Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 21

 The Abomination of Desolation

Matthew 24:21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

For then shall... For then—the great tribulation of the last 3 1/2 years of this age will begin (Dan. 9:27; 11:40-45; 12:1, 12:7, 12:11; Jer. 30:4-7; Rev. 7:14; 11:1-19:21).

be great tribulation... The words such as was not since the beginning and nor ever shall be along with the description that follows. Identify this as the yet-future time in which God’s wrath shall be poured out upon the earth. Jesus’ descriptions for the cataclysms that follow closely resemble the outpouring of divine wrath described in the bowl judgments of (Rev. 16), and His subsequent appearing in (Rev. 19).

In no other period of history (past or future), of the world will there be so much suffering and universal destruction as during the seven years called the Great Tribulation. These years are fraught with wrath (Eze. 7:19), judgment (Rev. 14:7; 15:4; 16:5, 7), darkness (Joel 2:2; Amos 5:18, 20), indignation (Isa. 26:20-21; 34:1-3), and sorrow.

The scriptural representations of the Great Tribulation are wholly negative with no attempt to minimize the severity of human suffering in that time. During the Great Tribulation, God will pour out His wrath on mankind and will judge all of creation, just before the peace of the Millennium is ushered in.

If Christians do not realize that they will be taken out of the world before the Great Tribulation begins, they could become very discouraged looking forward to those years. The realization of what awaits the unsaved following the Rapture ought to motivate every believer to win souls before it is too late.

In this verse, you can easily see why the rush to get out. If this was the siege that took place when Jerusalem fell to the Romans, then close to a million were estimated to die. I tend to believe that this Scripture was not only for that terrible time, but is also speaking of another terrible time that will come when the antichrist begins his rule in the Tribulation period.

The personal advent of Christ and the day of final judgment are only foreshadowed by, not realized in, the destruction of Jerusalem and the close of the old dispensation.