False
Christs and wars, earthquakes and plagues
Scriptures:-
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came
up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these
things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here
will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
As Jesus was
sitting on the Mount of Olives , the disciples
came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what
will be the sign of your coming and of the end
of the age?”
Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one
deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming,
‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and
rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must
happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in
various places. All these are the beginning of birth
pains. Matthew 24:1-7
Observation:-
“How great this temple is”, thought the disciples
as they marveled at the beauty of the temple. They even beckoned at their
Master to look, but to their shock, He instead prophesies how the temple will
be completely destroyed with not one stone left on another. This came true in
70 A.D. when the future emperor Titus overthrew the Jewish rebellion in Jerusalem and destroyed this Second
Temple and also much of Jerusalem , confirming the
fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy.
Intrigued, the disciples later ask Jesus
when the temple will be destroyed, and what will be the sign of the Lord’s
coming and the end of the age. The Lord begins with a warning for all His
disciples not to be deceived. He foretells that many will come in His name and
claim to be the Messiah, deceiving many.
Before 1900, the number of men (and
sometimes women) claiming to be Jesus Christ were few and far between. However,
since 1900, the number of false Christs have risen, and some are even
influencing thousands or even millions around the world today. These include
the Australian Alan John Miller who has set the Twitterverse ablaze by his
claims of having been Jesus Christ, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda who refers to
himself as Jesus Christ made man and has thousands of followers in Puerto Rico
and Apollo Quiboloy, leaderof the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church who has misled
thousands in the Philippines, claiming he is the appointed son of God. We are
told to watch out for these deceivers. Corresponding to the book of Revelation,
this sign is the first of the seven seals, depicted by the rider on the white
horse, who comes with a bow but no arrow, representing deceivers set out to
conquer.
The second sign Jesus speaks of is the
increase in wars and rumors of wars. Only since the 1900s, we have seen two
World Wars which has inflicted widespread death and suffering.
Research by Professor Mark Harrison as
reported in historytoday.com showed that “Between 1870 and 1913, the frequency of ‘pairwise’ conflicts (the
numbers of pairs of countries involved in conflicts) increased on average by 6%
per year. The frequency of wars increased by 17% per year in the period of the
First and Second World Wars, and by 31% per year during the Cold War. In the
1990s, the frequency of wars between states rose by 36% per year. “ And
this research did not include civil wars, which has also been increasingly
frequent. Today, rumors of wars continue to abound with North Korea and Iran continuing to look
threatening. This corresponds to the second seal, the coming of the rider on
the red horse in Revelation 6, who takes away peace from the earth and cause
people to kill each other.
The third sign Jesus spoke off was famines
and earthquakes in various places. In the 20th century, there was
little talk of famine, but in the 21st century, famine is a serious
problem, with the world approaching 10 billion people with no increase in food
supply. 925 million people worldwide go hungry every day and 5 million children
die of starvation every year according to the World Food Program. Earthquakes
have also been on the rise in terms of frequency and severity. As reported in
endtimesonline.net:-
While
earthquakes have been a part of our human history since the dawn of time, large
earthquakes have been increasing in frequency and ferocity in recent
decades. The US Geological service and other scientific earthquake
authorities have shown that the number of earthquakes above 6.0 on the richter
scale have grown exponentially over the last 10 years. The overall
frequency of annual earthquakes has grown by five times since 1970.
There have been more earthquakes above 6.5 on the richter scale in the last 10
years, than the previous 80 years put together.
This sign corresponds to the fourth seal,
which talks about the rider on the pale horse, named Death with Hades following
closely behind him. He was given the power to kill by sword, famine and plague.
Interestingly, these signs were likened by
the Lord to birth pains of the end times. That means, as the end draws closer
and closer, all of these will happen with increasingly alarming frequency and
severity. In the last 100 years or so, we have indeed seen this happening –
false Christs, wars, earthquakes and famine becoming increasingly frequent and
serious.
Application:
Jesus told his disciples these signs so that
they would be prepared. No one knows the day or hour that Jesus will return,
but we will certainly know when the time is drawing closer by observing the
signs around us with reference to prophecy in the Bible.
A common human reaction, even among
Christians is to avoid end times discussions or information. We would rather
think about more pleasant things. However, the signs are there, and we must be
wise to heed the warnings and be prepared.
For one, we must be on the watch out not to
be deceived by false Messiahs who claim to be Jesus Christ or the Son of God.
He will not come as a human being again in the way He came 2000 years ago.
Anyone who says He is here or there does not speak the truth, for when Jesus
comes, everyone will certainly know as He appears in the skies.
We should also not be surprised of the
events around us – war and terrorism, disease and famine and earthquakes. These
things must happen, and we need not fear them but trust in the Lord. If we are
caught in one of these events, do not worry, but continue to hope in the Lord.
With Christ, we can face all things. Life on earth is only temporary, and even
if we lose our life on earth, we are safe and secure in Jesus in Heaven. Where
possible, we should also do our part to help those afflicted by these occurrences.
Prayer:-
We thank You and praise You, Lord, that You
foretold these things way before hand that we may be prepared and not be
surprised. Help us heed Your warnings, Lord, and stay close to You, in these
end time. Where possible, Lord, enable us to be a blessing, and open doors how
we may help with those afflicted by these end time troubles. Give us Your
wisdom and purpose in all things. Let us stand secure to the end. In Jesus
name, Amen.
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