From the Gospel of Matthew    25 

go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn 

back to take his mantle. And alas for those who are with child and for those 

who give suck in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on 

a sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from 

the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.'    

(Mt 24:15 21). 

    In Matthew 24:15 28, Jesus describes the time of the Church's worst 

suffering, the time of the Crucifixion of the Church. This time of suffering 

(during the 2430's) lasts nearly seven years and occurs under the reign of 

Antichrist, before the Millennium of peace and holiness. 

    The beginning of this time is marked by  the desolating sacrilege spoken 

of by the prophet Daniel  (Mt 24:15). This sacrilege is also called  the 

abomination which makes desolate  (Dan 11:31). The abomination is a false 

Eucharist, a most horrible perversion of that Most Holy Sacrament, an evil 

imitation of Christ's perfect food. The abomination is invented by false 

disciples of Christ, by false prophets and faithless Christians, who are 

Christian in name only. The abomination is said to be  standing in the holy 

place  because it is put in church tabernacles in place of the Holy Eucharist. 

    The abomination begins during the time of the ten kings, when the 

Antichrist, as one of the ten kings (the king of the North, i.e. Europe), 

defeats the king of the South (a Christian who rules over Israel, the Middle 

East and parts of northern Africa). The kingdom of the South is the only one 

of the ten kingdoms that tolerates Christianity. After the defeat of the king of 

the South, the last bastion of Christianity is defeated and the abomination is 

set up in holy places (in  A.D. 2430). However, the abomination is not 

dominant until about halfway through the Antichrist's reign over the whole 

world. At that time, the Antichrist is forced to withdraw from battle because 

of ships, from a democratic area of the world, led by Roman Catholics. He 

then takes his anger out on the Church by supporting those heretical 

Christians who had devised the abomination. Then the abomination 

supplants the Eucharist through the laws and support of the Antichrist. 

    When this occurs, faithful Christians must flee. The phrase  those who 

are in Judea  (Mt 24:16) means those Christians who have remained faithful 

to God. When Israel was divided into Judea and Samaria, it was the tribe of 

Judah which remained faithful to all of the Jewish law and practices. Jesus' 

human ancestry included the tribe of Judah (Luke 3:23 30). And Holy 

Scripture calls Jesus  the Lion of the tribe of Judah  (Rev 5:5). 

    Notice that Jesus gives a different instruction to Christians living at this 

point in time. He tells them to  flee to the mountains  (Mt 24:16) with such 

urgency as to not go back for a mantle (or coat), nor for any belongings. For 

the earlier sufferings, the instruction was different; Jesus said,  see that you