34Likes
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Pregnancy, Pains, and The Endtimes
By Mary Smith
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places” (Matthew 24:7). “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains” (Mark 13:8). “There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:11).. “While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (I Thessalonians 5:3).
For weeks now I have been pondering the implication of Jesus likening the time preceding his return to earth (the second coming) to the labor pains of a woman giving birth to a child. There are basically two camps of thinking among Pre-tribulationist concerning the birth pains that Christ describes in Mark chapter 13, Matthew chapter 24, and Luke chapter 21 known widely as "The Olivet Discourse". One camp places all the "birth Pains" as occurring only during the seven year period known as The Tribulation. They correctly identify that Christ's warning in these chapters are warnings to the people of Israel and are not warnings to the Church because the Church will be raptured prior to the Tribulation. The second camp believes that while the main birth pains take place during the Tribulation, that precursor pains occur all during the church age and actually escalate as time draws nearer to the Tribulation period. I have puzzled over the matter and wondered which camp is right. Do all the birth pains occur in a vacuum...i.e during the Tribulation or do they also occur outside of it as well? I prayed about it and sought the Lord for guidance. I looked at the scriptures over and over again for clues and still had no clear idea which camp I agreed with. Then I noticed that I kept hearing a small voice inside me say "remember your own pregnancies". I am a mother of four so that was pretty easy. I sat down and poured over memories of carrying each and every one of my four now grown Children. They say that each pregnancy is different but remarkably, each of mine were very similar. It took me a grand total of 12 hours to bless this planet with four children because each of my labors lasted about 3 hours each. After coming out of my personal musings, I said " but Lord where does that fit in with what I'm pondering?". Then it hit me. Any woman that has carried a baby in her body knows that you know almost immediately about how far along you are and when you are due. The first trip to the doctor will produce a specific date of when you can expect your bundle of joy. Mankind has been on earth roughly 6000 years give or take a few years. 2 Peter 3:8–9 reads: ‘But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ Many believe that using this model is can be said that man will have 6000 years on earth or six days and that the Lord will return on the seventh day for a 1000 year Millennial reign of rest just as God rested on the 7th day of creation. If this is true, then the beginning of 7th day or the last 1000 years can be seen as being a "due date" (Note: I am not date setting here just using an analogy). Just as a woman given a due date is not sure that her child will be definitely born on that day, Christ warns us that no one knows the day nor the hour that he will return. We know that the Tribulation precedes the Millennial reign and that the rapture precedes that. So if the Second coming is likened to a woman's due date then we do have a general idea of the season of Jesus return to earth. Now moving back to the two camps of thinking: birth pains only in the Tribulation or preceding the Tribulation. When a woman is pregnant and her due date approaches her body is going through a lot of changes. In my latter months as my body swelled with baby and excess water weight, I began to have many aches and pains. Around the latter of the seventh month and into the eighth month I would began to have phantom or shadow pains. Many women call these "pre-labor" pains. The medical professionals call them Braxton-Hicks pains. Like real labor pains they may occur at regular intervals only to become sporadic and then stop all together. They occur more often as you get closer and closer to your due date. Every woman is different but with the exception of the women that you see on "I didn't know I was pregnant", most women know that they are pregnant and when they are "about to pop". They may have symptoms and discomforts that increase as their time draws near. I believe that the same can be said for the return of Jesus. He told us that we could know the season of his return. So exactly what do I conclude with all my observations about pregnancy, child birth and end-times? I conclude that pre-labor pains occur more frequently (in a healthy pregnancy) in the latter months close to the actual start of real labor and the birth of the baby. What do the earthquakes, wars & rumors of war, famines, pestilences, and such going on right now point to prophetically if anything? I say that whether they are like the Braxton-Hicks (false labor pains) or real labor pains of childbirth, that they point to the fact that the return of Jesus is very near. We're living in the last days folks. We could be raptured at moment. If The Tribulation is drawing near, the rapture is even nearer. Look up for your redemption draws nigh. To the redeemed, let us be about our Father's business. To those outside the saving grace of God made possible by Jesus` death on the cross, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Today if you hear his voice, harden not your heart. Come to Jesus before it's too late. Admit to God that you're a sinner in need of a savior. Bid Jesus to come in.
Reply With Quote
Thanks Livin, this is excellent! It sure feels like we're about to pop. Come Lord!
Originally Posted by YeuEmMaiMai
Gal3:3 "Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"
Bookmarks