Signs of the End Times: The Beginning of Birth Pains Explained (Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8)

Discover the signs of the end times as explained through Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:7 and Mark 13:8. Delve into the meaning of "The Beginning of Birth Pains," revealing what these events signify and how they prepare us for Christ’s return. Learn how the disciples misunderstood the timeline of Jesus' kingdom and the temple's destruction, and explore how these prophecies unfold in our world today. This sermon provides deep insights into biblical prophecy, helping you grow in faith and understanding. https://youtu.be/v0NRBRV6Ifg Table of contentsThe Disciples Mistakenly Thought Jesus Would Set Up His kingdom SoonThe Disciples Mistakenly Thought the Temple’s Destruction Meant the End of the WorldThe Disciples Asked Two Separate QuestionsThe Disciples' Questions Were Separated By Thousands of YearsJesus Didn't Answer the Questions In OrderThe Confusion Over the Olivet DiscourseThe Beginning of Birth PainsBirth Pains Reveal We Are Getting CloserWhy Birth Pains Are a Fitting MetaphorBirth Pains Will Be SupernaturalThe Beginning of Birth Pains Is Sudden and Unescapable Let’s go back 17 ½ years to May or June 2007, when Katie and I lived in Lemoore, California. This was exciting because we were close to meeting our first child, Rhea Grace. Katie started having contractions, and that meant one thing to me: “She’s having the baby!” But Katie had lots of contractions without having a baby. This is when I remember hearing for the first time a name that has come up ten times and will more than likely come up again in about six more months: Braxton Hicks. Braxton Hicks are the contractions named after the English physician John Braxton Hicks who first wrote about contractions women feel without being near birth. Even though there were many times I wrongly thought Katie was going into labor, it became obvious when she did. We were having Bible study together in our living room. She bent down to get a cup of water, and her water broke. That’s probably all the details you want, so I will stop there. The Bible uses pregnancy as one of the most common metaphors for Jesus’s Second Coming: Jesus’s Second Coming is the birth, and the events leading up to His coming are the beginning of birth pains. As obvious as it was when Katie went into labor, it will be even more obvious when Jesus returns. The Disciples Mistakenly Thought Jesus Would Set Up His kingdom Soon The disciples didn't think there would be a Second Coming because they didn’t think Jesus was going away: Luke 19:11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. I can’t overemphasize the importance of this verse in capturing the view of Jesus. Notice it says, “They supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.” The disciples don’t think Jesus is going to be killed. They don’t think Jesus will leave them. They don’t think Jesus will return later to set up His kingdom. Here’s a simple way to say it: They don’t think the end times are thousands of years in the future. They think the end times are later that week. Jesus “was near Jerusalem.” He’s about to make His triumphal entry. He’s entering Jerusalem to be rejected and crucified, but the people think He will sit on the throne of David and rule and reign over an earthly, physical kingdom. The sentiment was stronger than ever. Jesus prevented people from making Him King: John 6:15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. He followed the divine timeline set by Daniel’s Seventy Weeks, which identified the day Jesus would make His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and be received as King. So, He couldn’t be made King before that. The Triumphal Entry was His coronation. He allowed the people to identify Him as King: Luke 19:38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  So, it’s like, “This is it! Our Messiah, the King, has arrived to deliver us from Rome.” The idea that He would be rejected and killed was the furthest thing from their minds. Plus, Passover was only a few days away, and it was always an emotionally charged time for the Jews because it reminded them of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and made them even more excited about their deliverance from Rome. They think Jesus is coming to Jerusalem to deliver them like Moses delivered the Hebrews. They don’t know Jesus is coming to Jerusalem to become the true and greater Passover Lamb. Because of this confusion, Luke 19:11 says, “[Jesus] proceeded to tell a parable.” Luke 19:12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. The nobleman is Jesus, and the far country is heaven. This is Jesus’s way of saying, “I am not setting up my kingdom on earth right now. I must ascend to heaven, and I will return and set up My Kingdom later.” Jesus wants all His disciples, including us, to remain faithful until then, so he preaches the parable of the ten minas. Then, in Luke 19:28-40, Jesus makes His triumphal entry. This is Palm Sunday. Immediately after the triumphal entry, Jesus weeps: Luke 19:41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Jesus wept because He knew that within a few days, the Jews would be calling out for His crucifixion, and as a result, they would face terrible judgment in 70 A.D. when Rome conquered Jerusalem. Jesus described the horrible events: Luke 19:43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation.” In Luke 19:44, Jesus said they “did not know the time of [their] visitation.” And in Luke 19:42, He singled out “this day,” or some Bibles say, “your day,” because it belonged to the Jews. The angel Gabriel told Daniel: Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are decreed [for] YOUR people (the Jews) and your holy city (Jerusalem). The day of the Triumphal Entry is so special because it was prophesied by Daniel’s Seventy Weeks. But the Jews missed it because they didn’t understand what Jesus was coming to do: save them spiritually versus physically. Jesus makes His way into the temple, where He begins teaching. He is still in the temple on Tuesday. In Luke 21:1-4 Jesus commented on the poor widow’s giving and contrasted it with the rich’s giving. Jesus left the temple, crossed the Mount of Olives, and stopped for a brief rest. Luke doesn’t tell us they were on the Mount of Olives, but Matthew 24:3 and Mark 13:3 do. The Mount of Olives is directly opposite the temple, across the Kidron Valley to the east, and it afforded the best view of the temple. While sitting on the Mount of Olives, some disciples called attention to the temple’s extravagance: Luke 21:5 and while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, The Jews rebuilt the temple after they returned from their exile in Babylon. Then, Herod the Great began improving it in 20 BC. I say “began” because he never stopped. The temple was still being improved when it was destroyed in seventy A.D. For all of Herod’s faults, he was a master builder, and the results were spectacular. He transformed the temple into a marvel of ancient engineering and architecture. The Jews thought it would never be destroyed because, first, it was God’s house, and God would never let His house be destroyed. Second, it looked like it could never be destroyed, even though God had the Babylonians destroy it 600 years earlier. Jesus responds to their observations: Luke 21:6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” This would have been a shocking statement for everyone to hear. Jesus’s words were fulfilled in two ways. First, the Romans overturned each stone to retrieve the gold between them. Second, the stones were “thrown down” into the Kidron Valley. The Disciples Mistakenly Thought the Temple’s Destruction Meant the End of the World To understand the disciples’ questions about the temple’s destruction, we must interpret what the disciples asked by keeping in mind that they thought the kingdom of God was about to be physically established on earth: Luke 21:7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” The parallel account in Mark 13:3 tells us Peter, James, John, and Andrew were the disciples who asked these questions. They think the end times are right around the corner. Can you see why Jesus’s prophecy of the temple’s destruction would feed that wrong belief? If the temple is destroyed, it must be the end of the world as we know it! The temple’s destruction seemed so dramatic and unbelievable to them that they associated it with the end of the world. They thought, “If something could destroy the temple, it must be so cataclysmic, so disastrous, and earth-shattering that we must be concluding human history as we know it.” The Disciples Asked Two Separate Questions The first question is, “When will these things be?” Which means, “When will the temple be destroyed?” The second question is, “What will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” The disciples thought there would be one dramatic sign or event, but Jesus revealed there would be many. There isn’t a birth pain, but there are birth pains.