Tag: abomination of desolation

Birth Pangs

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“But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”  Matthew 24:8

There is a lot of talk about the birth pangs these days.  Many Christians are saying that we are seeing them now – earthquakes, wars, and rumors of wars, pestilence, even the potential for famines. 

Are we really experiencing the events that Jesus, Paul and John prophesied?   No, we are not.

We are not seeing the birth pangs that were prophesied because they are tribulation events.  We are not in the tribulation.  Are these types of things occurring today?  Absolutely, but nowhere near the level of magnitude as will happen in the 7-year tribulation period before the return of Christ to earth.

It’s easy to take the passage in Matthew – where Jesus is describing wars, famine, earthquakes, lawlessness and love growing cold – out of context.  These things have been occurring since the flood.  But that does not mean they are the specific things foretold as the ‘birth pangs’.

In Matthew 24, Jesus is clearly speaking about the tribulation.  His outline of things to come in response to the disciples question – “what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?” – fits in precisely with the format we find in Daniel 9, 1Thessalonians 4 and 5, and Revelation.  The format, or timeline, is as follows:

  1. The Church is evacuated to heaven (1Thess 1:10; 1Thess 4:15; 2Thess 2:1-3)
  2. The antichrist is revealed (2Thess. 2:3-12)
  3. Peace and safety on earth (1Thess 5:3; 2Thess 2:8-11)
  4. An agreement is made with Israel and antichrist – probably to allow Israel to build the temple and sacrifice in peace. (Dan. 9:27)
  5. The birth pangs begin (Matt. 24:6; Mark 13:7-13; 1Thess. 4:15-5:3; Rev. 6)
  6. The 2 witnesses are killed (Rev. 11:7)
  7. Antichrist stops the sacrifices and enters Holy of Holies in the new temple in the middle of the tribulation, declaring himself to be God and Savior (Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14; 2Thess. 2:4)
  8. Jews flee Jerusalem and elsewhere into the wilderness for the 3 1/2 years (Hosea 2:14-16; Matt. 24:16-20; Mark 13:14-18; Rev. 12:6)
  9. Satan is thrown down from heaven and permanently shut out of the throne room of God (Rev. 12:9-10)
  10. Satan tries to destroy the Jews in the wilderness and the rest of the Jews on earth (Rev. 12:13-17)
  11. Armageddon takes place (Ezek. 38-39:8; Zech. 14:2-3; Rev.19:11-21)Jesus returns to earth at the end of the 7 years. (Zech. 14:4; Matt.24:30; Rev. 19:11)

So, we see there are four other major events that will take place before the birth pangs begin.  None of these events have happened.  One of the main reasons we put the beginning of birth pangs at the number 5 position is because Jesus is answering the question from His disciples, “…what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age”. 

The birth pangs occur at the end of the age.  They do not occur throughout the age or ages.  And they are signs that verify that the Day of the Lord has come.  The Day of the Lord is an idiom that essentially means the judgment of the world up to and including the return of Christ to earth, i.e. the tribulation. 

This is what Paul explains in 1 Thessalonians.  In his condensed summary of the tribulation, Paul says the birth pangs begin after the rapture and then sometime after peace and safety have been established on earth by antichrist (1Thess. 5:2-3).

The birth pangs that Jesus lay out in Matthew 24 match up with the seal judgments in Revelation 6.

Birth pangs chart

It is also important to remember that Jesus said that the trials he listed are just the beginning of birth pangs.  The pangs continue throughout the 7 years all the way until the firmament is ripped open and Christ is seen coming to earth in the clouds.  They include the Trumpet judgments and the Bowl judgments of Revelation.

The birth pangs are the judgment of the world.  As birth pangs do, these judgments get longer and more painful in magnitude up until the birth, which is Jesus’ return and reclamation of earth.

We are not seeing the birth pangs.  But, with the increasing earthquakes, the locust plagues in Africa and the Middle East, the coronavirus travesty, and now rampant lawlessness, perhaps the Lord is giving a little warning of what is about to come upon the whole earth when the Restrainer is removed.

Read also, Who or What is the Restrainer?, Times and Epochs, The Gog Magog War IS Armageddon, The GreatFalling Away of the Church, Valley of Achor – the Door of Hope, and Three Bankable Scriptural Truths That Guarantee the Church Will Be Raptured Before the Tribulation.

Valley of Achor – the Door of Hope

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Achor

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness, and speak kindly to her.  Then I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.  And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.  And it will come about in that day, declares the Lord, that you will call Me ‘my husband’ and will no longer call me ‘my master’.”  Hosea 2:14-16

This is a gem of last days prophecy tucked in the Book of Hosea.  It is a prophecy of hope to the nation of Israel and the sons and daughters of Abraham.  It goes hand in hand with Matthew 24:15-18 and Revelation 12.  It is a promise to the remnant that will survive the Tribulation or 70th Week of Daniel.

Hosea was a contemporary of Isaiah and prophet to Israel.  While Hosea is primarily a book of prophecy to Israel (as opposed to Judah when the kingdom was divided),  I believe that the passage in question is really meant for all of the descendants of Abraham.  I will get to that explanation.

When the antichrist takes his seat in the holy place, as described in Matthew 24:15 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4, the Jews who believe in Jesus as Messiah at that time are warned to flee Jerusalem into the Judean wilderness. 

The Valley of Achor is that doorway or passage of escape.  If you follow this link, you can see the valley heading east out of Jerusalam.   You can zoom in and get a very good picture of the valley.  It lies in the center of the wilderness between Jerusalem and Jericho, just north of the Dead Sea.  

Revelation 12:6 and 12:14 describe the scenario of Matthew 24:15-18.  The ‘woman’ Israel will flee into the wilderness and be ‘nourished’, or taken care of for the last half of the 7 year tribulation.  The woman in Revelation 12 and ‘her’ in Hosea 2 are both Israel. 

The righteous Jews, who are in Israel and Jerusalem at the time of the abomination of desolation, will know about this way of escape (see my post Is Travel and Technology a Last-days Prophecy?), and will be prepared.  When the time comes, dozens, hundreds, or maybe thousands of Jews will pour out of Jerusalem into the Valley of Achor and to a place of hiding in the wilderness where God will supernaturally care for Israel just as He did when Israel came out of Egypt. 

Zechariah 14:5 also describes this exact same scenario.  “And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.  Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!” 

This passage is saying the same thing as Hosea and Revelation 12.  The Jews will escape through the valley into the wilderness and after 3 1/2 years, the Lord will come with all of the saints and He will set foot on the Mount of Olives to save the elect (Zech 14:4).  See my previous post “Every Eye Will See Him“.  

Not only is the text consistent with the texts in Hosea, Matthew and Revelation, but the strongest evidence suggests that Azel was very near to the Mount of Olives – only 1/2 mile southeast – which is on the east side of Jerusalem.  This would put it directly on the path of the escape route into the Valley of Achor.

It’s obvious that this is a last days prophecy because God says that when it is fulfilled the Jews will call Him ‘my husband’.  Currently, the Father and Israel are divorced.  That is the primary message of the book of Jeremiah.  It is a declaration of divorce (Jeremiah 3:8). 

Israel will remain divorced from God until Jesus returns to earth and establishes the Millennial Kingdom.   The remnant that will be saved will recognize Jesus as the Son of God and the heir to the throne of David forever.  All of the believing Jews who are alive at the time of Christ’s return will be brought to the promised land (Matthew 24:31) and dwell there for the 1000 years and on into the new earth state. 

The passage in Hosea 2 describes the Millennial Kingdom:  1) there will be peace between man and all of nature and it’s creatures and everyone will lie down in safety (2:18); 2) God will be betrothed to Israel forever in righteousness and faithfulness (2:19-20); 3) there will be no lack of anything good (2:21-22). 

At the time of the Book of Hosea, Israel and Judah were divided kingdoms.  But Jerusalem was the capital of Judah, while Samaria was the capital of Israel – the northern kingdom. 

The Valley of Achor is the escape route from Jerusalem not Samaria.  So, this prophecy is directed to a time where there will be one nation of Israel.  That time is now.  It is for this reason I said that the passage was a prophecy to all the sons and daughters of Abraham.

A Curse Turned into a Blessing

The Valley of Achor is the location where Joshua had Achan and his family stoned for taking forbidden booty from Jericho (Joshua 7).  Achan’s sin caused a curse on Israel and a defeat at the hands of the city of Ai after the victory at Jericho and Joshua named the valley Achor that day. 

Achor means trouble in Hebrew.  What was once a valley of trouble for Israel will become a door of hope during ‘Jacob’s Trouble’ or the Great Tribulation. 

God has prepared all of the instructions ahead of time for the believing Jews in the Tribulation.  Amazingly, Satan is also aware of these instructions but he will not be able to do anything about it.