Matthew 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. We are first introduced to the time of the Tribulation in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, and the prophet calls it the time of 'Jacob's trouble' because it will primarily center on the Jews in Israel. This is our first clue as to who will go through the Tribulation and who it will affect. Jeremiah 30:6-7 Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale? How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.
In the previous verses of Jeremiah 30:3-4 we find that the Lord is speaking to Jeremiah the prophet about Judah and Israel. Both the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jer. 30:6-7) and the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21) are described as the unparalleled time of trouble. Since there can simply be one such time, both will cover the same time point. The Great Tribulation. Since there cannot be more than one unparalleled time of trouble, their time periods must overlap.
The reason this is called “The Great Tribulation” is because this was the first time God placed such an awful time of suffering, and hunger, and famine, and death through tribulation on his covenant people. Never again shall there be a time like that again.
Matthew 24:22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. Those believing Jews in Jesus, where the “remnant” of the visible Israel, and therefore the true Israel of God. (Romans 11:5) If thoses wars were not shorten and desolations were to continue for any length of time, none of the Jews would escape destruction; they would all be cut off, root and branch. But for the elect’s sake — those Jews that embrace the gospel; those days shall be shortened.
Matthew 24 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. It is worthy of noting that Jesus, is pointing out the very march of the Roman army as they entered into Judea on the East, and carried on their conquest Westward, like lightning issuing from the east, and shining to the west. . The meaning is that Jesus would come, by means of the Roman armies as “suddenly,” and as unexpectedly as lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west.
Matthew 24:28 Where the carcass is the eagles will be gathered together. This is Jewish idiom. An idiom is a figure of speech not to be taken literally. Jesus used many idioms like a camel going through the eye of a needle, which meant something so difficult that it appeared to be impossible, straining out gnats while swallowing camels, which meant being so consumed with minutia that you miss the main point.
The carcass is the nation of Israel and the eagles are the Roman armies. During the time of Jesus many Gentile nations used symbols of animals as their nations seal. The eagle was regarded as a symbol of the Roman Empire. One of the most striking visual aspects of the Roman army were ensigns that were placed on tall poles. These poles were topped with various ensigns and symbols, including many types of animals.
The most important symbol in each legion was the legionary eagle made of a precious metal (usually silver) which was the symbol of power of Rome and the honor of the legion. The eagles were not just for display; they served important practical functions as well. Its presence on a flag during the war was a source of victory and an aid in battle.
It gave courage to the warriors who fought under it and place fear into their enemy. The staff helped to hold the units together, since the soldiers could see them above the action. The eagle was on the soldier’s armor and cohorts. It was carried by a special staff bearer who wore a lion-skin headdress. The seal of the eagle was used by the Roman Empire to depict power for thousands of years. Roman legions always marched behind the image of an eagle.
To lose the legendary eagle in battle was a terrible disgrace. Romans thought the Eagle was a messenger of the Gods. When a Roman emperor died, his body was burned in a funeral pyre and an eagle was ceremonially released into the flames. The Romans believed the eagle would carry the emperor's soul to the heavens.
There is also a connections between the eagles and the covenant curses that would come on Israel when they broke the covenant. Deuteronomy 28:26 reads, Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away.
The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of you land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of you cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you. They shall besiege you at all you gates until you high and fortified walls in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates and throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you. (Deuteronomy 28:49-52)
Set the trumpet to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law”. ( (cf. Hosea 8:1) The city of Jerusalem and its people, who had transgressed the covenant and rebelled against the law were ripe for destruction, and their carcass would be thrown, to the Roman eagle, to devour.
Revelation 19 shows the birds of the air being invited to feast on the slain at the destruction of harlot Babylon at AD 70. Then I saw and angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God… And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:17, 21)
All this happened during Jesus contemporary generation.
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