Matthew 24:4-12, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
One of my well-meaning web visitors recently sent me the following information, allegedly from Wikipedia, trying to convince me that Jesus is about to return (also citing the above passage of Scripture)...
WARS:
According to a Wikipedia list of wars, the past 500 years have witnessed an increase in the frequency of wars:
15th Century – 29 wars16th Century – 59 wars17th Century – 75 wars18th Century – 69 wars19th Century – 294 wars20th Century – 278 warsFAMINES:
According to a Wikipedia list of famines, the past 500 years have also witnessed an increase in the frequency of famines:
15th Century – 6 famines16th Century – 10 famines17th Century – 24 famines18th Century – 28 famines19th Century – 30 famines20th Century – 44 faminesEARTHQUAKES:
According to a Wikipedia list of earthquakes, the past 500 years have witnessed the following number of earthquakes described as a magnitude 7.0 or greater:
15th Century – 2 earthquakes16th Century – 3 earthquakes17th Century – 7 earthquakes18th Century – 13 earthquakes19th Century – 29 earthquakes20th Century – 123 earthquakesIs this true? Are there more earthquakes today than ever before? No, it is not true! I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but the U.S. government even verifies that there are not more earthquakes today than in previous centuries. We simply have more fancy equipment and seismic meters monitoring the earth today.
How about more famines? Over time, famines have increasingly become a “manmade” phenomena, becoming more clearly attributable to political causes, non-democratic government, corruption, natural disasters and tribal conflict. As the world's population grows, the threat of famine increases. So there is some truth to this. Albeit, it is important to consider everything mentioned in Mark 13 and Matthew 24, and not just cherry-pick prophetic events. There is also mention of the sun and moon not shining anymore, and the stars falling, and the power of the heavens being shaken, which hasn't happened yet.
How about more wars? There is much ongoing debate about the probability and frequency of wars. I find that none of these things indicate the soon return of Jesus Christ. I don't mean to rain of anyone's prophetic parade, but I am leery and wearied with Rapture date-setters like, Evangelist Robert Breaker, who foolish and heretically predicated Christ's return in 2017, 2018 and unbelievably, Mr. Breaker crunched a bunch of numbers and is predicting Jesus' return also in 2019! What a theological nutcase! As we all know, the Rapture didn't happen in 2017, 2018 or 2019! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!!! Please don't believe anyone who sets a date for the Lord's return. Jesus said no man knows the time of His return:
Mark 13:29-33, “So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.”
Mark 13:3-4 says that Peter, James and Andrew privately asked Jesus for the signs of His return. Mark 13 parallels Matthew 24. The Lord warns of many false prophets, earthquakes, wars and famines that would come. I think it is a mistake to read into these things, claiming that the Lord's return is near, while ignoring the rest of the Scripture. Mark 13:24-25, “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.” This passage of Scripture proves that we are NOT in the Tribulation in 2020. People take only what they want to take from the Bible, claiming that we are in the Tribulation, but the sun is not failing to shine, nor is the moon being darkened, nor are the stars falling, nor are the powers of the heavens being shaken! Clearly, we are not in the Tribulation period yet! I am eager for the Lord's return as much as anybody, but I am not going to twist the Scripture to set dates, claim we're in the Tribulation, and make erroneous assumptions about the Lord's return.
Albeit, I do think it is obvious that we are living in the end times. I do not know when the Lord will return. I do not know when the Tribulation will start. I do not know when the Antichrist will appear. The strongest evidence that I have to give you, that we are now living in the end times of Bible prophecy, is Nebuchadnezzar's image from Daniel chapter two. I highly encourage you to read the preceding Bible study link from Revelation 12:10-11. There have been six kings so far throughout human civilization; namely, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, all of which are fallen in 2020. Today, we are living in the forming seventh kingdom, which is the New World Order. From this seventh kingdom will arise the eighth, or the Antichrist. This is my interpretation of this Scripture passage.
According to Nebuchadnezzar's image, we are now living in the time of the feet of iron mixed with clay. No one nation rules the world today, as the six previous kingdoms did in ancient times, but there are several superpowers today (USA, Russia, China, India, France, Israel, Pakistan, et cetera). The Bible teaches that no man, not even the angels, know the time of Christ's return (Mark 13:33). I would never set a date, nor even hint at a year. Granted, it is obvious that the New World Order is now forming, and the world is awaiting for the appearing of the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, and this means that Jesus' return at the Rapture is nearer than ever before! We are commanded in Titus 2:13 and Mark 13:37 to “WATCH” for the Lord's return at any time. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!!!
Make Sure You Are Born-again In Christ Jesus
There is nothing more important, than WHERE you will spend eternity dear friend. Are you ready to meet your Maker? Have you been born-again? Please believe in Jesus today before it is too late. Jesus paid your debt of sin on the cross. He died in your place and mine. Christ died on the cross, was buried, and three days later He bodily resurrected from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). If you believe that truth, and receive it as your own, relying upon Christ' sacrifice on the cross as sole payment for your sins, then you have eternal life. You have God's promise on it! John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”Eternity in Hell is a fearful thing, suffering forever. The Holy Bible says to simply “believe” on the name of Jesus, who died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and three days later physically resurrected from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). If you'll believe (rely upon) this truth of the Gospel, you will be immediately saved, eternally saved and irrevocably saved.
Our text passage is about the Tribulation period, which is not here yet. I firmly believe in a pretribulation Rapture, and no one has ever convinced me otherwise. Nothing else fits doctrinally. Those preachers who insist on a mid (prewrath) or post tribulation Rapture, cannot explain many things, and I find loopholes (bugs) in their theology. Nearly every great man of God who preached the Gospel throughout the 20th century taught a pretribulaiton Rapture, and I concur with them based upon my own understanding of the Holy Bible. We read in Titus 2:13, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Now, if I am to LOOK FOR THE BLESSED SAVIOR, then Jesus must return BEFORE the Tribulation. If Christ will not return until after the Antichrist appears in the middle of the Tribulation, then we should be LOOKING FOR THE ANTICHRIST instead! So clearly, the only doctrinal position that makes sense Biblically is a pretribulation Rapture of The Church (i.e., all the saints, both dead and living).
God bless you dear friend. The important thing is to make sure you are saved, and if you are to get busy serving the Lord while we still can, preaching the Gospel to get more people saved.
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