Summary – Reflection – Prayer
To
God’s Word
While Walking it Out
Context: Matthew 24: 1-51
Focus: Matthew 24:8
“All this is just the start of the birth pangs.” Matthew 24:8
Jesus told His disciples that the temple they thought was so great, would one day be destroyed, leveled, not one stone remaining upon another. So they asked when would this take place, and so He proceeded to tell them the signs that would occur at the end of the age, liking it to childbirth, where the beginning of the process would be like birth pangs.
The lord gives warnings through pain. This is an alert that something is about to take place. So it is with childbirth that the pains begin slowly, giving the mother time to flee to safety, and with less intensity and frequency at the beginning then increasing until the baby is suddenly born.
(Matthew 24: 15-21)
When the subject is approached concerning whether or not we are at the end of the age, I often hear; “well, you know, these things have been happening since the beginning of time”, and that is very true, that is a fact. We have had calamities, wars, earthquakes, and disasters even worse then today which have taken place throughout the world. Calamities and wars have always taken place, but that’s not the point. The reason He likened His sudden return to childbirth is that during the process the contractions usually start off mild, and are spread apart over a long duration. Then they increase, are closer together with greater intensity when the baby is ready to be born. The greatest intensity and pain is during the transition period, whereby, the baby moves in position, from the womb to the pelvis region. There the baby waits for the natural impulse of the pelvic muscles to lift up and out, and thus, the long awaited event of birth takes place. So it will be when the church leaves this world and lifted up to meet the Lord in the air.
(Romans 8:19, 1 Thessalonians 4:17)
During the last phase before His return, Jesus said specific things would take place.
There would be an increase in wars, famines, false Messiahs, false prophets, great persecutions of His followers, lawlessness will increase everywhere, signs and wonders to deceive, and the Good News about the Kingdom would be preached and heard throughout the whole world.
After the intense and frequent contractions open the womb, there is a lull period, a sudden rest, and then suddenly there is a natural push and the baby comes forth.
1 Thessalonians 5:3
Therefore, I believe the world is in the last stages of labor where the judge is standing at the door, waiting to deliver His Beloved and take His sons and daughters to His Father’s home. The increase birth pangs signal the watching, the alert to be prepared and ready. Because, the Son of Man is coming soon!
CR – Matthew 25: 1-30
