At the urging of his disciples, Jesus continued with more specific details... Beginning with Matthew 24:4 and Mark 13:5, He gives a series of predictions for things yet to come. Here we find the "wars and rumors of wars" passages that have been quoted so many times. Notice that Jesus says that these are not the end! The end begins later, when "nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom..." These may seem to be the same, but Jesus did not have a habit of repeating himself. So, for translation purposes, I refer to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. "Nation" is translated from a word that means "tribe" or "race", while "kingdom" means "realm". So race will war against race while realm wars against realm. The same word "kingdom" is also used by Jesus many times to refer to the realms of God and Satan. The war between realms will be a spiritual war, while the war between races will be here on Earth.
Jesus also refers to famines, pestilences (interpreted "plagues"), and earthquakes in "divers" places. "Earthquakes" can refer to either ground or air activity, either earthquakes or gales, hurricanes, tornados, etc. Divers is an old form of the word "diverse", meaning manifold, multiple places. From these we see that there will be many worldwide plagues, famines (crop failures?), earthquakes, and other natural disasters. In 1997, an unusual warming off of the west coast of Central America caused widespread climactic changes over the United States. Can this be a warning of larger changes to come? Climactic changes can easily cause widespread crop failures, leading to a shortage of food as well. And the recent destruction of the equatorial rain-forests have allready resulted in the discovery of new and terrible diseases such as AIDS and Ebola. While we are not yet to the point Jesus spoke about, it is easy to see the progression toward it today.
"These are the beginnings of sorrows." If Jesus ever said anything to make someone's blood turn cold this was it! He has just predicted worldwide plaque, hunger, destruction and war, and this is only the beginning! After this, He begins to prophesy about persecution of the Church, false prophets, and iniquity. Aso, the gospel (literal translation, "good news") must be preached to every nation, another sign that is nearing it's conclusion. Today, ministries such as Trinity Broadcasting, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, and Christ For All Nations are rapidly spreading the Gospel of Jesus throughout the world.
Beginning with Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14, Jesus refers to the "abomination of desolation" spoken of by the prophet Daniel in the Old Testament. There has been some speculation on exactly what this means, even Jesus himself said "let him that readeth, understand". Translated into madern English, "abomination" is the most despicable thing imaginable, a think that is despised by God in the most severe way. Since this abomination is to stand in the "holy place", the inner temple in Jerusalem, otherwise known as the holy of holies, it is logical to assume that it may be an idol, probably to Satan himself. When this abomination stands in the holy of holies, the message is clear - GET OUT! This will begin the great tribulation.
In Matthew 24:22 and Mark 13:20, Jesus mentions the shortening of the days. This is also mentioned by the disciple John in the Book of Revelation (you knew I'd get to it sooner or later!). In Revelation 8:12, John sees a third of the sun, moon, and stars smitten by an angel. These refer figuratively to the days and nights. The only possible way for this to happen is for the Earth's rotation to increase! Instead of 12 hours of sunshine followed by 12 hours of darkness, there will be 8 hours of daylight and 8 hours of darkness. Another parallel: Jesus says that the days will be shortened to save the flesh of man. In Revelation 16:8, John sees an angel pour out a vial onto the sun so that it burns men. Both of John's visions mentioned here are of a "fouth angel". This gives us a link between Jesus' warnings and the revelation that John saw, and we will examine this more closely later.
In Matthew 24:29 and Mark 13:24, we learn of the darkening of the sun and moon, just prior to the second coming of Jesus. This is also in Revelation 9:1-3 and Revelation 16:10. After the second coming of Jesus, in Matthew 24:35 and Mark 13:31, Heaven and Earth passes away. I have heard the verse in Ecclesiastes 1:4 where it says "the earth abidest forever". Strong's Exhaustive Concordence translates the hebrew word 'olam (the original word) as: time out of mind, as far as can be seen. This is a different word with a different meaning from most instances of the word "forever". For this reason, I discount any meaning to this verse with respect to the eternal existance of the Earth. No, Jesus said "Heaven and Earth shall pass away..." and that is what He meant.
These predictions are followed by a warning, drawn out and emphasized. The warning is that Jesus will come quickly, without specific warning. If we wish to be part of His kingdom, we MUST be ready! He has given us a road map to the future, but we do not know the exact time, nor can we know. Just as we know that summer is coming when we see the signs of spring, we cannot accurately predict the first day to be above a certain temperature. Are you ready for that day? If not, and if you want to be, click on any of the ministry links in these pages - They will be happy to help!
The Warnings of Jesus
The Four Horsemen
The Mark of the Beast
Who Is the Anti-Christ?
Hell Does Not Exist
The End of the World
Nostradamus
Minor Prophets
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