Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was noted for his near miraculous powers of observation. Holmes had the uncanny ability to immediately notice things the casual observer failed to see. I was wondering this morning what Sherlock Holmes would have quickly noticed had he read the Olivet Prophecy given in the 24th chapter of Matthew’s gospel account. (This prophecy is also found in Mark 13 and Luke 21. John does not include this prophecy in his gospel account).
Matthew includes in his account of the Olivet Prophecy of Jesus Christ something both Mark and Luke omit. I have no doubt had Sherlock Holmes read all three accounts he would have immediately noticed what Matthew includes. Have YOU noticed what Matthew includes and the other two writers omit? What follows are the 15th through the 22nd verses of Matthew chapter 24: “When you shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso reads let him understand, then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray you that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
One thing, I have no doubt, Mr. Holmes would have noticed very quickly is that either Jesus or Matthew emphasized or underscored the necessity of understanding what the prophet Daniel had written many centuries previously. Note the words in Matthew 24, verse 15: “whoso reads let him understand” that immediately follow the statement, “When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place…..”
There are two conditions, or criteria, one must meet in order to understand the Book of Daniel, as well as having the ability to rightly understand any other portion of Holy Scripture: 1) The reader must have an open mind and give their undivided attention to God’s Word, and 2) They must not have any unforsaken sin in their life. Daniel himself points up the necessity of meeting this second condition in a prayer he prayed for the deliverance of Israel, saying to God, “yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand thy truth” (See Daniel 9:13).
The apostle Paul warns that we become alienated from God and enemies in our mind when we sin (See Colossians 1:21). That’s why one who has been redeemed from sin must immediately confess and forsake any sin they commit. The price we pay is immediate if nothing more than a hardening of our heart and an immediate hindrance to prayer, as well as immediate difficulty in understanding the scriptures aright.
The “abomination of desolation” is mentioned twice in the Book of Daniel, first in Daniel 11:31 and then again in Daniel 12:11. But those are not the words that I believe would have arrested the attention of someone like Sherlock Holmes. It is the 20th verse of Matthew 24 that I believe would have intrigued any Bible reader who was also aware of Christian dogma and doctrine. Such a seeker of divine truth would have contemplated long and hard the words of Jesus Christ when He told His disciples, “But pray you that your flight be not in the winter, NEITHER ON THE SABBATH DAY!” Mr. Holmes might have thought, “It has been commonly believed for centuries that Sunday replaced Sabbath observance very soon after the founding of the Christian church.” Hastening to his library, Mr. Holmes might have pulled out a book of ancient history. Flipping through the pages, he would have found how the Romans destroyed the temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D. following a rebellion by the Jews in 66 A.D., called the Great Revolt.
“Most interesting!” he might have thought. If the Sabbath had
been abolished many decades before, why would Jesus tell His disciples to pray that their flight from a besieged city not be necessary on the Sabbath!!! If the Sabbath had long been regarded by God as just an ordinary day, why be concerned that one not trample on that day by arduous labor and flight???
And, musing a bit further, what if Sherlock Holmes had read the prophesies of Isaiah. Coming to the final chapter of Isaiah’s lengthy book, he would certainly have been astounded to find these words penned by that mighty prophet of God: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 66:22-23). “Good heavens,” Mr. Holmes might have thought, “how on earth could the masses of Christianity have overlooked this prophecy wherein God Himself declares that it shall surely come to pass that someday all flesh, Gentile as well as Jew, shall one day honor His eternal holy sabbath as long as time itself endures!!!”
Yes, I wonder what Sherlock Holmes would have thought!
Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley