"What shall be the sign of thy coming, and
of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:3)
Table Of Contents
INTRODUCTION
TEXT: MATTHEW 24:3-8
THE FIRST BIRTH PAIN SIGN: ANITCHRISTS
THE SECOND BIRTH PAIN SIGN: WARS
THE THIRD BIRTH PAIN SIGN: FAMINES
THE FOURTH BIRTH PAIN SIGN: PESTILENECES
THE FIFTH BIRTH PAIN SIGN: EARTHQUAKES
CONCLUSION
END NOTES
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THE BIRTH PAIN SIGN
By John Henry
"See that ye be not troubled: for ALL these
things must come to pass, but the end is
not yet....ALL these are the beginning of
sorrows." (Matthew 24:6, 8)
INTRODUCTION:
The Lord Jesus Christ listed five specific signs that He called "the
beginning of sorrows". The word "sorrows" here has to do with the sorrows
of a woman with birth pangs. The same Greek word is translated differently
in I Thessalonians 5:3. There it says: "as travail upon a woman with
child". That words "travail" and "sorrows" are translated from the same
Greek word.
As the time of a woman's delivery draws near her pains become more and more
frequent and intense. Likewise all the signs that the Lord gave in Matthew 24.
The Lord said that "all these are the beginning of sorrows". In other
words all the signs that the Lord listed must be simultaneously increasing
in frequency and intensity to qualify as a fulfillment of this prophecy.
This is the key to the prophecy. Let's see what the five Birth Pain Signs
are, and if they are actually increasing in intensity and frequency.
TEXT: MATTHEW 24:3-8:
"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came
unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things
be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end
of the world? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them,
Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come
in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that
ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass,
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 divers places. 8 All
these are the beginningof sorrows."
THE FIRST BIRTH PAIN SIGN: ANITCHRISTS:
"And Jesus answered and said unto
them, Take heed that no man deceive
you. For many shall come in my name,
saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive
many." (Matthew 24:4-5)
While setting upon Mount Olivet the Lord Jesus Christ said, "many shall
come in My Name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many....And many
false prophets shall arise, and deceive many." (Matthew 24:5, 11)
There have been more people claiming to be Christ in the twentieth century
than ever before in history. "Since the year 1900, over 1,100 false christs
have appeared on the scene. [False christs like Father Divine, Prophet
Jones, Maharaj Ji, Sun Myung Moon, and] scores of lesser known,
self-proclaimed messiahs." [1]
The lie of the New Age Movement is the same old lie that Satan told Eve way
back in the Garden of Eden, namely, "Ye shall not surely die...[Y]e shall
be as gods..." (Genesis 3:4-5). The main teaching of the New Age Movement
is that the christ spirit is within all of us, and all we have to do is
access it. In other words, we are all christs.
The Apostle John warned us about this lie: "Beloved, believe not every
spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus [Saviour] Christ [Anointed]
is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already
is it in the world." (I John 4:1-3) Here we see that "the spirit of
antichrist" denies that the one and only "Anointed Saviour" is come in the
flesh. Instead the antichrists teach that there are also other christs or
that all of us are christ.
However, the Word of God emphatically declares that Jesus is "THE CHRIST",
not just a christ. It says that He has "a Name which is above every name"
(Philippians 2:9; cf. Ephesians 1:21). The Bible says: "Neither is there
salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) God says, "there is
none other name under heaven...whereby we must be saved," but the New Agers
and other antichrist cults tell us that we can be saved by self-effort or
by someone other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ultimately the final Antichrist will come on the scene, and during the
Great Tribulation this Beast will proclaim himself to be God. The Bible
puts it like this: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall
not come, except...that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who
opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself
that he is God." (II Thessalonians 2:3-4)
The Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles have told us beforehand that false
christs, false religion, and unbelief would increase, and prosper in the
days just prior to His second coming (I Timothy 4:1; II Timo-thy 3:1-5; II
Peter 3:3-7; II Corinthians 4:3-4; Matthew 24:4-5, 11, 23-25). They are
increasing at a great rate in our time!
THE SECOND BIRTH PAIN SIGN: WARS:
"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours
of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for
all these things must come to pass, but
the end is not yet. For nation shall rise
against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom..." (Matthew 24:6-7)
The Lord Jesus Christ further taught His disciples saying, "ye shall hear
of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these
things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom..." (Matthew 24:6-7).
Have the frequency and intensity of wars increased in recent years? They
surely have! "It has been calculated by a former president of the Norwegian
Academy of Sciences, aided by historians from England, Egypt, Germany, and
India, that since 3600 B.C., over 14,531 wars have been waged in which
3,640,000,000 people have been killed. ...[However, since] World War II
there have been at least 12 limited wars in the world...74 rebellions for
independence, and 162 social revolutions." [2] It has been estimated that
during the 7 years of World War II (1939 to 1945) that 54,800,000 people,
both military and civilian, died as a result of that war world wide.
From these figures it is easy to see that wars and revolts have greatly
increased. For example, by using some simple math, we can see that over
the past 5,596 years since 3600 B.C. an average of about 650,465 people die
as a result of war per year. Whereas, during World War II alone an average
of 7,828,571 people died per year. That is an increase of 7,178,106 deaths
per year from from just one 20th century war!
As far as numbers of wars over the past 5,596 years the average per year
is: 2.59 per year; and the average for the past 50 years is 4.96 per year.
There have been great increases in the frequency and intensity of war, but
"see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but
the end is not yet."
Recently there have been wars in the Russian state of Georgia, Iraq,
Bosnia, Lebanon. The Karean Tribe in Burma, and the Kurd Tribe in Iraq and
Iran are at war for their own independent states. In 1989 there were great
riots in Peking. There have long been religious wars in Sri Lanka, Ireland,
India, and the in Middle East. North Korea, China, and the Islamic Arabs
are a constant threat to peace.
Today there are at least 35 nations with nuclear weapons. The United States
and Russia alone haveing a total of 12,000 strategic nuclear warheads and
about 48,000 smaller tactical nuclear weapons. The combined total of both
superpowers nuclear power equalling a total of about 1,350,000 Hiroshima
size bombs! Many people are worried that nuculear warheads can reach any
part of the Globe within 30 minutes, and that the superpowers have
stock-piled enough nuclear explosives to equal 300 pounds of TNT for every
man, woman, and child on Earth.
This world will be destroyed by fire "in the which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the
Earth also and the works therein shall be burned up." (II Peter 3:10; cf.
3:11-14) This fire will not be the weak fire of man-made weapons; it will
be the fire of God's judgment. One day, however, true peace will
come. But only when Christ comes back and brings it. Then and only then
will there be true peace. Mankind has consistently proven himself
incapable of bringing peace to this world. But when "the Prince of peace"
comes back again "there shall be no end [to His peace]" (Isaiah 9:6-7),
"and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares and their spears into
pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war any more" (Micah 4:3).
THE THIRD BIRTH PAIN SIGN: FAMINE:
" ...and there shall be FAMINES, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers
places." (Matthew 24:7)
The Lord added another birth pain sign when He told His disciples that
"there shall be famines" (Matthew 24:7). "Presently, 2,000,000,000 of the
worlds inhabitants go to bed hungry each night. Thousands are dying painful
deaths, while scores of others are too numb with hunger to realize what is
happening....[A] billion [people] are malnourished." [3]
About 350 years ago there were only about 500,000,000 people on the Earth;
today that many are starving to death. "[The world] reached 1,000,000,000
people around 1850....It took only 80 years for that to doubl[e]..."
[4] In 1985 the population was 4,000,000,000, and now (2000 AD) there are
over 6,000,000,000 people alive on the Earth! Along with the population
explosion comes the increase in famine!
There are at least five reasons for famine: 1) the population explosion, 2)
a natural after effect of war is famine, 3) big business and government
taking the farm land out of the hands of the farmer, and regulating farm
production, 4) insects that destrory about six billion dollars in crops
each year, 5) God's curse on the Earth restricting growth (Genesis 3:17-19;
Romans 8:20-22). God will lift this curse, and take care of all the other
causes of famine after He judges the world for its sins.
During the Tribulation it will take a days wages just to buy a few pints of
grain. "A Greek measure for dry things [is]...considered to be equal to a
pint." [5] The Roman denarius or penny of the Bible "was a silver
coin....[and it was] considered liberal pay for a days work of 12 hours."
[6] What the Apostle John writes in book of Revelation seems to indicate
that famine and malnutrition will be rampant during the Tribulation. He
says: "I heard a voice...say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three
measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the
wine." (Revelation 6:6)
THE FOURTH BIRTH PAIN SIGN: PESTILENECES:
" ...and there shall be famines, and
PESTILENCES, and earthquakes, in
divers places." (Matthew 24:7)
Christ gave us a forth birth pain sign when He said, "there shall be...
pestilences...in divers places" (Matthew 24:7). "Until the twentieth
century epidemics did not exact their tolls upon the entire planet at one
time. The black plague may have devastated Europe in the Middle Ages, but
not China, South America, and Africa. Only in this century did a disease
affect every nation on the globe at the same time.
Immediately after World War I, in the winter of 1918 - 19, a flu epidemic
spread worldwide, killing 20,000,000 people....[This] was the first time in
history such a plague covered the entire world. That may have marked the
first of an everincreasing series of diseases...[foretold] by Jesus." [7]
Today diseases that were thought to be defeated are coming back. Cholera,
tuberculosis, diphtheria, bubonic (black) plague, schistosomiasis, malaria,
and other diseases which had been pushed back and some even thoght to have
been eradicated are on the rebound.
Some of the top killers are heart disease, cancer, stroke, and cirrhosis of
the liver.
However, there is a new killer now: HIV, the AIDS virus. This disease now
eclipses all others. In only about 22 years AIDS became the #1 killer
disease. It was first introduced into humans around 1970 [8] and then it
became the #1 killer in 1992. [9] It the most dangerous disease ever, to
this point in history. There is no cure, it is 100% lethal. AIDS is not
an epidemic, but a pandemic. Here are some liberal estimates from the
World Health Organization (W.H.O.), but in reality the cases are much
higher than these: world wide there are 14,000,000 infected and awaiting
death (9 million in Africa, 2 million in Asia, 1.5 million in South
America, 1 million in North America, and .5 million elsewhere in the
world). [10] These figures do not include the millions who have already
died with AIDS. "W.H.O. estimate[s] ...[a] rise to 30 million - 40 million
by the year 2000." [11] Victims are mostly homosexuals, drug abusers, or
those who engage in sex outside of the marriage bond.
The AIDS plague is the righteous judgment of a holy God on sinners. The
number "innocent" victims is small, but sin always affects the innocent
also. If those people with AIDS and others would only listen to God: "Why
should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more: the whole
head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even
unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and
putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither
mollified with ointment....Come now, and let us reason together, saith the
LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:5, 6,
18) Then the Prophet Isaiah adds these words concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ and all who will receive Him: "He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastise ment of our
peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah
53:5) When the Lord Jesus Christ returns He will heal all His children,
and punish all His enemies with eternal Hell.
The book of Revelation says that during the not too distant Tribulation one
quarter of the Earth's population will die from the three plagues of 1)
wars, 2) famines, and 3) pestilences or deadly diseases including carried
by animals. The Apostle John writes: "I looked, and behold a pale horse:
and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And
power was given unto them over the forth part of the Earth, to kill with
the sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the
Earth." (Revelation 6:8)
THE FIFTH BIRTH PAIN SIGN: EARTHQUAKES:
" ...and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and EARTHQUAKES,
in divers places." (Matthew 24:7)
The last birth pain sign in the inspired record of Matthew says, "there
shall ...earthquakes, in divers places" (Matthew 24:7). Earthquakes are
definitely on the increase. Between the years 526 A.D. and 1896 there were
only 31 known major earthquakes worldwide. Approximately 2,693,000 people
died in that 1,370 year period from those 31 earthquakes. During this
century, however, there have been over 56 major quakes in which well over
2,000,000 people have died.
One might say that the detection and reporting of earthquakes has improved
in this century over those centuries of the past. Granted, this may be
true, so let us look at the quakes from 1890 to 1996 that measured over 6
on the Richter scale to see if they have increased.
From 1890 to 1900 there was 1 quake.
From 1900 to 1910 there were 3.
From 1910 to 1920 there were 2.
From 1920 to 1930 there were 2.
From 1930 to 1940 there were 5.
From 1940 to 1950 there were 51.
From 1950 to 1960 there were 475.
From 1960 to 1970 there were 1,056.
From 1970 to 1980 there were 1,184.
From 1980 to 1990 there were 1,085.
From January 1990 through December 1995 there were 924 earthquakes over 6
on the Richter scale. The record clearly shows an acceleration in seismic
activity. [12]
CONCLUSION:
"See that ye be not troubled: for ALL these
things must come to pass, but the end is
not yet....ALL these are the beginning of
sorrows." (Matthew 24:6, 8)
The key to the Lord's prophecy here is that ALL five things, false christs,
wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, must be increasing
simultaneously in frequency and intensity. Other than that it is not a
fulfillment. ALL are increasing in our day.
Just this one prophetic sign is strong evidence that we are living in the
last days just before the Second Coming of Christ. But there are at least
four other major prophetic proofs that show nearness of Christ's "coming,
and of the end of the world" as we know it (Matt 24:3). They are: 1) the
reestablishment of the nation of Israel , 2) the increase in knowledge and
travel, 3) the One World Order, 4) the increase in evil. But that's
another story.
Are you ready for Him to come? Are you saved? You can be! Check this web
site to make sure you are saved and ready for Christ's return:
http://LandmarkBibleBaptist/Salvation
END NOTES:
1. Jack Van Impe, 11:59 And Counting! (Jack Van Impe Ministries, Royal Oak,
MI, 1983), p. 22.
2. H. L. Willmington, Signs of the Times (Tyndale House, Wheaton, Ill,
1981), pp. 18, 19.
3. Jack Van Impe, 11:59 And Counting!, pp. 25, 26.
4. H. L. Willmington, Signs of the Times, p. 26.
5. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (AMG
Publishers, Chattanooga, TN, 1992), p. 1478.
6. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, p. 415.
7. J. R. Church, "Pestilence plagues the planet," Prophecy In The News,
Vol. 7, No. 1, January 1987, p. 3.
8. Gene Antonio, The AIDS Cover-Up? (Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA,
1987), p. 2.
9. 1995 Medical And Health Annual (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc, Chicago,
Il, 1994), p. 216.
10. 1995 Medical And Health Annual (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc, 1994),
pp. 53, 215.
11.1995 Medical And Health Annual (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc, 1994), p. 53.
12. All earthquake statistics were taken from Prophecy In The News, Vol. 9,
No.1 (Jan. 89); Vol. 14, No. 2 (Feb. 94); Vol. 16, No. 6 (Jun. 96); and
Vol. 16, No. 10 (Oct. 96).
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