13:7
The AD 30-70 period was a time of relative peace, but even so there were a number of conflicts in that period. Every period in history has “wars” and “rumours of wars”, and our age is no different. Jesus tells us that these things must happen, but the end is still to come. There can be a natural tendency to view our own times as the most dangerous times there have ever been. This is natural because they are the risks that we face, and so are the most real to us. But Jesus tells us “do not be alarmed”. This does not mean that these things do not matter, but does affect how we are to react. We do not “head for the hill” in panic, but react calmly, seeking to help where we can.
13:8
“Nation will rise against nation”. This clearly goes beyond the immediate situation that the disciples would face. The world is unstable, for it is a world that has abandoned God,a world run on human lines, not godly lines. Today we see kingdom rising against kingdom. We see America, China and Russia rising against each other. We see Iran and Israel rising against each other. We see kingdoms like “wokism” seeking to exert its power, and we see counter kingdoms rising against “wokism”. We may rejoice when we see “wokism” being exposed for the nonsense that it is, but we should also be careful about what might be seeking to replace it. There are also natural disasters like famines and earthquakes. We must not be alarmed.
No comments:
Post a Comment