Love Never Fails: The Gathering Storm

"And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:7-8)

Picture Jesus sitting alone on the Mount of Olives.

In just a few short days He would be betrayed by a kiss from one of His own, and delivered up to be crucified by His religious enemies.

Shortly before this Jesus had been prophesying in the Temple of the woe coming upon the scribes and Pharisees who had rejected Him as the Messiah. And then He lamented the following over Jerusalem:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” (Matthew 23:37-39)

Jesus now foretells the destruction of the Temple:

"Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:1-2)

To Jesus' disciples this must have sounded like the end of the world.

They had to know when will these things happen? What signs would Jesus show them to let them know His return is near? By what signs would they know the end of the age has come?

"Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3)

These are perhaps the most pondered questions among Christians over the last two thousand years.

When will these things be?

What will be the sign of Your coming?

What will be the sign of the end of the age?

I have been asking the answers to these questions since I first began reading about them in the Bible nearly thirty years ago.

So let's look at how Jesus answered His disciples questions:

"And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:4-8)

Lets break this down:

1. "Take heed that no one deceives you." Deception will be extremely prevalent in this time. Among the deceptions may be false predictions of the date of His return, of which, Jesus said, "No one knows the day or the hour." False teachers are everywhere in these last days. Test all things by God's Word. Reject false teachers and their false doctrine.

2. "For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ." Think of David Koresh and many false prophets claiming to be the Christ. "And many will be deceived." Many have actually believed these demonic impersonators. People have given all their wealth up and followed these charlatans.

3. "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars." Think of all the wars worldwide in just the last 100 years. More recently, rumors of potential wars with North Korea and Iran, to name just a few, are all over the Internet and news sources.

4. "Don't be troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." You will see all these things happen, but pay attention; there is still more to come.

5. "Nation will rise against nation." Again, just turn on the news. We see this occur frequently. Nation against nation can also mean ethnicity against ethnicity. Look at the ethnic cleansing that has happened in recent years. Racism is a global problem

6. "There will be famines and pestilences." In 2019 locust swarms in the tens of millions descended on different parts of Africa, causing widespread famine and destruction of millions of square miles of crops and food supplies. The UN estimates there are tens of millions of people in the world on the brink of starvation. Currently the Corona Virus pandemic has spread across the globe like wildfire, causing sickness, death and panic. Before that consider the world AIDS epidemic, SARS, and Ebola. As well as other modern day pandemics.

7. "There will be earthquakes in various places." Think of all the earthquakes worldwide over the last several decades ... and all the more interesting, when combined with all the other signs of the times that Jesus spelled out.

8. "All these are the beginning of sorrows." Sorrows here are rightly defined as birth pangs, labor pains, or contractions. As a mother's labor pains and contractions progress, they increase in frequency and intensity. All the signs Jesus foretold to His disciples are the beginning of labor pains or contractions.

If we take all that Jesus said here at face value, I believe the final birthing period of world history is beginning. And as we approach the final seven year Tribulation period, the contractions or birth pains will rapidly increase in frequency and intensity.

It's not my intention, nor will I enter into a "Rapture debate" and the timing of this event. Because "no one knows the day or the hour."

We're simply looking at Jesus' answers to His disciples when they asked Him:

“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

Recently here in my city we had a small earthquake.

But it certainly got my attention, especially in light of all the above, including the Corona Virus pandemic that's happening in the entire world today and right here at home.

For the follower of Jesus Christ this is not to be a time of fear but one of joy!

Our Savior is returning as promised to take us to be with Him where He is. And we will be with Him forever.

Jesus spelled out the signs of the times for us.

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