As the possibility of war hovers over North and South Korea, the world wonders if this conflict will lead to a nuclear exchange and draw other countries into a battle.
For those who study current events and seek to place them in the correct context of Bible Prophecy, the aggression by North Korea is of great interest. The arrival of the USS George Washington Supercarrier battle group in Korean waters, contains enough firepower to destroy North Korea in just a few hours.
How concerned should we be? Is this event a sign that the return of the Lord is near? When Jesus was describing the events of the last days that would precede His return, He described world-wide wars as “The Beginning of Sorrows”:
Matthew 24:6 “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
In the last 3,000 years of recorded history there has only been 286 years without a war. In fact in the last 3,000 years, there have been over 15,000 wars resulting in 4 billion deaths.
From 1970-1986 there were more than 19 wars, involving 30-40 nations, with 7.1 million people killed.
There are currently from 22-25,000 gang related deaths every year. Someone is beaten, stabbed, or shot every 22 seconds in America.
Jesus said that we should expect conflicts such as with North and South Korea, and realize that these are signs of His return.
Matthew 24:7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilence’s, and earthquakes in various places.”
The thought behind Jesus words seem to be that there will be a marked increase in wars, famines, pestilence and earthquakes that will not only increase in frequency, but also in their severity.
Consider that it is only in the last decade that man has develop the capacity to destroy the entire world with a single nuclear bomb, called the “Dooms Day Device”.
A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing “doomsday“, a term used for the end of planet Earth. Most hypothetical constructions rely on the fact that hydrogen bombs can be made arbitrarily large assuming there are no concerns about delivering them to a target (see Teller—Ulam design) or that they can be “salted” with materials designed to create long-lasting and hazardous fallout (e.g., a cobalt bomb)
An Ultimate Weapon is an extremely-destructive weapon of last resort or final retaliation, such as a large hydrogen bomb or similar nuclear weapon (see: Doomsday machine), or in science fiction, a device that is capable of destroying entire planets, entire stars, or entire solar systems, killing every living thing. Source: Wikipedia
One stunning indication of the soon return of Jesus, is the increase in frequency and severity of Natural Disasters: Major catastrophic earthquakes are increasing in frequency and severity at an alarming rate:
From 526 to 1811, a period of 1,285 years, there were only 17 major earthquakes.
From 1822 to 1994, a period of just 172 years, there were 78 major earthquakes.
This is a 500 percent increase in frequency of major quakes in just the last 172 years.
From 1960 to 1994, in just a 34 year period of time, there were 50 major catastrophic earthquakes.
This means that more than 50% of every catastrophic earthquake in history have occurred in just the last 34 years.
There has also been a stunning increase in frequency and severity of Hurricanes, Typhoons and other storms:
From 1888-1947, a period of just 59 years, there were 13 major hurricanes, typhoons or other major catastrophic storms with 62,274 people killed.
From 1952 until 1993, a period of 41 years, there were 65 catastrophic storms with 560,761 people killed.
This is an increase of 500 percent in frequency and severity in natural disasters in just 41 years.
At the same time, the world has experienced an alarming increase in Famine. Despite the world’s prosperity, more than 250,000 children starve to death every week world wide. During this same period of time, the nations of the world spent over 1 trillion dollars each year on the weapons of war.
Jesus said that in the last days we would witness incredible increases in wars, rumors or wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilence and floods. These alarming numbers are unprecedented in all of human history!
Then Jesus said, that as we see these events taking place all over the earth that we should be prepared because…
Matthew 24:8 “All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
As all of these events have reached an alarming level today, the world will soon experience the beginning of the seven year Tribulation period in which over two-thirds of the people on the earth will perish.
Today is the day of decision to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There may not be many more opportunities to receive Him before the worst period in all human history begins. The time for vigilance and persistence in reaching our friends and loved ones is now. For very soon, all those who love Jesus will be removed from the earth and those who remain on the earth will experience terrors beyond imagination.
Jesus said: “Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would survive…”
Rob Robinson
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