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Safety Amid Birth Pains, Contractions, and Shaking
Safety Amid Birth Pains, Contractions, and Shaking
David W Palmer
(Matthew 24:2–3 NKJV) And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (3) Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the 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?”
We read here that Jesus’s disciples asked him three questions:
Wisely, Jesus prefaced the answer to his apprentice leader’s curiosity about the destruction of the temple and about his return with a warning: “Watch out that no one deceives you.” (We looked at this in recent days). Then he went on to answer their questions:
(Matthew 24:6–8 NKJV) “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. {7} For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. {8} All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
Our Lord’s words here certainly elicit mixed emotions. On one hand, we hear him saying that war is inevitable: “For all these things must come to pass.” This would normally be extremely distressing, but Jesus says, “See that you are not troubled.” Then, he goes on to give some other dire prophetic warnings about famines, plagues, pests, and earthquakes. However, our Lord says that these are [merely] the beginning of “sorrows,” or birth pains.
I obviously have never experienced natural birth pains, but I believe they become stronger and more frequent as the birth approaches.
History is full of wars and rumors of wars, and of famines, plagues, pests, and earthquakes. Yet, from the First World War until now, there seems to have been acceleration. This indicates that the birth pains are gaining momentum. Normally, labour pains refer to physical birth, but in Jesus’s prophecy he is using them to explain the state of the world in the lead up to his return. It is like the earth, along with everyone on it, is in the pains of birth:
(Romans 8:22 BSB) We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
With what is the whole creation so heavily pregnant? A genuine new age is coming to birth; it is the kingdom of God taking over the ruling of the world completely, with Jesus as its King (not the so-called new age movement of the wishfully-thinking opponents of God):
(Revelation 20:6 NKJV) Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
Jesus’s next statement fits the time of the increasing “birth pains”— the time between now and when he returns:
(Matthew 24:9–11 NKJV) “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. {10} And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. {11} Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.”
This part does not sound very exciting to us. Jesus knew about the inevitability of this tribulation, hatred, and murder; so that is why he comforted his disciples—including all of us who read in God’s word what he said—during the last supper:
(John 16:33 NKJV) “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
No matter how intense the labor pains, or how many contractions are going on in the world around us; and no matter how much tribulation comes our way; Jesus still says to be of “good cheer.” Why? Because he simply says, “I have overcome the world.”
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By DAVID W. PALMERSafety Amid Birth Pains, Contractions, and Shaking
David W Palmer
(Matthew 24:2–3 NKJV) And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (3) Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the 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?”
We read here that Jesus’s disciples asked him three questions:
Wisely, Jesus prefaced the answer to his apprentice leader’s curiosity about the destruction of the temple and about his return with a warning: “Watch out that no one deceives you.” (We looked at this in recent days). Then he went on to answer their questions:
(Matthew 24:6–8 NKJV) “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. {7} For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. {8} All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
Our Lord’s words here certainly elicit mixed emotions. On one hand, we hear him saying that war is inevitable: “For all these things must come to pass.” This would normally be extremely distressing, but Jesus says, “See that you are not troubled.” Then, he goes on to give some other dire prophetic warnings about famines, plagues, pests, and earthquakes. However, our Lord says that these are [merely] the beginning of “sorrows,” or birth pains.
I obviously have never experienced natural birth pains, but I believe they become stronger and more frequent as the birth approaches.
History is full of wars and rumors of wars, and of famines, plagues, pests, and earthquakes. Yet, from the First World War until now, there seems to have been acceleration. This indicates that the birth pains are gaining momentum. Normally, labour pains refer to physical birth, but in Jesus’s prophecy he is using them to explain the state of the world in the lead up to his return. It is like the earth, along with everyone on it, is in the pains of birth:
(Romans 8:22 BSB) We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
With what is the whole creation so heavily pregnant? A genuine new age is coming to birth; it is the kingdom of God taking over the ruling of the world completely, with Jesus as its King (not the so-called new age movement of the wishfully-thinking opponents of God):
(Revelation 20:6 NKJV) Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
Jesus’s next statement fits the time of the increasing “birth pains”— the time between now and when he returns:
(Matthew 24:9–11 NKJV) “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. {10} And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. {11} Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.”
This part does not sound very exciting to us. Jesus knew about the inevitability of this tribulation, hatred, and murder; so that is why he comforted his disciples—including all of us who read in God’s word what he said—during the last supper:
(John 16:33 NKJV) “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
No matter how intense the labor pains, or how many contractions are going on in the world around us; and no matter how much tribulation comes our way; Jesus still says to be of “good cheer.” Why? Because he simply says, “I have overcome the world.”