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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.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

24:4 Take heed. Christ’s warning is especially urgent today, when there are so many “false Christs, and false prophets” (Matthew 24:24) deceiving many. There are many similar warnings to “take heed” in the New Testament (for example: Luke 21:34; Acts 20:28-29; Hebrews 3:12; I Corinthians 10:12; I Timothy 4:16; and especially II Peter 1:19).


24:5 saying, I am Christ. They would not claim to be “Jesus” but “the Christ.” This prediction has been fulfilled innumerable times all through Christian history. With the modern expansion of the New Age movement, this phenomenon is exploding, with many cults teaching that each person can be a “Christ” if he meets their criteria.


24:6 wars. Worldwide, at least one major war has been going on in eleven out of every twelve years since the time of Christ. At the present world time are estimated to be at least forty wars—small and large, civil or international—going on in the world.


24:6 must come to pass. This has been a remarkably fulfilled prophecy for almost two thousand years, as unlikely as it surely seemed at the time it was made.


24:7 nation shall rise against nation. At this point Jesus begins giving the signs of His coming, rather than merely describing the course of the age. This becomes obvious by comparison with Luke’s narrative at this point in the discourse: “Then said He unto them, Nation shall…” (Luke 21:10). That is, ordinary local wars would not constitute a sign, since they would always be taking place. But the initial sign would be a widespread war with many nations and kingdoms involved on each side, accompanied or followed by widespread famines, pestilences and earthquakes (Mark 13:8 adds “and troubles” and Luke 21:11 adds “fearful sights and great wonders from heaven.”


24:8 beginning of sorrows. “The beginning of sorrows [i.e., ‘travail’] is the sign just given (i.e., widespread war, famines, etc.). The signs indicate that there will be a succession of similar “travail pains,” in preparation for the birth of the new age to come. The first time such a complex of events ever occurred in history was during, and immediately after, the years of World War I. There have been a number since, a fact which encourages many to believe that the Lord’s second coming is near.


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