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.
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.
The Disciples’ Questions Were Separated By Thousands of Years
The disciples asked about the temple’s destruction in 70 AD and the end of the world thousands of years later. But because they don’t see multiple events spread over thousands of years, they think they are asking about one event: the destruction of the temple and the end of the world, which they believe will happen simultaneously. So they’re asking, “What is the sign the world is ending?”
Jesus Didn’t Answer the Questions In Order
First, in Luke 21:8-11, He answers the second question about the sign of when these things will occur. Second, in Luke 21:12-24, He answers the first question about the temple’s destruction. The key to understanding this:
Luke 21:12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.
The phrase “before all this…” means in Luke 21:8-11 Jesus was talking about the far future, particularly the tribulation. But then, He backs up and describes events preceding the tribulation.
Luke 21:8 And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them.
In Luke 21:8-11, Jesus answers the disciples’ second question: “What will be the sign when these things are about to take place.” He describes the tribulation far in the future. There isn’t one sign or birth pain preceding His Second Coming, but there are many. This is the first: false prophets and false messiahs. Consider when people are most concerned about the future. Or, maybe another way to ask this is: When do people become most interested in spiritual matters? When catastrophes occur, especially globally, even more people talk about the end of the world.
Because people are more interested in the end times when bad things are happening, even more, false prophets will claim to have all the answers. They will offer themselves as the saviors of the world’s problems. Some claim to be the Messiah by saying, “I am he!” Jesus warns His followers not to listen to them. He says, “See that you are not led astray…Do not go after them.”
Luke 21:9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”
The ESV says tumults, the NIV says uprisings, the NASB says revolts, and the Amplified says disturbances, such as civil unrest. So, along with wars, these are other signs or birth pains that “the end” is approaching. When Jesus says “the end,” He means the end of the present age right before His Second Coming. In some other Bibles:
NIV: “The end will not come right away.”
NASB: “The end will not follow immediately.”
Amplified: “The end will not come immediately.”
Jesus said, “The end will not be at once” because things will get bad, and people will think it’s the end. So Jesus says, “It isn’t the end yet. You’re still experiencing Braxton Hicks.”
Luke 21:10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11a There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences.
Jesus is responding to, “What will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” This is a question about timing: “What will be the sign when these things occur?” Jesus said the sign, or beginning of birth pains, are false messiahs, wars, uprisings, revolts, civil unrest, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and pestilences.
Birth Pains Reveal We Are Getting Closer
Does it seem strange that Jesus would list these events as signs or the beginning of birth pains when we have seen all this for thousands of years? How can these events be signs of Jesus’s Second Coming when we have always witnessed these things? How do we know we are experiencing something unique, signifying the birth is close, versus something we’ve always experienced? Unfortunately, Luke’s gospel doesn’t make the answer very clear, but the parallel accounts in Matthew and Mark tell us how to know we are getting closer to the birth:
Matthew 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
Mark 13:8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.
The Greek word for pains is ōdin (pronounced oh-dean), which means “the pain of childbirth.” So, birth pains is a great translation. Some Bibles, such as the King James and New King James, say sorrows instead of birth pains. I mention this not to criticize these translations but to let you know that when these Bibles say the beginning of sorrows, they mean the beginning of birth pains.
Why Birth Pains Are a Fitting Metaphor
Birth pains do two things as they approach the birth: They increase in intensity and frequency. This means as we approach the birth, or Jesus’s Second Coming, the false messiahs, wars, uprisings, revolts, civil unrest, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and pestilences will increase in intensity and frequency. They will escalate to massive and tragic proportions just before Jesus returns. So, to be clear, Jesus doesn’t mention these pains in the Olivet discourse because this is when they begin. He mentions them here because this is when they increase and intensify.
Birth Pains Will Be Supernatural
We have natural signs. For example:
A bell is a sign that it’s time for dinner
A fire alarm goes off as a sign that there is a fire
A light turns red or green as a sign that we should stop or go
But when the disciples said, “What will be the sign when these things are about to take place,” they didn’t mean a natural sign. They meant a supernatural sign, like when Scripture talks about signs and wonders. The temple’s destruction is so dramatic that they associate it with something supernatural. They ask, “What miraculous sign will signal the temple’s destruction?” All the signs up to this point have been natural, such as false messiahs, wars, uprisings, revolts, civil unrest, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and pestilences, but things become supernatural:
Luke 21:11b And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
There will be natural birth pains resembling events throughout human history, but the beginning of birth pains will also be supernatural birth pains that the world has never seen. The ESV says, “terrors.” Other translations say fearful events, fearful sights, and terrible sights. I’ve looked at many commentaries, and I don’t think anyone knows what these will be, but we know they will be terrifying.
We are also told there will be “great signs from heaven.” These are not Halley’s Comet, the Jupiter Effect, or any naturally occurring stellar or atmospheric phenomena. Instead, they will be supernatural sights in the skies. The parallel account in Mark gives us greater details:
Mark 13:25 The stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
Heavenly bodies will travel through space at random. We also see these signs described in Revelation. Here are some of the horrifying verses:
Revelation 6:13 The stars of the sky fell to the earth…14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up.
Revelation 8:10 A great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11…A third of the waters became [poisonous], and many people died from the water. 12 A third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened.
Revelation 16:8 The sun…was allowed to scorch people with fire.
I can only imagine how terrible all this will be.
The Beginning of Birth Pains Is Sudden and Unescapable
1 Thessalonians 5:3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
This verse reveals two more ways birth pains are a fitting picture of the signs preceding Jesus’s Second Coming: they come on suddenly and can’t be escaped. Talk to any woman who’s been through labor, and I’m sure she would say this.
We also see that people will live like usual at the beginning of birth pains. This is why the Second Coming is compared with a thief breaking in: it happens unexpectedly. We don’t know when a thief will strike, but we will be prepared if we know he will. Similarly, we don’t know when Jesus will return, but if we believe He will, we will be prepared. So, how can we be prepared?
1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
We prepare for God’s wrath, or I should say avoid God’s wrath, by repenting and believing. Consider what Jesus did and didn’t do. On the cross, He received the wrath of God that was meant for us; therefore, God no longer has any wrath against us. But He didn’t take the wrath of God against the whole world. He didn’t take the wrath God feels against those who have rejected His Son.
Signs of the End Times: The Beginning of Birth Pains Explained (Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8)
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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.
Table of contents
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:
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:
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:
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.”
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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.
The Disciples’ Questions Were Separated By Thousands of Years
The disciples asked about the temple’s destruction in 70 AD and the end of the world thousands of years later. But because they don’t see multiple events spread over thousands of years, they think they are asking about one event: the destruction of the temple and the end of the world, which they believe will happen simultaneously. So they’re asking, “What is the sign the world is ending?”
Jesus Didn’t Answer the Questions In Order
First, in Luke 21:8-11, He answers the second question about the sign of when these things will occur. Second, in Luke 21:12-24, He answers the first question about the temple’s destruction. The key to understanding this:
The phrase “before all this…” means in Luke 21:8-11 Jesus was talking about the far future, particularly the tribulation. But then, He backs up and describes events preceding the tribulation.
The Confusion Over the Olivet Discourse
Jesus’s answer intertwines prophecy about the temple’s destruction in 70 A.D. with events associated with His Second Coming in the far future. Knowing whether He is talking about 70 A.D. or His Second Coming can become confusing.
The Beginning of Birth Pains
In Luke 21:8-11, Jesus answers the disciples’ second question: “What will be the sign when these things are about to take place.” He describes the tribulation far in the future. There isn’t one sign or birth pain preceding His Second Coming, but there are many. This is the first: false prophets and false messiahs. Consider when people are most concerned about the future. Or, maybe another way to ask this is: When do people become most interested in spiritual matters? When catastrophes occur, especially globally, even more people talk about the end of the world.
Because people are more interested in the end times when bad things are happening, even more, false prophets will claim to have all the answers. They will offer themselves as the saviors of the world’s problems. Some claim to be the Messiah by saying, “I am he!” Jesus warns His followers not to listen to them. He says, “See that you are not led astray…Do not go after them.”
The ESV says tumults, the NIV says uprisings, the NASB says revolts, and the Amplified says disturbances, such as civil unrest. So, along with wars, these are other signs or birth pains that “the end” is approaching. When Jesus says “the end,” He means the end of the present age right before His Second Coming. In some other Bibles:
Jesus said, “The end will not be at once” because things will get bad, and people will think it’s the end. So Jesus says, “It isn’t the end yet. You’re still experiencing Braxton Hicks.”
Jesus is responding to, “What will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” This is a question about timing: “What will be the sign when these things occur?” Jesus said the sign, or beginning of birth pains, are false messiahs, wars, uprisings, revolts, civil unrest, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and pestilences.
Birth Pains Reveal We Are Getting Closer
Does it seem strange that Jesus would list these events as signs or the beginning of birth pains when we have seen all this for thousands of years? How can these events be signs of Jesus’s Second Coming when we have always witnessed these things? How do we know we are experiencing something unique, signifying the birth is close, versus something we’ve always experienced? Unfortunately, Luke’s gospel doesn’t make the answer very clear, but the parallel accounts in Matthew and Mark tell us how to know we are getting closer to the birth:
The Greek word for pains is ōdin (pronounced oh-dean), which means “the pain of childbirth.” So, birth pains is a great translation. Some Bibles, such as the King James and New King James, say sorrows instead of birth pains. I mention this not to criticize these translations but to let you know that when these Bibles say the beginning of sorrows, they mean the beginning of birth pains.
Why Birth Pains Are a Fitting Metaphor
Birth pains do two things as they approach the birth: They increase in intensity and frequency. This means as we approach the birth, or Jesus’s Second Coming, the false messiahs, wars, uprisings, revolts, civil unrest, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and pestilences will increase in intensity and frequency. They will escalate to massive and tragic proportions just before Jesus returns. So, to be clear, Jesus doesn’t mention these pains in the Olivet discourse because this is when they begin. He mentions them here because this is when they increase and intensify.
Birth Pains Will Be Supernatural
We have natural signs. For example:
But when the disciples said, “What will be the sign when these things are about to take place,” they didn’t mean a natural sign. They meant a supernatural sign, like when Scripture talks about signs and wonders. The temple’s destruction is so dramatic that they associate it with something supernatural. They ask, “What miraculous sign will signal the temple’s destruction?” All the signs up to this point have been natural, such as false messiahs, wars, uprisings, revolts, civil unrest, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and pestilences, but things become supernatural:
There will be natural birth pains resembling events throughout human history, but the beginning of birth pains will also be supernatural birth pains that the world has never seen. The ESV says, “terrors.” Other translations say fearful events, fearful sights, and terrible sights. I’ve looked at many commentaries, and I don’t think anyone knows what these will be, but we know they will be terrifying.
We are also told there will be “great signs from heaven.” These are not Halley’s Comet, the Jupiter Effect, or any naturally occurring stellar or atmospheric phenomena. Instead, they will be supernatural sights in the skies. The parallel account in Mark gives us greater details:
Heavenly bodies will travel through space at random. We also see these signs described in Revelation. Here are some of the horrifying verses:
I can only imagine how terrible all this will be.
The Beginning of Birth Pains Is Sudden and Unescapable
This verse reveals two more ways birth pains are a fitting picture of the signs preceding Jesus’s Second Coming: they come on suddenly and can’t be escaped. Talk to any woman who’s been through labor, and I’m sure she would say this.
We also see that people will live like usual at the beginning of birth pains. This is why the Second Coming is compared with a thief breaking in: it happens unexpectedly. We don’t know when a thief will strike, but we will be prepared if we know he will. Similarly, we don’t know when Jesus will return, but if we believe He will, we will be prepared. So, how can we be prepared?
We prepare for God’s wrath, or I should say avoid God’s wrath, by repenting and believing. Consider what Jesus did and didn’t do. On the cross, He received the wrath of God that was meant for us; therefore, God no longer has any wrath against us. But He didn’t take the wrath of God against the whole world. He didn’t take the wrath God feels against those who have rejected His Son.
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