Monday, November 10, 2014
Mark 13:7-8 "... when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows."
THINGS IN THE WORLD THAT REMIND US OF THE END
In our day, besides the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are wars in Africa and Asia, and there are constantly rumors of war between our nation and North Korea, Iran, and even China. Other signs? Christ says, "... there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles ..." Seismologists tell us that there is an earthquake somewhere in the world every thirty seconds, adding up to over one million in a year. There are over four thousand earthquakes every year just in the state of Alaska, and last March there was a 4.1 magnitude earthquake in South Carolina. The organization CARE notes that fifty-four nations do not currently produce enough food to feed their populations, and that statistically, every minute, twenty-three children around the world die from hunger related causes. Famines are still occurring in our world of modern agriculture, mostly in Africa and Asia.
Are these things signs of the end times? Certainly, for these things do direct us to consider the Last Day. The LORD God says, "'Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.' Now this, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made ..." (Hebrews 12:26f).
The fact that God is shaking the whole world using both natural and man-made forces, reminds us that all these things will one day be removed, as it is written, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10).
This world must pass away because this world is in the bondage of corruption as Scripture says (Romans 8:21). Because of our sin we cannot live eternally in our current state, as it is written, "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." And again, as Scripture states, "... corruption [cannot] inherit incorruption" (1 Corinthians 15:50). So it is that the disasters occurring today remind us of the Last Day, and the destruction of the Last Day reminds us of our sinfulness, as it is written in our text, "... our God is a consuming fire."
When will that Last Day come? The Lord Jesus says, "Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only" (Matthew 24:36).
How will we be saved from that unexpected destruction? We shall be saved because we have been blessed with the grace of God, given to us in Christ Jesus. As it is written, "God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him" (1 Thessalonians 5:10).
