Clearly, we are living in uncertain times. We are already experiencing intensified social unrest, political deceptions, extreme diversity issues, alarming assaults on our children, economic instability, and severe threats to our civil and religious freedoms. And no one knows what is coming around the corner. It’s happening so implausibly fast.
Yet what we do know is what the Bible tells us.
The good news is that we don’t have to be blindsided. Yeshua tells us the signs of the times and what we can expect to happen and then portended with this statement from Matthew 24:25 (ERV):
“Now, I have warned you about this before it happens.”
That said, let’s delve into the first eight verses of the 24th chapter in Matthew to see what we can expect.
After prophesying that the Great Temple of Herod would be destroyed in Matthew 24:1-2, Yeshua went on to disclose the following signs and events that also must happen:
3The disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains (Matthew 24:3-8).
According to history, we know Rome destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem just 40 years after Yeshua’s prophecy. We also know that 60 years after that devasting tragedy, a Jewish religious group called the Zealots would join forces with other Jewish sects. This contentious conglomerate had one exception—the Nazarene Jews.
The Nazarene Jews were a large contingency of the Jewish population who believed Yeshua was the promised Messiah that Moses and their prophets had written about.
This fanatical and vehement revolt of the Jewish Zealots in AD 132 against Rome heralded the name of a false Messiah named Simon Bar Kokba—an extremist who led many people astray. The Zealots declared that all Jews in Jerusalem must fight to the death. The city fell, and Rome went on conquering more Judean territory, the massacre at Masada being the last campaign.
However, because Yeshua warned His followers to flee Jerusalem when they saw armies beginning to surround the city, they did just that—and it saved their lives. They fled to Pella in what is now called Jordon.
They believed—and acted upon—His prophecy. Hmmm…something to think about.
Yeshua said there would be wars and rumors of wars. Have we not seen this unfolding? Roman wars continued throughout the empire for four more centuries. Battles occurred with the Huns, the Franks, the Vikings, the Ottoman Empire, and countless other peoples and nations. More recently, we have the American Revolution, World Wars I and II, and the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine to mention a few. Sadly, the list goes on and on. We hear threats of nuclear missiles and rumors of soon coming wars from countries like China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia. There are currently skirmishes and battles in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Gaza, Indonesia, Yemen, Turkey, Somalia, Libya, Mexico, South America, and India. It’s distressing how hate and superiority has caused man has turned on each other.
In addition to global unrest, we also see ethnic tensions escalating in the United States and other western countries. Yeshua said there would be nations fighting against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms. The word for nations in the Greek language is ethnos, so the original Greek translation would have said ethnos will revolt against ethnos. Do we not see this in our time between nations, ethnicities, and religious cultures?
If this was not enough, weird, unprecedented weather has also left an indelible mark of epic proportions around the world. Yeshua said there would be earthquakes and natural disasters. How can we forget hurricanes Harvey, Katrina, and Andrew? Or the wildfires in California, Australia, and Canada that have turned skies black and the sun to blood? Or the the many recent volcanic eruptions, and devastating floods all over the globe?
According to CBS News, in the decade between 2004 and 2014, we had 18 earthquakes with magnitudes of 8.0 or more rattling zones around the globe. This is a staggering increase of 265 percent over the average rate of the previous century, which saw 71 significant quakes, according to a 2020 report to the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Yeshua also warned of famine, droughts, inflation, lack of supplies, and food. While famines have been a common ordeal since the time of Christ prophecy, it is only recently that we have been faced in modern times with famines beyond comparison, such as what we have seen in Africa or the Middle East. CNN London reported that the world is facing “multiple famines of biblical proportions.”
We know that wars, earthquakes, famines, and political and religious unrest have been happening since Yeshua’s time and even before. However, it’s impossible to deny the across-the-board increase in all these categories over the past few years.
If, as Yeshua said In Matthew 24:8, “these are but the beginning of birth pains,” it stands to reason that the contractions will get stronger and closer together.
Dear readers, we are living in sensational times. As believers, what are we to do as scriptural truth unfolds before our eyes? How are we to act when prophecy becomes palpable. As we see the words of Yeshua come to breathtaking fruition, may we be awakened to heed the instruction of the Apostle Paul as written in Romans 13:11-14:
Besides this, you know the time that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
The grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, be with your spirit.
Dr. Victoria Sarvadi
