beginning of sorrows – The Book of Revelation.Net Blog

For a longtime now many in the Western world have believed that they are the masters of their own destiny. Even Gordon Brown, the ex-prime minister to the UK, once declared that the boom and bust years were over – just how wrong he was and maybe he should have heeded to the prophetic Word before declaring such a thing.

Today many of our leaders from both political and economic quarters are scratching their heads, trying to drive and steer the global economy out of the unprecedented turmoil that lies ahead. Many times have they tried but failed miserably with such huge injections of capital into the banks, as well as quantative easing. But why, you may ask, are these things failing so spectacularly, when the most powerful leaders are spending eye watering amounts of money but with non-effect? This brings us to the main question – is mankind really the master of its own destiny?

Since the fall of man, mankind has continued to believe The Lie which is that man is god. The idea that man is god and that he and he alone sits soley at the driving seat of his destiny, has grown and matured as time has gone on. Man arrogantly believes that he is god and worships himself as god and this has permeated itself into all levels of life including science, music, fashion, politics and indeed economics. God, on the other-hand, has other ideas. God tells us many times in His Word that it is He who raises up and tears down nations and empires according to His purposes for the time. Mankind is and always will be subject to our Father’s will and sovereignty.

Knowing this and envisaging how this world will be just before the return of Christ, one could speculate that the present economic situation in the Western world is just a symptom of our Father building up and tearing down nations to prepare the way for the Anti-Christ.

At this moment in time there is a great power shift occuring. The United States, Great Britain and Europe have all been weakened economically and subsequently their power and influence over the rest of the world weakened too. America is literally bankrupt with a debt of 13.6 trillion dollars and Europe is in economic chaos with the UK following close behind it all. Many chief economists believe that the only way out of a recession is growth in GDP but this is stagnant for many countries and even shrinking in some. If the Eurozone does collapse next year then almost certainly it will set off a chain-reaction which will devastate the Western world. The West’s influence will then be in such a weakened state that nations such as Russia, Iran and Syria will have a free reign on both a political and military front. The strongholds of power that once stood to protect Israel will be devalued whilst the majority of the Middle East nations will be ready to march on Israel and tread them underfoot.

Even now, China and Russia recently snubbed a UN resolution against Syria in the face of the US and UK. The Word tells us that it is Syria where the man of perdition, the Anti-Christ, will come from. The Eurozone has recently asked China for a 200 trillion Euro bale-out but China refused. So who really has the power? The answer to that is maybe that the West is fast becoming the superpower of yesterday.

After the beginning of sorrows, the first of the judgements start to role out. Some of these occur in the first half of the final seven year period before the mid-point when the Anti-Christ is revealed. The world at this time will be a much darker and desperate place than ever before. With not only being riddled with war and economic devastation but also suffering the effects of what the first judgements bring, the world will be crying out for a saviour. With the itching ears 2 Tim 4:3 says they will have, mankind will be duped into believing The Lie on a much more grander and larger scale. God will tear down and raise up nations to bring the Anti-Christ and his false prophet to the world scene. It is they who bring life unto The Lie. The people of this world will be faced with the stark choice of either believing The Lie or coming to Christ. Unfortunately for many, mankind will continue to believe that they are the masters of their own destiny. They will continue to believe The Lie and will even fight to the death waging war against the Lion of Judah – our Lord Jesus Christ – when he returns.

But to my brothers and sisters in Christ, with all these things we are not to worry for our God is still and always will be sitting on his throne!

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I saw a map today in one of the broad-sheets that showed the extent of the present draught effecting the Horn of Africa, with the worst affected country being Ethiopia. Journalists are reporting that this is the worst draught in this region of the world for more than 60 years – even worse than what was seen in the 1980’s. The situation is so desperate that the Ethiopian people are feeding their cattle on the straw from their thatched roofs just to keep them alive. It hasn’t rained there now for 2 years and widespread famine has become a reality. When I first read this article my immediate thoughts questioned whether or not we are in the time of the birth pangs, or the beginning of sorrows as described in the Word.

According to the Gospel of Mathew Chapter 24:3, Jesus Christ was once asked by his disciples, ‘…what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

It is true to say that over the years the world has experienced individual occurrences of wars and rumours of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes but are these the signs of Christ’s imminent return? The answer to this is no, but when we see all of these things happening all at once then we are categorically told we are living in the beginning of sorrows. No other period in the world’s history will have all of these events happening all at the same time. God in his Word has not set out to confuse us and so if all these things are happening now, then we are indeed in the beginning of sorrows.

Today, most of us in the Western world live in a secure bubble where we have allowed our minds to be conditioned by the media to view such occurrences of wars and rumours of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes as just the norm. Contrary to this, the Word tells us to be awake and to know the signs of the times.

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