IS THE EARTH NEARING DELIVERY?
During the birth of our two youngest children I was privileged to be present, and to participate, in a sense, by watching the meter on the fetal monitor. As the meter moved higher I warned my laboring wife of a new birth pang. She, of course, was quite well aware of the increasing birth pains, and assured me that she knew what I was happening in her body. As the hours wore on, the pangs increased in number, frequency and intensity, all a part of God’s created way to deliver a new earthling. Not having directly experienced the pain of bringing a child into the world, nevertheless, it was instructive to watch how it works, especially in light of what Jesus told us about birth pangs.
In Mathew 24 we read: 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 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. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
Thus March has been a ‘tri fecta’ month under Mathew 24. We have witnessed 1.) earthquakes (one today in Asia); 2.) accelerated war in Libya; and 3.) famine in parts of Japan for people unable to obtain food. In addition, some Muslim leaders have claimed that the Mid East uprisings are the work of the awaited Caliph, whom they claim is in the world, and orchestrating world events. We live in interesting times, times foretold millennia ago.
Let’s look at just one of the warned birth pangs that the Lord said would be a sign of the coming end times – earthquakes. Fox News noted recently that four recent earthquakes in the world all took place in areas in which fault lines had not previously been identified. Earthquake statistics available from the U.S. Geological Survey. Go to the agency’s website and you may be struck by the map linked as Latest Earthquakes in the World, which shows a world map with recent earthquakes, with the color blocks corresponding with showing earthquakes within the last week, day and hour. 367 are identified in just the last 7 days. Many are small, of course, but today’s was 5.4 on the Richter Scale, not insignificant.
Since Jesus confirmed that earthquakes are like birth pangs, increasing in number, frequency and intensity, how has the world’s ‘birth labor’ been progressing? How close are we to a ‘delivery’? Well, from AD 1 to 1800 there were eleven major recorded earthquakes, for an average of one per every 100 years. From 1900 to 2000 there were ten major earthquakes (defined as 7.0 or higher), for an average of one every ten years.
From 2003 to 2007 there were 29 major earthquakes – one every 49 days.
In 2008, there were 12 major earthquakes – one every 37 days.
In 2009, there were 16 major earthquakes – one every 22 days.
In 2010, there were 24 major earthquakes – one every 15 days.
2011 is well on its way to more major earthquakes than in 2010.
As I would have told my wife, “Honey, the fetal monitor shows another big one coming, and the last one was only six minutes ago.”
Let’s be clear. Prophecy tells us that there are still several events that must happen before the end, and the return of the Lord. The end, the ‘delivery’ of the earth by the return of the Lord, will not come until every jot and tittle of prophecy is fulfilled. The wars and earthquakes, etc. will happen, and are all signs of His soon coming, but they are not the end. So what’s left still to happen? Here is the End Times Time Line from “The End of America”.
END TIMES
TIME LINE
· MAY 14, 1948 – ISRAEL REBORN – THE FIG TREE BUDS (Matthew 24:32-34)
· AMERICA BLESSES ISRAEL -1948 - 1989
(PRESIDENTS TRUMAN through REAGAN)
(Genesis 12:3)
· AMERICA PRESSURES ISRAEL TO GIVE UP ITS LAND CONTRARY TO SCRIPTURE
(Ezekiel 48:14 and Joel 3:2)
1989 TO CURRENT DATE
(PRESIDENT BUSH [41] through PRESIDENT OBAMA)
· ISRAEL AGREES TO 1ST END TIMES PEACE TREATY – ISRAEL AT PEACE (Ezekiel 38:10-14)
· RUSSIA, IRAN, LIBYA, ET AL. INVADE ISRAEL - ISRAEL AT WAR (Ezekiel 37-39)
· DAUGHTER OF BABYLON/AMERICA BETRAYS
ISRAEL – FAILS TO HONOR MILITARY DEFENSE AGREEMENT (Jeremiah 51:35 and Lamentations 4:17)
· GOD INTERVENES TO SAVE ISRAEL – SENDS DESTRUCTION ON INVADING ARMIES AND NATIONS (Ezekiel 39:6)
· DAUGHTER OF BABYLON/AMERICA DESTROYED (Jeremiah 51:49; Revelation 18)
· JIHADISTS THREATEN OTHER NATIONS WITH SAME DESTRUCTION IN EFFORT TO CONQUER THE WORLD FOR ALLAH
· ISRAEL BUILDS TEMPLE (Ezekiel 40-44)
· MUSLIM LEADER EMERGES AS LEADER OF A EUROPEAN NATION, OVER THREE NATIONS, THEN OVER TEN NATIONS (Daniel 2; Revelation 12 and 17)
· MUSLIM RULER OF EUROPE/REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE ENTERS 2ND END TIMES PEACE TREATY WITH ISRAEL - SEVEN YEARS OF TRIBULATION BEGINS (Matthew 24:27-31)
· (Pre-trib Rapture) (John 14:3; I Corin. 15:51,52)
(Scripture presents one Rapture. Scholars differ as to its pre, mid or post-Tribulation timing.)
· MUSLIM LEADER OF EUROPE EXTENDS REACH OVER THE WORLD – DEMANDS WORSHIP AND CONVERSION (Revelation 13:16; 14:9,11)
· MUSLIM LEADER OF EUROPE BREAKS PEACE TREATY WITH ISRAEL – ENTERS TEMPLE STOPS DAILY SACRIFICE– GREAT TRIBULATION OF 3 ½ YEARS BEGINS (Mid-trib Rapture) (Daniel 9:27, 12:11; Mark 13:14; Matthew 24:15)
· (Post trib – pre-wrath Rapture)
(I Thessalonians 4:13-17)
· GOD POURS OUT HIS WRATH ON THE WORLD (Revelation 19:21)
· JESUS RETURNS FOR THE ELECT OR NO FLESH WOULD BE SAVED (Matthew 24:22)
(“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.”) (Matthew 24:22)
· ANTICHRIST AND FALSE PROPHET IMPRISONED FOR 1,000 YEARS (Revelation 19:20)
As world events continue to unfold, as Christians, we know that a.) God knows it all ahead of time and has warned us ahead of time; b.) we are not given the spirit of fear; c.) God is a god of perfect timing; and d.) the end will happen just as He said, but not exactly as we, being finite, may expect. The end will happen for His purposes, in His timing and to His glory. Praise the Lord.
(Earthquake Data from U.S. Geological Survey and Dr. Cecil Boswell)