Answer # 64

Jesus said: "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those with nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath."

These verses are part of a prophecy that was fulfilled in type in A.D. 70. The situation would be especially hard on those with small children and nursing babies. (Jesus Christ used the word woe in verse 19 compassionately, while in Matthew 23:13, He pronounced woe on the religious authorities as a thing deserved.)

Perhaps we can best understand why Jesus said to pray that their flight from Jerusalem be not in the winter or on the Sabbath (verse 20) by noting what occurred in A.D. 70.

According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Jerusalem was then divided into several warring factions. One faction wanted to surrender to the Romans and avoid destruction. Another faction was determined to fight the Romans no matter how hopeless the outcome seemed.

Those who were determined to fight would not allow the rest of the people to go out of the city to surrender to the Romans. The only way one could get out was to go out in the morning or afternoon with hoes or rakes, as if carrying on with the regular daily duties in the fields. One could not take extra clothing, belongings or small children without being noticed and captured.

On the Sabbaths or in the winter, people would not be going out of the city to work in the fields. If the time to flee came then, few if any could escape. Thus Christians were to pray that the time to flee would not fall in the winter or on the Sabbath.

The time is coming again when, during the Great Tribulation, Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies. Christians will again have to travel to a place where they will be supernaturally protected by God to avoid the terrible bloodshed prophesied to occur. Notice Revelation 12:13-14.