In Matthew 24, Jesus is talking about the signs that will point to His soon return, the Blessed Hope. And it gives me hope and even joy, that as things look really bad on this planet, it probably means He’s coming back soon. And that is the best news for any believer! Now beginning in verse 3- “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. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 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. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.’” (Matthew 24:3-8) In another translation it tells us these are the beginning of “birth pangs.” Today we’re going to look at some headlines that point to Christ’s soon return.
EARTHQUAKES – Our planet is experiencing over 677 earthquakes per day. Three times above normal. There have been 84 major earthquakes just this year.[i] And going along with that, volcanoes have been erupting, especially in the Pacific rim, spewing volcanic ash into the atmosphere, and potentially contributing to global cooling.
MICROCHIPPING / MARK OF THE BEAST – It’s amazing what folks will sign up for. From the NY Post: “Thousands of people in Sweden are having futuristic microchips implanted into their skin to carry out everyday activities and replace credit cards and cash. More than 4,000 people have already had the sci-fi-ish chips, about the size of a grain of rice, inserted into their hands — with the pioneers predicting millions will soon join them as they hope to take it global.” Here’s the relevant scripture, talking about the False Prophet. “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Revelation 13:16-17) This is NOT the mark – but seems to be a forerunner. Reading in Revelation 14, we learn that taking the mark is a sign of worship of the Beast – and anyone who does will face God’s wrath.
FOOD SCARCITY – It may be on its way in the very short term. Revelation 6 describes a time during the Tribulation when food will be in short supply and therefore expensive. We may be moving toward similar conditions. Millions of acres in the breadbasket will not be planted this year. Tens of millions more are flooded and expected to produce meager results. Drought conditions in other parts of the planet are causing shortages. American corn will be in short supply as canned vegetables are already.[ii]
THE MAGOG ALLIANCE FORMING UP – Using their ancient names, Ezekiel 38 describes an invasion of Israel by the outer ring of Muslim states and likely Russia. Turkey and Iran are on that list as well as Libya and Ethiopia. Well, that alliance is forming up as we speak. Russia and Iran are already working together. And now, Turkey has taken another step away from the NATO alliance, and accepted delivery of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missiles. A number of Turkish people groups are mentioned by the Prophet Ezekiel in spelling out the component nations of the alliance. Spoiler alert. Israel is NOT defeated by this grand coalition of future bad-guy nations. God Himself comes to the rescue.
[i] Michael Snyder, The Number Of Global Earthquakes Is 3 Times Above Normal, The Economic Collapse, July 14, 2019
[ii] Michael Snyder, Food Shortage Warnings Are Already Starting To Appear, End of the American Dream, July 14, 2019
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