scene, in faith and charity, (or as it is in the Greek; he that shall preserve his patience to the end, o upomeinaV, proof against heresies, persecutions, hatreds, or scandals) shall be saved.  To perseverance alone this promise is made; for, non quæruntur in Christianis initia sed finis.  Tert.  A part of this prediction was, beyond all doubt, accomplished with regard to the faithful, in the first persecutions raised by the Jews against the infant Christian Church; but the entire and literal completion of it is reserved for the latter times.

Ver. 14.  This gospel . . . shall be preached in the whole world, to serve as a testimony to all nations, of the solicitude of heaven in having the doctrine of salvation announced to them.  This then is a fifth sign, and not till then shall the consummation come. — And then shall the consummation come.  The end of the world, says S. Jerom.  The destruction of Jerusalem, says S. Chrys. and others.  Wi. — If the final destruction of Jerusalem be here meant, the gospel had been preached throughout the major part of the then known world.  See Rom. x. and Colos. i. 6, 23.  If the end of the world, there is the greatest probability that the true faith will have been announced to every part of the globe, before that period.

Ver. 15.  The abomination of desolation was first partly fulfilled by divers profanations of the temple, as when the image of Cæsar was set up in the temple by Pilate, and Adrian's statue in the holy of holies, and when the sacrifices were taken away; but will be more completely fulfilled by Antichrist and his precursors, when they shall attempt to abolish the holy sacrifice of the mass.  S. Hyppolitus, in his treatise de Anti-Christo, mentioned by Eusebius, S. Jerom, and Photius, thus writeth: "The churches shall lament with great lamentations, because there shall neither be made oblations, nor incense, nor worship grateful to God. . .  In those days the liturgy (or mass) shall be neglected, the psalmody shall cease, the reciting of Scripture shall not be heard." — The prophet Daniel (xii. 11.) calculates the reign of Antichrist, from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away; which, by able commentators, is understood of the sacrifice of the mass, which Antichrist will endeavour to suppress. — The abomination of desolation,[2] or the abominable desolation.  Instead of these words, we read in S. Luke, (xxi. 20.) When you shall see Jerusalem surrounded by an army.  Christ said both the one and the other.  But the words in S. Luke, seem rather to give us a sign of the ruin of Jerusalem, than of the end of the world. — Spoken of by Daniel, the prophet.  The sense is, when you shall see that very prophecy of Daniel literally fulfilled hereafter.  What follows in the prophecy of Daniel, confirms this exposition; when the prophet adds, that the desolation shall continue to the end; that the Jews from that time, shall be no more the people of God, for denying their Messias; and that they shall put the Christ to death.  But what then was this desolation, which by the following verse, was to be a sign to the Christians to fly out of Judea?  Some expound it of the heathen Roman army, approaching and investing Jerusalem, called the holy city.  Others understand the profanation of the temple, made by the Jews themselves, a little before the siege under Vespasian; when the civil dissensions, those called the Zealots, had possessed themselves of the temple, and placed their warlike engines upon the pinnacles; and a part, at least, of the temple was defiled with the dead bodies of those killed there.  It was at that time that the Christians, according to Christ's admonition, left Jerusalem and Judea, and fled to Pella, beyond the river Jordan.  See Euseb. l. iii. Hist. c. v.  Wi.

Ver. 16.  Then let those.  It is well known that this prophecy was verified to the letter, in the destruction of Jerusalem.  For, as the Roman army advanced, all the Christians who were in the province, forewarned by divine admonition, retired to a distance, and crossing the Jordan, took refuge in the city of Pella, situated in Trachonitis, and became subjects of king Agrippa, who was in amity with the Romans.  Remigius.

Ver. 17.  Not come down, into the house.  They had no occasion, as Mauduit and others seem to suppose, to throw themselves from the roof, for the Jews had usually stairs on the outside of their houses.  V.

Ver. 20.  In the winter: an inconvenient season for flying away. — Or on the sabbath, when it was lawful to travel only about a mile.  Wi. — Pray to God that you may be enabled to escape those evils, and that there may be no impediment to your flight.  Estius in dif. loca.

Ver. 22.  No flesh: a Hebraism for no person; denoting that no one would have escaped death, had the war continued.  Wi. — All the Jews would have been destroyed by the Romans, or all the Christians by Antichrist.  Maldonatus. — From this place, Jesus Christ foretells the coming of Antichrist, and forewarns Christians of latter ages, to guard all they can against seduction.

Ver. 23.  Lo, here is Christ.  These words are very aptly applied by Catholics to the conventicles of heretics; and would Christians attend to the injunctions of their divine Master, Go ye not out:—believe it not, we should not see the miserable confusion occasioned in the Catholic Church [which, the Catholic Church, is not defined by "Rome" but by adherence to apostolic doctrine], by unsteady Christians; who are guilty of schism, in forsaking the one true fold, and one shepherd, to follow their blind and unauthorized leaders (typologically this refers to Gnostics and Judaizing heretics or those which blaspheme God with false doctrines such as Freemasonry and its embrace of Satan.).  E. MOST ESPECIALLY we are warned here not to have anything to do with the false shepherd(s) who will come at the end nor any with them nor those who follow them - see here: Concerning the false prophets and the False Prophet, i.e. the primary ones and the False Prophet himself, Huchede quotes the conclusion in accord with the full consensus of the Church Fathers, The Antichrist - Chapter 2 - ARTICLE II - 2.His Apostles  "...he will not be a king, nor a general of an army, but a clever apostate, fallen from the episcopal dignity. From being an apostle of the Gospel he will become the first preacher of the false messiah." These are the current Antipopes since 1958 (John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI), and all of the episcopal leaders with them (Episcopus meaning Bishop, especially the Bishops [Antipopes] of Rome fallen from the faith).

Ver. 26.  Behold he is in the desert.  This prediction of false Christs, may be understood before the destruction of Jerusalem, but chiefly before the end of the world.  Wi. — As we have mentioned above, in note on verse 5.

Ver. 28.  Wheresoever the body,[3] &c.  This seems to have been a proverb or common saying among the Jews.  Several of the ancient interpreters, by this body, understand Christ himself, who died for us; and they tell us, that at his second coming the angels and saints, like eagles, with incredible swiftness, will join him at the place of judgment.  Wi. — When he shall come to judgment, all, as it were by a natural instinct, shall fly to meet him, and receive their judgment.  S. Hilary understands this literally; that where his body shall hang upon the cross, there will he appear in judgment, i.e. near the valley of Josaphat; in which place the prophet Joel (c. iii. v. 2,) declares, that the general judgment shall take place.  T.

Ver. 29.  The sun shall be darkened, &c.  These seem to be the dreadful signs that shall forerun the day of judgment. — The stars shall fall, not literally, but shall give no light.  Wi. — According to S. Austin, by the sun is meant Jesus Christ; by the moon, the Church, which will appear as involved in darkness.

Ver. 30.  The sign of the Son of man, &c.  The Fathers generally expound this of the cross of Christ, that shall be seen in the air.  Wi. — This sign is the cross, much more resplendent than the sun itself.  Therefore the sun hides its diminished head, whilst the cross appears in glory; because the great standard of the cross, excels in brightness all the refulgent rays that dart from the meridian sun.  S. Chrys. hom. lxxvii. — The Jews, looking upon him whom they had pierced, now coming in the clouds of heaven with power and exceedingly great glory, shall have great lamentations.  Bitterly will they weep over their misery, in having despised and insulted him on a cross, who ought to have been the object of their veneration, adoration, and love.  S. Chrys. hom. lxxvii.

Ver. 34.  This generation; i.e. the nation of the Jews shall not cease to exist, until all these things shall be accomplished: thus we see the nation of the Jews still continue, and will certainly continue to the end of the world.  T. — Then the cross, which has been a scandal to the Jew, and a stumbling-block to the Gentile, shall appear in the heavens, for the consolation of the good Christian.  Hoc signum crucis erit in cœlo, cum Dominus ad judicandum venerit. — If it be to be understood of the destruction of Jerusalem, the sense may be, this race of men now living; if of the last day of judgment, this generation of the faithful, saith Theophylactus,[4] shall be continued: i.e. the Church of Christ, to the end of the world.  Wi. — This race, I tell you in very truth, shall not pass away till all this be finally accomplished in the ruin of Jerusalem, the most express figure of the destruction and end of the world.  V. — By generation, our Saviour does not mean the people that were in existence at that time, but the faithful of his Church; thus says the psalmist: this is the generation of them that seek the Lord.  Ps. xxiii, v. 6.  S. Chrys. hom. lxxvii. The final destruction of Jerusalem shall come at the end of the age when Jerusalem shall have become the center of Antichrist's short lived empire; then shall Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ at His Second Coming raise and judge all men in the flesh here on earth at the general judgment of all men by the just judge, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ver. 35.  Shall pass away:  because they shall be changed at the end of the world into a new heaven and new earth.  Ch.

Ver. 36.  No man knoweth . . . but the Father alone.  The words in S. Mark (xiii. 32.) are still harder: neither the angels, nor the Son, but the Father.  The Arians objected this place, to shew that Christ being ignorant of the day of judgment, could not be truly God.  By the same words, no one knoweth, but the Father alone, (as they expound them) the Holy Ghost must be excluded from being the true God.  In answer to this difficulty, when it is said, but the Father alone, it is certain that the eternal Son and the Holy Ghost could never be ignorant of the day of judgment: because, as they are one and the same God, so they must hove one and the same nature, the same substance, wisdom, knowledge, and all absolute perfections.  2. It is also certain that Jesus Christ knew the day of judgment, and all things to come, by a knowledge which he could not but have, because of the union by which his human nature was united to the divine person and nature.  See Colos. ii. 3.  And so to attribute any ignorance to Christ, was the error of those heretics called Agnoitai.  3. But though Christ, as a man, knew the day of judgment, yet this knowledge was not due to him as he was man, or because he was man, but he only knew the day of judgment, because he was God as well as man.  4. It is the common answer of the fathers, that Christ here speaks to his disciples, only as he was the ambassador of his Father; and so he is only to know what he is to make known to men.  He is said not to know, says S. Aug.[5], what he will not make others know, or what he will not reveal to them.  Wi. — By this Jesus Christ wished to suppress the curiosity of his disciples.  In the same manner after his resurrection, he answered the same question: 'Tis not for you to know the times and the moments, which the Father has placed in his own power.  This last clause is added, that the apostles might not be discouraged and think their divine Master esteemed them unworthy of knowing these things.  Some Greek MSS. add nor even the Son, as in Mark xiii. 32.  The Son is ignorant of it, not according to his divinity, nor even according to his humanity hypostatically united to his divinity, but according to his humanity, considered as separate from his divinity.  V.

Ver. 37-38.  And as it was.  The same shall take place at the coming of the Son of man at the last day, as at the general deluge.  For, as then they indulged their appetites, unmindful of the fate that was attending them, gamounteV kai ekgamizonteV, marrying and given in marriage, solely occupied with the concerns of this life, and indifferent to those of the next; so shall it be at the end of the world.  They are not here accused of gross sins, but of a supine security of their salvation, as is evident from what follows.  Jans.

Ver. 39.  And they thought not of the deluge, though preached and predicted by Noe, (which rendered their ignorance and incredulity inexcusable) till it came and swept them all away.  So shall it be at the coming of the Son of man.  S. Luke adds, (c. xvii, v. 28,) likewise as it was in the days of Lot; they shall be eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, i.e. totally immersed in worldly pursuits.  Hence the apostle; when they shall say peace, viz. from past evils, and security, viz. from future, then shall destruction come upon them on a sudden.  But some one may ask, how can there possibly be all this peace, all this security, when the evils mentioned above, famines, wars, plagues, earthquakes, and particularly the darkness of the sun, &c. &c. are presages calculated to strike with panic and consternation minds the most thoughtless and giddy?  I answer, that the wicked are chiefly designed here, who in the midst of the afflictions and alarms of the good, will still indulge in their pleasures and luxuries, like cruel soldiers, whilst the peaceable inhabitants are plundered.  S. Jerom adds, that the world for some time before its final dissolution, will be freed from all those calamities.  As to what is said (v. 29,) of the darkness of the sun and moon, these are circumstances that refer to the very coming of the judge.  Jans.

Ver. 40.  Then of two men, who shall think of nothing less than of going to appear before God, one shall be taken to be placed among the number of the elect, and the other shall be left condemned to eternal fire with the damned, on account of his crimes.  V. — This example of the men in the field, and of the condition and disposition of men at the period of the deluge, strongly expresses how unexpectedly these evils will rush in upon mankind; and the subsequent account of the two women grinding in the mill, shews how little they were solicitous for their salvation.  We are, moreover, taught by these examples, that some of all states and conditions will be saved, whether rich or poor, in ease or labour, or decorated with all the various degrees of worldly honour.  The same is mentioned in Exodus, c. xi, v. 5.  From the first-born of Pharao, who sitteth on his throne, even to the first-born of the handmaid that is at the mill, . . . every first-born shall die.  S. Chrys. hom. lxxviii.

Ver. 41.  Two women.  Slaves of both sexes were employed in grinding corn.  Of these, one shall be carried up to heaven by angels, the other shall be left a prey to devils, on account of her bad life.  V. — In many ancient MSS. both Greek and Latin, what we read in S. Luke, (xvii. 34.) of two men in the same bed, one shall be taken, and the other shall be left, is here added.

Ver. 42.  Watch ye, therefore.  That men might not be attentive for a time only, but preserve a continual vigilance, the Almighty conceals from them the hour of their dissolution: they ought therefore to be ever expecting it, and ever watchful.  But to the eternal infamy of Christians be it said, much more diligence is used by the worldly wise for the preservation of their wealth, than by the former for the salvation of their immortal souls.  Though they are fully aware that the Lord will come, and like a thief in the night, when they least expect him, they do not persevere watching, nor guard against irreparable misfortune of quitting the present life without previous preparation.  Therefore will the day come to the destruction of such as are reposed in sleep.  S. Chrys. hom. lxxviii. on S. Mat. — Of what importance is it then that we should be found watching, and properly attentive to the one thing necessary, the salvation of our immortal souls.  For what will it avail us, if we have gained the whole world, which we must then leave, and lose our immortal souls, which, owing to our supine neglect to these admonitions of Jesus Christ, must suffer in hell-flames for all eternity?  A.
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[1]  V. 3.  S. Jer. on this place, says, Interrogant tria: quo tempore Jerusalem destruenda sit: quo venturus Christus: quo consummatio sæculi futura sit.

[2]  V. 15.  Abominationem desolationis. Bdelugma thV erhmwsewV.  The same words are in the Sept.  Dan. ix.  See S. Jerom on this place, and S. Chrys. hom. lxxvi. and lxxvii. in Matt.

[3]  V. 28.  Corpus; in most Greek copies, ptwma, cadaver.  See again S. Jerom, and S. Chrys. hom. lxxvii, p. 492.

[4]  V. 34.  Generatio hæc.  Theophylact, h genea twn cristianwn.

[5]  V. 36.  S. Aug. l. 83. QQ. quæst. 60. tom. 6, p. 33.  Ed. Ben. dicitur nescire filius, quia facit nescire homines, i.e. non prodit eis, quod inutiliter scirent.  See the same S. Aug. l. 1. de Trin. c. xii. tom. 8, p. 764 and 765. and lib. de Gen. cont. Manich. c. xxii. p. 659. tom. 1.


Note 1: Jesus said: John v. 43. "I am come in the name of my Father, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive." This is Jesus telling us that the Antichrist will be an Apostate Jew leading Apostate Jews.


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Consult the saints on the end of this age.



See this for the history of the world from creation to the Second Coming of Christ.


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