Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Mark 13: 31 (NKJV)
Scripture: Mark 13: 24-37
People have questioned whether we are in the end times. When the end times comes, the earth will be impacted. This devotion brushes the surface of the impact the end times will have on earth.
Cliff Notes
- Jesus promised that He would return.
- The end times will be identified by changes that will occur.
- The earth we know is scheduled for destruction.
- We will live with God, however He chooses that to be.
We are still in Mud Season here. We’ve gone through Second Winter, Fool’s Spring, Third Winter, Spring of Deception, and Surprise Winter. Now we are in Mud Season. All in four and a half months.
I told you I went home last week. It was great driving through the country.
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It was finally green. A month and a half ago when I was making all those trips to my sister’s house, it was still brown. I loved seeing the fields of yellow.
But I kept thinking: this is not the way it is supposed to be. Those pretty yellow things are weeds. They aren’t crops.
It seems every year that is gets more challenging to get the crops in because of rains. The weather patterns have changed.
I take comfort in Genesis 8: 22: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (ESV). But there are times when I really wonder if we are in the end times.
Believers know for certain that Jesus is coming again. How do we know? He said so. John 14: 2-3 says, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (NKJV).
The time period before Jesus’ coming is called the end times or the end of the age. “As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him in private. ‘Tell us when all this will be,’ they asked, ‘and what will happen to show that it is the time for your coming and the end of the age’ (Mt. 24: 3 GNT). The Bible gives us some clues as to what to expect.
The End Times
We do know that many changes on earth will occur in the end times. Luke 21: 11 says, “There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven” (ESV). Acts 2: 19-20 says, “And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day” (ESV).
Matthew 24: 6-7 is a fairly familiar passage predicting the end times. “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places” (Mt. 24: 6-7 ESV).
The End Times According to Mark
My Ladies and I are studying Mark’s gospel this quarter. Sunday we were in Mark 13. There is some debate as to whether Jesus is discussing the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 or the end times. He was more than likely talking about both.
In a previous devotion, we talked about how a lot of the verbs in the Bible generally have a component of past, present, and future in them. I think this passage also has a dual meaning. Aspects of the description could be applied to both time periods.
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The major takeaway from Mark 13 is that Jesus is going to die, but He will return. Even though it wasn’t going to go down as the disciples hoped with Jesus establishing an earthly kingdom, this wasn’t the end.
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But there are going to be some pretty significant changes on this earth. Mark talks about the darkening of the sun and moon. As the moon reflects the sun’s light, if the sun goes dim, so does the moon. Therefore, that has to be one event.
It sounds like it will be really, really dark — more than solar eclipse dark. It sounds like it will be more like the crucifixion darkness.
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This fulfills prophecy. Isaiah 24: 23 says, “The moon will grow dark, and the sun will no longer shine, for the LORD Almighty will be king. He will rule in Jerusalem on Mount Zion, and the leaders of the people will see his glory” (GNT). Isaiah 13: 10 says, “Light will disappear from the stars in the sky; the dawning sun will turn dark, and the moon will lose its brightness” (CEV).
What Does All This Mean?
It means that God is in control of the universe. He controls the weather patterns. He controls the sun and the moon.
One day, God will say that it is time for us to be truly reconciled to Him. He will shut down this earth and heaven. It will be toast.
God will provide a new heaven and a new earth. Believers will live with Him, however He chooses that to be.
Non-believers will be judged and sentenced. Sin will be eliminated. Death, disease, sorrow, and lot of other things will go away.
Satan and his followers will be bound and cast into fire. There they will live for eternity.
No, we don’t know when that will be — no one but God knows. If people think they know, then we can be certain that they are wrong.
Be certain of one thing — this earth is scheduled for destruction. Nothing we will do in the coming months and years is going to change that. The final chapter has already been written. It isn’t a mystery.
Are you ready for the end? That, my friends, is the true Endgame.
Loving Father. Only You know when the end of this heaven and this earth will be. Only You know when You will send Jesus back to get Your believers. Lord, we wait for that day. We look for that day. Forgive us when we look only at the tribulations coming. Instead, help us to look to the skies for Your Son. Amen.
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
What do you think? What are your questions about the end times? Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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