September 18, 2012
Luke 21:10-11 says, "..... Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11) There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven." ..... Also, in Matthew 24:7 He is quoted as saying the same thing, and then adding in verse 8, "All these are the beginning of birth pains." I've been studying Bible prophecy for some 35+ years now and have had the honor of teaching some classes as well as sharing my thoughts on this site .... but never before have so many asked me this question .... "Do you believe that we are really now living in the final days before Christ's return?" ......
Instead of me pontificating a bunch of thoughts, why don't we just go to the Bible and see for ourselves ... To start, look again at the opening verses I shared. Also, I would strongly suggest that you take the time to read all of Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21. These three chapters contain pure "red letter" teachings from Christ Himself concerning the time just before He returns for us.
Now, does it appear that any of these things are taking place .... war, pestilences (a deadly epidemic or plague: anything regarded as harmful), famine, earthquakes .... ? ...... To be blunt ... absolutely! As an example, scientific statistics prove that just significant earthquakes alone have increased some 20% in just the past two decades ... there are more active volcanoes right now than ever before in recorded history ... famine certainly has occurred many times in the past, but not worldwide like it is right now .... ... and for you 'doubting Thomas' scientific-type minds, let me share these headlines from two recent "National Geographic" magazines. The first one, dated September, 2012 said this: "Weather Gone Wild" followed by these highlights ... 'Rains that are almost biblical. heat waves that don't end, tornadoes that strike in savage swarms - What is going on?" ... This issue goes on to share many more unprecedented weather situations and concludes with no scientific explanation ,,, and that in itself is very interesting for a secular magazine to say because there ALWAYS seems to be at least some "theory" (or guess) as to why.
Continuing, another "National Geographic, dated June, 2012, said this: "Solar Super Storms - How they could devastate our high-tech world" ... ('there will be signs in the sun, moon and stars). ... So we can see that something has dramatically changed concerning pestilences around the globe ... and they are rapidly increasing, just like Christ said they would when He mentioned "birth pains" .......
Next, let's look at the 'spiritual' condition of our societies.... The Bible teaches that Godlessness would be rampant in the last days. 2 Timothy 3:1-4 says, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2) People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God ..." ...... Doesn't this passage sound like a typical evening newscast today?! ... and notice the three things people will love in the end times ... self, money and pleasure. ... None can truly deny the truth of this specific passage from the Bible. ... Humanism & self-love now prevail!
Another specific sign that we can see taking place is the astounding increase of 'deception' ... and Scripture specifically warned us of this .... 1 Timothy 4:1 says, "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." Also, 2 Timothy 3:13 says that ... "evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." ... In addition, Christ Himself warned us that many deceivers would rise up in the last days to 'deceive even the elect' .... (also see Romans 16:18, 1 Corinthians 6:9, Colossians 2:4) ... 2 Timothy 4:3-4 sums it up very well by saying, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4) They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." ..... and isn't that Scripture screaming at us in so many ways! ... The justification of homosexuality is just one example of this "altering of the word" to suit the desires of our society. ... Simply look at Romans 1:27 & 1 Corinthians 6:9 (both New Testament) to scripturally destroy this 'myth'. There are many more instances of apostate teaching, but you get the point ...
And finally, here are just a couple of examples of prophetic teaching to hammer home the fact that YES, we are living in the last moments of the church age .... Jesus said in Matthew 24:34 (also see Mark 13:30 & Luke 21:32) that when all these signs begin to take place, not one "generation will pass" before He returns for us. ..... So what, according to the Bible is a generation ... what length of time in years is it? ... Let's first go to Genesis chapter 5, and look at the age of some of the first guys ... Adam lived 930 years, Seth lived 912 years, Enosh was 905 .... man, these guys were old! I can just imagine someone asking Adam how old he was .. and he would say "I'm 900!" ... Then the person would say "900! ... Man, you don't look a day over 850, maybe 875!" ... Anyway, they lived along time. ... But then in Genesis 6:3, God changed the generation to 120 years. ... and then the last change we can find is in Psalm 90:10 where it says "The length of our days is seventy years - or eighty, if we have the strength .." .......... So we can now assume, with scriptural support, that the generation Jesus was referring to was 70-80 years.
Now for a moment, let's explore as to when this generational countdown started. ... Going back to Christ's teachings of the last days in the Gospels, He said this in Luke 21:29-31 .. "... Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30) When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31) Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the Kingdom of God is near." .... Now, most of us who study prophecy believe that the 'fig tree' represents Israel ... and we also know that Israel regained their land in 1948. .... Is this then when the generational countdown spoken by Christ started? ... Also, when you look at the other 'trees' mentioned in Luke's scripture, do they represent the rest of the signs spoken of? ... I am absolutely not a date-setter because scripture specifically says that ONLY the Father knows the exact time (Matthew 24:36), but the Bible tells us that those of us who are 'aware' will definitely know the season ... and I truly believe we are in the season of our Lord's soon return .... Hallelujah!!!
So here we are ... living in what the Bible describes as 'perilous times' .... and that many would come to try and deceive us. ...... If you read the News Headlines just past on this site, I suggest you read the comment left by Marci ... she openly and honestly shared her frustration about no one wanting to listen or deal with the deteriorating conditions of the world around us ... that it seems most are just going their merry way ... Then I would suggest you read the reply to Marci's comment from Ken. .... His counsel is scriptural & spot-on!
We knew it would be like this in these final days ... it is told to us all through the Bible .... but tragically, most are blinded by the times we are living in. Matthew 24:37-39 says it all, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38) For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39) and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."
Time is extremely short .... witness & shine the light on as many as you can while there is still time .....
Until next time,
Red