The Contractions are Getting Closer

I'm no expert on childbirth, having never experienced it myself, but i do know this, as the contractions experienced by an expectant mother get closer together it's a sure sign that the arrival of the baby is getting closer. God often uses the metaphor of childbirth to describe the events of the of 'Day of Jacob's trouble' or as it is more often called the 'Great Tribulation'. Speaking about the days of suffering that precede the Millennium Kingdom the prophet Micah predicts. 'Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.' Micah 4 v 9-10 Notice the language in this passage where Micah describes the nation of Israel as a 'woman in travail.' This metaphor is a fitting one indeed because one of the purposes of the tribulation period is to purify Israel in order that the nation will be spiritually born again. The prophet Isaiah speaks of this rebirth in the 66th Chapter of his book. 'Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.' Isaiah 66 v 8-9 Some understand this prophecy to have been fulfilled when Israel was reborn as a nation in May 1948. I would agree that that significant event is certainly a partial fulfilment of a precursor to a greater fulfilment but not the end of the matter. The event referred to by Isaiah, Micah and other prophets has a deeper spiritual significance. Israel, although back in the promised-land today is there essentially in unbelief, that is, they have not recognised the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah. The day that the prophets speak of is a day when the nation will be not merely nationally reborn but spiritually reborn. Speaking of the spiritual regeneration Zechariah says. 'And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.' Zec 12 v10 You may well be wondering why I am talking about this, you may say 'it is not relevant to me as I'm not Jewish'. Well I believe this is very relevant to every person on this planet because these events that we are thinking about are events relating to the age in which we live, an age which is fast drawing to a close. I will come back to the theme of childbirth in a moment as it ties in with what I want to say about current events. Unless you have been in hibernation for the past few months you could not have failed to notice that both New Zealand and Japan have been rocked this year by massive earthquakes and in fact the nation of Japan is experiencing massive aftershocks on almost a daily basis. What has this got to do with the end of the age you may ask? Well did not the Lord Jesus say regarding the closing days of this age that:- 'nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: ‘and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.' Mark 13 v8 Earthquakes in divers or different places, well we are certainly seeing that. But there have always been earthquakes around the world! Well that is true but consider the following statistics courtesy of the 'World-Earthquakes.com' website. Looking at earthquakes over the magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale over the past few centuries. 18th Century - 1 over 8.0 19th Century - 3 over 8.0 20th Century - 18 over 8.0 21st Century - 8 over 8.0 Considering we are just over one decade into the 21st century I think we can conclude that sever earthquakes are becoming increasingly common, or we could say they are getting closer together, hang that thought in the back of your mind for a moment. Going back to the Biblical revelation do you remember that we compared the rebirth of the nation of Israel spiritually with childbirth? Well there is a parallel with natural childbirth and the rebirth of Israel that we need to consider. Quite a time before the birth of a child the expectant mother will begin to experience 'birth pangs' or more properly 'contractions'. As the final delivery draws closer these contractions become more frequent and more severe. Could it be that the earthquakes currently shaking our world are the birth pangs of a spiritually reborn nation of Israel? The earthquakes as we have seen are certainly more frequent than ever before. If you think I'm nuts consider the final phrase of Mark 13 v8 that we have already quoted, 'these are the beginning or sorrows.' The word translated 'sorrows' in the KJV is from the Greek word 'odin'. This word actually refers to the pain of childbirth, travail pain or birth pangs. Now that is interesting, God the Holy Spirit is comparing the sorrows that will come upon this earth at the close of this age as the sorrows associated with childbirth. Interesting. Over in the book of Revelation 12 v 2 we have a derivation of the word 'odin'. The word used on this occasion is the word 'odino' and is translated as 'travailing in birth'. I show you this to reinforce the point and show you that I'm not stretching the meaning of Mark 13. To conclude I would say, 'the coming of the Lord draweth nigh'. We can see the evidence as we watch the six o'clock news. Unsaved reader are you ready lest His appearing overtakes you like a thief in the night. Child of God, our day of opportunity for witness is fast running out, be busy for the Master in these closing days of time. 'I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.' John 9 v4