Jeremiah 30:4
The Bible says in Jeremiah 30:4-7, “And these
are the words that the LORD spake concerning
One of the things that will happen
when this age ends is called “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” Another Biblical
term for the time of Jacob’s trouble is “the Great Tribulation.” Jesus spoke of
the current age and the change that would come under the time of Jacob’s
trouble (the Great Tribulation.) Jesus said in Matthew 24:3-44, “And as he
sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying,
Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming,
and of the end of the world?[4] And Jesus answered and said unto them,
Take heed that no man deceive you.[5] For many shall come in my name,
saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.[6] And ye shall hear of
wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things
must come to pass, but the end is not yet.[7] For nation shall rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
[8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.[9] Then shall they
deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of
all nations for my name's sake.[10] And then shall many be offended, and
shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.[11] And many false
prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.[12] And because iniquity
shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.[13] But he that shall
endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.[14] And this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and
then shall the end come.[15] When ye therefore shall see the abomination
of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso
readeth, let him understand:)[16] Then let them which be in Judaea flee
into the mountains:[17] Let him which is on the housetop not come down
to take any thing out of his house:[18] Neither let him which is in the
field return back to take his clothes.[19] And woe unto them that are
with child, and to them that give suck in those days![20] But pray ye
that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:[21]
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.[22] And except those days
should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake
those days shall be shortened.[23] Then if any man shall say unto you,
Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.[24] For there shall arise
false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders;
insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.[25]
Behold, I have told you before.[26] Wherefore if they shall say unto
you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret
chambers; believe it not.[27] For as the lightning cometh out of the
east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be.[28] For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be
gathered together.[29] Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:[30]
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all
the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.[31] And he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.[32] Now
learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth
forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:[33] So likewise ye, when ye
shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.[34]
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be
fulfilled.[35] Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not
pass away.[36] But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the
angels of heaven, but my Father only.[37] But as the days of Noe were,
so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.[38] For as in the days
that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,[39] And knew
not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of
the Son of man be.[40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be
taken, and the other left.[41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill;
the one shall be taken, and the other left.[42] Watch therefore: for ye
know not what hour your Lord doth come.[43] But know this, that if the
goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would
have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.(44)
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man
cometh.”
This teaching by Jesus in Matthew
chapter 24 is very important for understanding some very important parts of the
doctrine of things to come. First Jesus described our current age. The
disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 24:3, “Tell us, when shall these things be?
and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” That is a
very typical question to ask. People still ask that question. Even aside from a
Biblical view of world events, there seems to be a general consensus that the
end just might come. Life on this earth has a very temporary nature to it: that
is obvious. It is also obvious that this is a dangerous universe where we live
and cataclysmic events do take place. So what about it? If the world is going
to end, when will it end? One thing to notice is that the word that is
translated “world” that Jesus used, means “age.” Jesus was not talking about
the end of the “world” wherein the world would be blown up or something like
that, but He was talking about the end of the age. Jesus was talking about
tremendous changes that would take place in the world.
But before Jesus talked about what
would change, Jesus wanted to make it clear what would not change until the
end-times actually did come. In other words, Jesus told us what are the
characteristics of this current age. First Jesus said, “Take heed
that no man deceive you.” We live in an age of deception. People are lied to, and they
believe the lies. The liars are very good at lying, and human nature seems to
be inclined towards believing lies over believing the truth. Because Jesus
said, “Take heed that no man deceive you,” Jesus is also implying that
it will take a determined effort and a careful vigilance to not be deceived.
One of the problems with being deceived is that the person who is deceived does
not know that they are deceived.
In Matthew 24:5 Jesus told us one of
the things about which people would be deceived. Jesus said, “For many
shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” We certainly
have seen this come to pass many times in the 2,000 years since Jesus walked
the earth, and have seen it many times in our own life-time. One would think
that no one would fall for such a deception since it is so clearly spelled out;
but nevertheless they do. From Charles Mason to David Caresch, these false
christs keep self-proclaiming themselves, and unwise people keep being deceived
by them. Christ will not stand upon the earth until after the Great
Tribulation, and so anyone who claims to be Christ in the age in which we live
is a false Christ, no matter how pleasant their personality might be and no
matter how popular they become.
In Matthew 24:6-7 Jesus gave us more
characteristics of the age in which we live. Jesus said, “And ye shall
hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these
things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Will a time of peace ever
come to the earth when mankind will learn war no more? Yes, such a time will
come in the Millennial reign of Christ, but sadly it will not come in the age
in which we live. This cycle of one war following another will continue, just
as it has since Jesus spoke these words. In addition to wars, there will be
famines. Sometimes war causes famine, and sometimes drought or pests cause
famines. Hunger is a great scourge to the human race, and sadly, famine and
hunger will not be eradicated from the human race in the age in which we live:
no social program and no amount of taxation will fix this terrible problem.
Every human being is responsible to use their own resources to help others when
and where they can, but perhaps because too many do not do so or perhaps
because the circumstances that cause crop failure are just too frequent, but
for whatever reason, Jesus said famine will continue in the age in which we
live.
Jesus mentioned war and famine as
characteristics of this age, and He also mentioned “earthquakes.” Probably
everyone is aware of the frequency of earthquakes and the danger of them. They
can cause tsunamis, and they have the capability of wiping out entire cities.
Of course, today we know from a scientific standpoint why earthquakes are so
common. But such scientific knowledge was not known by human beings during the
first century. Why did Jesus know? Jesus is God. He knows everything. Of
course, the Bible is not a book of science, but this is a good example of the
fact that whenever the Bible touches on a point of science, the Bible is
scientifically accurate. By the way, if the Bible was a book of science, it
would eventually become out of date like all other books of science. But
because the Word of God is true and never changes, it will never go out of
date.
As we look past the current age in
which we live, in Matthew chapter 24 Jesus mentioned three important events
that every student of Bible prophecy should be aware of. Jesus mentioned “great
tribulation” in verse 21, Jesus mentioned the “abomination of desolation” in
verse 15, and Jesus talked about the return of Christ from verses 30 through
verses 44. We know from the book of Daniel that the Great Tribulation will last
for 7 years, and that the Abomination of Desolation will take place at the
middle of the Great Tribulation. We also know that the return of Christ takes
places in what we can call two phases: the rapture of the church at the
beginning of the Tribulation when believers will meet Jesus in the air, followed
by the actual Second Coming of Christ to the earth at the end of the Great
Tribulation.
One of the
most important teachings to remember about the rapture is that Jesus will come
and can come at any moment. Jesus said in verse 42, “Watch
therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” Jesus must
be talking about the rapture because we know very clearly that the Second
Coming will take place 3 and a half years after the abomination of desolation,
and the abomination of desolation cannot take place without a temple. The
concept of the imminent return of Christ leads us to believe in the
pre-millennial rapture view of future events. It is clear that the scriptures
teach that the next prophetic event to take place is the rapture portion of the
return of Jesus. The actual Second Coming of Christ will not take place until
many other events take place first such as the Great Tribulation, the
manifestation of the antichrist, the various calamities recorded in the book of
Revelation, and the battle of Armageddon. If you believe that the return of
Christ is imminent, then you must also believe in the pre-tribulation rapture
of the church. Nothing else fits the time-line as revealed in the Bible. No
other view of Bible prophecy allows for the truth of the imminent return of
Christ that Jesus taught in verse 44, “Therefore be ye also ready: for in
such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
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Copyright; 2013 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved