1As he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!”
2Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down.”
3As he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4“Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are all about to be fulfilled?”
5Jesus, answering, began to tell them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray. 6For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and will lead many astray.
7“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be troubled. For those must happen, but the end is not yet. 8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines and troubles. These things are the beginning of birth pains.
9“But watch yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them. 10The Good News must first be preached to all the nations. 11When they lead you away and deliver you up, don’t be anxious beforehand or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
12“Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 13You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.
14“But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, 15and let him who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house. 16Let him who is in the field not return back to take his cloak. 17But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babies in those days! 18Pray that your flight won’t be in the winter. 19For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be. 20Unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the chosen ones, whom he picked out, he shortened the days. 21Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ don’t believe it. 22For false christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones. 23But you watch.
“Behold, I have told you all things beforehand. 24But in those days, after that oppression, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, 25the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27Then he will send out his angels, and will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky.
28“Now from the fig tree, learn this parable. When the branch has now become tender and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near; 29even so you also, when you see these things coming to pass, know that it is near, at the doors. 30Most certainly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. 31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
32“But of that day or that hour no one knows—not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Watch, keep alert, and pray; for you don’t know when the time is.
34“It is like a man traveling to another country, having left his house and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch. 35Watch therefore, for you don’t know when the lord of the house is coming—whether at evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning; 36lest, coming suddenly, he might find you sleeping. 37What I tell you, I tell all: Watch!”
7 “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be troubled. For those must happen, but the end is not yet.8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines and troubles. These things are the beginning of birth pains.
My father was a brilliant retired heart and lung doctor. After he retired, he decided to take up ranching beef cattle in the country. He bought a piece of property that had been divided about a hundred years before by a railroad track. The acreage on one side, the south side, was about 200 acres, and the piece to the north of the railroad tracks was about 150 acres. He would graze his cattle on the south side of the tracks for six months and then drive his herd over the tracks to the north side for the other half of the year. This was extremely challenging because trains came down the track two to three times a day at varying times. It was all very dicey and dangerous. Moving the cows from one side to the other would often take 30 minutes or so. It was scary trying to time everything right, so he wouldn’t end up with a bunch of dead cows. It took that much time because some of the cattle would hang back, become interested in greener grass, or lack motivation to cross the train tracks. They had no awareness that trains would come, and it could be a disaster. Dad had to get creative.
He asked me to come help him on a particular occasion, and he said, “I’ve got a new way that I figured out the timing of the trains.” I said, “Oh wow, that’s great! Tell me about it.” He told me, “I’ve learned that I can get down on my hands and knees and put my ear on the railroad track. I can hear the train on the tracks at least thirty minutes before it ever gets here. I can tell it’s close, as the rumble gets louder and louder as it approaches Stickerbush Farm (that’s what he called his place). So we both got down on our hands and knees, and we heard a loud rumble. Dad said, “We can’t do it now. The train’s too close.” Sure enough, in about 15 minutes, the train came barreling through. As it went on, we waited for a while and we listened again. We heard nothing, so Dad said, “Alright, let’s do it now.” We moved the cows, and there were no problems or disasters.
I go into this long story to relate that if we can get down on our knees, put our ear to the tracks, and listen closely, we can hear a train coming. The rumble includes conflict in the Middle East, the Muslim takeover of Europe, economic uncertainty, domestic chaos and division in our own country, and a host of other sounds. So the question arises, “What should we do?” Jesus tells us, “DON’T BE WORRIED. THESE MUST HAPPEN. THE END IS NOT YET. Reader, the world around you is filled with chaos and worry, but don’t let it creep into your soul. God is working His purposes out, and in the meantime, you need to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” That means doing what God wants you to be doing. The right thing to do is to be doing the right thing. Put your ear to the track, but listen to the whisper as well. It’s all gonna be alright!