Gospel of Matthew Chapter 24 Vs. 7

 Signs of the End of the Age

Matthew 24:7 “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”

For nation shall... At Caesarea, the Jews and Syrians contended about the right to the city, and twenty thousand of the Jews were slain. Sedition and civil war spread throughout Judea. Italy was also thrown into civil war by the contests between Otho and Vitellius for the crown.

and there shall... There was a famine foretold by Agabus (Acts 11:28), which is mentioned by Tacitus, Suetonius, and Eusebius, and which was so severe in Jerusalem. Josephus says, that many people perished for want of food. Four times in the reign of Claudius (41-54 A.D.), famine prevailed in Rome, Palestine, and Greece.

and pestilences... Raging epidemic diseases. The plague, sweeping off multitudes of people at once. It is commonly the attendant of famine, and often produced by it. A pestilence is recorded as raging in Babylonia, 40 A.D. (Josephus, Antiq. xviii. 9. 8); in Italy, 66 A.D. (Tacitus 16 and 13). Both took place before the destruction of Jerusalem.

I saw a movie not too long ago, and it discussed how many thousands die every day from the famines around the world, Ethiopia and India are both plagued with famine right now. It seems that the countries with the famine are those who are worshipping cows and other objects of the Creator, and not the Creator, Himself.

You don’t know what to do in these cases. Is this God attempting to change them? Should we go in and stop this problem? There are many thoughts on the subject. It hurts to see the pictures of the starving children. We would surely have to say that the famines are already happening.

Pestilence is another problem. Even here in the United States, pests are producing at an alarming rate. There have been tremendous amounts of insecticide used to stop pests. Some insecticides have been banned, because they have gotten into the water system, and humans have a great amount of them in their blood.

We cannot say for sure, but many believe that so much use of insecticide has brought on large percentages of cancer incidents today. This too, seems to have been fulfilled.

and earthquakes... In prophetic language, earthquakes sometimes mean political commotions. Literally, they are tremors or shakings of the earth, often shaking cities and towns to ruin. The earth opens, and houses and people sink indiscriminately to destruction. Many of these are mentioned as preceding the destruction of Jerusalem.

Tacitus mentions one in the reign of Claudius, at Rome, and says that in the reign of Nero the cities of Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colossae were overthrown, and the celebrated Pompeii was overwhelmed and almost destroyed by an earthquake.

Others are mentioned as occurring at Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, and Samos. Luke adds, And fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven, (Luke 21:11). Josephus, who had probably never heard of this prophecy, and who certainly would have done nothing designedly to show its fulfillment, records the prodigies and signs which He says preceded the destruction of the city.

And then in the 20^th and 21^st century, things are getting much worse.

Even in World War II, many people believed that this was the fulfillment of this nation shall rise against nation.

Earthquakes have been on the increase. Everyone in the United States has been concerned about a large one hitting around the St. Andreas fault that goes through California. Here again, we could say that this part of the prophecy has been fulfilled.

There shall be false Christs and false prophets-there shall be wars and rumors of wars, and shaking of the nations, and famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places; yet will all these be only the beginning of sorrows.

Again, this period will be characterized by (a) false Christs (Mat. 24:4-5; cf. Rev. 6:1-2; the first seal is Antichrist), (b) wars and rumors of wars (Mat. 24:6; cf. Rev. 6:3-4; the second seal is warfare) in which nations will rise up against each other on a global scale (Mat. 24:7), and (c) unusual disturbances in nature including famines (Mat. 24:7; cf. Rev. 6:5-6; the third seal is famine; the fourth and fifth seals are death and martyrdom [Rev. 6:7-11]) and earthquakes (Mat. 24:7; cf. Rev. 6:12-14; the sixth seal is an earthquake). We are presently living in the time frame of Revelation chapter 3, so all of this is in the future for now.