I was loaned a book this past week dealing with End Times events foretold in the Bible, it’s called Epicenter: Why The Current Rumblings in The Middle East Will Change Your Future by Joel C. Rosenberg. There seems to be a prevailing lie in the church these days that End Times events are either obscure, or they shouldn’t be looked into because they could mean anything, or that if you do look into them then you’ll adopt a weird view of things. This shouldn’t be the case, because Jesus, when asked by his disciples “When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) Jesus laid out the observable things which will occur prior to His return and the ending of the world as we know it. He told them of many false teachers appearing (v.5), of wars and rumours of wars (v.6), nations rising against other nations (v.7), famines and earthquakes in various places (v.8), and how these things are the signs to us, and are the “birth pains” (v.9), the contractions that get closer and closer together that signal the birth of a baby. He goes on to speak of other signs: a rising hatred against Christians (v.9), apostasy (v.10), deception from false teachers (v.11), an increase in wickedness (v.12), and the news of Jesus finally reaching all nations in the world (v.14).
Instead of telling us to not pay attention to these signs, Jesus urged us to watch for them: “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” (v32-33)
Moreover, He adds that the generation of people living to see the first of the “birth pains” will not die out before all have come to completion when He added, “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (v.34-35). How long is a generation? Psalm 90 verse 10 says, "The length of our days is 70 years -or 80 of we have the strength".
The book lists these birth pains, things we are seeing in the world in these times, and it deals heavily with the prophecy in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel (chapters 38 and 39) which details precisely how these events will play out, even which nations will rise against Israel (Persia and Meshech/Rosh, which is Iran and Russia -nations currently allied, both hating Israel and wanting to destroy it). The previous chapters 36 and 37 of Ezekiel had spoken about the reformation of the nation of Israel and God returning the Israelites to it from all over the world (started in 1948).
I highly recommend the book to all friends, Christian or not, for it will open your eyes to the promises of God, and wake you up to Christ’s return -an event Jesus himself said would be at a time when the church would be generally “sleeping” (Matthew 25:1-13).
