Matthew 24:6-14 – Wars, Earthquakes, and False Prophets

After warning the disciples about the coming of false Christs and imploring them to not be led astray, Jesus begins painting a picture of the end times when he says,

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Matthew 24:6-8

If you have been in or around the Christian church for any time at all, you will have most likely heard these verses quoted after a particularly bad week or month in the news cycle. We Christians love our end-times prophecies. What you may not have heard, however, are the two little phrases Jesus sneaks in while talking about wars, famines, and earthquakes: he said “but the end is not yet,” and “these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Wars, insurrections, and earthquakes are not signs of the temple’s destruction, Jesus’s coming, and the end of the age, they are signs of the beginning stages of each. With the temple already having been destroyed, we must keep watch for these signs because they are indicators of the opening stages of Jesus’s coming and the end of the age.

Before Jesus spoke of wars and earthquakes he encouraged his disciples to stay firm in the faith because false prophets will seek to lead them astray (24:3-5), but false prophets are not the only things that will lead us astray. Our eyes are to be kept open and our hearts devoted to Jesus because wars, famines, and earthquakes can also lead us astray. When we are immersed in the Bible, we might become quite strong when it comes to rebuffing false prophets, but when the world is going to hell in a handbasket our faith often begins to waver. If we are like most people, as long as the political unrest and the natural disasters don’t affect us, we are fine, but once that disaster or unrest knocks on our front door, we ask where God is and why he seems to remain so silent. For some reason, we think God would never let his followers experience such trouble, but when the whole kit-and-kaboodle seems about ready to fall apart, we begin wondering if our faith might be misplaced.

For such times of doubt, we pray for deliverance from evil. We not only pray that God would keep us safe in the face of all sorts of evil — false prophets, political upheaval, natural disasters, and the like — but we also pray that God would keep us safe from making the evil choice to fall away. Jesus never suggests that we pray for the Father to remove us from such challenges, but that our prayers would be for the Father’s protection in the presence of evil and that he would help us resist the temptation to fall away. As proof of this, we need only read the next words from Jesus where he said,

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.

Matthew 24:9

Instead of being removed from trials, Jesus’s disciples will be placed smack-dab in the middle of the world’s troubles and some will even be put to death, but we must know that all of this will be for the sake of Jesus’s glorious name. These times of trouble mark the beginning of the end, not the end. Jesus never indicates how long the tribulations, persecutions, and hatred will last, he only says that we must not fall away. These things happen to believers throughout the entire length of this period of evil so that the word and work of the gospel will continue to be preached. Jesus’s words are a call for perseverance because, during this time of persecution and tribulation, any prayers said for the deliverance from evil may feel as though they are going unanswered, but such is not the truth. The prayers said for the deliverance from evil are also prayers said for the coming of the Father’s eternally powerful and glorious kingdom. Jesus encourages his followers to not be led astray during this time because they are the tools through which the Father’s kingdom will come.

Satan brings persecution, insurrection, natural disasters, and false prophets to make life difficult for those who believe, but he also brings them so as to draw believers away. Satan wants to eliminate the Father’s kingdom here on earth, and to such an end, he strives to remove the Father’s children, the very ones who preach the coming of the Father’s kingdom. About this, Jesus said,

10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

Matthew 24:10-12

Even though Jesus encouraged his followers to not go astray, many still do. Some are led astray by false prophets, but others allow lawlessness to become an excuse for their departure from the faith. Most of us are all too familiar with the many false prophets mounting the steps to the pulpit on any given Sunday, we are even prepared for them, but as we see the continuing lawlessness in the world on the other days of the week, our hearts can become cold and hardened because we are unwilling or unable to understand the source of the evil. The world is getting worse every day, but Jesus’s words about the beginning of the birth pangs — wars, earthquakes, and false prophets — have been true of the world ever since the fall of Adam and Eve. There has never been a time on earth when false truths have not been preached, there has never been a time when wars, political upheaval, and natural disasters have not covered the planet, and there has never been a time when believers have not walked away from God.

There may be more wars, earthquakes, and false prophets now than ever before, but that doesn’t mean we have reached the end; things can always get worse. While we are always nearing the end, we might actually only be in the middle of the time leading to the end, but regardless of our location on the cosmic timeline, believers should never take the evils of this world lightly. Believers must always stay vigilant in prayer for deliverance from the evils about which Jesus warned us. Such evils are the signs of the beginning of the end, but they also indicate that Satan is continuing his work to thwart the Father’s will. As such, these signs also indicate that the Father’s eternally powerful and glorious kingdom is breaking into our world, and such signs will continue to grow in direct proportion to the emerging presence of the Father’s kingdom.

Jesus concludes these warnings with a final word of encouragement when he says,

13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Matthew 24:13

The simplest decision to make in the face of the growing scourge of false prophets and disasters is to become or remain apathetic. It is easy to stick our heads in the sand and wait for the end, but this Jesus tells us not to do. Jesus tells us that we must hold fast to his teachings regardless of the state of the world surrounding us. Perseverance in studying the Word and in praying to the Father will keep us on the path of faith, protect us from the growing power of evil, and keep our love from growing cold. Perseverance in the faith, however, is just the first step believers must take. Jesus indicated the next steps when he said,

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Matthew 24:14

Satan has beguiled mankind since he asked Adam and Eve, “Did God actually say…” Satan fired the first shot in the ever-continuing battle for our hearts and minds when he asked whether we would choose to listen to God or choose to listen to our own sinful desires. Satan’s question is at the root of every subsequent claim made by false prophets who have, do, and will speak falsely about God’s word. In one very real sense, we could say that the beginning of the end started when Adam and Eve were put out of the garden, but when Jesus finished his work on the cross, rose from the grave, and ascended into heaven we moved into the cosmic endgame of Satan’s attack upon the Father’s kingdom. This final endgame has played out on history’s stage and has included many false prophets, much political upheaval, and continual natural disasters.

Living in the midst of this cosmic battle, the believer must take the first step of perseverance in the faith, but believers must also take another next step during these dark times and proclaim the Father’s kingdom throughout the entire world. Jesus does not wish for us to become apathetic about the world and its events, but he doesn’t instruct us to try and change such events. Jesus tells his believers to proclaim the gospel of the Father’s emerging kingdom. He wants us to preach love and forgiveness, enact justice, and reach out and help the helpless. He has not called us to strike down the dragon, rather he has called us to uphold and represent the lamb, and to do this, the gospel of the kingdom must be preached in the way Jesus preached it: with meekness, love, and forgiveness.

Both of these steps — perseverance and proclamation — must be taken under the guidance of prayer. We cannot enter the fray between Lucifer and the Father on our own; we must have the protection of the Father, the blood of the lamb, and the guidance of the Spirit if we are to endure Lucifer’s insurrection in the face of the Father’s growing and coming kingdom. But Jesus doesn’t leave the subject of our prayers up for debate: he tells us that we should pray for the Father to deliver us from the evils of this present age and for the Father to use us as his tools for the emergence of his eternally powerful and glorious kingdom, both now and in the future.

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