The Hard Boiled Scripture and the End of the World: Japan's Earthquake and Other Signs of Time's End

OK, so something crazy did happen between posts. I had a car accident. God thankfully preserved me and the other driver from super serious harm. I had/have some pain in my back but that wasn't too serious. Praise be to God! It could have been a ton, ton worse, yet He was there with me. I am still out of alignment in my back I think. The Chiroprator helped a bit, but....

And today I just had my pastor pray over me with an elder and annoint me with oil, to put my faith into action, and so I can allow the Lord to work in my life. {Jam 5:13 NLT} - "Are any among you suffering? They should keep on praying about it. And those who have reason to be thankful should continually sing praises to the Lord." {Jam 5:14 NLT} - "Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord." {Jam 5:15 NLT} - "And their prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well. And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven."

Did it heal me? I did feel pain leave, and another ailment I was having seemed to go away as did my headache. My muscles also seemed to relax quite a bit more as well. I guess that should be a yes, but I don't know 100% how I feel, but in a way I just like to "feel things out" like doubting Thomas did. Part of me believes I was healed, but part of me doesn't want to jump to conclusions until I am 100% sure. I guess I'll give more updates on this just to see how the Lord works.

Back to the study. See the previous post if you wonder what the heck I am jibba-jabba-ing about. So last time I pointed out that a number of prophecies in Luke 13, Matthew 24 and Mark 13 appeared to be well on their way to having been fulfilled, and that the birth pangs - warning signs of Christ's return - were all over the place. I believe we are seeing the signs Christ warned us about. Even though we are seeing them, this is no cause to panic. I believe that this stuff will get so much worse, and then it's time to worry, as the Great Tribulation will be at hand. The Great Tribulation maybe isn't at our door just yet, but it's on the sidewalk in front of the house!

To put it this way, we were told in the Bible that when we see these signs, like seeing vultures in the sky indicate a dead/dying animal around, so too are these signs an indication that Christ's return is close and that the old world and way of doing things is about to die off. By my guess, I'd say there's more than a few vultures circling around, but there's more on the way. In other words, we have some time, but how much? Are we ready for His return?

{Mat 24:15 NLT} - "The time will come when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about: the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place"--reader, pay attention! {Mar 13:14 NLT} - "The time will come when you will see the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing where it should not be"--reader, pay attention! "Then those in Judea must flee to the hills."

Both go on to say about how bad it will be, and not to go into the house to get anything, etc. I don't need to duplicate it here. Not that it's not important, just now what we're looking at right now. Well, in one sense, this could be considered fulfilled from the oft quoted 70 AD event of Antiochus sacrificing a pig on the altar of the Temple and that whole event. Alot of the other Matthew 24 (etc.) stuff has been fulfilled in one sense with the whole 70 AD scenario, but as I said last time, this (as with other parts, if not all of Bible prophecy has a near future fulfillment, and a far reaching fulfillment.

Obviously we're not in the Millenial kingdom with Christ as king yet, so we can assume that this has fulfillment coming in the end times. From an end times perspective, this has yet to happen, and requires a temple in Jerusalem. We don't even have that yet, but just google third temple coming to Jerusalem, and you'll find alot of conspiracies, and a lot of false info, but I'm sure you'll also find something legitimate that says Israel wants to rebuild the temple. A parallel passage to the above, yet with a different angle.

{Luk 21:20 NLT} - "And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its destruction has arrived. That is probably well on its way, but hasn't happened exactly yet. Israel is surrounded by hostile people, but it's not quite yet to this point. So this too has yet to occur before the end. {Mat 24:21 NLT} - For that will be a time of greater horror than anything the world has ever seen or will ever see again. {Mat 24:22 NLT} - In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, the entire human race will be destroyed. But it will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones.

{Luk 21:22 NLT} - For those will be days of God's vengeance, and the prophetic words of the Scriptures will be fulfilled. {Mar 13:19 NLT} - For those will be days of greater horror than at any time since God created the world. And it will never happen again. {Mar 13:20 NLT} - In fact, unless the Lord shortens that time of calamity, the entire human race will be destroyed. But for the sake of his chosen ones he has shortened those days.

Again, this has not yet happened either. But when it does, it's probably going to be too late.

Good ol' Dr. Luke deviates a bit from the other two.

{Luk 21:23 NLT} - How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for mothers nursing their babies. For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. {Luk 21:24 NLT} - They will be brutally killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world. And Jerusalem will be conquered and trampled down by the Gentiles until the age of the Gentiles comes to an end.

I may be wrong, but this one seems to dip back into the past fulfillment of the passages, at least at verse 24. This has happened, more or less. Since 70 AD, the Jews have been outside of Israel, basically in many of the nations of the world. They were also trampled down. Pograms in Russia, the Inquisition and other discrimination in the middle ages, and lastly the Holocaust. Then, Israel became a nation.

In my opinion, they are not really being trampled by gentiles any more. So this tells me, that more or less the time of the gentiles has been slowly fading since then. It may not be finished just yet, but again, it's pretty close I'd say. Judge for yourselves on that one.

{Mat 24:23 NLT} - "Then if anyone tells you, 'Look, here is the Messiah,' or 'There he is,' don't pay any attention. {Mat 24:24 NLT} - For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great miraculous signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones. {Mat 24:25 NLT} - See, I have warned you. {Mat 24:26 NLT} - "So if someone tells you, 'Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,' don't bother to go and look. Or, 'Look, he is hiding here,' don't believe it!

{Mar 13:21 NLT} - "And then if anyone tells you, 'Look, here is the Messiah,' or, 'There he is,' don't pay any attention. {Mar 13:22 NLT} - For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform miraculous signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones. {Mar 13:23 NLT} - Watch out! I have warned you!

Pretty self explanatory. Last week's post details more about false messiahs. Those are always around, and every few years some nutter comes around and proclaims himself as Jesus or the Messiah. Obviously, if any one does, THEY ARE NOT REALLY HIM!

There will be a time soon I think where someone will be portrayed as a messiah figure, and when he/she is, don't believe it! And also if any one is able to perform miracles, you'd better check those out to make sure they are really of God. Not every miracle is from God. Unless a miracle honors God and points people to His Son, Jesus Christ, then it's not of God.

Really great advice: From "The Dark Side of the Supernatural" by Bill Myers and David Wimbish. Page 28 (unbulleted, sorry!) "When an angel seeks to draw attention to himself and not to God, he is no angel. When an angel gladly accepts the adoration of men and women, you can be sure that he didn't come to us from Heaven. When an angel tells us that he will answer our prayers and give us what we desire, he is attempting to usurp God's authority, and he is not to be trusted. When an angel tells us that we can be equal to God, he is no angel."

Page 128 "Author Phil Phillips gives us five practical scriptural methods to "test the spirits." He writes that an authentic messenger from God 1) always proclaims-and never denies-that Jesus is God's Son and He came to earth in fleshly form; 2) always exalts Jesus Christ and points toward His atonement for sin, which He made when He died on the cross; 3) never encourages divination or occult practices; 4) never contradicts Scripture or dismisses its importance; 5) never undermines the majesty, glory, or holiness of almighty God, King of the Universe."

{Luk 21:25 NLT} - "And there will be strange events in the skies--signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And down here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. {Luk 21:26 NLT} - The courage of many people will falter because of the fearful fate they see coming upon the earth, because the stability of the very heavens will be broken up.

This is sort of happening, but I believe it will get worse, and more specific/widespread. There are rumors of weird signs in the sun, moon and stars. Derek Gilbert has mentioned Inuit Natives saying the sun came up in the wrong place. Still, others claim there are earth sized UFOs around the sun. I would even just throw general UFO sightings in as a low-key sign. Obviously right now, the nations (many of them) are in turmoil, which will be worse in the Tribulation. Roaring seas, maybe are tsunamis from the earthquakes. (Thanks Gilberts!) Look at verse 26 though, I don't think we're quite there just yet, but we've merely had a foretaste which already has some people freaked out.

{Mat 24:27 NLT} - For as the lightning lights up the entire sky, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. {Mat 24:28 NLT} - Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near. {Mat 24:29 NLT} - "Immediately after those horrible days end, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.

{Mar 13:24 NLT} - "At that time, after those horrible days end, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light, {Mar 13:25 NLT} - the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.

See the book of Revelation for more on that. No specific verse comes to mind. This obviously hasn't happened yet. {Mat 24:30 NLT} - And then at last, the sign of the coming of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the nations of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. {Mat 24:31 NLT} - And he will send forth his angels with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

{Luk 21:27 NLT} - Then everyone will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds with power and great glory. {Luk 21:28 NLT} - So when all these things begin to happen, stand straight and look up, for your salvation is near!"

{Mar 13:26 NLT} - Then everyone will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds with great power and glory. {Mar 13:27 NLT} - And he will send forth his angels to gather together his chosen ones from all over the world--from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

Again, the above have yet to happen.

{Mat 24:32 NLT} - "Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its buds become tender and its leaves begin to sprout, you know without being told that summer is near. {Mat 24:33 NLT} - Just so, when you see the events I've described beginning to happen, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. {Mat 24:34 NLT} - I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene before all these things take place.

{Luk 21:29 NLT} - Then he gave them this illustration: "Notice the fig tree, or any other tree. {Luk 21:30 NLT} - When the leaves come out, you know without being told that summer is near. {Luk 21:31 NLT} - Just so, when you see the events I've described taking place, you can be sure that the Kingdom of God is near. {Luk 21:32 NLT} - I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these events have taken place.

{Mar 13:28 NLT} - "Now, learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its buds become tender and its leaves begin to sprout, you know without being told that summer is near. {Mar 13:29 NLT} - Just so, when you see the events I've described beginning to happen, you can be sure that his return is very near, right at the door. {Mar 13:30 NLT} - I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these events have taken place.

So these points here are more or less the reason I wrote about all of this. The signs are just starting to kick off, in my opinion. The tiniest of buds are appearing on the trees, so what are we going to do about it? More on that in a minute...

{ Mat 24:35 NLT} - Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever. {Mat 24:36 NLT} - "However, no one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. {Mat 24:37 NLT} - "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. {Mat 24:38 NLT} - In those days before the Flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. {Mat 24:39 NLT} - People didn't realize what was going to happen until the Flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. {Mat 24:40 NLT} - "Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. {Mat 24:41 NLT} - Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. {Mat 24:42 NLT} - So be prepared, because you don't know what day your Lord is coming. {Mat 24:43 NLT} - "Know this: A homeowner who knew exactly when a burglar was coming would stay alert and not permit the house to be broken into. {Mat 24:44 NLT} - You also must be ready all the time. For the Son of Man will come when least expected.

{Luk 21:33 NLT} - Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever. {Luk 21:34 NLT} - "Watch out! Don't let me find you living in careless ease and drunkenness, and filled with the worries of this life. Don't let that day catch you unaware, {Luk 21:35 NLT} - as in a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth. {Luk 21:36 NLT} - Keep a constant watch. And pray that, if possible, you may escape these horrors and stand before the Son of Man."

{Mar 13:31 NLT} - Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever. {Mar 13:32 NLT} - "However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. {Mar 13:33 NLT} - And since you don't know when they will happen, stay alert and keep watch. {Mar 13:34 NLT} - "The coming of the Son of Man can be compared with that of a man who left home to go on a trip. He gave each of his employees instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. {Mar 13:35 NLT} - So keep a sharp lookout! For you do not know when the homeowner will return--at evening, midnight, early dawn, or late daybreak. {Mar 13:36 NLT} - Don't let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. {Mar 13:37 NLT} - What I say to you I say to everyone: Watch for his return!"

In short, I'm writing this so that you know that Jesus Christ's return is soon. Yes, that's been said and believed for around 2000 years, but for most of this time, many of these events weren't being fulfilled, or at least not in such a way that everyone could see them. Now, we see (at least the early warning signs) that Jesus warned us about. With that in mind, this should be proof positive that His return is not too far away.

What does this mean? Should we panic, or run around crazy? Absolutely not! Should we keep sinning until the last possible moment? God forbid! No, the reason I am writing all of this is because with His return so close (as evidenced by the appearence of these signs) we need to get right with God. If you are a Christian, get on your knees and pray. Read your Bible. Confess your sins to God and turn away from them! We don't have much time left.

If you are not a believer, then what is preventing you from accepting Jesus Christ into your life? What's keeping you from confessing your sin, and accepting Him as Lord into your life? What's keeping you from believe in the message of the Gospel, His perfect conception, birth, life, death and resurrection? You see the signs beginning to appear in the news. It's not too late yet. And for us believers, we need to be especially careful:

{Mat 24:46 NLT} - If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. {Mat 24:47 NLT} - I assure you, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. {Mat 24:48 NLT} - But if the servant is evil and thinks, 'My master won't be back for a while,' {Mat 24:49 NLT} - and begins oppressing the other servants, partying, and getting drunk-- {Mat 24:50 NLT} - well, the master will return unannounced and unexpected. {Mat 24:51 NLT} - He will tear the servant apart and banish him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Guys, we need watch for His return. We also need to get our lives in order, and share with those who want to know from us. Use your God given gifts and abilities to do what you can to share Jesus with those who need Him and want Him. I myself am horrible in this area when it comes to face to face evangelizing. But God has blessed me with a love (and hopefully a gift) for writing, that's something I can do. Can I do more? Absolutely! But this is a good start.