The Day the Sun Goes Dark: Mark 13:14-27

"When you see 'the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."

The phrase came from Daniel, that ancient vision of desecration. Something unholy standing in the holy place. When you see it, don't pack. Don't look back. Run.

"Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that this will not take place in winter."

The urgency was absolute. The window for escape would slam shut. Those who hesitated would be caught.

"Because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them."

Distress beyond all history. Suffering that would annihilate humanity if God did not intervene. But he would intervene—for his people's sake.

"At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time."

The warning repeated: deception would intensify. Even miracles could lie. The elect were not immune to danger, only to final defeat.

"But in those days, following that distress, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken."

The cosmos itself would convulse. The lights that had burned since creation would flicker and fail. The universe would tremble.

"At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens."

Coming in clouds. Daniel's vision fulfilled. Not a humble teacher on a donkey but the Son of Man in unveiled glory, angels sweeping across the earth, gathering his scattered people from every corner of creation.

The disciples sat on the Mount of Olives, the temple below, the future ahead—a future of horror and hope, of darkness and dawn, of tribulation and triumph.

He had told them everything ahead of time.