Understanding our Lord's great prophecy recorded in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 24 and 25 is a challenge for Bible scholars not only because of the mystery of individual elements. The fundamental problem arises from the fact that this prophecy is the answer to the disciples' question, which is itself complex and concerns completely different events: "Tell us, 1) when shall these things be [the destruction of the temple]? And 2) what shall be the sign of Your coming, and 3) of the end of the world?" (Mt. 24:3). Jesus speaks of these events without clearly separating the answers to the individual parts of the question.
The passage from Mt. 24:4-14 is often disregarded by Bible students. The "abomination of desolation" referred to in Mt. 24:15 is associated with the Roman armies that destroyed Jerusalem in 70 C.E. And if it is only at this point that Jesus begins to answer the first part of the question, then apparently the description from Mt. 24:4-14 does not strictly concern any of the disciples' questions, it is a kind of background. A glance at the content and indeed - there have always been wars, famines have always been there, false prophets have always been there, and the good news has also been preached continuously from the time of Jesus until today. It is, therefore, a kind of review of the history of the last twenty centuries without any particular reference to any part of the apostles' question.
However, at least two objections can be raised against the 'background theory'. First of all, to assume that the text recorded in Mt. 24:4-14 is simply an irrelevant background for the rest of the prophecy is actually equivalent to saying that our Lord is speaking nonsense through 11 verses. This is a bold assumption that no serious Bible student should accept. The second objection may concern the sequence of events itself. If Jesus really only wanted to sketch the background for the proper fulfillment of the prophecy, it would be expected that its proper development would take place after that time (or it still belongs to the future). Yet, as we know, it came much earlier, only 37 years after our Lord's prophecy.
The fact that the abomination of desolation that Jesus speaks of in Mt. 24:15 does indeed apparently refer to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 C.E. does not exclude the fact that the preceding verses also refer to this event. Moreover, there is a chronological logic in this arrangement of prophecy, for Mt. 24:4-14 describes the events that were to precede the destruction of Jerusalem, while Mt. 24:15 speaks of events immediately accompanying it. So what was to foreshadow the coming destruction?
False Christs (Mt. 24:5) - the Jews knew from Daniel's prophecy chapter 9 that the Messiah was to be expected about the first century. We do know from the Bible that at that time "the people were in expectation" (Lk. 3:15). On the other hand, this heightened expectation resulted in a kind of "flood" of false messiahs, among whom are mentioned e.g. Manah ben Judah, Judas of Galilee, Theudas, Vespasian and John of Gishala. Josephus also writes about how "impostors and deceivers persuaded the multitude to follow them into the wilderness, and pretended that they would exhibit manifest wonders and signs, that should be performed by the providence of God" ("Antiquities of Israel" XX.8.6).
Nation rising against nation (Mt. 24:7) - the prophecy in this element is perceived as an announcement of a series of armed conflicts. However, it is not that everyone will fight everyone. The use of the singular is evidently not accidental here, for if we read this statement on the plane of its actual meaning, it turns out that Jesus foretells a confrontation between two nations, "For nation [one] will rise against [another] nation." These nations, as history has shown, were the nation of Israel and the nation of Rome. The Romans occupied Judea from 63 B.C.E., which in time led to the rise of a reactionary underground (the so-called Zealots), and in 66 C.E. also to the uprising against Rome, which immediately preceded the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 C.E. The military confrontation between Rome and Israel was therefore an important signal announcing the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Rumors of wars (Mt. 24:6) - an important and, as it turned out, decisive signal of impending disaster was the "rumors of wars". The Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem in 66 C.E., but abandoned the siege and withdrew to Syria, thus enabling the Christians in the city to flee, in harmony with the Master's words: "And when you see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that its destruction has come. (21) And let those in Judea flee to the mountains..." (Lk. 21:20,21). The Romans returned in the spring of 67 C.E., only to finally destroy Jerusalem about 3.5 years later.
Famine (Mt. 24:7) - Acts 11:27-30 speaks of "great famine over the world" during the reign of Emperor Claudius (41-54 C.E.).
Earthquakes (Mt. 24:7) - the first century was a time of a lot of seismic activity. A number of such events are mentioned by Tacitus in his "Histories". One reads e.g. about the destruction of 12 major cities of Asia (II.471), Laodicea (and Colossae and Hierapolis, located in the vicinity; XIV.271) and Pompeii (XV.221). Rome was also struck by a series of tremors (XII.431). Other sources include earthquakes e.g. in Smyrna, Miletus, Campania, Italy, Crete and Chios. We can also read about two earthquakes in the Bible. The first took place in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus' death, the second in Philippi, when Paul and Silas were in prison (Mt. 27:54; Acts 16:26).
Persecution of Christians (Mt. 24:9) - persecution began very early, first at the hands of the Jews, then at the hands of the Romans. Stephen, the first martyr for the faith, died even before Cornelius was called (Acts 7:54-60). The apostle Paul writes much about his experiences (2 Cor. 11:23-33). The first organized persecution at the hands of the Romans began in 64 C.E., when Nero set Rome on fire and threw the accusation at Christians.
False prophets (Mt. 24:11) - the activity of false teachers in the Christian congregation became a fact at a very early stage of its development, as the apostle Paul describes it in many passages (Acts 20:29,30; Rom. 16:18; 2 Cor. 11:3-6,12,13; Gal. 3:1, 4:17; Eph. 4:14).
The preaching of the Gospel to all nations (Mt. 24:14) - from the point of view of the twenty-first century, it may not be a special sign, but from the point of view of one reading this prophecy in the first century, it certainly was. When Jesus spoke the words recorded in Mt. 24:14, it was just him and a handful of disciples. During the next 30 years, the Gospel was already preached in the whole basin of the Mediterranean Sea, that is, in the whole civilized world at that time. In his letter to the Colossians, or about 60 C.E., the apostle Paul writes that the Gospel "has come to you as it has also in all the world" and that it "was proclaimed in all the creation under Heaven" (Col. 1:6,23).
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Indeed, each of the listed signs has a fairly general character, especially if seen from the perspective of twenty centuries. However, the period from 33 C.E., when Jesus spoke the prophecy, to 70 C.E., when it was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem, was indeed rich in the circumstances that Jesus mentioned. Believers who read this announcement at the time had a solid basis for trust. Mt. 24:1-14, reinforced by the testimony of the Gospel of Luke, allowed many to unmistakably identify the coming destruction and leave the city in time. Those who really trusted the prophecies could thank God in 70 C.E. for saving their lives.