Labor Begins



Matthew 24:4-8
4And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray.
5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Every woman who has ever had a baby has a birth story. And while they are all unique in small ways, the process and outcome is the same. You experience labor pains, they get worse, then they get a whole lot worse, and then you have a baby. (I’ll make an exception for the planned C-Section.) But this is the perfect analogy for describing the process leading up to Jesus’ return. I must admit, I find it a little amusing that He uses this description on a bunch of guys. They might know in theory what He’s talking about, but it’s all speculation. The mom’s in the crowd – they get it. Everything is going to escalate until it seems like the situation is completely out of control. Then when the pain is the greatest the true joy begins and the pain is forgotten.

As we look back over history we see that Jesus wasn’t wrong. There have always been wars, famines, and natural disasters. Perhaps that is because the Father wants every generation to be prepared for Jesus’ return. We all need to believe that His return is imminent because it is. The big warning in this passage comes in verse 4. “See that no one leads you astray.” No matter what generation you claim the threat from those who would cause you to walk away from God is ever present. In the days of Jesus there were many who actually claimed to be the Messiah. In the book of Acts we find words from a Pharisee named Gamaliel who advised his fellow Pharisees to remain calm about the ministry of Jesus’ Apostles.

Acts 5:34-40
34But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.
35And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.
36For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.
37After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.
38So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail;
39but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice,
40and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

Even today we have those who make claims about themselves as the Messiah. Those who are old enough (yes, I’m old enough) will remember Jim Jones and David Koresh. Both of these men claimed to be the messiah only to lead their followers into death; and of course there have been others. But we were warned 2,000 year ago by the True Messiah to beware of false claims. How can we be protected against such false claims? Know the Word and listen to the Spirit. People who know the truth are much more difficult to deceive.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more