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We are all familiar with the Matthew 24 passage about the Great Tribulation, and Christ's warning for the disciples not to follow any "false Christs" or "false prophets" showing up in those days. The warning was against those claiming that the Messiah was in the wilderness, or in "the secret chambers". But the disciples were not to believe those false prophets, or to go out after them, because Christ's return for them would not be in either of these places.
This "secret chambers" is a peculiar phrase, and one that deserves more attention than it usually gets. When Christ spoke of these "secret chambers", He was referring to a couple of rooms that were set apart in the temple itself. One was called "the chamber of secrets", which was a repository for anonymously donated charitable contributions for the poor in Israel. The other room was called "the chamber of vessels", for anonymous donations given to support the Temple's upkeep.
John Gill's comments on these "secret chambers' is found in his "Exposition of the Entire Bible". He quotes as follows: "For in the sanctuary, there were two chambers; one was called 'The Chamber of Secrets'; and the other 'The Chamber of Vessels'." (Misn. Shekalim, c.5.sect.6).
Another writer, Lambert Dolphin, in his work titled "The Temple of Solomon" refers to the same original source that Gill did, and adds this: "Two chambers in the temple are named in the Mishnah. One, the Chamber of Secrets, was where the devout placed their gifts in secret. The poor received support from these gifts also in secret. The Chamber of Utensils was also a room for storing gifts from which distribution was made every thirty days."
Since the Jerusalem temple with its "Secret Chambers" was physically destroyed in AD 70, then Christ's prophetic warning about those pseudo-christs being reputed to appear in those "Secret Chambers" must be referring to a time prior to the AD 70 destruction of that temple. No one today could possibly claim that a Messiah is appearing in a "secret chamber" that no longer exists. This has to refer to a false claim being made while those "Secret Chambers" were still around. And we have recorded examples in Josephus (Wars 5.13.6.562-565) of the Zealot John of Gischala actually doing this invading of the temple and helping himself to the wealth of resources contained in these secret chambers in order to supply his own army.
These "Secret Chambers" within the Jerusalem temple were just one example that links this prophecy to that first century. The other example given in this Matthew 24:26 context was also linked with a first-century phenomenon - that of some false christs who would show up IN THE WILDERNESS, trying to gain a following. Even before the epistles of the New Testament had finished being written, an example of this had already taken place. We find it in Acts 21:38, when the Roman chief captain (whose soldiers had rescued Paul from being killed by the Jewish mob at the temple) asked Paul this question: "Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out INTO THE WILDERNESS four thousand men that were murderers?" This scriptural record of an Egyptian insurrectionist attempting to gain a following of Zealots in Israel to rebel against Roman rule was also duplicated in Josephus' writings (Wars 2.261-263).
This "secret chambers" is a peculiar phrase, and one that deserves more attention than it usually gets. When Christ spoke of these "secret chambers", He was referring to a couple of rooms that were set apart in the temple itself. One was called "the chamber of secrets", which was a repository for anonymously donated charitable contributions for the poor in Israel. The other room was called "the chamber of vessels", for anonymous donations given to support the Temple's upkeep.
John Gill's comments on these "secret chambers' is found in his "Exposition of the Entire Bible". He quotes as follows: "For in the sanctuary, there were two chambers; one was called 'The Chamber of Secrets'; and the other 'The Chamber of Vessels'." (Misn. Shekalim, c.5.sect.6).
Another writer, Lambert Dolphin, in his work titled "The Temple of Solomon" refers to the same original source that Gill did, and adds this: "Two chambers in the temple are named in the Mishnah. One, the Chamber of Secrets, was where the devout placed their gifts in secret. The poor received support from these gifts also in secret. The Chamber of Utensils was also a room for storing gifts from which distribution was made every thirty days."
Since the Jerusalem temple with its "Secret Chambers" was physically destroyed in AD 70, then Christ's prophetic warning about those pseudo-christs being reputed to appear in those "Secret Chambers" must be referring to a time prior to the AD 70 destruction of that temple. No one today could possibly claim that a Messiah is appearing in a "secret chamber" that no longer exists. This has to refer to a false claim being made while those "Secret Chambers" were still around. And we have recorded examples in Josephus (Wars 5.13.6.562-565) of the Zealot John of Gischala actually doing this invading of the temple and helping himself to the wealth of resources contained in these secret chambers in order to supply his own army.
These "Secret Chambers" within the Jerusalem temple were just one example that links this prophecy to that first century. The other example given in this Matthew 24:26 context was also linked with a first-century phenomenon - that of some false christs who would show up IN THE WILDERNESS, trying to gain a following. Even before the epistles of the New Testament had finished being written, an example of this had already taken place. We find it in Acts 21:38, when the Roman chief captain (whose soldiers had rescued Paul from being killed by the Jewish mob at the temple) asked Paul this question: "Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out INTO THE WILDERNESS four thousand men that were murderers?" This scriptural record of an Egyptian insurrectionist attempting to gain a following of Zealots in Israel to rebel against Roman rule was also duplicated in Josephus' writings (Wars 2.261-263).
