“The Earth is Groaning” Author and Writer, Ronald Nelson
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“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.” Matthew 24:7-8
ENCOURAGING WORD:
Human beings tend to attach apocalyptic meaning to catastrophic events. That's a "normal" response to fear and uncertainty, but it's directly contrary to the warnings Jesus Christ gives in the passage above. The disciples asked Jesus for signs that will warn them of the end of the age and His return.
Matthew 24:3; “Now as He (Jesus) sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Notice, there are two seperate questions here. (Tell us when will these things be which is what He is saying in the verse in Matthew 24:3; ") and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age, (which is referring to the end of the world.) Two seperate questions.
Jesus began to tell them about things that will not be signs of the end, but things that will happen before the end. This includes real and rumored wars, tales of violence, catastrophe, unrest, or other scandalous news from far-away places.
Matthew 24:4–6; “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.”
Now Jesus adds the idea of international struggles, natural disasters, and economic crisis’s. Such events can feel like "the end" to those who live through them, but Jesus is clear: His disciples should not conclude that the end has arrived based on these kinds of happenings in the world. He said in the previous verse that such things must take place. In the next verse, He refers to these as only "the beginning of the birth pains" Matthew 24:8; All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
See, Ladies that have had children are all to familiar with the birth pangs that take place just before they give birth. They know with certainty that birth is inevitable and will take place shortly after the birth pangs begin. In the same way, all these worldly catastrophic events that are taking place are warning us that the time is near. It is close at hand.
Because of that uncertainty, there is disagreement about exactly what time period is in mind here. Some interpreters believe Jesus is speaking of general sin and chaos, worldwide events , leading up to the final seven-year tribulation, just prior to His millennial kingdom. Others believe this is a reference to that seven-year period itself. It is obvious that these are events that are leading up to the seven-tribulation period. God has gone out of his way to make us aware of what is in the near future just like he did back in the days of Noah. But just like the days of Noah, nobody is taking Gods warnings seriously. God loves us so much that He is doing everything that He can to prepare us for what is coming. When God says that few will be that find the way, think about this. When God flooded the world back in the days of Noah, eight people survived. When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorra, only four people survived that horrific event. God judged the world for doing exactly what America is doing today. He has been long suffering because of His love for mankind, but that day will end and will end soon where His patience will run out, and all hell will break loose on earth. Ask yourself this question, do you want to be here during this horrific time. You do have a choice. When the seven-year tribulation begins, there will be no escaping the evil that will come to all who rejected Jesus Christ when they had the chance.
God’s longsuffering—meaning His patient restraint and being "slow to anger"—is a core attribute repeatedly emphasized throughout the Bible.
Key Bible Verses on God's Longsuffering
2 Peter 3:9-10: Highlights that the Lord is patient and does not wish that anyone would perish, but for all to reach repentance. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.”
Here in these two verses, Peter insists that we cannot apply human demands about time to the promises of God. He is not slow in keeping His promise. God is the one who made the schedule: He cannot be "late." Instead, God keeps every promise at the perfect time for His glory and for the good of those He loves. In this case, Christians should view the delay in Christ's return as evidence of God's patience, not of His tardiness. In His love-driven patience, God is willing to give more time for more people to come to repentance. This is God's plan to allow more people opportunity to place their trust in Christ in order to enter into eternal relationship with Him.
God doesn't want anyone to perish or die. Peter likely refers to eternal death following God's judgment on the day of the Lord. The overall message of Scripture is that God does not desire anyone's damnation. That is, He would prefer that all would be saved. However, in His sovereignty and power, God decided not to demand—force—all people to actually be saved. If God is truly sovereign, He can sovereignly allow us to choose things He does not prefer, for His own reasons. Here, Peter shows us God's heart for the people He has created: He wants them all to be saved, but He will not force them all to be saved. As Peter tells us, that's one reason God allows more time—the very time mocked by the false teachers—prior to the return of Christ. He is mercifully creating more space for more people to repent and turn to Him.
Now, though, Peter insists that the day of the Lord will come. That coming will be sudden and without warning, which has to be in reference to the Rapture of the church. The reason this has to be in reference to the rapture is because we are told that Jesus will return to the earth at the end of the tribulation period which is not like a thief in the night. He will return for His true believers like a thief in the night which could happen at any time. If you are being taught that there is no rapture, then have you pastor or priest explain these two separate comings. If you do not believe in the rapture then you take away the immanent return where Jesus can come at any moment and then you are calling God a Lier. Either God is right or the church leaders are right. Which one do you believe? Peter is quoting Jesus Himself here, who promised that He would return as unexpectedly as a thief breaking into an unguarded house in the dead of night And when the moment finally comes, catastrophic destruction will follow.
Romans 9:22-23: Notes God enduring with much patience the vessels of wrath. “What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory”
Paul seems to mean by these "vessels" all those who will not receive God's mercy. These are those who will instead be separated from Him forever in hell. These vessels—these people—are objects of God's anger. This is one area where theology and doctrine begin to take different views of Paul's meaning. Is God patiently enduring these persons until the time comes for them to be destroyed? Or is God patiently enduring to make time for some to repent and be revealed as the "vessels of mercy" described in the verses above?
In either case, Paul seems to be making two larger points. First, God is the Maker, and he has the right to make people to serve His own purposes. Secondly, God endures with great patience even those people who are destined for destruction
1 Timothy 1:16: Mentions Jesus Christ showing all longsuffering as a pattern for believers, with the complete verse text found in. "However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life."
I have been warning people for the last few years, but just like in the days of Noah, I am hated and laughed at and mocked for sharing Gods warnings. If you are amongst those that think I am a joke, I really don’t care anymore. Like Jesus said in; Matthew 7:6; “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.”
"Do not cast your pearls before swine" is a famous biblical proverb from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:6.
The source: Jesus spoke these words to teach his followers about spiritual discernment.
The pearls: They represent precious truths, wisdom, or sacred teachings.
The swine: They represent people who show hostility or complete lack of appreciation for that wisdom. This is referring to those that mock what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me to share. God will lead me to those that want to know the truth.
The warning: Many people generally agree that sharing deep or sacred truths with hostile or unreceptive individuals is unwise because they will disrespect the message and turn to attack the messenger.
Modern use: Today, people use the phrase to mean you should not waste valuable things, time, or deep emotional effort on people who cannot appreciate or understand their worth.
Significant natural disasters have struck several global regions over the past year, led by catastrophic flash floods in South Asia and major earthquakes in South America and Southeast Asia. It’s no secret that Destructive earthquakes and catastrophic floods have struck several regions worldwide over the last few years, causing massive loss of life and property damage.
In response to a question about the timing of judgment against Jerusalem and the end of the age, Jesus has listed several ideas. However, these are explained as occurrences which should not be read as signs that the end has come. He has mentioned false Messiahs, which Christians are warned not to follow as well as various news about violence, natural disaster, international conflict, and so forth;
Matthew 24:6–8; “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.”
Now Jesus uses a metaphor to describes these catastrophic events. They are "the beginning of the birth pains." They are not the birth itself, or even the much worse pains of labor itself. In this metaphor, the delivery of the baby would represent the actual end of the age. A woman having birth pains, or contractions, may still be far from delivering the baby. Those pains contribute to the eventual time of birth, but they don't mean the child has actually arrived. Some interpreters believe Jesus is speaking here about the first half of the time period known as the tribulation, a seven-year stretch just before Jesus returns to establish His millennial kingdom. Others think this is a reference to worldwide sin, in general, leading up to that era.
These next examples of Recent Floods are the birth pangs that the Bible is referring too. This is Gods way of warning us of what is about to take place. Like it says, these are birth pangs, not necessarily the end, but the end can’t be far away.
Here are a few catastrophic incidences that have occurred just recently.
Nepal and China Border (August 2026): A massive flash flood hit the border region after a rocky glacier base collapsed. The event triggered a 5.2-magnitude seismic signal, sweeping through communities and leaving hundreds dead and missing.
Nepal and Tibet Border (August–September 2026): A massive glacier collapse near the Tibet border triggered a sudden ice-rock avalanche and catastrophic flash floods along river basins, resulting in a death toll surpassing 900 to 1,000 people and hundreds missing.
Brazil (February 2026): Heavy rain soaked the Zona Damada region for weeks. Severe mudslides and floods destroyed homes and killed 73 people.
Brazil (May 2024): Unprecedented catastrophic flooding submerged large parts of Rio Grande do Sul, displacing hundreds of thousands of residents.
Recent Earthquakes
Venezuela (June 2026): Twin earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude struck the country. The powerful tremors caused widespread damage and killed over 1,400 people.
Myanmar (March 2025): A massive earthquake with a magnitude between 7.7 and 7.9 hit central Myanmar near Sagaing and Mandalay, causing severe destruction and thousands of fatalities.
Major Earthquakes in the last few years
Turkey and Syria (February 2023): A magnitude 7.8 earthquake and a second major tremor leveled entire cities in southern Turkey and northern Syria, killing over 50,000 people.
Western Nepal (November 2023): A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Jajarkot, Nepal, taking 154 lives, injuring hundreds, and damaging over 19,000 homes.
Japan (January 2024): The magnitude 7.5 Noto Peninsula earthquake caused heavy building collapses, fires, and tsunami warnings along the coast.
Taiwan (April 2024): A strong magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Hualien, triggering major landslides and damaging critical infrastructure.
Catastrophic Floods in the last few years
Nepal (September 2024): Heavy monsoon downpours caused severe river overflows and landslides in Kathmandu and surrounding basins, killing over 200 people.
Libya (September 2023): Storm Daniel brought historic rainfall that breached dams above the city of Derna, causing flash floods that washed entire neighborhoods into the sea.
Now, you may say, there has been catastrophic weather disasters throughout history, but not anything close to what has been taking place in the last few years. I remember as a child, there might have been a major earthquake or a hurricane here or there, but once again, not anything close to what we are witnessing in our world today.
I was brought up in a Lutheran church and over time I spent some time studying Roman Catholicism also. In all those years I never heard even once from one of these pastors or Priests about end time events that will take place just before the return of Jesus Christ, even though the Bible is about 30% prophecy. So, I had to ask myself, why is that? So, I spent the last thirty years studying the Bible and Bible Prophecy with some of the best Bible teachers in the world. Over time during my studying of the Bible, I have the answer as to why they never taught on end time prophecy.
The primary Bible verse explaining why a person without the Holy Spirit cannot truly understand spiritual truths is; 1 Corinthians 2:14; "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."
Key Concepts
The Natural Person: This refers to someone who has not experienced spiritual rebirth (not "born again" by the Spirit). They rely only on human reason and physical senses.
Foolishness: Spiritual truths, the gospel, and the deeper meaning of Scripture seem illogical or absurd to someone who lacks the Spirit.
Spiritual Discernment: The ability to perceive and grasp God's Word requires the active presence of the Holy Spirit, which is given at salvation (being born again).
Related Verse on Rebirth
John 3:3; Jesus states, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God," linking the entire ability to perceive spiritual realities to this new birth.
This clearly explains why They can’t teach on Bible prophecy. They are not born again which is obviously a prerequisite condition for understanding the Bible. Neither the Lutheran or Catholic churches teach on John 3:3. Therefore they can’t teach on something that they know nothing about and when they try, they do try they have to allegorize it which is what they have done over time. They are so screwed up on the reality of what is coming because they have taken the Bible and tried to explain it in a way that makes sense to them. What does Jesus say in; 1 Corinthians 2:14; "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."
The point made in this verse is crucial in our understanding of spiritualty, and how to interact with the non-believing world. In short, non-believers (Those that have not been born again) cannot be expected to think, or to act, like believers. The problem is not intellectual or moral; reason and evidence point towards God. The key difference is spiritual: those who are not guided by the Holy Spirit, thanks to faith in Christ, simply lack a godly spiritual perspective.The only way to believe the truths of God, including His plan for salvation through faith in Christ, is for God to communicate those truths through His Holy Spirit. Paul's work is to help people who have been given that spiritual ability to believe and understand what it means, but He knows that he cannot make anyone believe it. Intellectual knowledge and human reason cannot produce faith—at best, they can only impart facts. James 2:19; “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
Now Paul shows the negative. Those without God's Spirit cannot possibly "get it." God's truths must be understood and believed on a spiritual level. Those without God's Spirit don't have that level, Paul insists. Like a radio, television, or microphone tuned to the wrong signal, they are literally incapable of receiving that message. So the natural person rejects as foolish anything that comes from the Spirit of God. Those who have only their human senses and human reason will never be able to comprehend the spiritual truths of God's revelation about sin, salvation, and Christ to His people. It's unreasonable to expect non-believers to process spiritual issues in the same way as believers.
It's impossible to expect them to have the "mind of Christ" 1 Corinthians 2:16; “For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ” when they don't have the Spirit of God.
With all this being said, this may also be the reason why I am despised and hated by unbelievers. They have no way of understanding what I am teaching. Sometimes I feel that I am wasting my time trying to reach unbelievers, but the Holy Spirit keeps on encouraging me to share the gospel. If I reach one person with the truth that gets saved because of it, to me it is worth it. If I can bring one person to God and everybody else hates me, it is worth it to me. I’m not in this world to serve man, I am here to serve Jesus Christ, and what did He tell me.?
John 15:18; “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” So, I expect to be hated. What did they do to Jesus because they hated Him for telling the truth. They crucified Him on a cross. Christians in this world are being persecuted and it’s going to get worse as time goes on. So, do you want to be one of those that persecute Christians, and spend eternity in hell forever ,or do you want to be persecuted here on earth for a short time and them spend eternity in the presence of the Lord in the most perfect environment that the Bible says is so beautiful that it can’t even enter the minds of us who are waiting to join Jesus Christ forever.
I will end with this example. If you live in Florida and you are told that a category five hurricane is going to make landfall in couple days. Now, your choice is this, You can evacuate to a safe haven, or you can ride it out. If you do not evacuate to a safer place, you will definitely suffer the consequences. If you get out right away you will be safe from the pending hurricane. What would you do, I know that most of the people headed north and escaped from possible death. Now, God is warning us of what is on the near horizon, which will be far worse than a hurricane, but most people will not heed the warning, and they will be cast into the great tribulation where Jesus put it in these terms.
Matthew 24:21; “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
These words are from Jesus Christ, either you believe in Jesus and trust in His Word, or you don’t.
The choice is yours!
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