The Beginning of Birth Pains

            Matthew 24:36 says that the Lord’s coming will be as it was in the days of Noah. Noah was able to see the signs as the day grew closer. Mark 13:33 says, “Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” Alert to what? Alert to the signs.

It is worth restating Matthew 24:4 – 8 says:

            Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.  You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Above are the signs to watch for. These are “the beginning of birth pains.”

 

Matthew 24:32 – 34 says:

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

Believers will know the season. Many times those who read the Bible only read part of the message. Many tend to skip the words that seem to be unimportant. For example there is an extremely large word in the above passage that has been missed by many scholars. That word is “all.” The little word “pas” in the Greek is an extremely important word. For though we have seen the signs described in Matthew 24, it is only of late that we have witnessed them collectively as catastrophic events that draw the attention of the news daily. Today we are witnessing “ALL” of the signs.