2. FALSE CHRISTS, WARS, , AND FAMINES Mark 13:5-8 (Matthew 24:4-8; Luke 21:8-11) 5 And Jesus began to say unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray.--Watch, be careful to allow no one to lead you astray on any question but especially those about which you ask. It would be a bad error to be led away by a false Christ. 6 Many shall come in my name, saying, I am he;--DeWette says, "It cannot be shown that there were any false Christs before the destruction of Jerusalem. Bar-Cochba appeared after that event." To which Lange replies, "All those are essentially false Messiahs who would assume the place which belongs to Christ in the kingdom of God. It includes, therefore, the enthusiasts who, before the destruction of Jerusalem, appeared as seducers of the people; e.g., Theudas, Dositheus, Simon Magus, etc." DeWette also asserts, "Church history generally knows of none who gave himself out as the Christian Messiah." Lange responds, "Every one who gave himself out as the Messiah gave himself out as the Christian Messiah; for Messiah means Christ." and shall lead many astray.--In Lange's view, given above, this was fulfilled to the letter. See Acts 5:34-37, where Gamaliel tells of the many who were led astray by these pretenders; also Acts 21:38. All who bring to us an improved, or emasculated, or changed gospel, yea, though an angel from heaven (Galatians 1:8), make themselves Christs, and are to be rejected. All who give themselves liberty to change ordinances are in the same category. 7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars,--Wars in the neighborhood, where we hear the uproar and confusion ourselves; and wars in the distance, the rumors of which are heard. These wars were very probably insurrections and rebellions of the Jews in various places throughout the Roman empire. Roman history points out that the most violent agitations prevailed in the Roman empire previous to the destruction of Jerusalem. Four emperors, Nero, Galher, Otho, and Vitellius, suffered violent death, in the short space of eighteen months. In consequence of these changes in the government, there were commotions throughout the empire. Parties were formed, and bloody and violent wars were the consequence of attachment to the particular emperors. Wars declared, or threatened, but not carried into execution would come under "rumors of war." Josephus says that Bardanes, and after him Volageses, declared war against the Jews, but it was not carried into execution. (Ant. 20, 30.) He also says that Vitellius, governor of Syria, declared war against Aretas, king of Arabia, and wished to lead his army through Palestine, but the death of Tiberius prevented the war. (Ant. 18, 5, 3.) be not troubled: these things must needs come to pass;--Be not confused, agitated, filled with alarm for they are in God's plan and predicted by his Son, and come they must. God overrules the events of the world for the welfare of his children; they were not to be anxious about these things. but the end is not yet.--It is difficult to determine what "end" refers to. Some think it has reference to the old Jewish economy; others to the end of the world. Since Jesus, in the next verse, points out other calamities, it may have referred to them. What I have told you is not "the end," or all of the calamities. Here are some more of which I now tell you. I say it might refer to this--I do not know. There were to be series of commotions; they were warned to wait with patience, for in this grace they possessed their souls. (Luke 21:19.) We still have wars and rumors of wars and the world is still standing. The end of it has not yet come. Again and again have generations magnified the great temporal disturbances of their time, and supposed "the end" was just at hand; but the end was not yet. At times all the regular employments of life have been hindered or abandoned. To keep steadily onward in the pathway of duty and leave such matters in the hands of God who doeth all things well is the wise Christian's course. Persecutions, apostasies from the faith, false teachers, and decrease of love amid abounding iniquity are to be expected, and should lead us to trust more in Christ, and persevere unto the end. (Hebrews 10:39; James 5:7-11; 1 Pet. 4 12, 13; Revelation 2:10.) 8 For nation shall rise against nation,--"This portended the dissensions, insurrections, and mutual slaughter of the Jews and those of other nations who dwelt in the same cities together. At Cesarea, the Jews and Syrians engaged in deadly conflict, 20,000 of the former of whom were slain and the rest expelled from the city. This resulted in a series of similar conflicts in other cities, compassing the death of 20,000 Jews at Scythopolis, 2,500 at Ascalon, 2,000 at Ptolemais, and an equal number of Syrians in their towns and villages. At Alexandria, Damascus, and other points, there were similar scenes." and kingdom against kingdom;--"In fulfillment of this we have a war of Jews and Galileans against the Samaritans, on account of the murder of Galileans going to the feast at Jerusalem. Also a war of the Jews against Agrippa and the Romans, beginning when Gessius Florus was procurator. Also, the civil war in Italy between Otho and Vitellius for the empire. there shall be earthquakes in divers places;--"Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Rome, Laodicea, Hierapolis are localities in which this prediction was fulfilled in the period preceding the destruction of Jerusalem. Josephus also tells of a terrible one in Judea, accompanied by terrific storms." there shall be famines:--"There was a famine in Judea mentioned by Suetonius, Tacitus and Eusebius, in the days of Claudius Caesar." The above quotation from Josephus is condensed from Newton, Lardner, and Clarke. these things are the beginning of travail.--The beginning, not the end of sorrows. The pains of childbirth, a favorite figure of the scriptures for expressing pain and anguish. We have only to read Josephus' overwhelming description of the misery of every kind that came upon Jerusalem, to realize how fitting is the description given by our Lord to his confidential disciples at a time when all was peace, and quiet, and prosperity throughout the land. Luke (Luke 21:20) says: "When ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand."