Matthew 24:6-8

Ver 6. "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled : for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8. All these are the beginning of sorrows."

Aug., Ep. 199. 25: To this enquiry of the disciples the Lord makes answer, declaring all things which were to come to pass from that time forwards, whether relating to the destruction of Jerusalem, which had given occasion to their enquiry; or to His coming through the Church, in which He ceases not to come to the end of time; for He is acknowledged as coming among His own, while new members are daily born to Him; or relating to the end itself when He shall appear to judge the quick and the dead.

When then He describes the signs which shall attend these three events, we must carefully consider which signs belong to which events, lest perchance we refer to one that which belongs to another.

Chrys.: Here He speaks of the battles which should be fought at Jerusalem; when He says, "Ye shall hear wars, and rumours of wars."

Origen: To hear the shouts raised in the battles, is to "hear wars;" to hear "rumours of wars," is to hear accounts of wars waged afar off.

Chrys.: And because this might alarm the disciples, He continues, "See that ye be not troubled." And because they supposed that the end of the world would follow immediately after the war in which Jerusalem should be destroyed, He corrects their suspicions concerning this, "These things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

Jerome: That is, Think not that the day of judgment is at hand, but that it is reserved against another time; the sign of which is plainly put in what follows, "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom."

Raban. [ed. note: From this to v. 36. the commentary of Rabanus is wanting in the printed edition. See Pref.]: Or, this is a warning to the Apostles not to flee from Jerusalem and Judaea in terror of these things, when they should begin to come upon them; because the end was not immediately, but the desolation of the province, and the destruction of the city and temple should not come till the fortieth year. And we know that most grievous woes,which spread over the whole province, fell out to the very letter.

Chrys.: And to shew that He also should fight against the Jews, He tells them not only of wars, but of calamities inflicted by Providence, "And there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in divers places."

Raban.: "Nation shall rise against nation," shews the disquietude of men's minds; "pestilences," the affliction of their bodies; "famines," the barrenness of the soil; "earthquakes in divers places," wrath from heaven above.

Chrys.: And these things shall not happen according to the order of nature before established among men, but shall come of wrath from heaven, and therefore He said not that they should come only, or come suddenly, but adds significantly, "These all are the beginnings of troubles," that is, of the Jewish troubles.

Origen: Or otherwise; As the body sickens before the death of the man, so it must needs be that before the consummation of this world the earth should be shaken, as though it were palsied, with frequent earthquakes, the air should gather a deadly quality and become pestilential, and that the vital energy of the soil should fail, and its fruits wither. And by consequence of this scarcity, men are stirred up to robbery and war. But because war and strife arise sometimes from covetousness, and sometimes from desire of power and empty glory, of these which shall happen before the end of the world a yet deeper cause shall be assignable.

For as Christ's coming brought through His divine power peace to divers nations, so it shall be on the other hand, "that when iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold," and God and His Christ shall desert them; wars shall be again when actions which beget wars are not hindered by holiness; and hostile powers when they are not restrained by the Saints and by Christ shall work unchecked in the hearts of men, stirring up nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

But if, as some will have it, famine and pestilence are from the Angels of Satan, these shall then gather might from opposite powers, when the salt of the earth, and the lights of the world, Christ's disciples, shall be no longer, destroying those things which the malice of daemons hatches. Ofttimes in Israel famines and pestilences were caused by sin, and removed by the prayers of the Saints. [marg. note: 1 Kings 17:1, Jer 14, James 5:17-18]

Well is that said, "In divers places," for God will not destroy the whole race of men at once, but judging them in portions, He gives opportunity of repentance. But if some stop be not put to these evils in their commencement, they will progress to worse, as it follows, "These all are the beginnings of sorrows," that is, sorrows common to the whole world, and those which are to come upon the wicked who shall be tormented in most sharp pains.

Jerome: Figuratively; Kingdom rising against kingdom and pestilence of that discourse which spreadeth, as a plague-spot, and hunger of hearing the word of God, and commotion throughout the earth, and separation from the true faith, may be rather understood of the heretics, who fighting among themselves give the victory to the Church.

Origen: This must come to pass before we can see the perfection of that wisdom which is in Christ; but not yet shall be that end which we seek, for a peaceful end is far from those men.

Jerome: "These all are the beginnings Of sorrows," is better understood of pains of labour, as it were the conception of the coming of Antichrist, and not of the birth.