Ken Brown
Well-Known Member
Shalom Mountain Climber, I suppose I am looking at these things just a little differently than you. Simply put, the "fleeing" that must be done is a flight from sin or iniquity, and where one flees when they flee from sin is unto righteousness (Psa 36:6), the great mountains of Hashem. The reason one should pray their flight does not occur on the Sabbath is that the Sabbath is The Day of Hashem, and those not resting from sin on His Day will miss out on a great blessing. Blessings in The Name, ImAHebrew.Matthew 24:20 "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day.."
I don't know. Every answer I can think of falls short in one way or another when I follow it through in my mind.
I know that traditions which were superimposed on top of the actual requirements set forth in the Torah, required that the gates to the city be closed and locked on the Sabbath day. But if it were impossible to escape then it seems there would be no sense in saying, "that your flight not be", for it would go without saying that no flight then could be. Further, winter does not make flight impossible, although it would make flight much more difficult and it would increase the losses one had to suffer in fleeing. I can't say as locking the gates would prevent anyone from leaving if they were very determined to leave. Perhaps as it relates to that day the thought is the same, simply that it would be much more difficult and involve much greater losses.
Those same traditions set limits on many things related to the Sabbath which were not specified as requirements under the Old Law. Thus we see man-made ordinances regulating the manner in which ones worshiped and obeyed God, made by men who had seated themselves in the temple of God, portraying themselves that they were in essence, charged with interpreting the Law. In other words they had made themselves as God's mind and mouthpiece to the people and their word was law (though they would deny it was their word, calling it God's). It is a similar type of occurrence that Paul has in mind at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2:3-4.
Now that is a disgusting thing which causes desolation to the people. On their word the Roman armies would be incited to either work with or attack them. And the Zealots had more favor with them than the average peace loving Jew. I would say that seeing that union reforming ought to have reminded many of Masada and should have been a clear signal to get away from a very predictable disaster. But I, like everyone else, can only speculate.
Yet, I see another echo of that event about to occur. I see the massive kingdom built by Christians as being a reworking of that first century political/religious/commercial structure riding atop the kingdoms of this world. And I see that events are now taking place with the blessings of that religious structure which are going to bring the governments of this world to do to it what Rome did to that first century Jerusalem. And there will be no exceptions for Muslims or Jews or Christians or for any religion once the governments turn on them.
Do I know that for a certainty? No.
All I can do is watch and try to figure it out as things move along, the same as anyone else.
But why pray? Why pray that this flight be not in the winter nor on the Sabbath day? I can only figure that means to pray for God to grant me the wisdom to see while there is yet time to make that flight, before having to make that flight comes at such a great cost.
P.S. Remember a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day unto Hashem.