Are wars a sign that the Tribulation is near?

 Are wars a sign that the Tribulation is near?

Every century since the time of Christ has been marked by war, civil conflict, or invasions in various parts of the world. True global peace has never been a reality, but this is precisely how God said it would be.

Five centuries before the birth of Jesus, the angel Gabriel revealed to Daniel that wars and the accompanying sufferings are destined to continue until the very end.

Daniel 9:26 (NLT) “After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.

As Gabriel pointed out, wars have persisted throughout history. Jesus reassured us that we should not let news of conflicts trouble us, for these wars—and natural disasters—are not signs of the end.

Matthew 24:6 (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.

Here’s a compelling timeline that clearly illustrates that from the time of Jesus in the 1st century AD to the present day, there has consistently been war or violent conflict occurring somewhere in the world. For each century, I've highlighted several notable examples to emphasize this ongoing reality. Again, God told us it would be this way.

1st Century (0–100 AD)

• Jewish-Roman Wars: The First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 AD), including the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD.
• Roman military campaigns: Ongoing conquests and suppressions of rebellions throughout the Roman Empire.

2nd Century (100–200 AD)

• Roman-Parthian Wars: Conflict between the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire (e.g., Trajan’s campaign in 114–117 AD).
• Bar Kokhba Revolt: Jewish rebellion against Rome (132–136 AD).

3rd Century (200–300 AD)

• Crisis of the Third Century: A period of military anarchy, civil wars, and foreign invasions within the Roman Empire.
• Roman–Persian Wars: Ongoing conflict with the Sassanid Empire.

4th Century (300–400 AD)

• Gothic Wars: Conflicts between the Roman Empire and various Gothic tribes.
• Constantinian and civil wars: Struggles over imperial succession.

5th Century (400–500 AD)

• Fall of the Western Roman Empire: Invasions by Huns, Vandals, and Visigoths.
• Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (451 AD): Romans and Visigoths vs. Huns.

6th Century (500–600 AD)

• Byzantine–Sassanian Wars: Long-standing conflict in the Middle East.
• Gothic War (535–554 AD): Byzantines reconquer parts of Italy from the Ostrogoths.

7th Century (600–700 AD)

• Early Islamic Conquests: Rapid expansion of Islamic caliphates through war.
• Byzantine–Arab Wars: Ongoing military conflict with the expanding Arab Empire.

8th Century (700–800 AD)

• Franco-Arab Conflicts: Battle of Tours (732 AD), where Charles Martel halted Muslim expansion in Western Europe.
• Internal Caliphate conflicts: Civil wars within Islamic realms (e.g., Abbasid Revolution).

9th Century (800–900 AD)

• Viking Raids: Widespread Viking invasions and warfare in Europe.
• Tang Dynasty Conflicts: Internal rebellions and border wars in China.

10th Century (900–1000 AD)

• Byzantine–Arab Wars continue.
• European Feudal Warfare: Local lords and kings waging frequent small-scale wars.

11th Century (1000–1100 AD)

• Norman Conquests: Including the conquest of England (1066 AD).
• Seljuk-Byzantine Wars.
• First Crusade (1096–1099 AD): Christians vs. Muslims over the Holy Land.

12th Century (1100–1200 AD)

• Second and Third Crusades.
• Feudal Conflicts in Europe and Muslim unity under Saladin.

13th Century (1200–1300 AD)

• Mongol Conquests: Devastating wars from China to Europe.
• Crusades continue.

14th Century (1300–1400 AD)

• Hundred Years’ War (begins 1337).
• Mongol conflicts continue.
• Ottoman Expansion begins in earnest.

15th Century (1400–1500 AD)

• Fall of Constantinople (1453 AD) by the Ottomans.
• Wars of the Roses in England.

16th Century (1500–1600 AD)

• European Wars of Religion (e.g., Protestant Reformation conflicts).
• Ottoman–Habsburg Wars.

17th Century (1600–1700 AD)

• Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648): One of the deadliest European conflicts.
• English Civil War (1642–1651).
• Mughal-Sikh and Mughal-Maratha Wars in India.

18th Century (1700–1800 AD)

• War of Spanish Succession, Seven Years’ War, American Revolution.
• Colonial Wars in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

19th Century (1800–1900 AD)

• Napoleonic Wars, U.S. Civil War, Franco-Prussian War.
• Colonial Conquests and indigenous resistance worldwide.

20th Century (1900–2000 AD)

• World Wars I & II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Cold War Conflicts.
• Rwandan Genocide, Balkan Wars, Israel-Arab Conflicts.

21st Century (2000–present)

• War on Terror: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria.
• Russian Invasions: Georgia (2008), Ukraine (2014, 2022–).
• Civil wars: Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia (Tigray conflict), Myanmar.

God revealed important details to Daniel. One thing we should expect is a seven-year treaty with Israel. When we see that, we will know that the Tribulation is upon us. (Those who have asked Jesus to save them will be gone shortly before or after this treaty is signed.)

Daniel 9:27 (NKJV) “Then he {the antichrist} shall confirm a covenant with many for one week.”

Elementary Principles

 Elementary Principles

Hebrews 6:1–3

The Bible is one story. It has many parts, but all the parts fit together. The Bible tells us how our world came to be, what the world is becoming, and how it will end.

The core message is so simple that even a child can understand it: I am a sinner. Jesus died for my sins. If I accept Jesus as my Savior, He will forgive all my sins and make me His child.

As we grow older, we fill in the details. We gain knowledge and understanding. Children may enjoy the story of Noah’s Ark, but as we mature, we ask deeper questions about that story. This is part of healthy growth. All living things grow; if they stop growing, they begin to decline.

The same is true of us.  Our bodies grow, our minds develop, and our spirits mature. If we stop growing, we begin to decline. With our bodies, after our twenties, we stop growing and get weak. At first, we do not notice it. Over time, our strength and vitality fade. After years of this, we all die. There is no stopping this process in our bodies.

But God gives us eternal life in our spirits. That means we should never stop growing. We must continue growing. If we don’t, we become weak in our spirits.

Look at what Hebrews 6 says: 

Hebrews 6:1–3 (NKJV) 1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary [principles] of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits.

Notice these six “elementary principles.”

1. Repentance
2. Faith
3. Baptisms
4. Laying on of hands (authority and spiritual leadership)
5. Resurrection
6. Eternal judgment.

These are foundational teachings—our ABCs. And yet, many people get lost because they do not know these basic teachings.

Growth takes work. We see this in children: they go to school for 12+ years, with clear goals and daily lesson plans. Our spirits need the same kind of attention.

If we don’t plan to learn, we won’t learn. This echoes what I wrote about the Sabbath: if we don’t plan to observe it, it won’t happen.

Think about the Hebrews and why they needed to learn the basics.

Hebrews 5:12–14 (NKJV) 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

This is a sober assessment: they had stopped growing—and didn’t realize it. Notice that the author says “again.” “You need someone to teach you again.”  Notice also that the author says, "You have come to need milk and not solid food.” This implies that they once had learned; that they once had been able to eat “solid food.”

In this, we see that not continuing to grow is dangerous. Spiritual decline can be dangerous. It occurs when we neglect to pursue growth.

A salmon swims upstream to spawn. It must fight the current, or it will drift back downstream.

Our world has many currents that we must “swim upstream” against. Apathy, lethargy, laziness, and the devil are our enemies. There are many traps, like entertainment, being busy, alcohol, pornography, gossip, and malice. If we don't make an effort to grow, we will drift. Our spiritual life can suffer, and we may fall into a trap.

I want to commend you for being here today. You made the effort to read this far and were looking for something when you came. Thank you. I pray that God blesses you for it.

Previously, I wrote about the Sabbath. I see it as one of the basic principles. It supports all future spiritual growth.

It would be good to read my article on the Sabbath. In it, I looked at three more spiritual truths: 1. If we do not purpose to walk with God, we will drift. All stray from time to time. That’s why repentance and forgiveness must be part of our regular spiritual rhythm. 2. Every person has an idol—something other than God we look to for help or strength.   This is often subtle, and it takes honesty and prayer to identify. 3. The history of Israel teaches us these truths.  In the life of Israel, we see a cycle that often repeats in our lives:   - God speaks. We respond.    - We drift and serve other things.    - God intervenes.    - We repent.    - God speaks again.    Then we repeat steps 2 through 5.

We are not doomed to repeat this cycle forever. God has given us eternal life in Jesus. That means we can and must keep growing.

Hebrews says we must move beyond the foundational doctrines and grow in maturity. As we learn, we grow. As we grow, we understand more.

Be aware of the danger of drifting and traps; our spiritual growth is of utmost importance. It is also urgent.

Revelation 1:3 (NKJV) Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

God tells us the time is near. That doesn’t mean we panic. It means we prepare. What will He find us doing when He returns?

If you belong to Christ, you are safe. If you don’t know whether you belong to Him, settle that today. Ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior. When you do, He gives you the Holy Spirit, who will teach you everything you need to know.

If you’re wondering where to begin: - Trust the Holy Spirit to guide you. - Start where you are. Ask any questions that are on your mind. - Seek answers in the Bible.

Beware of false teachers and online misinformation. Users must use Google and YouTube with discernment, even though they are great tools. The Spirit will never contradict the Word of God. Always confirm what you hear with Scripture. To grasp Biblical truths, we need to look at all of Scripture. Focusing on just one verse, phrase, or paragraph isn’t enough.

In Revelation 22:20, Jesus says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” “Quickly” here means suddenly, without delay once it begins. The time that is “near” will happen suddenly when most will not expect it, and at a time no one but God knows.

But, God promises blessings for the person who reads and keeps the things of His word. Reading and keeping the things in the Bible leads to growth. Growing shows that we are alive. Are you ready to receive a blessing? Revelation 1:3 (NKJV)says,  “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.”

Commit to reading. 

Commit to learning. 

Commit to growing.

Remember the Sabbath

 Remember the Sabbath

What is most important in life? 

Is there a single person or thing that is most important?

Our lives are so busy that we do not have time to stop and reflect. If you have a smartwatch, like a Fitbit or Apple Watch, you will have an option to build “mindfulness” into your day. Mindfulness is simply making time to reflect during the day. 

We get so busy living that we forget to live. We make our beds, brush our teeth, prepare our meals, wash and dress our bodies, do our jobs, teach our children, pay our bills, watch the news, talk to friends, communicate with spouses, and stay so busy that we have to build in reminders to stop, take a breath, and listen to our busy minds. We are like hamsters on a wheel— our days fly by, and we wonder where they have gone. Things that we do not prioritize do not get done.

God understands us. For this reason, He intentionally built something into our lives that will make a difference, something that we cannot neglect without serious consequences. God commanded us to reserve one day a week for Him. The commandment is:

Exodus 20:6-11 (NKJV) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

How important is this commandment? Why is this commandment given before “Thou shalt not kill,” or “Thou shalt not commit adultery?”

The reason this commandment is so important is where I began. Namely, what is most important in your life?

Jesus taught that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God. The first of the 10 commandments is to have no other god besides the Lord God.

How are we doing? 

We do not intentionally ignore God, but like everything else, we neglect what we do not prioritize.

At this point, we are going to take a quick look at the history given in the Old Testament. 1 Corinthians 10 tells us that the things that are recorded in the Old Testament were recorded as examples for us.  

I did not make this chart. It is from Truthnet.org.

Notice first that men did not seek God from creation to the Flood. After the Flood, men did not seek God. Before the Flood, God chose Noah. After the Flood, God chose Abraham and his descendants. Men did not seek God—they served idols. God chose Moses, and the generation that Moses led out of Egypt did not seek God because of idols. 

God chose Joshua.

With Joshua, we enter into the history of Israel as a nation. For 400 years, God was the ruler of Israel and used judges to correct the people, who had sworn they would follow God. This is where we get the stories of people like Gideon, Deborah, Samson, and Samuel. And the stories all share a common theme: The people always turned away from God to serve idols.

After the 400 years of judges, Israel demanded a king, and God gave them a king. The first king was Saul, the second was David, the and the third king was Solomon. And as the years went by, things fell apart. The problem was the same old story—the people turned away from God to serve idols.

From the birth of the nation at Mount Sinai, God had an agreement (a treaty or a covenant) with Israel. The first part of that agreement was “Thou shalt not have any other gods before Me.” The consequences of breaking that agreement are listed in detail in Deuteronomy 31-33.

Here is what God said the future would look like in summary.

Deuteronomy 31:16-18 (NKJV) ¹⁶ And the LORD said to Moses: “Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go [to be] among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. ¹⁷ “Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God [is] not among us?’ ¹⁸ “And I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.

This summary is precisely what the world has seen happen with Israel throughout history.

Now, look again at the chart. Do you see the period called the 70 years of captivity? Do you know why God specifically declared 70 years? Look at these verses with me. 

Leviticus 26:32-35 (NKJV) ³² I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. ³³ I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. ³⁴ Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you [are] in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. ³⁵ As long as [it] lies desolate it shall rest-- for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.

The people did not observe the Sabbath, so God gave the land its Sabbaths.

Why was this so important? Why the Sabbaths?

Do you remember where we started? What is most important to you?

The answer is “you are.” The reason is simple. You get yourself up. You put yourself to bed. You feel your feelings and you think your thoughts. (You are never alone because you are with yourself.)

God tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves because if we are going to think of others at all, we have to be very deliberate about it. Now, since we love ourselves so much, what do you think our idol is? What are idols about, anyway?

Idols are about desires, wants, and even needs. Who do we look to for our needs and wants? We look to ourselves, others, spirits, deities, fate, the universe, karma, and God. Any of these besides God is an idol.

How are we to solve this problem?

It is not simple, but God has given us the first step. At the time of creation, before there were any laws, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. Holy means “set apart.” All of creation, and especially people, need a Sabbath day. A sabbath is one day out of seven for rest, and it is so much more. It is one day out of seven to slow down, reset our priorities, and focus on God, who we are supposed to love with our whole heart, with all of our all—everything we are. 

We are so busy. People have always been busy, and in these last days, we have gotten busier than ever before in history. And, people forget God. They serve idols. This is universal. The Bible tells us, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

The Law has been done away with in Jesus Christ. He has fulfilled the Law. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So, do not be legalistic about the Sabbath. Do not condemn yourself because you have not observed it correctly. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You are not condemned. If you have asked God to forgive you, in Christ Jesus, you are sinless—not that you have not sinned, but you have been cleansed.

However, you need a Sabbath. You desperately need a Sabbath. You need one day in seven to reset your priorities and focus on God. How will you hear His voice if you do not take time to listen? How will you enjoy friendship with Him if you never take time to talk with Him? How will you love Him with all your heart if you never spend time with Him?

Before God gave any laws, at the time of creation, God set apart one day out of seven and made it holy. Why do we think we can live without something so essential and so fundamental? Why do we not listen to our tired minds, aching bodies, and troubled hearts? You are not a bad person because you have not got this right. You are human. You are a busy human being. For your own sake, please set aside one day in seven to talk with God, listen to God, and rest from your business.

Please realize that this is hard to do. We still have to brush our teeth, bathe, dress, eat, and take care of the necessities of life. Like anything worthwhile, it takes planning and effort to make a Sabbath happen. But we need a Sabbath—we desperately need a Sabbath. So, it is worth the effort.