TRANSLATION MATTHEWB 24:15

When you see the horror that lays waste spoken of through the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place – let the reader understand- then those in Judaea should run away to the mountains,; the person on the house roof should not go down to pick up things from his house; the person in the field should not go back to pick up his cloak. What misery in those days for pregnant women and for those giving the breast; pray that your escape is not in winter nor on the Sabbath when there is no help. For at that time there will be great suffering such as has not been from the foundation of the kosmos until now., And if these days had not been cut short, no one would have been rescued. But for the sake of the chosen ones, they will be cut short)

And if anyone says to you, “Look here is the Messiah” or “There he is” do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will show themselves, performing signs and wonders so great as to deceive even the chosen ones, if that is possible.

” See this! I have told you about it beforehand.”

For just as lightning flickers in the east and flashes over to the west, that’s what the arrival of the Son of Man will be like.

Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

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Things gradually get worse, but in the main, the events take place in or near Judaea. “The horror that lays waste”: from Daniel 9, this image points to an act of desecration, by enemies, which destroys the holiness of the temple: people can now find no spiritual sustenance there. This act will be accompanied by a genocidal attack on Jews, which will bring unequalled suffering on the people. The details Jesus gives are given in compassion. A local war is becoming a universal conflict.

Again Jesus warns against pseudo messiahs, because in a time of crisis people are more likely to be deceived, particularly if, as here, the pretender can perform signs and wonders. The recent exposure of such a religious leader in Nigeria, shows how nobody should imagine that human beings are now better able to be undeceived.

None of these manifestations can equal the son of man whose arriival floods the globe with light.

Although the suffering is very great we find nothing supernatural except the arrival of the Son of Man, the bringer of God’s rule. The proces is divinely given and is divinely halted out of pity for the human participants who have been chosen by God.

Where the corpse is found there the vultures will gather. In context this sounds fairly threatening, but maybe it’s doing no more than emphasising that these events will not happen secretly, but openly where the usual human vultures will gather