(originally published August 20, 2011)
If you haven’t spent much time in church, you may not have heard this phrase before. Perhaps you’re starting to hear more people use the phrase “end times” when they talk about things they’re seeing on the news, like when the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks happened in New York City and at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., or the various Arab uprisings in the Middle East over the past several years. Perhaps you’ve heard it mentioned when folks talk about the devastating earthquake off the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011, the outbreak of spring tornadoes in the U.S. this year, the faltering European economy, the faltering U.S. economy, the massive flooding of the Missouri river or the unbelievable drought going on in the southern U.S. this summer [2011]. Such cataclysmic events, especially when they occur so rapidly, cause many people to feel apprehensive and they begin to search for answers.
The good news is that God has given answers in the Bible that will aid us in our understanding. According to Tim LaHaye, a nationally recognized speaker on Bible prophecy and the co-author of the best-selling Left Behind series, 28% of the Bible was prophetic when it was first written over 3,000 years ago (in other words, what the Bible said would happen had not happened yet). In fact, there were over 1,000 passages of Scripture that were prophecies when they were written, and more than half of those have already been fulfilled. This track record tells us that it’s just a matter of time before the remaining prophecies are fulfilled as well. In fact, many Bible scholars say that our generation has witnessed the fulfillment of more “end times” prophecy than any other generation before it. This stands to reason when you understand that Jesus taught about the end times saying,
“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 things are the beginning of birth pangs.”Matthew 24:4-8
I’m sure you’re thinking that these things have always happened, why would this be any different? Might I suggest that it is the timing and frequency with which we are seeing all these things happening together at the same time? Jesus described these events as “birth pains.” What happens when a woman is about to give birth? She begins to have contractions, and as the birth event draws closer, those contractions come more frequently and with much greater strength. This is how it will be during the “end times.”
There are many Scriptures to explore on this subject, and there’s just too much information to cover in this one post. But I hope I’ve whet your appetite on this topic because I plan to dive in much deeper and share some exciting information with you. You might want to pick up the book, Understanding Bible Prophecy for Yourself by Tim LaHaye. This was the basis for an exciting Bible study I attended over the summer, and it’s a resource I’ll refer to from time to time. And if you don’t have a Bible of your own, I’d strongly encourage you to get one. There are many modern translations which make the Bible easier to understand than the traditional King James version. Your local Bible bookstore should have an adequate selection and should be staffed with folks who can help you choose the right translation for you.
Until next time, be blessed!
CHOOSE YOUR ETERNITY 