|
by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2013, all rights reserved. There might be some so-called scientists who scoff at the notion of the end of the world. But I have a better source of information than people like that. That source of information is the most important book in the world, the Bible. In the end times, and as the end of the world approaches, there will be wars and rumors of wars, and earthquakes, famines, and pestilences. Earthquakes can set off volcanoes. I’ve heard lately about volcanoes, haven’t you? In another place, the prophet Jesus said there would be “Distress of Nations with Perplexity.” (Luke 21:25,26) Distress of nations with perplexity. The perplexity indicates the difficulty of finding solutions to the problems. Some of Europe’s nations are on the verge of bankruptcy. Germany is trying to help them stay afloat. The disciples asked about the sign of the end of the world. Here is the answer from Matthew chapter 24. 3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world?" 4 And Jesus answered them, "Make sure that no man deceives you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. 6 And you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure you're not troubled, for all these things must happen, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then they'll deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and you'll be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many shall be offended, and shall betray each other, and shall hate each other. 11 And many false prophets shall arise, and deceive many. 12 And because sin shall be abundant, the love of many shall grow cold. 13 But he that endures to the end, shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come. 15 Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken about by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoever reads, let him understand,) 16 Then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains, 17 Let him that is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house, 18 Nor let him that is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe to those who are with child, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on the Sabbath day, 21 For then there shall be great tribulation, such as hasn't been since the beginning of the world until that time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man says to you, see, here is Christ, or there, don't believe it. 24 For false Christs shall arise, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, so that, if it were possible, they'll deceive the very elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So if they say to you, 'See, he is in the desert,' don't go out, 'see, he is in the secret rooms,' don't believe it. 27 For like the lightning comes out of the east, and shines all the way to the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be. 28 For wherever the carcass is, that's where the eagles will be gathered together. 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. 30 And then the sign of the Son of man shall appear in heaven, and then all of the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32 Now learn a parable from the fig tree, when its branch is yet tender, and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So likewise you, when you see all these things, know that it's near, even at the doors. 34 Truly I say to you, this generation shall not pass, until all these things have been fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36 But regarding that day and hour no man knows, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39 And didn't know until the flood came, and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be. 40 Then two shall be in the field. One shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill. One shall be taken, and the other left. 42 Be ready therefore, 'cause you don't know at what hour your Lord comes. 43 But know this, that if the householder had known at what time the thief would come, he would have stayed awake, and would not have allowed his house to be broken up. 44 Therefore, you be ready also, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of man will come. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find doing so. 47 Truly I say to you that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My lord delays his coming,' 49 And begins to strike his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, 50 The lord of that servant shall come on a day when he's not looking for him, and at an hour that he's not aware of, 51 And shall cut him in pieces, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be crying and gnashing of teeth." He says it’s going to be like in the days of Noah. It was no doubt a big joke to the people of the time that Noah was building this ship on dry land. “What’s wrong with that crazy old man?” is probably a question many asked, as they continued in their riotous living. “Ha, ha, ha, ha.” But the humor of the situation quickly evaporated after Noah and family and the animals went into the ark, and God shut the door, and it started raining for the first time ever. Before that, God watered the earth with a mist. And not just a sprinkle. Not just a little shower. Not a drizzle. No, waters to drown in. And drown is what they did, everyone outside the ark, which might not have been billions like now, but probably at least millions of people that got on the wrong side of God. Two shall be grinding, one shall be taken, the other left (behind). This is a reference to what is called “The Rapture,” by which is meant the catching away of the believers. From 1 Thessalonians chapter 4: 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain at the coming of the Lord won't go ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord. C-SPAN has lately been carrying discussion about how to deal with the Sequester, the automatic, across-the-board cutting back of federal funds. Discussions interviewing top leaders of the U.S. military, all of whom said that these cut backs will hinder our military readiness. The military won’t be able to do as much. They’d like to be able to fight wars in two different parts of the world at the same time, and that might be difficult with these budget cuts. Actually, with wars and rumors of wars, maybe the two-war concept is inadequate. Maybe we need to be ready for three or four wars at the same time. Have you heard of any hot spots in the world? Of course. Iran is a hot spot, where it looks like they’re trying to get the A-bomb. North Korea is a hot spot where its new young leader, Kim Jung Un, has recently been talking about a preemptive military strike against the U.S. Doesn’t really seem like wisdom on his part, but as the young man that he is, he might be reckless enough to try to start something. How can we really be sure he’s not just blowing smoke? What we really need is God’s help for our nation’s defense, and if enough Americans were praying for our nation, surely God would help us. But how many Americans do you know that are praying for our nation? The 9/11 attack is now more than twelve years ago, but it would be a big mistake to think that the Muslims have lost interest in destroying the U.S.A., which supports our ally Israel, which Muslims would also like to destroy. Wars can start on very short notice. The U.S. was trying to stay out of World War II, but then, all of a sudden, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and suddenly we were in WW II. There is a great deal of uncertainty in the world. The expression, “Distress of Nations with Perplexity,” captures it very well. Leaders get up and talk about what needs to be done, but very few of them can be sure their plan would succeed, except if there’s one that has a plan based on fear of God, and trust in God, and putting God’s principles to work. But I haven’t heard God mentioned sincerely very much in speeches by world leaders. There might be some that would have us believe they fear God, but perhaps it’s mainly an attempt to get the Christian vote. Not everyone who talks the Christian talk is walking the Christian walk. Another thing that is killing people of our world is disease and famine. This recent verbal threat by the North Korean Leader is not actual war, but it surely is a rumor of war, whether or not war comes out of it. Some might think that what world leaders really want is peace, not war. But Adolf Hitler wanted war, and build a huge war machine. The people of Germany at that time had war as one of their industries. There are others who profit from war. Some of your defense contractors in the nations of the world profit by war. We have what are called “smart bombs.” I’ve heard that each smart bomb costs one million dollars, and we used up a lot of them in the war against Iraq and Sadaam Hussein. There’s a scripture in the Old Testament that talks about, “The people shall not learn war anymore.” That’s nice, but that time hasn’t arrived yet. Why do we have West Point, and the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy? To train leaders to fight our wars. If all the wars are already over with, we can stop doing that. But we have no way to be sure there won’t be more wars. And the Bible predicts the Battle of Armageddon that is still to come. (See the Book of Revelation in the Bible.) Scientists might say, “Don’t worry, the Sun won’t burn out for many thousands of years.” Yes, but there are other ways for the world to end than waiting for the sun to burn out. The Bible says, “The elements shall melt with fervent heat.” 2 Peter chapter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are in it shall be burned up.” Fervent heat sounds a lot to me like what happens when an A-bomb explodes. It has been said that in those Japanese A-bomb explosions, the temperature went as high as ten times the temperature at the surface of the Sun. But, no matter what happens, the safest place to be is under the shadow of God’s protection. The safest status one can hold is the status of being a born-again Christian, as per John chapter 3, and as per Romans 10:9,10. If you’re born-again, and even if you turn out to be standing at ground zero under an about-to-explode A-bomb, then what you get is early promotion to heaven. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid of men who at most can kill the body, and then have no more that they can do. But I'll tell you who to be afraid of. Fear Him, who after he has killed can throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him.” (see Matt 10:28)
Related Articles -
war, military, armies, prophets, Jesus, economic collapse,
|
