What three signs presage the end of the world?
When the Apostles ask Christ for an indication of when Jerusalem would be destroyed, and when the end of the world would come, he gave them three signs – and a warning.
When the Apostles ask Christ for an indication of when Jerusalem would be destroyed, and when the end of the world would come, he gave them three signs – and a warning.
Editor’s Notes
In this chapter, Fr Coleridge tells us…
How Our Lord’s prophecy of the Doom of Jerusalem – and of the world – is made up of four distinct components
That the first three pertain to the punishments of false teachers, wars and persecutions of the Church
How this terrible prophecy nonetheless contains a promise and encouragement for Christ’s faithful.
For more context on this episode and its place in the liturgical year, see Part I.
The Doom of Jerusalem
Passiontide—Part I
Chapter XIII
St. Matt. xxiv. 1-28; St. Mark xiii. 1-23; St. Luke xxi. 5-24;
Story of the Gospels, § 144.
(Read on the 24th and Last Sunday after Pentecost)
Our Lord's first warning – false teachers
‘And Jesus answering said to them, began to say to them,’ that is, the first thing He said to them in answer, was, ‘Take heed that no man seduce you, for many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ, I am He, and the time is at hand, and they will seduce many, go ye not therefore after them.’
This then is the first statement in the prophecy, that there will be much danger of seduction to many, and our Lord’s first note is a note of warning.
Second, wars and rumours of wars
A second prediction follows,
‘And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, of wars and seditions. Fear ye not, be not terrified, see that ye be not troubled. These things must first come to pass, but the end is not presently. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.’
The second head of prophetic warning is therefore that they are not to be troubled about political and social disturbances, as if they implied at once the destruction either of the city or the existing fabric of society.
‘Then He said to them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be pestilences and famines, and great earthquakes in divers places, and terrors from heaven, and there shall be great signs. Now all these things are the beginning of sorrows,’ or more literally of ‘travail pains…’
… as if from them a new state of things was to be born. Here then is the third head of this prophecy. There are to be wars between nation and nation, kingdom and kingdom, accompanied by signs in the physical universe and the providential order of the world, such as famines, and pestilences, earthquakes, terrors from heaven, and great portents.
Third, persecution and apostasy
The next portion of the prophecy begins with the treatment which the disciples of our Lord are themselves to meet with before the fulfilment of the whole takes place.
‘But look to yourselves. Before all these things they will lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into prisons, to councils, and in the synagogues you shall be beaten, dragging you before governors and kings for My name’s sake, and they shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death, and you shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake, for a testimony unto them, and it shall happen unto you as a testimony, and to all nations the Gospel must first be preached.’
And He adds here the precept He has already given, not to think beforehand what they shall say,
‘And when they shall lead you and deliver you up, be not thoughtful beforehand what you shall speak, lay it up therefore in your hearts, not to premeditate before how you shall answer, but whatsoever shall be given to you in that hour, that speak ye, for it is not you that speak, but the Holy Ghost. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist and gainsay.’1
This promise has been already explained.
There follows another and more mournful prediction.
‘And many shall be scandalized, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And the brother shall betray the brother unto death, and the father his son, and children rise up against their parents, and shall work their death. And you shall be betrayed by your parents and brethren, and kinsfolk and friends, and some of you they will put to death.’
‘And many false prophets shall arise, and shall seduce many. And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of the many shall grow cold.’
Fourth, promise made at the end
Then lastly comes the promise to perseverance.
‘But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved. And you shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake. But a hair of your head shall not perish. In your patience you shall possess your souls. But he that shall endure to the end, he shall be saved. 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.’
This prediction may be considered as separate, foretelling that the Gospel is to be preached everywhere before the end of the world. Thus we have these several great points in the prophecy.
Our Lord says that there is to be great danger of seduction from the multitude of false teachers,
That there are to be great civil commotions, nation rising against nation, wars and rumours of wars, signs of the anger of God, as pestilences and famines,
That there are to be great persecutions of the Church, that many shall be scandalized and fall away, and that the prevalence of lawlessness will chill the mutual charity of brethren.
We may add to these the promise last made, of the universal preaching of the Gospel ‘as a witness,’ and of the salvation of those who persevere.
The prophecy refers to two events
We may pause here for awhile, to consider more particularly the clauses in the prophecy which have already been enumerated.
There are, as has been said, two distinct subjects in the same prophecy, and the whole question must be which part refers to one, which part to the other, and which to both.
But it must be remembered that when we say that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Last Day may be spoken of with equal truth under the phrase of the coming of our Lord, we imply what is otherwise certain, that both these events resemble one the other in many respects, and that the first in time may well be considered as an anticipation of the second.
If this is true, then it is also true that the words which apply to the one may also apply to the other, and may be equally true of both. They are true of the first in time, in a less perfect sense, true of the latter in time in a more perfect sense.
On the other hand, there are many passages in the prophecy, especially that part of it which has not yet been recited, which can hardly have this double application. The passage which immediately follows about the abomination of desolation, and the last verses which have been now quoted, are among these portions of the whole, and the fact that they are so is a sufficient reason for our pausing before proceeding further.
Two questions answered
Thus in what our Lord has said, He seems generally to be answering both the questions asked Him at once. That is, He sets forth in His answer those signs and warnings which may belong to the period before the destruction of Jerusalem, and also to the times which shall precede His Second Coming, and indeed, in some measure, to the whole history of the Church.
If we examine the clauses of the prophecy in order, we may see how far this holds good.
In the next part on this dramatic prophecy of doom, Fr Coleridge will explain…
How the false teachers in the Apostolic age worked
How this prophecy was fulfilled then—as a warning fo the future
How the “Creed of Science” and other modern errors fulfil this final prophecy.
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The Doom of Jerusalem
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St. Luke xxi. 24. See also St. Matt. x. 19; St. Luke xii. 11; St. Mark xiii, 11.