PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 286July 28, 2006
But Before All These – As Ye See the Day Approaching – Part 11 (First Pages Came from Parts 1&2)
Luke 21:12 – But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.
This Scripture began to be fulfilled in the lives of the first New Testament Church members who heard it directly from the lips of Jesus as he spoke it to them, and continued to be fulfilled right up the time of the fall of Jerusalem, and in the days of the early churches into the third century. But the last phrase in the following verse has yet to be fulfilled.
Hebrews 10:25 – Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The things in Luke 21:9 were, and still are, occurring!
Luke 21:9 – But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
There were many wars and commotions around and within the vast boundaries of the great Roman Empire, and one of them was the fall of Jerusalem to Titus in 70 A.D. But Jesus indicated the end of the age was a long way off by his comment “but the end is not by and by.”
The following verses began to be fulfilled in 1948 when Israel became a nation.
Luke 21:10,11 – Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: [11] And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
In Part 2, an exposition of Matthew 24:1-6, Mark 13:7, and Luke 21:9 was given. The exposition revealed that the disciples asked Jesus three specific questions involving events associated with the establishment of his kingdom on the earth. They were: (1) When will Herod’s temple be leveled?, (2) What things can we look for to let us know your kingdom is soon going to be established?, and (3) What things can we look for to let us know the present age of Gentile domination is drawing to a close? He began by first addressing the signs that would precede the leveling of the temple of Herod. He stated in Matthew 24:5,6, Mark 13:6,7, and Luke 21:8,9 that two things could be expected to draw their attention before the destruction of Herod’s temple: (1) Many would come claiming to be the promised Messiah, and (2) There would be many wars throughout the Roman empire, both internal, and around the vast expanse of its long borders. History confirms that is precisely what happened during the time frame before the destruction of the temple. Jesus was very clear in his instructions for them to NOT use these two things as the signs that would precede the other two questions they had asked, as he stated: “but the end (of the age) is not yet, but the end (of the age) shall not be yet, but the end (of the age) is not by and by.” So, having given them a partial answer to question one, which he will answer more completely later in the discourse, he launches into his answer to question two. How can I be sure he starts a new discourse in the next verse?
Luke 21:9,10 – But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. [10] THEN SAID HE unto them, Nation shall RISE AGAINST nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
The English words “THEN SAID HE” are “TOTE ELEGEN.” TOTE ELEGEN points to a new beginning in discourse, which has the effect of dissociating the repeated mention of the previous disturbances (From the Expositor’s Greek Testament, Volume 1, Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, M.A., LL.D.) Simply stated, it amounted to Jesus saying, now that I have told you what would precede the temple destruction, I will answer your second question, the question “And what shall be the sign of thy coming,” or “What things can we look for to let us know you are soon to establish your kingdom?”
Luke 21:11 – And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
The Greek word translated “divers places” is made up of two words: “kata,” which means “down,” being used here in the distributive sense, “throughout, from one place to another,” and the word “topos, which means “places” in the earth’s topography. The inference is that earthquakes would be occurring down through the earth in many different places. The fearful sights and signs were to begin to appear more frequently in the atmosphere of the earth as smoke clouds, rising from volcanic eruptions, when the tribulation period drew closer.
Please consider what I wrote five years ago in Archive Prophecy Update 18, concerning the reasons for the increase in earthquakes, and the importance of the word translated “divers.”
BEGIN EXTRACT FROM UPDATE 18
In 1967 Israel recaptured the Old City of Jerusalem and her Temple Mount and, for the first time since she lost it to the Romans in A.D. 70, she regained sovereignty over it. During the 19 year period that followed, from 1968 to 1986, there were 125,011 earthquakes reported across the earth. In just 14 years, from 1986 to 2000, we had 247,347 earthquakes reported on this globe. I assure you that they will continue to accelerate, but if they were simply to continue at this static rate of 17,688 per year then, by the time that the 19 year cycle is completed in 2005, there will have been 335,687 reported across the earth. The average number reported per year since 1948 has increased, in 19 year cycles, from 1,726 to 6,579 to 17,688. I realize that a large part of the increase is due to better seismological equipment, a better reporting system, and an increase in the density of population, but it cannot be attributed to these factors alone. And, after all, Jesus simply said, for all practical purposes, that more and more would be reported in many different (divers) places just before he came again. And, in saying they would be in many different places, one would have to surmise he knew man would spread across the earth and that technology would rapidly increase in the last days. In any case, it demonstrates he is who he claimed to be, the Son of God, who knows the future. Did not the Spirit, in Daniel 12:4, indicate that man would spread across the earth, and technology would bring a literal knowledge and capability explosion: "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Could Jesus have known less?
END EXTRACT FROM UPDATE 18
In Archive Prophecy Update Number 206, you can see that when the last 19 year cycle was completed, the actual number of reported earthquakes had increased from the estimate of 17,668 to 20,061.
Also, please consider the following extract regarding the importance of Jesus saying that more earthquakes were going to be reported just before his coming, without giving the specific reason as to why.
BEGIN EXTRACT FROM UPDATE 162B
Man has indeed run to and fro in the earth, under the earth, and above the earth, and experienced an unbelievable knowledge explosion in the last 100 years. We now know what produces earthquakes, and all the other things associated with the earth’s functioning parts. Jesus walked on this earth as its creator. He knew everything there was to know about it. He knew its past and its future. He knew that man would eventually discover the rest of the world, and then spread across it. He knew the world’s population would pass six billion in 1999. He knew that man’s immorality in sexual conduct would cause 40 million cases of HIV to exist on the earth in 2003. He knew seismic tomography would be able to photograph the earth to its core before the dawn of the twenty-first century. He knew that a very efficient worldwide seismological system of reporting earthquakes would come into being, and that earthquakes would be reported in places they had never been reported before, because of the new system and man spreading into many areas that had never felt a human foot. He knew that many more earthquakes would be reported than ever before, and that this would continue right up to the time of his coming. He also indicated that just before his coming the whole tectonic structure was set for a massive readjustment, which geologists have labeled as a period of “isostasy” that occurs between long intervals of time. I believe it is what the Bible identifies as the tribulation period. So, with all this in mind, let’s take a look at what Jesus said about the pattern earthquakes would follow in the beginning of sorrows, which was to eventually lead into the tribulation period.
Matthew 24:7,8 – For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in DIVERS places. [8] All these are the beginning of SORROWS.
There are two key words in this verse we must take into account concerning earthquakes.
(1) DIVERS, meaning many different places,
(2) And SORROWS, meaning the pains of a woman giving birth.
The Lord indicated that earthquakes would be on the increase like a woman’s birth pains. He did not say WHY they would increase in number. He just said they would be increasing in number. He was the only man on earth at the time that knew WHY! Now, because of our knowledge explosion, we know WHY, or at least PART of WHY! There is no way an atheistic scientist can prove they aren’t, and there is no way a Christian scientist can prove they are – Why? Because the atheistic will normally tell you the increase in earthquakes is due totally to all the reasons I listed previously, and a Christian will normally tell you the increase is not totally due to all the reasons I gave earlier. Quite frankly, I am convinced that, while most of the unbelievable increase is due to those reasons listed, some of it is due to the hand of the Lord in his creation. But the question of WHY is mute because the increase in the number reported is fantastic, and Jesus did not say WHY, he just said it would happen, and IT IS!
END EXTRACT FROM UPDATE 162B