Safety amid Birth Pains, Contractions, and Shaking
David W Palmer
(Matthew 24:2–3 NKJV) And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” {3} Now as He 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?”
We read here that Jesus’s disciples asked him three questions:
Wisely, Jesus prefaced the answer to his apprentice leader’s curiosity about the destruction of the temple and about his return with a warning: “Watch out that no one deceives you.” (We looked at this in recent days). Then he went on to answer their questions:
(Matthew 24:6–8 NKJV) “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. {7} For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. {8} All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
Our Lord’s words here certainly elicit mixed emotions. On one hand, we hear him saying that war is inevitable: “For all these things must come to pass.” This would normally be extremely distressing, but Jesus says, “See that you are not troubled.” Then, he goes on to give some other dire prophetic warnings about famines, plagues, pests, and earthquakes. However, our Lord says that these are [merely] the beginning of “sorrows,” or birth pains.
I obviously have never experienced natural birth pains, but I believe they become stronger and more frequent as the birth approaches.
History is full of wars and rumors of wars, and of famines, plagues, pests, and earthquakes. Yet, from the First World War until now, there seems to have been an acceleration of their frequency and severity. This indicates that the birth pains are gaining momentum. Normally, labour pains refer to physical birth; but in Jesus’s prophecy he is using them to explain the state of the world in the lead up to his return. It is like the earth, along with everyone on it, is in the pains of birth:
(Romans 8:22 BSB) We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
With what is the whole creation so heavily pregnant? A genuine new age is coming to birth; it is the kingdom of God taking over the ruling of the world completely, with Jesus as its King (not the so-called new age movement of the wishfully-thinking opponents of God):
(Revelation 20:6 NKJV) Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
Jesus’s next statement fits the time of the increasing “birth pains”— the time between now and when he returns:
(Matthew 24:9–11 NKJV) “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. {10} And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. {11} Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.”
This part does not sound very exciting to us. Jesus knew about the inevitability of this tribulation, hatred, and murder; so that is why he comforted his disciples—including all of us who read in God’s word what he said—during the last supper:
(John 16:33 NKJV) “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
No matter how intense the labor pains, or how many contractions are going on in the world around us; and no matter how much tribulation comes our way; Jesus still says to be of “good cheer.” Why? Because he simply says, “I have overcome the world.”
Plus, in the Old Testament he had already said:
(Psalm 91:1–3 NKJV) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. {2} I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” {3} Surely He shall deliver you from …
In this reassuring Psalm, the Holy Spirit begins with the heading—a one-line summary of what he is saying in the rest of the Psalm; if we dwell in his secret place—permanently—we will enjoy his protection. God will be our “refuge” and our “fortress”; he will deliver us. He confirms this for us thus:
(Psalm 34:19 NKJV) Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
As we read on in Matthew 24, we see that not only will we need to live permanently in God’s secret place—with our ears close to his heartbeat, our eyes on Jesus, and our minds on his word—but we will also need to depend on the love he has poured into our hearts (Rom. 5:5}. We will need to “endure” much “lawlessness,” and keep our love for God and his people running hot through our hearts:
(Matthew 24:12–13 NKJV) “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. {13} But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
You can be one of the ones who “endures to the end.” You have God’s love poured into your heart, and you can come boldly to his throne to find grace when you need it.
Meanwhile, Jesus has an assignment for you—one that contributes to his own assignment and overall commission for us:
(1 Corinthians 15:24–25 NKJV) Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. {25} For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
(Matthew 24:14 NKJV) “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
Today, I encourage you to take a full accounting of all the horrific things Jesus said would take place and are about to come: wars, famines, plagues, and a mighty shaking of everything (See: Heb. 12:26–29). We are far better off to know that these things are inevitable than to have our head buried in the proverbial sand, and then to have them overwhelm us with shock. What’s worse is that we may try to fight against them and pray for them to stop, not realizing that Jesus said they are inevitable.
Meanwhile, we can keep our love burning hot by abiding in God’s secret place, worshipping him in spirit and in truth, meditating in his word day and night, contributing to the spread of the gospel, and humbly walking with Jesus as Lord following the Good Shepherd’s voice:
(John 10:27–29 NKJV) “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. {28} And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. {29} My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
This way, we can live in the safety of God’s secret place even though everything around us is shaking; everything is in the chaos of intense labor pains and contractions. A good idea is to stand on the promises of Psalm 91; you could even try to memorize parts of it … or even the whole psalm. Let’s conclude by reading some of its amazing promises of safety during disastrous times:
(Psalm 91:5, 7–12, 14–16 NKJV) You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, ... {7} A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. {8} Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. {9} Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, {10} No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; {11} For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. {12} In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. ... {14} “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. {15} He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. {16} With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”
