“Wars and Rumors of Wars”
While perusing the news today, I ran across this article: “10 Plagues Hitting Planet Simultaneously!” One of them was the coronavirus. Such headlines are designed as “click-bait” to capture the reader’s attention. Rumor mongering has been going on since time began. Jesus warns about such things in Matthew 24:4-8:
“Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
Some join this passage with the news and say, “Aha! The end times are here!” Jesus point was different. In Matthew 24:2, Jesus said, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Jesus was talking about the destruction of the temple. These events were not signs of the apocalypse, but normal events that would occur before the temple was destroyed. He was warning His disciples not to be surprised when these things happen because they are not signs for the end. “Take heed that no one deceives you.”
When will the end happen? Jesus answered, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36). So many have sought to predict the end of the world, but no one knows. Not even Jesus claimed that knowledge. This is why we must be prepared at all times for Jesus return.