I don't suppose that it escaped your notice that the weather has been worse, these past few years. Heat waves, record cold snaps and blizzards, unusual amounts of precipitation, droughts, flooding, and earthquakes in many places.
1-2 Jesus then left the Temple. As he walked away, his disciples pointed out how very impressive the Temple architecture was. Jesus said, "You're not impressed by all this sheer size, are you? The truth of the matter is that there's not a stone in that building that is not going to end up in a pile of rubble."
3Later as he was sitting on Mount Olives, his disciples approached and asked him, "Tell us, when are these things going to happen? What will be the sign of your coming, that the time's up?"
4-8Jesus said, "Watch out for doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities*, claiming, 'I am Christ, the Messiah.' They will deceive a lot of people. When reports come in of wars and rumored wars, keep your head and don't panic. This is routine history; this is no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler**, over and over. Famines and earthquakes will occur in various places. This is nothing compared to what is coming.
9-10"They are going to throw you to the wolves and kill you, everyone hating you because you carry my name. And then, going from bad to worse, it will be dog-eat-dog, everyone at each other's throat, everyone hating each other.
11-12"In the confusion, lying preachers will come forward and deceive a lot of people. For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in—nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes.
13-14"Staying with it—that's what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry, and you'll be saved. All during this time, the good news—the Message of the kingdom—will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country. And then the end will come.
(Matthew 24)
People, being who and what they are, tend to focus on bad news. They sensationalize it, dwell on it, and generally work themselves into frenzies over it. But you knew that.
I don't often talk about end time prophecies, and by that I mean the prophetic passages - such as the one above - in the Bible. Yes, it's part of God's Word, but ... see the previous paragraph. However, if reading the verses above makes you uneasy or depressed, then may I suggest that you've missed the point?
Sure, things are bad, and it seems they will get much worse. Jesus told his followers that all these things would happen, but they were not to worry about it.
Look again at verses 13-14. "You won't be sorry, and you'll be saved." I'd rather focus on that ... and so should you.
"The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you." (II Chronicles 15:2)
* Birth certificates? I'm just asking.
** The original language of the New Testament (Greek) uses the word ethnos, meaning "ethnic group against ethnic group". Middle East, anyone?
4 comments:
Be ready always, keep oil in your lamps.
What stood out to me the most was it v.6: "Keep your head and don't panic." If I am missing the mark let me know but as I read through this what stood out to me was all these really bad things are going to happen but don't let them frighten you.
As a believer when these things happen they only show to me that God is indeed in control.
What I hear here is again Christ saying, "I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world." (John 16:32)
*Disclaimer, I might have done a little isogesis with John 16:32 in adding it there since that statement has nothing to do with Matt 24
@Lucky- you seminary students are all alike! LOL
No, you're exactly right. In the passage I quoted, Jesus told them "This is routine history; this is no sign of the end." Don't panic is exactly right.
But the most important instruction of all is to keep our eyes on Him.
I couldn't help but think of Al Gore when I read the bit about doomsday deceivers.
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