Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 24:19-21

"But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on a sabbath: for then shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be." — Matthew 24:19-21 (ASV)

And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day: for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

You and I would have believed that all this came true without any confirmation from outside history, but it was very remarkable that God should raise up the Jew Josephus, and put it into his mind to write a record of the siege of Jerusalem, which curdles the blood of everyone who reads it, and exactly bears out the statement of the Master that there was to be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world, no, nor ever shall be.

And woe to those who are pregnant and to those who give suck in those days! But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, nor on the Sabbath day: For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever will be.

It must have been a peculiarly trying time for the women who had to flee from their homes just when they needed quiet and rest.

How thoughtful and tender was our compassionate Saviour in thus sympathizing with suffering mothers in their hour of need!

"Flight...in the winter" or "on the Sabbath day" would have been attended with special difficulties; so the disciples were exhorted to "pray" that some other time might be available. The Lord knew exactly when they would be able to escape, yet he instructed them to pray that their flight might not be in the winter, nor on the Sabbath-day.

The wise men of the present day would have said that prayer was useless under such conditions. But the great Teacher and Example of his praying people held a different view; he taught that such a season was the very time for special supplication. The reason for this injunction was thus stated by the Saviour: For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever will be. Read the record written by Josephus of the destruction of Jerusalem, and see how truly our Lord's words were fulfilled.

The Jews impiously said, concerning the death of Christ, His blood be on us, and on our children. Never did any other people invoke such an awful curse upon themselves, and upon no other nation did such a judgment ever fall.

We read of Jews crucified till there was no more wood for making crosses; of thousands of the people slaying one another in their fierce faction fights within the city; of so many of them being sold for slaves that they became a drug on the market, and all but valueless; and of the fearful carnage when the Romans finally entered the doomed capital. This blood-curdling story exactly bears out the Saviour's statement, uttered nearly forty years before the terrible events occurred.

It must have been a particularly trying time for the women who had to flee from their homes just when they needed quiet and rest. How thoughtful and tender was our compassionate Savior in sympathizing in this way with suffering mothers in their hour of need! "Flight... in the winter" or "on the sabbath day" would have been attended with special difficulties, so the disciples were exhorted to "pray" that some other time might be available. The Lord knew exactly when they would be able to escape, yet He instructed them to pray that their flight might not be in the winter, nor on the Sabbath day. The wise men of the present day would have said that prayer was useless under such conditions. However, this was not the view of the great Teacher and Example of His people who pray. He taught that such a season was the very time for special supplication.

The reason for this instruction was stated by the Savior as follows: For there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. Read the record written by Josephus of the destruction of Jerusalem and see how truly our Lord’s words were fulfilled. The Jews wickedly said, concerning the death of Christ, His blood be on us, and on our children. Never did any other people invoke such an awful curse upon themselves, and upon no other nation did such a judgment ever fall. We read of Jews crucified until there was no more wood for making crosses; of thousands of the people killing one another in their fierce factional fights within the city; of so many of them being sold for slaves that they became a drug in the market, and almost valueless; and of the fearful carnage when the Romans finally entered the doomed capital. The blood-curdling story exactly confirms the Savior’s statement uttered nearly forty years before the terrible events occurred.