WARS, RUMORS, AND THE RULE OF MESSIAH
“See that no one deceives you,” He said.[1] Beginning the “Olivet Discourse” with this sober warning. Jesus continued:
For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 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. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.[2]
Already, this sounds terrible. Wars, racial and social conflict, famines, and pandemics are already shaking much of that which that can be shaken.[3] Then we have to deal with the literal ground literally shaking. Meanwhile, the pressures are bearing down on people’s hearts so heavily, “many” are vulnerable to buying into false kings who come “in [Jesus’] name,” pretending to be the promised One. And many believe them. See that no one deceives you, even as this trouble mounts:
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.[4]
Two proclamations increase and spread across the nations of the earth: (1) false prophecy (likely similar to the “peace and safety!”[5] liars who countered Jeremiah’s warnings of the Babylonian invasion and exile), and (2) the Good News of the Kingdom. This is important. The message of the Kingdom is good news. What good news of what Kingdom will bring comfort to us in that great and terrible Day?[6] And what is this “end” He speaks of?
The former question answers the latter. So really, we need clarity on what the “Good News” is. First then, what is the Gospel of the Kingdom?
THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
God, who inhabits eternity and dwells in unapproachable light, created creation and mankind to bear His Image with dominion over creation. In the best of circumstances, we bought a lie, disobeyed His Word, and subjected all of creation and every child to come to the curse of death. Yet even then, One was promised who would come and liberate mankind and creation from this bondage of cursed death. God initiated a nation from a man named Abram, cut the Everlasting Covenant with him, and that covenant passed from Abraham to Isaac, from Isaac to Jacob, and thus we began to trace this coming Seed, knowing “God will provide Himself a Lamb.” David then inherited the lineage, and finally “unto us a Child was born” on Whose shoulders the ever-increasing stewardship of government and reign would rest. He came, the very Word Incarnate, lived the life of obedience and wholehearted love to God we have not lived, died the criminal’s death we all deserve to die, that He might be both just and the justifier of all who call upon His Name. He is relentlessly merciful and perfectly righteous. He was resurrected from the grave three days after His execution, as a first fruit of all who will share in His resurrection in the age to come. He spent forty days teaching His disciples on the Kingdom before ascending to the right hand of the Father where He waits and intercedes for us until Heaven releases Him to return to confront and conquer wickedness and unbelief, make every wrong thing right, and restore the Earth to the perfection God made before deception and disobedience destroyed it. We will work with Him, under His leadership, to make the world flourish again for 1,000 years. The Deceiver who has tormented mankind since Eden will be in chains during this millennium, and released at the end to sift the nations one last time. Then he will be condemned to the lake of fire prepared for him and his angels, joined by any man or woman who does not abandon his lies, and Heaven and Earth will unite in the New Jerusalem. There will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more sickness, and no more pain. Everyone who confesses the Lordship of Jesus the Messiah in this age will be with Him in this restored, renewed, resurrected creation—forever.[7]
As if that were not enough, He will reward all of us for our love we show to Him in this age. Every deliberate, intentional, costly decision we make—however large or small—matters to Him. And if you belong to Him, you are called to devote your life to the proclamation of this Gospel of the Kingdom, teaching everyone everywhere to obey everything King Jesus has commanded.[8] Consider this promise He made to any who must depart from their homes or hometowns to obey this:
I tell you that in the regenerated world, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Isra’el. Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or fields for My sake will receive a hundred times more, and he will obtain eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.[9]
John Eldredge describes the word “regenerated” in this text in his incredible meditation on the restoration coming, All Things New:
The Greek word used here for “renewal” [regenerated] is palingenesia, which is derived from two root words: paling, meaning “again,” and genesia, meaning “beginning,” which of course hearkens back to Genesis. Genesis again. Eden restored.[10]
THE END OF THIS PRESENT EVIL AGE
To be sure, the “sorrows” or “birth pangs”[11] Jesus described in the Olivet Discourse culminate in the war to end all wars: the final siege against Jerusalem.[12] There’s no way to butter this up to make it easier to swallow. “Jacob’s trouble”[13] will be the heaviest thing he will ever endure—but he will not go through it alone. As Reggie Kelly so well says, “Jacob’s trouble is not just Jacob’s problem.” While many evangelical Christians holding to a pre-tribulation rapture have championed the rebirth of the modern State of Israel, far too many have done so believing they’ll be whisked away to play harps on heavenly clouds while Jacob is “left behind” to endure his final discipline without a prophetic witness. This is a lie from the pit of hell. Jacob will be met, and served, by brothers and sisters from every nation the world over who bent the knee to David’s Son and are committed to Israel’s—and Jesus’—fullest inheritance.[14] And then this marvelous moment takes place:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.[15]
The “end” in question is the end of this present evil age,[16] the end of rebellion’s numbered days, the end of sin,[17] and—incredibly—the end of war.[18] The world does not end, beloved. The Lord just ends our destruction of it and ourselves, with the same Voice that tells the ocean to stop at the shoreline: “Thus far and no more!”[19] And we are with Him[20] on earth for all the glory to follow. Consider these promises:
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
Many people shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.[21]
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
Many nations shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.[22]
There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.
Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah[23]
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,
And from the River to the ends of the earth.
Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him,
And His enemies will lick the dust.
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles
Will bring presents;
The kings of Sheba and Seba
Will offer gifts.
Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him;
All nations shall serve Him.[24]
And the Lord will be King over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and His name One.[25]
Then the moon will be confounded
and the sun ashamed,
for the Lord of hosts reigns
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
and His glory will be before His elders.[26]
And in this mountain
The Lord of hosts will make for all people
A feast of choice pieces,
A feast of wines on the lees,
Of fat things full of marrow,
Of well-refined wines on the lees.
And He will destroy on this mountain
The surface of the covering cast over all people,
And the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever,
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
And it will be said in that day:
“Behold, this is our God;
We have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the Lord;
We have waited for Him;
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”[27]
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.[28]
He will come the way He left,[29] and when His feet touch the Mount of Olives again[30]—that’s it. He’s here, forever. Maranatha.
Stephanie Quick (@quicklikesand) is a writer/producer serving with FAI. She lives in the Golan Heights and cohosts The Better Beautiful podcast with Jeff Henderson. Browse her free music, films, and books in the FAI App and at stephaniequick.org.
[1] Matthew 24:4
[2] Matthew 24:5-8, NKJV
[3] Hebrews 12:27-28
[4] Matthew 24:9-14
[5] 1 Thessalonians 5:3
[6] Joel 2:11
[7] Isaiah 57:15; 1 Timothy 6:16; Genesis 1:26-28; 2:1-3:24; Romans 5:12-19; 3:21-26; Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 22:8; 2 Samuel 7; Isaiah 9:6-7; John 1; Acts 2:17-36; 3:12-26; Romans 10:9-10;
[8] Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:34; Revelation 18-22
[9] Matthew 19:28-30, CJB
[10] Eldredge, J.. All Things New (p. 13). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
[11] Matthew 24:8, CJB. See also Jeremiah 30:5-7
[12] See Daniel 9-12; Zechariah 12; 14; Matthew 24:15-22
[13] Jeremiah 30:7, also the “great tribulation” of Daniel 24 and Matthew 24
[14] See Romans 9-11; Ephesians 2:11-13; Matthew 25:31-46
[15] Matthew 24:29-31
[16] Galatians 1:4
[17] Daniel 9:24
[18] See Isaiah 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-3; Revelation 21:1-5
[19] Job 38:11
[20] John 14:2-3; 17:24
[21] Isaiah 2:2-4
[22] Micah 4:1-3
[23] Psalm 46:4-11
[24] Psalm 72:8-11
[25] Zechariah 14:9
[26] Isaiah 24:23
[27] Isaiah 25:6-9
[28] Revelation 21:1-5
[29] Acts 1:9-11
[30] Zechariah 14:3-4
