Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 24 verses 15 through 23:
15 ‘So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),16then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; 17someone on the housetop must not go down to take what is in the house; 18someone in the field must not turn back to get a coat. 19Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! 20Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. 21For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23Then if anyone says to you, “Look! Here is the Messiah!” or “There he is!”—do not believe it.
There are times when we should not delude ourselves with expectations of rescue. They are false expectations. They are cruel expectations. They end only in greater suffering for the innocent and weak; they do not end in deliverance.
In today’s Lesson Jesus prophesies the coming destruction of Jerusalem. Many were proclaiming another message; they prophesied deliverance. They said God would fight Jerusalem’s battle. Jesus said no. He warned his followers that when they saw the armies march in and the Roman powers setting up government in the holy Temple, then they were not to stay in the City but they were to head for the mountains of Judea.
Sometimes we have to give ourselves permission to head for the hills. Discretion really can be the better part of valor. It is not cowardice to flee a harmful and abusive situation. In fact, making a decision to go and stay can be the most courageous decision anyone ever makes.
And it can be the decision between life and death.
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