Wars and Rumors of Wars . . .

In the latter days of his earthly ministry, Jesus preached his second longest sermon (second only to his Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew chapters 5 through 7). This sermon, known as The Olivet Discourse (he preached from the top of the Mt. of Olives which overlooks the city of Jerusalem) is recorded for us in Matthew chapters 24 and 25. Jesus preached this lengthy message in response to this question offered up by his disciples: "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" (See Matthew 24:1-3 for the question and its context). So the disciples were thinking about the end times of human history when God would restore his kingdom rule in all of its glory. Therefore, as we read this marvelous teaching of Jesus, we must keep in mind that he is answering this specific question of his disciples.

Early into this message, Jesus makes these comments: "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom . . . all these are the beginning of birth pains" (Matthew 24:6-8). Wars and rumors of war. When I read that I thought to myself -"Boy does that describe our world today or what?" With the two Koreas on the brink of war (earlier this morning, North Korea warned the South of the outbreak of a "full blown war" if the U.S. and South Korea violated its territory during the war games the two allies are now conducting) and other wars and skirmishes ongoing across our globe - there is no doubt we are hearing of "wars and rumors of wars!"

So what should be our response to these troubling events? Jesus answers this question by telling us that we are not to be alarmed. Why should we not be alarmed? Because in God's providential plan for our world, these things "must happen" ... they are the "beginning of birth pains." Now that is a telling metaphor. Just as a woman must go through the pain of labor ... that pain is just a means to a greater end - the birth of a child. And so all the strife we see in our world today are labor pains that the human race must go through before the birth of God's full blown eternal kingdom.

So don't be alarmed. God is still on his throne. He has a plan. He's working that plan. And at the end of the day --- God will triumph over sin and evil .... forever and ever ... AMEN!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj