Jesus has been explaining some of the signs of the end times to His disciples. Yesterday we concluded with Him telling them that something will happen that will desecrate the third temple, and that when people see that happen they are to flee Jerusalem. Today He speaks of something called the "shortening of days" and He warns the people who will be alive at that time not to fall for the deceptions of false Messiahs. He is speaking of the time of the Great Tribulation.
"If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has shortened them.'" (Mark 13:20) A partial fulfillment of this prophecy occurred when many Christians fled Jerusalem when the Roman army was putting down the uprising of the first century AD. They were able to escape because a revolt broke out in Rome over Emperor Nero's tax policies. Several factions tried to oust Nero and proclaim their own leaders as Emperor. Because his followers were deserting him and many were calling for his execution, Nero committed suicide while General Vespasian was besieging Jerusalem. Vespasian returned to Rome to be crowned emperor, for he had the backing of the majority of Rome's soldiers. This caused a break in the action at Jerusalem, giving many an opportunity to escape the decisive siege to come under the military leadership of Vespasian's son Titus. But the complete fulfillment of Jesus' words won't take place until the end times. We know this because at the end of the terrible days He speaks of, He will come to establish His kingdom on earth, as we will study in tomorrow's passage. Jesus did not return to the earth after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple by the Romans. Jesus is not currently ruling the world in righteousness from David's throne, so we know there remain portions of this prophecy to be fulfilled.
What does Jesus mean when He says the Lord has "cut short those days"? Opinion is divided over this. It could mean that God has set a specific limit to how long He will allow the Great Tribulation to go on. There are still going to be people who come to Christ during those dark days, and in order to prevent them all from perishing due to the terrible cataclysmic events and due to the persecution of believers by the Antichrist, God has limited the Great Tribulation to a set number of days and no more. Or it could mean He literally shortens the number of hours in the days, for when the Apostle John receives his visions of the end times, he tells us, "The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night." (Revelation 8:12) John sees this happening right after viewing what sounds like devastating meteor or asteroid strikes upon the earth, so it's quite possible that these calamities change the speed of the rotation of the earth, shortening each day by a third. This would mean that the days will only be sixteen hours long, enabling those who have come to Christ to endure them, because this will give the Antichrist eight fewer hours per day in which to persecute believers.
"At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'Look, there He is!' do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.'" (Mark 13:21-23) Jesus is going to return in a manner which He is going to explain in tomorrow's study. Anyone who comes to the people in any other way, claiming to be the Messiah, is a deceiver.
Did you know there will be people in the end times who believe the Antichrist is the Messiah? He is going to present himself as the man who will bring peace on the earth, and to provide "proof" of this he will broker a peace treaty in the Middle East....something no president or king or prime minister has ever been able to do. In Revelation 13 we learn that the false prophet (who may be something like the high priest of the Antichrist's "religion") will perform signs and wonders on behalf of the Antichrist, even calling fire down from heaven in the manner of the prophet Elijah. Demonic powers will give breath to the image the Antichrist sets up of himself, so that it will possess the ability to speak. Satan is going to go all out in the final deception he will perpetrate on mankind, to the point of putting together an unholy trinity, with Satan himself putting on the role of Father, the Antichrist presenting himself as the Son, and the false prophet mimicking the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says this charade will be so convincing and so fear-inspiring that if it were possible even the true believers would fall for it....except He has warned the world ahead of time here in Mark 13. The one who knows and studies the Scriptures and believes on the name of Christ will not be taken in by magic tricks. The one who is saved by the power of Christ will be able to recognize whether something is from God or from the pits of hell. Believers are given discernment through the Holy Spirit to "test the spirits" (1 John 4:1) and to be able to tell whether any particular doctrine lines up with the word of God.
Lately my husband and I have watched several programs on TV about cults such as those run by Charles Manson, David Koresh, Jim Jones, and Marshall Applewhite. We discussed between ourselves how that no one who reads and understands the Scriptures could possibly believe any of these men were the Messiah or that any of them were God-fearing men. Their manner of living betrayed them for what they truly were. They took the words of God and twisted them to suit their own purposes, just as Satan has always done. True students of Scripture---true believers in the word of God---will not be deceived by lies like this. King David vowed to hide the words of God in his heart so that he wouldn't fall into sin, and we must do the same. (Psalm 119:11) We have to know the Scriptures so that we can recognize false teaching. Even as we sit in church under the teaching of well-respected pastors, we have to be able to discern whether their words line up with the words of God. If they do not, we need to find ourselves another church.
In this new year, there's nothing more profitable we can do than to immerse ourselves in the word of God and to spend more time in prayer with our Creator and to grow in our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. No time spent in the Bible will ever be wasted.
No comments:
Post a Comment