When asked how we are to know Jesus is returning and the end is near, Jesus told his disciples what we should look for as signs. The second devotion in the How Do We Know If We Don’t Know series, this devotion continues our look at the signs given.
Nuggets
- The third sign that Jesus gave was there would be famines and earthquakes.
- Believers will be persecuted as the fourth sign.
- False messiahs and false prophets will cause believers to turn away.
- All will hear the gospel story before the end of the age.
- A ruler will suspend sacrifices and offerings and erect a sacrilegious object.
- The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will fall from the skies.
Devotions in the How Do We Know If We Don’t Know series
The bulk of Matthew 24 focuses on the signs Jesus gave His disciples when asked for the “… sign of your coming and of the close of the age” (Mt. 24: 3 RSV). We started discussing them in the previous devotion. Let’s jump right back in our discussion.
"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?'" (Mt. 24: 3 ESV)
There Will Be Signs (continued)
“… There will be famines and earthquakes in various places” (Mt. 24: 7 NLT).
Luke included pestilences with the famine and earthquakes (Lk. 21: 11). Famine and pestilences are signified by the two horses in the third and fourth seals. “When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come!’ And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!’ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come!’ And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth” (Rev. 6: 5-8 ESV).
Matthew limits the signs to famines and earthquakes. We know the number of earthquakes have been on the rise. God is definitely in control there.
Just think of the other related events that have been on the rise: hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, drought, fires — and those are the ones that I can name off the top of my head. God is in control. He will use whatever is at His disposal to get our attention.
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me” (Mt. 24: 9 NLT).
Jesus didn’t sugarcoat anything, even for His disciples. He told James and John they would be persecuted for preaching His message (Mk. 10: 39). He told all of them what to expect.
But many Christian today in the United States haven’t really been persecuted. Christians elsewhere have, but we in the United States haven’t — not in the way Jesus was talking about.
Persecution is currently on the rise. It’s coming here, too.
“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people” (Mt. 24: 10-11 NLT).
We’ve touched on both of these verses in this series. I think for some, turning from the faith will be a conscious decision. They will purposefully renounce God and His teachings.
I think others are going to be pulled away and not even know it. A couple of devotions ago, we talked about rewriting scripture. I think that would fall under this verse.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Lately, I’ve been thinking that those turning away from the faith will not be doing it with their feet. They will be frequenting their places of worship — some every Sunday.
It is their hearts that will turn away.
Oh, yes. They will think their ticket to heaven has been punched and they are good to go.
But they aren’t. They are the ones to whom this verse will apply. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 7: 21 ESV).
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Mt. 24: 14 NLT).
We’ve touched on this before in a previous devotion. Everyone will hear the gospel. We don’t know how that will be accomplished. We still have missionaries going to live among people. I feel the Internet is aiding this, too.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
We have also talked before that God wants all people to be saved (I Tim. 2: 4). We don’t know how soon after the last person hears that the end will come. We can be assured that it won’t until then.
“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel — let the reader understand — then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Mt. 24: 15-16 NLT).
I looked at these two verses and said, “I have no clue what You are talking about.” Something is supposed to stand somewhere, and we are supposed to run for the hills.
So, being good researchers, let’s start see what Daniel has to say.
“The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.” (Dan. 9: 27 NLT).
It is believed that the time period identified is seven years. Now, don’t get too caught up in the definition of years. We think 365 days; God is on a different timetable than we are (II Pet. 3: 8).
The ruler takes over when God’s Anointed One is killed (Dan. 9: 26). I thought it was interesting that the Anointed One “… [appeared] to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end” (Dan. 9: 26 NLT). (Flood, war, miseries — sound familiar?)
Everything goes okay at first. I read this as the ruler makes nice, but then he reverts to character. It sounds like, at first, the ruler allows people to worship God.
This is just my take (which could be right or wrong). The ruler then outlaws worshiping God all together. To me, if he stops sacrifices and offerings, he is going to try to stop all worship.
If we are to be a living sacrifice, we don’t sacrifice at an altar. We sacrifice our hearts and minds. The only way that is stopped is outlawing worshiping God all together.
The ruler will “… set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration …” (Dan. 9: 27 NLT). He is going to have to set up something somewhere. Normally, I would say this would be on the altar where the sacrifices are offered to God.
We do have some hope here. As unclear as these signs are, we should know enough to run for the hills.
“Immediately after the distress of those days ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken’” (Mt. 24: 29 NLT).
Back to God controlling the elements. It is Jesus quoting scripture again.
“For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light … Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger” (Isa. 13: 10, 13 ESV).
This goes along with Revelation 6: 12-14: “When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place” (ESV).
That has been a lot of information. Digest it, mediate on it, and in the next devotion, we will discuss Jesus’ return.
Sovereign God. You are waiting to call Your children home. You have given us signs to show when Jesus’ return is imminent. Since those signs do not tell us specifically Your timetable, we may be confused. Help us to understand what we need to and take the rest on faith. May we always be looking to the eastern sky for Jesus’ return. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
Pingback: Is It the Law or Faith? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Should Disciples Compromise Their Beliefs? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: How Do We Escape the Fury of Hell? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: How Do Disciples Escape Persecution? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Putting Feet to the Plan of Salvation – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Asking for Prayers – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: What Happens to the Antichrist? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: What Is the Tribulation? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: What Happens in the Middle of the Tribulation? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Stewards Who Are Ready – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Wars as a Sign of the End Times – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: How Does God Build a Community? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Isaiah’s Message about the Baby – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: What Does “In the Days of Noah” Mean? – Seeking God with Elaine