God wants no one to perish but all to come to His saving grace…Jesus Christ!
The Apostles thought that the end would be very soon. They had no idea that thousands of years would pass before Jesus will return and that would usher in His Kingdom. No one but the Father knows the time that it will take place.
Matthew 24:3-8 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?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 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.
Just as they had no idea of when the end would come neither do we as believers. This we can rely on, the end will come. God wants no one to perish so in His mercy and grace the end is withheld.
Revelation 13:1-8 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,”
Abraham was to be blessed in the generations that he would bring. He would be a blessing to all nations. The whole of humanity is as numerous as the sands of the sea. A satanic controlled power in the person of the anti-christ will come to deceive the world. He would convince the world that he is god. He will deceive even some of the elect but his time will be cut short.
Revelation 13:3- 8 …And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” 5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Religion is the opiate of the masses and the anti-christ will use religion as his weapon. Under him another will arise and he will exercise satanic power and will work hand in hand with the anti-christ. We are protected as the followers of Jesus Christ as our names are written in God’s “Book of Life”. Jesus was slain for the sins of the world and all those who believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Alleluia to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!! Carla
Undoubtedly the disciples were immediately confounded by the Lord’s prophecy (verse 2); however, they held their tongues until they had crossed the Kidron valley and come to the Mount of Olives. When Jesus sat, as Jewish teachers did (5:1), the disciples finally questioned Him about His statement regarding the destruction of the temple. Some say that this verse contains two questions: (1) When will these things be? That is, “When will the temple be destroyed?” and (2) What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? Others believe that one basic question was in the disciples’ minds. To the disciples, the devastation of the city and the coming of the Messiah were part of one event. The disciple’s questions should probably be taken as one question, though the fulfillment would come in stages.
Jesus’ warning about being deceived was especially appropriate for the disciples. The destruction of Jerusalem did not necessarily mean the nearness of the end of the age. This principle was a point of confusion for them (Luke 19:11–27; Acts 1:6, 7).
Three indicators of time are given in verses 6–14. The first is found in verse 6, the end is not yet. The second is found in verse 8, “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” The third is found in verses 14, “then the end will come.”
Verses 4–6 may describe the first part of Daniel’s seventieth week (Daniel 9:25–27), but possibly they present a general picture of the present age.
False messiahs and wars and rumors of wars are characteristic of the fallen world in which we live. When the Lord said all these things must come to pass, He used a word for must that indicates a divine or logical necessity. Such activities are necessary because of the people’s sin.
False messiahs had existed before (Acts 5:36, 37; 21:38), and false preachers would come in the future (Acts 20:29, 30; 2 Corinthians 11:13–15).
Verses 7-8 describes characteristics of the end times. Nation … against nation, and kingdom against kingdom seems to indicate wars on a broad or worldwide scale. The famines, pestilences, and earthquakes are more fully described in Revelation 6:1–8; 8:5–13; 9:13–21; 16:2–21. Sorrows literally means “birth pangs.” The earth continually has birth pangs today (Romans 8:22); during the tribulation, these “sorrows” will increase in intensity and frequency until Jesus returns in glory (19:28; Acts 3:21) The NKJV Study Bible
The disciples assume that these two events will happen at the same time. His return signals the end of world empires and the beginning of His kingdom (similar to Daniel and John in Revelation). The Jewish War of ad 66–73 partially fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy.
Famines and earthquakes were a common motif in apocalyptic writings (Revelation 6:8, 12; 16:18; 18:8). Famine is often the result of war, and earthquakes represent cataclysmic chaos that extends to nature itself (Acts 11:27–30; Revelation 6:8; Joel 2:10). Birth pains was used as a metaphor used throughout the Bible in reference to suffering and judgment (Isaiah 26:17–18; Jeremiah 22:23; 1 Thessalonians 5:3). Faithlife Study Bible
Matthew 24:9–20 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another…
Isaiah 19:2
“I will set Egyptians against Egyptians;
Everyone will fight against his brother,
And everyone against his neighbor,
City against city, kingdom against kingdom.
2 Chronicles 15:6 So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity.
God knows my heart. These four words can bring much comfort when we feel misunderstood by someone else. When God looks at our hearts, He sees far more than our best intentions. He also sees our worst tendencies (Jeremiah 17:9-10) ... and He still loves us anyways.
Instead of abandoning His people to their folly, God said, "As they go, I will spread over them my net; I will bring them down like birds of the heavens; I will discipline them" (Hosea 7:12)…the image of God spreading His net "as they go" (Hosea 7:12) shows He didn't even wait for His people to fly far away before He was already taking action to bring them back! His discipline, then and now, assures us of His love. It's a merciful net woven with His grace and Truth. Pricked by fibers of God's faithfulness, our hearts can soften and we can repent, turning away from our sin and turning back to the Lord.
Especially when life is tough and pain is deep, our enemy loves to deceive us and distance us from God (John 8:44). In our weakness, lies about God's love, His power and His ways can seep into our mindset. But when we choose to stand on God's Truth, we learn to trust His love. We grow confident in His unlimited power.We accept that His ways and thoughts are infinitely higher than our own (Isaiah 55:9). Through faith in Christ, our hearts are changed, and we are forever grateful to the God who saves us by His grace (Romans 3:23-24). First5
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