Birth Pangs?

Birth pang (noun)*

1. One of the regularly recurrent pains that are characteristic of childbirth – usually in plural.

2. Disorder and distress incident especially to a major social change.

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.  For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.  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. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains. (Matthew 24: 3-8, NIV)

I opened my daily newspaper this morning and was greeted by this ominous photo of the Puyehue volcano in Chile, which has been silent for half a century.  

I was immediately reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 24, and could not help but think that with all of the earthquakes, floods, tornados, volcanic eruptions, wars, and rumors of wars that we have witnessed this year alone, that we may be experiencing the beginning of the birth pains that will lead up to the event that will mark the end of this present dispensation: the rapture.

Birth pains, or contractions as they are commonly known, come at regular intervals, and as time goes on, they get closer together. They also steadily increase in strength. It seems like there has been a disaster nearly every week in recent months, and tensions are rising in the Middle East as quickly as worldwide support for Israel appears to be waning.

As frightening as these events may be, there is also great hope for believers who are eagerly looking for the return of Christ Jesus. In their book, “Lost in Translation: Rediscovering the Hebrew Roots of our Faith,” John Klein and Adam Spears write that during the ancient Hebrew betrothal process, “the groom could come anytime between 6 PM and midnight, on the second through the fourth day of the week. When he did so he had to see his bride’s welcoming light in her window. If she let it burn out he would take that as a sign that she had either changed her mind or simply didn’t care anymore, and he would turn away and leave her in darkness.”

I think it is time for all preparing brides to light their lamps — and keep them burning brightly.

*Source: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary