A closer look at Jesus words in Matthew 24:6-8.
With Russia’s ongoing war against the Ukraine, which is actually a simmering proxy war against the U.S. (Thank you for that Joe Biden); and with communist China making ever more provocative moves against our Navy and it’s feeble attempts to discourage China’s threatened actions against Taiwan. One has to wonder if we are not nearing the end of all things; whether that means a bleak dystopian future, if you are a pessimistic secularist; or a glorious return of Christ ushering in a new world free of all such worries. Is “The End” at hand? This is a question I will attempt explore with you, and allow you to answer it for yourself. For I am no self-styled “prophecy expert”…No mystic reader of the daily news for “divine insights”. No. I, as you should, simply study the only source of infallible revelation God has given us, and prayerfully hope to discover it’s message, meaning, and application. I may not be the best at it, but after more than 43 years of study, I should to have something worthy of your time and attention. So, let’s begin in Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew 24:6-8
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
(See also Mark 13:7-8)
Wars, and the “rumors” of them have been with mankind since the beginning. As such there is nothing terribly significant about them, a fact which Jesus intimates when he tells us not to be troubled or alarmed about them. The same can be said of nations and kingdoms rising up against one another. Again- At what time has there ever been an utter absence of famine and earthquakes anywhere in the world? Never. So none of these things are of particular significance to God’s people; and they are certainly not a sign that the end is at hand. A fact today’s so-called “prophecy experts” seem to have conveniently forgotten. Of them it is rightly said that the daily newspaper is their guiding light more so than the eternal Word of God. And they are damnably shameless at exploiting gullible people to line their own pockets! Books upon books, and a never-ending series of movies, none of which accurately reflect the truth of God’s glorious promise of things to come. But, I digress. Sorry.
What can we then surmise Jesus is teaching us regarding such things? Well, verse 8 gives us the key… He likens them to “birth pains”. And so we must think of the world in terms of a pregnant woman. And like the woman who is pregnant with child, so too is the world pregnant with the final revelation and consummation of the kingdom of God. And the world has been pregnant with this glorious promise of redemption and restoration since the very beginning. And when the birth finally arrives, many glorious promises to God’s holy elect will finally be fully fulfilled! They will be gloriously resurrected and/or transformed into those new incorruptible bodies which befit the eternal state. The long awaited return of their beloved husband and messiah will have come. The final great judgement of both the righteous and the wicked will have come. All of which will be immediately followed by the creation of a new heavens & earth, where they will then spend the rest of eternity in fellowship with their God and savior.
The Apostle Paul makes specific reference to this very thing in Romans 8:18-23 where mentions creation groaning in travail awaiting that final transformative change it shall undergo, relieving it from it’s accursed state, concomitant with the revelation of the sons of God; that is…God’s elect.
Such is the glorious hope all of God’s elect have maintained in every generation, and we too should hold fast to now.
What the reader of Jesus words can certainly take away from verses 6-8 is that like a pregnant woman when her birthing pains finally do come and then begin to increase in pain level and rapidity signalling that the end of her term of pregnancy is nearing: So too should the Christian be aware that as the aforementioned events increase in occurrence and severity of impact upon the world, act with an urgency in your daily walk as those who expect the blessed return of our savior and king draws near. We don’t need dates! What we need is zeal and dedication! We, like the faithful virgins in Matt. 25:1-13 should be preparing ourselves most carefully, with increased devotion to prayer; more intense and earnest searching of ourselves for secret sin; and a thorough house cleaning from all that which hinders us in our narrow focus on Him and eternity. It is no mere “coincidence” that our Lord’s warning to prepare ourselves closely follows on the heels of what transpires in the preceding chapter 24. The parable of the virgins is instructive to US, here and NOW.
“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man comes” Matthew 25:13
Watchfulness beloved saint, is not the same as anxious fearfulness. You are not of this world if you have truly placed your trust in Christ. And He certainly has no intent of seeing you judged and destroyed with it.
I have waited until now to cover yet one more set of parallel passages to Matt. 24:4-8 and Mark 13:7-8, and that is Luke’s record of Christ’s words. I find Luke ads more elaboration which is significant. Here then is what the beloved doctor Luke records.
Luke 21:9-19
9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.
10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.
13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness.
14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer,
15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.
16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death.
17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.
18 But not a hair of your head will perish.
19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.
Now, as you can see Luke adds considerable more details neither Matthew or Marc were moved to include. I say “moved”to emphasize the point that they, as were all other chosen stewards of God’s Word were moved and directed by the Holy Spirit as to what things to include or exclude from their own gospel accounts. (See 2 Peter 1:19-21) It would be suspicious, would it not, if all three gospel writers gave identical accounts? Such variances do not constitute contradictions. No, rather they add helpful elaboration!
Let’s examine now what useful additional details Luke has given us.
Firstly, in vss. 9-11, he pretty much reiterates what Matthew and Marc have stated, yet omits any mention of them being like “birth pains”.
It doesn’t mean that the other writers, or himself are wrong; it simply reveals that the Holy Spirit has a change of emphasis in mind for Luke’s account, as we shall see.
Conspicuous in vs. 10 is the statement- “And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.” Something about this was important enough that the Holy Spirit felt it needed inclusion. What could it be?
Well, my good fellow “Berean”, this is going to require just a bit of work to discover. Let’s begin with the safe assumption that Luke is overall describing for us the inter-advental events just as Matthew and Marc have done. That is, all of these things he is describing are to be expected and witnessed, in ever increasing quantity, from that present time right up until our Lord’s second advent, or return. Further, since these “terrors and great signs from heaven” are couched in the litany of those things to be expected and witnessed by God’s people… on an ever increasing basis. Just what can they be? And have we, or our forerunner brethren ever seen them? I think a bit of etymology would help us greatly at this point.
First, the Greek word- “phobetron” is what is translated as “terror” or “terrors” in our common English. You’ve probably already spotted it as the root word for our own word “phobia”, which essentially means fear. But more than this, it is a sort of paralyzing fear. A sort of stark astonishment that leaves you frozen, speechless, and likely needing a change of underclothes.
The grammatical construction of Jesus words leaves no room for debate these these “terrors” are in fact “signs from heaven”, and no freakish, stand alone phenomena. Which leads us to our next words…
Next is the Greek word- “semion”, which we translate into “sign” or “signs”. These “signs” serve as marks, or tokens which distinguish one thing from another. In this case, as in most cases where it is used in the Bible; it serves as a sign or token that these “terrors” are of heavenly origin, and are clear indicators of God’s divine agency at work, and not man’s. I.e.- As devastating an event as it may be, a rain of nuclear bombs is not a “sign” from God. It is all too subject to debate as to be that. It could just be the insane act of a mad Muslim who believes he is doing Allah’s will. Would any thinking Christian that was a “sign” from God? Let us hope not.
So what then might we expect to see? Or what has been seen that would qualify as an astonishingly terror inspiring sign from heaven which would cause men to freeze up in stark fear? And keep in mind, these astonishing signs were yet future.
- The inhuman suffering of Jesus at the hands of both the Jews and Romans?
“As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind…””…Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. (Isaiah 52:14-15) Or… - The fact that the sun inexplicable went dark for 3 hours, from high noon to mid-afternoon, while our Lord died? (Luke 23:44-45) Or…
- The fact that the great veil enclosing the holiest of holies within Herod’s temple, was torn in two, from top to bottom! (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; and Luke 23:45) Stop for a moment and consider this. That veil was 60 ft. high, 30 ft. long, and was FOUR inches thick! Can anyone possibly do anything but go into paralyzing fear and shock and seeing that massive thing between torn apart by unseen hands from top to bottom? The significance of this was unmistakable. Had it been torn in two from the ground up, some human (albeit extraordinary) means of it’s destruction would have been sought out. But having been torn heaven downward, it could hardly have been anything but a terrifying sign from heaven demonstrating God’s divine displeasure. These people had rejected and murdered His precious son and thereby a covenant relationship with Him, and He was now them, and signalling their impending destruction and desolation. And it would surely come in AD 70. And that event would be attended by terror inspiring signs from the heavens. But we’ll leave that for another time.
Sufficient for now are the examples I have provided, though there are many more which I think fit the bill, but time will not allow more. We must discuss the other additional precursory circumstances and events which will be occurring throughout the inter-advental period before Christ’s return.
Briefly, verses 12-19 describe the sufferings of the Church throughout time which, as every other birth pang, would see an increasing intensity and occurrence, culminating in the rise of that one described as the “lawless one”, that “man of sin” aka, “The Antichrist”.
When Luke employs the terms “But before all these things…”, he is peaking of that point in time when these signatory “birth pains” begin an escalation. And that time I do believe can be marked at the final completion of God’s dealings with that ethnic nation of Israel in AD 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem and it’s grand temple. Why? Because it marks the fulfillment of Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy regarding Jehovah’s the conclusion of His retributive dealings with carnal Israel. (See Daniel 9:24-27) Subsequent to this, it is the New Covenant Israel Jehovah has set his affections and attentions upon. It is a spiritual Israel, comprised of both believing regenerate Jews and Gentiles, and molded together into one new man. (Ephesians 2:15) “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” (Eph. 4:5)
So it is then that the disciples then present would see these persecution begin even while Jesus was yet alive, and continue right up unto the end of time. It speaks nothing of them ending with the disciples, as we in fact know they didn’t. The tree of our faith has been liberally watered with the blood of his saints throughout the centuries. We have been fairly spoiled here in America. We have not witnessed the sort of persecutions which are all too commonly found among our brethren in other lands. Sadly, I think that is changing now. There is an infectious madness sweeping our nation. It riddles our governments at every level; our schools from coast to coast; and now, it has even infiltrated our once great mainline churches. We have reached a point where those we once took pity upon, and provided places of treatment to redress and rescue them from their sinful proclivity towards the deviant, are now openly demanding that we accept and embrace them as normal members of society… Or else! Christian pastors, teachers, evangelists, and parents are all being hauled before magistrates of law, and being held criminally accountable for what was once a natural, commonly held abhorrence to evil behavior. In some regions, to even so much as speak out against sexual perversion is a criminal offense and categorized as a “hate crime”. No, it isn’t long now that to mention the very name of Jesus will be sufficient to warrant persecution.
Our duty then is to prepare ourselves in every way against that certain eventuality.
And that essentially concludes what I have to share with you regarding those passages we have covered. Seeing all of these things come to pass should not terrify us into frozen fear, but contrariwise, they should motivate us to be ever more diligent to present our approved at our master’s return.
May our king who rules & reigns even now, grant you His courage and grace to become conformed to His image and purposes.
Amen!
Your Servant- Troy
Commentary by CrossWise 