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Theological Bible Message-The return of Christ or Parousia
Anyone who has seen the news lately has been informed of the many disasters
and famines that have come upon certain places in our world. Recently there
was a huge earthquake in Pakistan that supposedly killed 20,000 + people,
the New Orleans disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina, and not to forget last
Decembers Sunami's that killed many and left thousands homeless. All these
are warnings that the Lord is about to return and the Parousia is about to
happen. No man knows exactly when (Mt 24:36), but we can expect the Parousia
to be like a thief in the night (1 Thes 5:2). Many in the past have tried
to predict the return of Christ and failed. I remember studying the life
of Montanus in College and how he brought thousands to a mountain nearing
the yr 1000. All these people were deceived by this man who failed to read
his bible with a proper hermeneutic (for more on Montaneus and Montanism see
the footnote at the end). Many others have come after him and will continue
to try and predict the return of Christ until he comes back.
In Matthew Chapter 4 Jesus spoke of the end times and in verses 7-8 says.
[Mt 24:7] "For nation G1484 will rise G1453 against G1909 nation G1484, and
kingdom G932 against G1909 kingdom G932, and in various G2596 places G5117
there will be famines G3042 and earthquakes G4578.
It was predicted long ago that nation would rise up against each other as
you all can see that this fulfillment of prophecy is already happening in
the world today.
Mt 24:7 is cross-referenced to this passage in the OT.
[Isa 19:2] "I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian-
brother will fight against brother,
neighbor against neighbor,
city against city,
kingdom against kingdom.
Mt 24:8
[8] "But all G3956 these G3778 things G3778 are merely the beginning G746
of birth G5604 pangs G5604.
Jesus also predicted that in the last days great earthquakes and famines will
hit places around the world. Many think that Hurricane Katrina and the other
disasters our world has faced lately will be the end of the natural disasters
for sometime, but biblically speaking these are the beginning of what lies
next. I do not know if perhaps the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" will become
a reality" but its always a possibility. Perhaps only then will people be
thankful for the weak by comparison Hurricane Katrina.
So what does "birth pangs" mean as mentioned in Mt 24:8?
For note this same Greek word is used to translate "birth" and "pangs."
5604. w)di/n odin; akin to 3601; a birth pang:-agony(1), birth pangs(2),
labor pains(1).