Who is the person on the housetop in Matthew 24:17 that Jesus tells not to come down?
The person on the housetop represents a cross-section of Jewish society, not the 144,000, and is portrayed as a likely retired, wealthy individual of means relaxing on a rooftop patio. Jesus tells him not to go down to retrieve possessions because escape from Jerusalem will be urgent.
Les explains that verse 17 is part of a cross-section of Jewish society fleeing Jerusalem after the Antichrist defiles the temple and turns on the Jew. He projects that the person on the housetop is probably retired, people of means, rather wealthy, spending spare time on a rooftop patio. They likely have expensive things in their home they are reluctant to leave, but Jesus says the urgency is so great they should leave them behind and not stop to take anything out of the house. This contrasts with verse 18, where the working-age person in the field should not return even for clothes.
Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
More Questions
What did Jesus mean by 'let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house'?
Jesus said the flight will be so urgent and the need for wealth so little that they should leave their possessions behind and not stop to take anything out of the house.
Why did Jesus say the man on the housetop should not go back into his house for anything?
The reason Jesus tells the man on the housetop not to take anything out of his house is that the flight will be so urgent and there will be so little need for the things of his wealth that he should simply leave them behind.
Who are the people on the housetop that Jesus told not to come down?
The people Jesus addressed on the housetop were like retired people who have time to spend up on their housetop patio.