Beginning of Sorrows

By Hilton Sutton, Th.D.
“And Jesus answered and said to them: “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 (ethnic problems), and kingdom against kingdom (governments in disagreement). And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the
BEGINNING OF SORROWS.”

Question: Since Jesus spoke of the beginning of sorrows, when did they begin? The answer is found within the opening verses of this chapter. Jesus had prophesied to His disciples the destruction of the second temple. His prophecy was startling and provoked the disciples to question Him concerning His statement.

As Jesus begins to answer their first question, He introduces the beginning of sorrows. We therefore identify the beginning of sorrows with the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. by the legions of Rome. Notice the answers to the questions of His disciples concerned future events that would occur after the temple’s destruction. Jesus categorizes wars, rumors of war, ethnic problems, governments in outright disagreement, famines, pestilences and earthquakes as SORROWS.
The destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem by the Romans brought death and captivity upon the Jewish people. All who were not killed were taken as slaves and scattered throughout the Roman Empire. It was a horrible event of great sorrow.

We must not overlook statements of Jesus in which He said, “See that you are not troubled…” and “…the end is not yet.” Jesus is not asking that we do not express concern when a terrible event occurs, that wreaks havoc on masses of people, but that we do not panic nor jump to wrong conclusions.

The recent tsunami that may, in time, result in more than 250,000 deaths was a sorrow. It was neither judgment nor wrath of God. We cannot attribute it to an act of Satan in spite of the great loss of life and awesome property destruction. It was a sorrow.

Consider these events: The Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II, the collapse of the World Trade Towers along with increasing famines, malignant diseases and earthquakes. All of these are sorrows. All categories of sorrow are increasing and often the worst of their kind.

Had Adam, or any succeeding generation, not disobeyed God the category of sorrows would have never developed. Disobedience brings sorrow!

The recent earthquake, that produced the powerful tsunami, registered 9 on the Richter scale, which is a great earthquake. It moved the North Pole one inch. No one is quite sure just what kind of effect that will continue to have on the earth. Remember, do NOT be troubled. Is nature attempting to speak to mankind? I believe so, and it is saying, “Jesus is coming!”

Have you heard my taped message entitled, “Nature’s Upheavals”? You can get it either on audio cassette or CD. I am confident NATURE HAS A VOICE AND IS ATTEMPTING TO GET OUR ATTENTION. Here’s why. The Tribulation begins with the most awesome act of nature since Noah’s flood. It is an act of wrath. You will find it, in detail, in Ezekiel 38:18-23 and 39:1-6. According to Revelation 8:5, another upheaval of nature occurs at the middle of the Tribulation. The seven years of tribulation end with the upheaval of nature described in Revelation, Chapter 6, verses 12 through 17. God is allowing nature to speak.
I pray this article has aided your understanding and that you are becoming more aware that JESUS IS COMING!

You and I must not only be ready for the event, but be about the business of soul winning.

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“Nature’s Upheavals”
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