It’s Christmas Eve 2022 and we are far from having “peace on earth”. Rather, it seems the last days birth pains that Jesus warned us about in His Olivet Discourse in Matthew, Mark and Luke, are getting stronger and more frequent. Check out this week’s rundown of top news stories matched to passages in the Bible. I pray that your eyes will be opened and realize that Bible Prophecy is not meant to scare us, but to warn us and give us hope of a better world to come. Let’s dig in…
The Olivet Discourse — Signs of the Last Days
Let’s start with Matthew 24…
Jesus had just finished telling off the Jewish leaders in chapter 23. (By the way, that’s always a fun read as it describes today’s religious leaders.) Then chapter 24 starts the look into the future…
As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. 2 But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!” (Incidentally, this happened in 70 AD. Prophecy fulfilled!)
3 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world (or age)?”…
6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”
Matthew 24:1-3, 6-7 NLT
Wars and Threats (Rumors) of Wars
In Greek, the word for “Nation” is “ethnos” — from where we get the word for ethnicity or ethnic. Consequently, that covers not just a country invading another country, but an ethnic group fighting another ethnic group. Currently, we have…
- Riots and protests…
- France: Following a shooting in which a Turkish man killed 3 Kurdish immigrants, Kurds riot in Paris and other French cities.
- At least 26 dead after riots in Peru
- War
- At least 5 dead and 20 wounded in a Russian bombing on Kherson, Ukraine.
- Russia is set to increase its military to 1.5 million troops
- Zelensky asked the U.S. Congress for tanks & warplanes
- Kremlin says no chance of peace with Kyiv after Zelensky Washington trip
- Threats/Rumors of War
- The head of the Israeli Mossad hinted that a military operation to eliminate the Iranian nuclear program is the only viable option left.
- China Sends 39 Warplanes and 3 Ships Toward Taiwan
Next: Earthquakes & Famines & Plages
11 There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven.
Luke 21:11 NLT
Deadly 6.4 M Earthquake Hits Off the Northern California Coast
As in the Days of Lot
28 “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— 29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Luke 17:28-29 NLT (The First Sin City)
- Gender self-determination to be granted in Spain and Scotland
- What Marjorie Taylor Greene Found at Her Local Walmart Should Make Parents Angry
- Vatican defrocks Priest, Pro-Life director Frank Pavone for (anti-abortion) ‘blasphemous communications’
- Priest ‘close to the Pope’ is accused of inviting two nuns to take part in ‘Holy Trinity’ threesome
Urgent Warning! Escape from Catholicism Now and Run to Jesus!
Jesus said…
“But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.”
Matthew 24:8 NLT
Increased Lawlessness
Paul wrote…
7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way.
2 Thessalonians 2:7 NLT
- 19-year-old teen dead after shooting at Mall of America in Minnesota. As of this posting, the killer is still at large. It seems to be gang-related.
Increased Persecution of Christians
9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers (on account of my name).”
Matthew 24:9 NLT
- Praying is now a thought crime. A woman was arrested in the UK for standing and praying to herself.
- Anti-Christian Riots in India Surge Across 20 Villages
- Herdsmen, Other Terrorists Slaughter 46 Christians in Nigeria
- Muslim Extremists Lure, Attack Christian Teacher and Son
- Church Building in Sudan Burned Down
Tunsia:
A new constitutional draft in Tunisia will leave Christians vulnerable to abuse as it takes the country from being a secular state to more officially tied to Islam. Authorities will be able to interpret religious rights in more restrictive ways. Jesus, put an umbrella of protection over Your Tunisian family.
Open Door
Uganda:
“We have been strongly advised to be security conscious because terrorists have made bombs in a Bible-like shape. Check the Bibles, and ensure that no one enters a church without being checked. Let the checkpoints be far away from entry points; terrorists love it when people are squeezing together so they can die with many. Keep services short so people are not kept in one place for so long. Be vigilant, especially in prayers.”
Security Alert form an Ungandan Church Leader, Nov. 19, 2021, via Voice of the Martyrs
More on Christian Persecution
Watch for the Signs of the Last Days!
You may think, well, this stuff’s been going on for centuries!
Peter wrote…
Be brave and courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:14
This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. 2 I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.
3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4 They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. 6 Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. 7 And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— 16 speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.
Peter’s Final Words
17 You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. 18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.
2 Peter 3 NLT
Ignore these warnings at your own peril! We are living in the last days! Check out the links and videos below for more in-depth prophetic news coverage.
Nonetheless, all this is not to scare you, but to warn you and give you hope. Dig deeper…
- More Bible Prophecy News
- Bible Prophecy Links
- What is the Rapture?
- Listen to the Watchmen on the Wall
- The Wonderful Promises in the Book of Revelation
Jesus is coming soon! You’re either ready or you’re not!
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
Believe. Repent. Be Baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.
- Believe — have Faith — that Jesus is the Christ and He died taking your sins away forever and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
- Repent of your sins — stop sinning! Do a complete 180-degree turn in your life and surrender your life to Him. When you ask Jesus to forgive you He will. ALL your sins will be wiped clean — past, present, and future! And All means ALL!
- Be Baptized by water baptism — show the world and yourself that you have died to your old life and are born again in Christ.
- Receive the gift of Holy Spirit in your heart.
