Scripture: Mark 13 v 8: "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows."
Matthew 24 v 7 - 11: "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."
Luke 21 v 25 - 28: "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."
I asked the Lord this morning for what He wanted the people who read this blog to know. He gave me the word "Signs" so to my mind the most important of these is the signs of His coming.
If the reader wants the full picture read the whole chapter of the verses quoted above. They are all the words of Jesus Himself as He taught the disciples.
There shall be earthquakes, great earthquakes, sea and waves roaring. Truly in this century we have been made aware of these two signs, even in the past few days.
A strong earthquake hit Indonesian island Sulawesi and caused a tsunami that wiped out two villages in Pula. A few weeks ago tropical storm Florence swamped North and South Carolina with roaring seas leaving millions of dead fish over the land.
Several typhoons have hit Japan and caused serious flooding. In 2011 a megaquake and tsunami struck Sendai north of Tokyo causing thousands of deaths and thousands never found.
These are signs that we are getting close to the coming of Jesus. There are other signs in the stars, moon, planets and heavens. Blood Moons, when the moon appears red, on specific Jewish feast days, also known as the Shemitah in 2014 and 2015. Very unusual occurrences.
There was the Indian Ocean massive earthquake and tsunami on Boxing Day 2005. This was an eye opener for many and probably viewed by more first time observers than had ever occurred before. It shocked the whole world to see those enormous waves roaring so far inland, about 6 miles.
To the natural eye and scientific minds these quakes and storms are due to pressure build up along fault lines, and or global climate change. Greenhouse gasses and other phenomena are causing oceans to be warmer, causing glaciers to melt and sea levels to rise.
Jesus prophesied that these things would happen not long before He would return. He said there would be pestilence too. An increase in plagues. Duly noted. Here in South Africa there are nearly 5 million or 10 percent of the population living with HIV/AIDS a plague with no known cure. Swine flu, Ebola, Bubonic Plague have been seen along with others like Cholera, Zika virus.
Jesus is not causing these things to occur but He knew that conditions on Earth would deteriorate and be used as signs for His return. That is the good news. He said He would return and He is the Truth, incapable of lies and deception.
Acts 1 v 9 - 11: "And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."
These men in white apparel confirmed to the disciples that Jesus would return. The exact date is known only to our Father. Not even Jesus knows it, but He knew the season and signs and wants to prepare us for this awesome event.
John 14 v 3: "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
In the days ahead there will be more signs to encourage us that the time is near. We must be in a strong personal relationship with Jesus and share His salvation message with others. Like the days Noah spent building the Ark which took 100 years in the driest desert on Earth hundreds of miles from the sea. He was mocked and scoffed by everyone. Until the floods came.
God gave him all that time but only his immediate family were saved with him. This is just as serious and very final. First the Rapture of the believers in Jesus will occur. In a split second, without warning, vanished.
Then there will be terrible tribulation on the Earth known as the Wrath of the Lamb. This will end with the Battle of Armageddon when Jesus with all His followers, dead saints, live saints, arrive and two thirds of the 200 million strong army advancing on Israel die in one moment of time. The rest flee.
Jesus the Creator of all things has reclaimed the Earth over 6000 years since Adam gave control of it to the Serpent. The Devil, that Great Red Dragon, aka the Serpent came only to kill, steal and destroy.
The next 1000 years will be spent restoring the Earth to its original beauty. We all have choices today where we would like to be on that day and what we need to do now to secure our place.
Hell is real and filled with people who hated, lied about, rejected, persecuted, and killed Jesus and those who trusted in Him. How many of them in that eternal fire would change their vote now?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, there are billions of people in the valley of decision. Please help us to reach them and reveal the truth to them. Please open our eyes to these lost souls and show us how to win them. Let them also heed the signs that the King of the Universe will return soon. In Jesus' name. Amen.
