Matthew 24 - Part 28

Our Bible study concerns Matthew 24 :19, And woe unto them that are [echo:G2192] with [en:G1722] child [gaster:G1064], and to them that give suck in those days! This Scripture is part of verses 15-22 which have to do with the abomination of desolation, that we have discussed in some of our other studies, and relates to God's judgment beginning at His own house first, as 1 Peter 4:17 reminds us: For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God? This is why verse 19 starts with the exclamation Woe [ouai:G3559], which in this context, is an exclamation of judgment. You might recall that in the parallel chapters of Matthew 23 and Luke 13, Christ levels some of His harshest criticisms against the religious leaders of His day, namely, the scribes, Pharisees, and lawyers, in which this expression Woe is repeated many times over. A good illustration of this surfaces in Matthew 23:27 which reveals the spiritual status of these men: Woe [ouai:G3559] unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead [men's] bones, and of all uncleanness.  

What Does "Unto Them That Are With Child" Signify? 

The three words that make up the phrase, unto them that are with child appear in six other verses, two of which are the parallel passages of  Mark 13:17 and Luke 21:23. The other three (Matthew 1:18 and 23; Revelation 12:2) have to do with the birth of Christ. The last citation is found in verse 3 of 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, which is speaking of the "day of the Lord" regarding God's judgment upon His own house that commenced on May 21, 1988 - May 21, 2011; after which the judgment transitioned to the world at large where it continues to reside during this present day of judgment: But of the times [chronos:G5550] and the seasons [kairos:G2540], brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. {2} For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. {3} For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon [en:G1722] a woman with child [gaster:G1064] [echo:G2192]; and they shall not escape. {4} But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. {5} Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. {6} Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober.  

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What Is The Spiritual Significance Of "To Them That Give Suck"?

We encountered the last three words in verse 19 when we were considering Matthew 24:17, although they did not emerge in that particular verse but in the parallel account in Luke 17:31, In [en:G1722] that [ekeinos:G1565] day [hemera:G2250], he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. This is a time reference to the Great Tribulation itself which is the main focus of Matthew 24. So with that in mind, let's now consider what is meant spiritually by this Greek term,  to them that give suck [thelazo:G2337]. This speaks of the most nourishing food on the planet for a baby which is breast milk, that God likens to the milk of the Word, according to  1 Peter 2:2, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:  So one wonders why the blessing of being pregnant or breast feeding an infant which are extolled in the Bible, are portrayed in such a negative light by our verse, And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!  We can understand the reason for this, by contrast, as Luke 23:29 maintains in which the same word for give suck as in Matthew 24:19 is adopted: For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed [are] the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck, or thelazo (G2337). Please keep in mind that all of this is taking place within God's (formerly divine) house that became a den of thieves, and from which the Holy Spirit had departed from, never to retun again! 

God's judgment beginning at His own house first is also typified by the poignant historical parable in 1 Samuel, chapters 3-4. In 1 Samuel 4:19-22 we read of  Phinehas' (one of Eli's two sons who were wicked priests) wife who died in childbirth: And his daughter in law, Phinehas' wife, was with child, [near] to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. {20} And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard [it]. {21} And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. {22} And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

 Matthew 24:20

Let's proceed to verse 20 which declares: But pray ye that your flight [phuge:G5437] be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: The term flight or phuge, is only found again in the parallel verse in Mark 13:18, And pray ye that your flight [phuge:G5437] be not in the winter. The root or parent word for flight or phuge is pheugo (G5343) which is only translated as flee (flee away) and to a much lesser degree, as escape.  As a matter of fact we encountered this word, rendered as flee, when we were examining Matthew 24:16, Then let them which be in Judaea flee [pheugo:G5343] into the mountains: You might recollect that fleeing to the mountains is spiritual langauge to denote fleeing to the Word of God and the Kingdom of God, since the Holy Spirit departed from that formerly divine institution as we just witnessed in 1 Samuel 4.

How Do We Understand The Term "Winter" Spiritually?

The word winter or cheimon is only used in a four other citations, besides the parallel verse in Mark 13:18. The most prominent one surfaces in Acts 27: 20, in which it is translated as tempest, in this historical parable that depicts God's judgment beginning at His own house first, which is typified by the irreparable shipwreck that takes place in this chapter: And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest [cheimon:G5494] lay on [us], all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. Please note that this last phrase is referring to the ship itself, and not the people on board, who made it safely to shore as Paul predicted; the destruction of the ship thus typifies the New Testament congregations and denominations, worldwide and without exception, that God abandoned and would never use again. 

Lord willing, in our next edition, we will continue our examination of Matthew 24:20. 

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Mysterious Bible Graphemes

This column has to do with the Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek alphabets. It is important to recognize that there is only one alphabet, although there are many systems of writing. That one alphabet is the Hebrew/Aramaic alphabet that God constructed, and from which the Greek alphabet and any other alphabet stems from. In this edition we want to showcase the first Hebrew letter, Aleph and its corresponding Greek equivalent or Alpha in order to ascertain their spiritual connotations. 

Aleph אֶ 

The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Aleph אֶ  is both a verb that means to teach, to learn, purpose, producing thousands, and as a noun that means Chief and ruler of a thousand. Derivatives of the root include the numeral thousand, the nouns cattle, oxen, friend,  companion and  guide, as well as the adjective docile. In brief, the "letter-word" Aleph is made up of three consonants which form a root or shoresh: Aleph/ Lamed/ Pe - אֶלֶף (reading from right to left: the 1st, 12th and 17th letters of the Hebrew alphabet respectively). Let's now consider some of the ways that God utilizes Aleph: [Please be advised that for the purposes of this article, the verses are taken from Jay P. Green's Literal Version (KJV3).]

In Micah 5:2 it is rendered as the noun, among the thousands: And you, Bethlehem Ephratah, being least among the thousands  אֶלֶף of Judah, out of you He shall come forth to Me to become One ruling in Israel; and His goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity. 

The One ruling in Israel is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, who hailed from the tribe of Judah (Remember He is the Lion of the tribe of Juda - Revelation 5:5) which is confirmed in Matthew 2:6 as we shall shortly see, and provides a "word bridge" back to the New Testament. In Bible study we always want to look for such "bridges" between the Testaments as we compare Scripture with Scripture, and this would also pertain to the letters of the Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek alphabets.   

Proverbs 14:4 declares: Where no oxen אֶלֶף [are], the crib [is] clean: but much increase [is] by the strength of the ox. [showr] 

The term of the ox is not the Aleph, but a completely different word - showr. But the fact that both of these terms, Aleph and showr emerge in the same verse is significant because Christ is portrayed as the sacrificial bullock in Scripture and both in Ezekiel 1:10 and in Revelation 4:7 the four living creatures are described as each having four “faces,” one of which is that of an ox and a calf respectively.

Aleph is also the name of one the cities allotted to the tribe of Benjamin in Joshua 18:28 (His name means son of my right hand.) and he is identified with Joseph [(who is a great type of the Messiah) as they had the same mother, Rachel]: And Zelah, Eleph אֶלֶף, and Jebusi, which [is] Jerusalem, Gibeath, [and] Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This [is] the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families. The foregoing passages are also highlighted in the Concise Lexicon of the Biblical Languages, under the Bible Study Resouces insert in this edition.

As I stated above, Matthew 2:6 quotes Micah 5:2, highlighting God the Son:  And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, in no way are you least among the governors [hegemon:G2232] of Judah, for out of you shall come a Governor [hegeomai:G2233] who shall shepherd [poimaino:G4165] My people Israel.

Similarly, Joseph was also made Governor in Egypt (second only to Pharaoh) according to Acts 7:10, And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor [hegeomai:G2233]  over Egypt and all his house. 

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Alpha A

By contrast let's consider the Greek Alpha A which appears in the following references which, like the Aleph, highlight the Savior, and also identify Him with the alphabet as the first and last letter, along with the Beginning and Ending of all things.

Revelation 1:8 and 11 affirm: I am the Alpha A and the Omega, [the] Beginning [arche:G746] and [the] End, says the Lord, the [One] being, and the [One who] was, and the [One] coming, the Almighty....{11} saying, I am the Alpha A  and the Omega, the First and the Last; also, What you see, write in a book, and send to the seven assemblies of Asia: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. 

Incidentally, one of the words in the Alpha word family is the term beginning or arche in Revelation 1:8. The others are: archaios [(G744) old, ancient], archegos [(G747) founder, leader],  archo [(G757) to rule, begin], and archon [(G758) ruler]. I have highlighted these entries as well in the Concise Lexicon of the Biblical Languages, under the Bible Study Resouces insert in this edition.

Revelation 21:6 likewise declares: And He said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha A and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the [one] thirsting, I will freely give of the fountain of the water of life.

And Revelation 22:13 adds: I am the Alpha A and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.

Lord willing, in our next edition we will explore the relationship between the Aleph and the Bet (the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet) along with its Greek counterpart, the Alpha and the Beta, as these first two letters in both languages make up our English word, AlphaBet.  

A Word About Finances

In case you are not aware, like most 501 (c) 3 non-profits there are but two times in the year when we are able to “get ahead” financially.  One of these is at Christmas with year-end donations, the other is at tax time. As the Lord leads, would you consider making an extra gift above your regular giving if at all possible. If you are not a monthly donor, would you pray about becoming one? Our monthly prayer and faith partners are the lifeblood of this ministry and enable us to “feed God’s sheep” worldwide. Each of our staff are also volunteers and we do not receive a salary. Because our home is also our global headquarters for all our studio programming and administrative departments, we do receive a housing allowance from BMI. From time to time individuals have asked us about naming BMI in wills, annuities, and trusts. If you are interested in something of this nature please check with your financial advisor.

Prayer And Praise

• Thank you for your prayers for our daughter Maria, who has been found again, by God's mercy.

• Please check out our newly UPDATED website!

• Please pray for a special multimedia video series that we are working on titled the Treasure Of The Lamb - On The Road To Emmaus - based on the letters of the Greek alphabet.

We also covet your prayers for the following items that would help to expand our music ministry:

• BMI desires to obtain a series of music licenses in order to add to our music library, and create our own BMI app, which would play 24/7 God-glorifying spiritual songs and hymns, except for those times during the week when we broadcast live studies. The up front cost for this is approximately  $ 2000.00 

• BMI is also in the process of developing a prototype for a new Treasures From The Bible multimedia series. To do this we need a Yamaha CSP-170 digital piano that has the capability of adding a wide range of orchestral and individual instrument sounds that would be essential in creating such a program (since our 15 children are grown, and none of our 15 grandchildren live in this area). The cost for this piano is: $ 4700.00 .

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Bible Study Resources

The resource that we want to highlight again in this edition is A Concise Lexicon of the Biblical Languages, by the late Jay P. Green Sr. and Dr. Maurice Robinson, Ph.D.  Below you will find the Hebrew entries for Aleph listed below: 

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    Below you will find the words related to Alpha:

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