Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 18

 The Abomination of Desolation

Matthew 24:18 “Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.”

return back to... His clothes which, in working, he had laid aside, or which, in fleeing, he should throw off as an encumbrance. Clothes here means the outer garment, commonly laid aside when men worked or ran.

These directions were followed as it is said that the Christians, warned by these predictions, fled from Jerusalem to Pella, and other places beyond the Jordan; so that there is no evidence that a single “Christian” perished in Jerusalem (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., lib. 3 chapter 6).

Those in the field, were not to return for personal items, but were to flee for their lives. This is an emergency situation probably, like it would be in the large cities, if a tornado or bomb alert were to go off. The main idea is to get away as fast as they can, not worrying about anything left behind.

No returning from the field for possessions, not even for a cloak. The time following this event will be a time of great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world… and never to be equaled again (Jer. 30:7). The awful character of the Tribulation period cannot be truly grasped by anyone.