The world has changed. Mankind has entered a dark period that few recognize for what it is. Troubles are sweeping the globe with noticeably greater force. Deceit, division, disorder, instability, lawlessness, corruption and conflict of every kind are intensifying. Why?
Millions believe Bible prophecy holds the answer, but do not know how. Do supernatural events signal the “time of the end?” Or do specific conditions already present do this? What did Jesus say? And what did He say would come first in the march of end-time prophecy?
Growing millions are troubled, even terrified, by what is happening almost everywhere. Studies reveal that just over two-thirds in most nations are now feeling much more anxiety and fear. Millions of others pursue pleasure, heads buried in the sand, to help them ignore the growing storm so obviously descending on the world. Two thousand years ago, Jesus God's anointed one foretold why this worldwide pleasure pursuit—as well as the fear and terror that would help drive it. But conditions will soon get much worse—and fast!
What follows are not my ideas. I am only explaining what is revealed plainly in the scriptures.
Jesus was asked in Matthew by his disciples about conditions just before his return to earth. He stated: “And you shall hear of wars and rumor of wars: see that you 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 diverse places” (vs. 6-7).
Verse 8 calls these terrible trends “the beginning of sorrows.” All of them will grow much worse before Jesus returns. All of them are growing worse now.
Notice that Jesus said “be not troubled” when these events occur. The original Greek means “to wail, clamor, be frightened” (all Greek definitions are from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible).
Mark repeats Jesus’ warning almost verbatim: “You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be you not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet” (13:7).
The list in Mark’s account is similar to Matthew’s, yet it adds “troubles” (vs. 8). This word can mean a “disturbance of water” or “mob sedition.” Think of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Michael, or the tsunami that struck Indonesia. Think of the violent protests in France, Zimbabwe and Venezuela.
Luke—a third gospel—adds the term “commotions” (21:9). The Greek here means “instability or disorder.” Again, this is describing today’s world.
All three accounts mention earthquakes—and there certainly are earthquakes all the time—but that is just one facet of what Jesus meant here. The term is translated from seismos, from which comes seismograph. It means a commotion of the air or ground. This includes a wide range of natural disasters, floods, fires, tornadoes, volcanoes and tsunamis.
These are powerful passages. Very few notice them. And even fewer believe them. Yet God inspired Jesus' prophetic warning to be recorded three times in His Instruction Book!
Get this all-important point. Wars, rumors and commotions—all kinds of instability and disorder—first grow to where they engender terror. Then Christ will return.
An Era of Violence
Headlines scream that the world is rapidly accelerating into this period, which will only grow worse. Terror is the natural result. Fear will come to gnaw at billions of people. But Jesus small called-out Assembly knows what the future holds—and what to do about it. This is why they believe his instruction to “fear not, little flock!” (Luke 12:32).
Later in Luke 21, Jesus told individuals to carefully watch these conditions: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” (vs. 34). Why? “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (vs. 35-36). “All these things” includes other horrors Jesus foretold in Luke 21 that are not our subject.
Tensions of every kind are increasing everywhere—particularly in nations of the West. Instability and disorder are most visible in the United States—the world’s most powerful nation ever. In 2016, America elected a new president. He received under half the popular vote but won in the electoral college. For this and other reasons, everyone in a country that was once a beacon of stability and order now feels the sharp, angry division growing daily.
Understand. America faces impossible gridlock that will only grow worse. It will not get better. Just once in American history has such sharp division existed—the Civil War. The pitched battle between the right and left touches people of every background and economic class.
An all-out war in the West on values of every kind is underway. And so is another war by the media on the present U.S. administration. Just the amount of instability and disorder these two things bring is enormous.
Look around the globe. The other conditions Jesus mentioned are everywhere. War includes Israel versus Palestine and Ukraine versus Russia—but it also means relentless drone strikes throughout many nations. There are famines in Yemen and Venezuela. Diseases include Ebola exploding in Africa, HIV surging in Europe, and measles increasing worldwide. Think of how many more headlines could be mentioned here!
When Matthew and Mark say there will be “nation against nation” it is not talking about war, which is already on the list. The Greek here is “ethnos” against “ethnos.” There are constant battles between ethnic groups. The U.S.’s immigration debate is just one example. Also think of the Catalonian uprising in Spain, persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar, the Turks against Kurdish peoples, and so forth.
Add to all of these the earthquakes, volcanoes, fires, cyclones and all other manner of natural disasters.
What This Means for You
Come to grips with the truth of prophecy. Do not miss what is going on all around you. Jesus God's anointed one was right!
In a world wracked with terror and frightening events, recall that Jesus assured His tiny end-time called-out Assembly, “Fear not, little flock,” adding, “…it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). “Little” comes from the Greek word micros. Jesus built a small, micro called-out Assembly—not a large one.
God is bringing a violent wakeup call no one should be able to miss—but sadly most will ignore it. This need not be you. Jesus said you can understand world events and avoid the fear and terror associated with them.
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