Rumours of Wars - Day 69 Month 3-10 Week 10-6

Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)


Leviticus 8 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%208&version=NASB1995

Psalm 57 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2057&version=NASB1995

Isaiah 50 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2050&version=NASB1995

Mark 12:41-13:23 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2012%3A42-13.23&version=NASB1995


Rumours of Wars


My heart is troubled today.  As I write this, there are many rallies happening in communities throughout the province of Nova Scotia, where Sylvia and I reside.  Proposed government funding for the environment, Arts and Culture is being cut throughout the province.  Rural museums funded by the province have been shut down and doors closed. The government has wiped the very presence of these institutions off their public website last week without any consultation!  It’s following in the footsteps of many similar programs in the US.  The world is also several days into a war in the middle east that, in my opinion, should never have been started.  There are 1,000 people who have died so far and it’s expected the war will continue for a time.


I did the complete reading but I’m going to concentrate on the book of Mark again.  Mark 13:7, 8 quotes the words of Jesus, “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.  For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines.  These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”   In this quote, the one line that sticks out to me is, “do not be frightened.”


Many North American Christians are fixated on biblical prophecy.  It’s not unusual to hear that some religious leader has predicted when the “rapture” will be and everyone who follows that person sells all they have in order to be ready on that day.  Then, when it doesn’t happen they are devastated because they have lost everything.  I come from an era when Hal Lindsay was the big prophetic author of the day.  He wrote a book called “The Late Great Planet Earth” in 1970 that talked about the end times.  He continued to write about prophecy and how to prepare for the end of the world.  Well, he wrote as if the end times were imminent for years and physically died on November 25, 2024.  The end times did not happen during his lifetime.


My brother Dan was a theology major in university.  He and I were discussing an online post from someone a couple of weeks ago that was dramatically different from what a large percentage of western church denominations follow as prophetic.  It was interesting because it put a different perspective on the book of Revelation.  It could have been right, it could have been wrong.   It was a reasonable perspective.    


Both Dan and I have come to a place, where we’ve realized, prophecy is there for us to clarify in hindsight what is currently happening.  We read about the events to come but as things happen, we can look back at prophecy and see if there is biblical confirmation.


I am hearing a rumour that may be false but is interesting.  It goes like this.  A US commander told his service members that the war in Iran is part of "God's divine plan," that a sitting president is "anointed by Jesus" to ignite Armageddon.  Now, this may just be a rumor or fake news, but what bothers me is people are putting in print, whether true or false, that an army has the ability to trigger the end times.


Jesus did not say when the end will happen.  The Israelites in Jesus day had been given all sorts of prophecies about Jesus.  We’ve been reading many prophecies about Jesus in Isaiah.  However, they did not recognize Him because their preconceived ideas of the Messiah were different from Jesus, yet -  Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies they were well aware of.


Since we don’t know when all these things will take place, I’m thankful Jesus said “do not be frightened.”  I know this current war may end, but then there will be more wars.  We are called back to the two great commandments: love the LORD your God and love your neighbour.  The rich will continue to be rich, and the poor will still be poor, but we can love.  The widow in Mark 12:41-44 loved the Lord so much that she gave her last two cents to the treasury of the temple.  Even though the rich gave much more money, the widow gave much more in God’s eyes.   If the widow gave from what she didn’t have, the least we can do is love God and love others.  


My heart was troubled when I started writing today.  My heart is now at peace as I’ve considered these thoughts.  Final thought, live today as if we will be gone tomorrow because none of us knows the future.  Do not be frightened!  


Have a great day!

Steve


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