Jesus says,
“ 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 24:6-8 (NIV)
Right now, Israel is under attack and is waging war against Islam. Jacob and Esau are fighting. This worries many Christian believers, because they believe that we might be facing Armageddon and the end of the world. However, at the very most, what is happening now is the beginning of birth pains and not the actual birth.
Birth of what, you might ask? The birth of the Manchild,
God says,
“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. ”And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.”
Revelation 12: 1-6
First, understand our proper place
First of all, when interpreting prophecy, realize that first and foremost, all prophecy either refers to Jesus or Israel. God’s focus in scripture are His son and His covenant with Abraham regarding the children of Jacob, who’s name what later changed to Israel. However, due to the Jews rejecting and crucifying their Messiah, we, the Gentiles, being a wild olive branch, were grafted in to the place where the Jews use to be in the Olive tree. However, this is only for a time and a season and there will come a time when Israel is grafted back in and they will preeminent in God’s dealings again. Therefore, when you read prophecy in scripture, when they apply to us in this present age, it is in a secondary and spiritual sense and not in the original and literal sense that it applies to Israel.
When Jesus talks about wars and rumors of wars, He is speaking about the end of the Millennium when he returns to the Jews. At that time the temple will be rebuilt and he will come back and finally be received as the Jewish Messiah. However, during the church age (which is composed mainly of gentiles) there is also a spiritual fulfillment of these prophecies because we are standing in the place of Israel during this time.
The Antichrist and the False prophet do arise before the Millennium and are judge and thrown into the lake of fire before the 1000 years of peace. And there will be Armageddon before this time too. However, we are at the beginning of birth pains and the end is not yet.
Moreover, as Spirit led Christians we have a blessed hope, i.e. the rapture. During these time so trouble, God keeps us safe if we will trust His voice and do what He says, when He says to do it, with whomever He says to do it with. In this darkness, we shine ever brighter as we allow God to reveal Himself in us.
God says,
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.”
2 Thessalonians 2:7 (KJV)
“For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
2 Thessalonians 2:7 (NIV)
Right now, the Holy Spirit is restraining the spirit of antichrist in the world. I know, some days you might not think this is true, but believe me when I say that if the Holy Spirit wasn’t here, things would be much, much worse. That Holy Spirit dwells in us and does good to the world through our actions and we are a restraining force keeping a bay the wickedness that the Devil wants to reveal. However, when the Holy Spirit is removed from the world, we are taken up with Him to Heaven and only then is the Antichrist given power over the earth for a short season.
The long and short of it is that we who believe are not here from the worst of it. In the mean time, we don’t have to worry about what is going on so long as we do what God asks us to do in any given day. As we are about our fathers business, nothing will happen to us that He doesn’t allow. Even when we face difficulties, we know that He is with us and will help us because we are working for Him while it is yet day.
Positive thoughts in a negative news cycle
This is really important to remember is such a negative new cycle world. When everyone around you is thinking they are about to die, we can be of good cheer, because we know that God is with us even in the storm. Though we might walk through fire, there is one with us that protects and keeps us during persecution. Our focus need not be upon what is wrong with the world or it’s fate, but rather upon helping others see the light of Christ so that they, along with us, might be saved.
The truth is, this is an amazing time to be alive and be Christian. We are going to see miracles happen that amazing and confound the world. As the world sinks into darkness, it will just make the light that shine in and through us that much more evident. Witnessing for Jesus will not be chores because in their affliction, they will grab hold of your ankles and not let you go until you tell them about Jesus and how they to can be saved.
God says to us,
“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”
Daniel 12:3
Amen.
