‘Flee to the Mountains’

To those who sincerely worshiped God, Jesus directed these words: “Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place, (let the reader use discernment,) then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains. Let the man on the housetop not come down to take the goods out of his house; and let the man in the field not return to the house to pick up his outer garment. Woe to the pregnant women and those suckling a baby in those days!”​—Matthew 24:15-19.

Why did Jesus urge his followers to use such haste in “fleeing to the mountains”? He stated: “For then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.”​—Matthew 24:21, 22.

First-Century Fulfillment

What turned out to be the actual fulfillment of this prophecy in the first century? Note, first of all, the urgent warning to flee to the mountains “when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation . . . standing in a holy place.”

What was this disgusting desolater? History tells us what actually caused the destruction of Jerusalem: It was the armies of the Roman Empire. When those armies first appeared in force around Jerusalem, that was the signal for the person ‘with discernment’ to get out of the area. And this happened in the year 66 CE. Then, Roman armies under General Cestius Gallus surrounded Jerusalem and even attacked the temple wall, undermining it. They could easily have captured the entire city.

So, there were the Roman armies standing in “the holy city.” (Compare Matthew 4:5; 27:53.) Even the apostate Jews considered Jerusalem and its surroundings to be “holy.” The presence of those armies in this “holy place” was disgusting to the Jews.

But, then, for some reason unclear to historians, General Gallus withdrew his armies and retreated. That was the signal Jesus had foretold. The time had come for his followers, the “chosen ones,” to begin fleeing. Recognizing the urgency of the times, they quickly made their way out of Jerusalem and all Judea, as Jesus had directed. The historian Eusebius states that they fled across the Jordan River to the vicinity of Pella in the mountainous region of Gilead.

Jerusalem Devastated

A few years later, in 70 CE, Roman armies under General Titus came back into Judea and encircled Jerusalem. But by that time all the “chosen ones,” the Christians, already were out of “the holy city.” Therefore, when the Romans surrounded Jerusalem at that time, there no longer was the opportunity for anyone to flee to safety.​—Luke 19:43, 44.

The fact that the “chosen” Christians no longer were in Jerusalem meant that God would not have to be concerned about their safety. They already had made their escape. God could thus allow the Romans to go into Jerusalem and speedily execute His judgment against the city. So on account of the chosen Christians’ already being out of Jerusalem, those days of tribulation came to an end more quickly, having been “cut short.” This allowed for some “flesh,” the 97,000, to survive.