Wars and Rumors of Wars

“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.” (Mt 24:6-8)

Jesus spoke about the end of times to his disciples, telling them what the conditions would be like.  Concerning wars, we have plenty.  Yet Jesus tells us that we are not to be alarmed about these wars, famines and earthquakes.  Like birth pains, they are the beginning of a process.  Though men write their predictions about what is to happen, they are writing “rumors” and not focusing on how to prepare.

God has “strategy”. We hear that word a lot in Christian literature and at prayer meetings as people lead us to pray or call us into action.  However, one of God’s greatest strategies is secrecy.  We see this in Psalm 18 where king David cries out to the Lord for help.  When the Lord came down, “He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him.”  Dark clouds with hailstones and bolts of lightning preceded His arrival. His voice thundered, and He took action (Ps 18:11-14).  What began in heaven, came to earth, covered for a period of time in secrecy.  Then God spoke, rebuking David’s enemies, and those things that were covered over became apparent (vs 15).

Nothing happens on the earth without first happening in heaven . . . and nothing happens in heaven until God speaks. God has not lost track of what is going on here on earth.  It is God’s strategy to tell us what will precede the end so that we will know what time we live in.  And yet, wars, famines and earthquakes are not what we should focus on.   We are waiting for the court to convene and make decisions on our behalf (Dan 7:26-27).  One day the Ancient of Days will pronounce judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and then we will possess the Kingdom of God (Dan 7:22). We are waiting for God to speak.

God will win this war in heaven.  His first strategy was to kick the accuser of the brethren out of heaven.  The God who has strategies, who holds mysteries until their time of unveiling, has equipped us to deal with our enemy on the earth.  Jesus disclosed what He knew about the end of times, revealing our enemy’s weapons against us.  Jesus’ first warning was “Watch out that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, claiming ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many (Mt 24:4-5). “Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” (vs 11)  Deception and falsehood are some of the weapons our enemy will use against us. 

Jesus also talked about persecution, which will cause many to fall away, and to betray their brethren.  It is a time of sifting, and only those who love the Lord and His people will remain in the faith.

Wickedness will grieve many people, and yet others will become cold and indifferent in their hearts.  Our enemy will try to overcome the good works that are a light to the people on the earth.  Yet those that continue to do works of love will overcome satan, and their light will save many.

From looking at Jesus’ warnings and predictions in Matthew 24 we see a few strategies to use against our enemy.  To begin with, we must love the truth more than loving those who minister to us.  If what they are saying does not line up with the scriptures and is not handled by the Holy Spirit, we should beware.  The second strategy is called “endurance.”  If we let go of the love of this life and all it holds for us then persecution will not turn us away from God.  We will be looking for a permanent residence with Him, called The City of God.  And finally, love people. When we let God bring the weak and imperfect into our lives love grows, and works of love are produced.  Faith works through love (Gal 5:6), and therefore both protect us from a cold heart and meaningless faith.

Amen. God bless you!