6. Birth Pains

Photo by Smitha Basil George: ‘Backyard captures — God’s art’

Authored by Smitha Basil George under the complete direction and guidance of God, the Holy Spirit, dated September 1, 2023.

Scriptural and extra-Biblical references are provided throughout the article and in the ‘References’ section at the end.

Abstract

In His Olivet Discourse (the description that Jesus provided to His disciples who inquired about the signs of the times leading to the end of the age as we know it), He compared the signs to be like the birth pains that a mother will experience through the process of labor until the birth of the baby. From the preceding events starting from the baby’s conception and growth through the previous months, the mother and those close around will know an approximate month and a day when the baby could be born. Not even the most skillful doctor can predict the exact day or hour when the baby would eventually be born (for natural births). On the day, on / before the labor, the mother will suddenly start feeling the birthing contraction pains. The pains will gradually increase in frequency and intensity, until finally the baby is birthed. In the previous articles, we discussed the different aspects of God’s timings and patterns, through the events that happened in the past, fulfilled prophecies, and the prophecies about the upcoming events. With the Sabbath Millennium of Jesus Christ coming due to start in God’s 7 — day pattern, 2000 years (2 days in God’s pattern of threes) after the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ getting completed in the window of 2030–2033 AD with the Third Day of revival (next 1000 years) coming due, and Daniel’s 70th week (a period of 7 years of Tribulation) due before the Sabbath Millennium, we see that we are in the approximate time of the baby’s birth (Second Coming of Jesus Christ, with His Bride, to start His righteous Kingdom). All we needed to experience was the onset of birth pains to know that we are right there, very close indeed. All the signs that Daniel, Jesus and Paul discussed exist together in our current age in high intensity — wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes and other natural disasters, famines, pestilences, lawlessness, love growing cold, persecution of Christ followers, false prophets, increased knowledge, increased travel, days of Noah — violence and ability to create AI empowered augmented humans, days of Lot — widespread homosexuality and identity & gender confusions, extensive progress towards Antichrist system establishment, all indicating the high proximity of the baby’s birth. The time is even shorter for the Church, His Bride, as our rapture to His presence is imminent at the current moment, because He will not let His wrath on the unrepented sinfulness, poured out during the 7 year Tribulation period having the Antichrist system on earth, to be falling on His bride again, because He already suffered that wrath for her sins and all her sins are thus forgiven.

Scripture references [1]: Genesis 6–8, 18: 16–33, 19: 1–29; Leviticus 18: 22, 20: 13; Isaiah 14: 12–15; Daniel 2, 7, 9, 12; Hosea 9: 10; Zechariah 12: 10–14; Matthew 23: 39, 24, 25; Mark 13; Luke 17: 20–37, 21: 7–38; John 14: 1–3; Romans 1, 1 Thessalonians 4: 13–5: 11; 2 Timothy 3: 1–7, Revelation 6–19

Extra-Biblical references: [2] State of Israel Proclaimed, [3] The reunification of Jerusalem, [4] Joshua Project

The onset — the beginning of sorrows

Scriptures for this section [1]:

1. Genesis 6–8, 18: 16–33, 19: 1–29
2. Leviticus 18: 22, 20: 13
3. Daniel 12
4. Hosea 9: 10
5. Matthew 24
6. Mark 13
7. Luke 17: 20–37, 21: 7–38
8. 2 Timothy 3: 1–7
9. Revelation 6–19

Extra-Biblical references:

1. Current world news
2. [2] State of Israel Proclaimed
3. [3] The reunification of Jerusalem

The disciples came and asked Jesus, while He was sitting on the Mount of Olives following a Temple visit, for the signs leading to His return — Second Coming to establish His Kingdom on earth, and the end of the current world systems and governments. He gave a detailed account to them regarding the signs leading to the end of the current world, which is later termed as the Olivet Discourse. Jesus compared the signs that we would see towards the end, to birth pains which start for a mother when the baby is due to be born. The mother would already have an approximate idea of the baby’s birth month or a possible day, based on the starting point, events while progressing through, and the general timeline needed for human gestation. But she or no one will ever know the exact day, hour and time, when the baby would actually be born, for natural births. The baby’s birth time is a time appointed by God, the baby’s Creator, to fit into its perfect purpose of life. However, when the birth pains start, it is a clear indication that the baby’s birth is very near. Birth pains start with lower intensity contractions at wider frequencies, but they increase gradually with the highest frequency and pain intensity happening during the moments of the baby’s birth. The baby in our scenario is the restoration of earth and establishment of the Millennial Kingdom, following the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as the Righteous Ruler, which later would transition over to the Kingdom for eternity.

Jesus gave a set of signs which would fall under the category of birth pains of this baby:

1. Wars
2. Rumors of wars
3. Famines
4. Pestilences
5. Earthquakes, fearful events and signs in heaven
6. Persecution of Christians
7. World-wide hatred towards Christians, including hatred from one’s own family members.
8. Appearance of false prophets, false christs, and deception in general
9. Rampant sin
10. Love growing cold
11. Preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom to all nations of the world.
12. Antichrist system and rule, with the sacrilegious object that causes desolation, standing in the Holy Place of God.
13. Days like that of Noah with the presence of violent and augmented human beings, and humans having no regard for God, but for their worldly affairs — eating, drinking, marrying, being given in marriage.
14. Days like that of Lot with widespread homosexuality, identity and gender confusion and being immersed in worldly affairs — eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building.
15. Signs in the sun, moon and the stars

He mentioned in Matthew 24: 8 and Mark 13: 8 that the first 5 signs constitute the beginning of the birth pains. However, we can see that the first 11 signs and the sign number 14 (homosexuality, identity and gender confusions) in the above list are occurring so extensively and concurrently in the current world, indicating that the beginning of the birth pains has already started. These are actually occurring in higher intensity and frequency already. A quick following / search of the world news in the past 3 years will reveal the current situation of the world, replete with these occurrences. We also currently see the setup and progression for signs 12 and 13, and the foreshadowing heavenly occurrences for sign 15, discussed in detail in the next sections.

Jesus also mentioned some very deep statements in Matthew 24: 32–35 —32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near — at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” According to [2] ‘State of Israel Proclaimed’, Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948. [3] ‘The reunification of Jerusalem’ states that Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, declared Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel on January 23, 1950. Also, Jerusalem was reunified under Israeli rule on June 7, 1967, following the Six-Day War between Israel and the Arab world. The fig tree’s (being the equivalent of Israel — Hosea 9: 10) branches bud and leaves begin to sprout when the summer is near. Jesus told us to be greatly watchful when all these signs take place. Israel miraculously became a state 75 years ago, and developed into a very healthy economy amidst multiple crises over the course of these years. The generation that saw Israel budding will not pass away until all these things take place, and surely, the generation that was there from 1948 -> 1950 -> 1967 is currently witnessing these things.

In addition, it is worthwhile mentioning a few more signs mentioned by Daniel and Apostle Paul, among the many more similar examples from the Word of God, which are very prevalent these days. Daniel 12: 4 mentions increased knowledge and increased travel during the last days. 2 Timothy 3: 1–7 mention that in the last days, people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not the lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure than of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power. When we look around, these are what we mostly see in the current world.

The progression and heightening of birth pains

Scriptures for this section [1]:

1. Isaiah 14: 12–15
2. Daniel 2, 7, 9, 12
3. Zechariah 12: 10–14
4. Matthew 23: 39, 24, 25
5. Mark 13
6. Luke 17: 20–37, 21: 7–38
7. Romans 1
8. Revelation 6–19

Extra-Biblical references:

1. [4] Joshua Project

In this section, we will focus more into the details of certain signs which require greater attention. The first of which is the sign of deception — false prophets, false christs and evil spirit induced confusions. In addition to a flurry of human false prophets and messiahs who came, went and are actively operating in our present world, we now see a phenomenon, which only people living in our decade could even comprehend or understand, and that is the reason why the Angel of the Lord told Daniel that the prophecy is closed and sealed until the end times (Daniel 12: 9). The unraveling of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the general public without needed regulations and governance, has paved the way for humans experimenting with it in devious ways. The creation of AI Jesus chat bots to counsel and admonish people in the ways in which they should live, and AI Jesus leading services in churches, give the clear foreshadowing of the abomination (the sacrilegious object) that causes desolation that the Antichrist will eventually erect in the Most Holy Place. These practices are trying to eliminate the leading of God, the Holy Spirit, from helping those who follow to be transformed to the likeness of Christ, but to the likeness of the adversary behind these. Satan wanted to exalt himself above the stars of God, as how the Most High God was (Isaiah 14: 12–15). He always wanted humans and God’s creations to worship him. AI Jesus, which is counterfeit and fake, is one such deception through which he is trying to draw worship to himself in the current times, in addition to all the worship he tries to draw to himself through extensive idolatry in other forms. The deep fake technology is exalted in itself these days, creating a great world of confusion, of not knowing what is real and what is fake.

Another phenomenon happening these days is the extensive UFO / UAP (Unidentified Flying Objects / Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) disclosures and alien sightings. The Bible clearly mentions the presence of multiple creatures in the spiritual realm, and there are multitudes who have fallen along with Satan. They engage with humanity, mainly through thoughts, to drive humans to act in ways adversarial to God and His other creations. They can also possess human bodies, proved by the multiple casting off of demons performed by Jesus and His disciples with the help of the Holy Spirit. They can also beget / participate in the birth of corrupted human beings as evidenced in Genesis 6: 1–4. As part of these last days deception, they can provide unnatural sightings and unidentified aerial phenomena to sow widespread confusions, fear and distractions in human’s lives. It also proves as a very good cover up that the adversary can use against the Rapture of Christ’s Church to heaven, suggesting that the Church is carried off by the aliens.

The Tribulation

The next very important sign is the number 11, the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom to all nations of the world. This has been progressing very fast with the help of the Holy Spirit, in such a way that the Gospel has already reached all political nations of the world. According to [2] Joshua Project, there are still 42.4% of the population of the world which remain unreached in different people groups. In many of the nations whose people groups are classified as unreached, the Gospel proclamation is strictly prohibited and is made illegal as a severely punishable crime. Even these nations witness multiple active missionary groups working very hard, amid severe persecution and murder of Christians and missionaries. This sign will however reach its culmination towards the end of the 7 year period under the Antichrist system (sign 12 in the list), also known as the Tribulation. During the 7 year Tribulation (Revelation 6–19), there will be 2 witnesses (Revelation 11) coming down from heaven to proclaim the Gospel, whom the whole world will see. Revelation 14 mentions the 144,000 tribulation saints who are redeemed from the earth, and the three angels proclaiming God’s messages of the Gospel, Mystery Babylon’s demise and warning to those who worship the Antichrist & his image and those who take his mark. No human being will have the excuse of not hearing the angels at least, and the Gospel will indeed reach everyone through these messengers. Also, the remnant Israel, who would be realizing that the Antichrist was deceiving them and that Jesus is their Messiah, will acknowledge that, will mourn for Jesus (Zechariah 12: 10–14) and will cry out for Him. Then they will see the sign of Jesus’ Second Coming in heaven as the lightning flashes from the East to the West.

The Tribulation will start with a 7 year covenant that the Antichrist will confirm with many (Daniel 9: 26–27). During these 7 years, all the 15 signs mentioned in the previous list will go out of all bounds, echoing Jesus’s own words in Matthew 24: 21–22 — “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. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” As we discussed in the previous article titled ‘Seventy Weeks of Daniel’, Antichrist will try to change the preset laws and times (Daniel 7: 25). He will let sin go haywire with practices like rewriting the Holy Bible, creating his own religious set up with the aid of a false prophet, where he makes sin permissible by law. His system will initially encourage, and later force everyone, in all nations, to follow the practices and goals of this religion by setting them as national goals as part of the covenant. The main prompting suggestion for these goals would be that these are for ‘ensuring peace and security for everyone’. We can see clear foreshadowing for these events in the form of multinational conglomerate summits happening in these days, bringing up goals to be followed by all nations in the coming 7 years, for ensuring peace, security, equality and inclusion of every idea, irrespective of whether these goals stand counter to God’s established laws against murder, shedding of innocent blood, homosexuality and the like (Romans 1, Matthew 5–7, Exodus 20: 1–17, Leviticus 18: 22, 20: 13).

In the middle of the 7 years, he will establish himself as god and will set up a sacrilegious object with the power to speak in the Holy Place of God, most probably in a potential Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. His false prophet will force everyone to pledge allegiance to the Antichrist god and worship him, under the penalty of death if not. This, and many other preceding events would start opening the eyes of the Israelite Jews that, what they thought about him as their Messiah was wrong, but Jesus indeed is their Messiah.

Moreover, as a pledge of allegiance to the Antichrist, the false prophet will force everyone to take a mark, which is / has association with the number 666, in the form of an implantable chip / device on their right hand or forehead. This mark would allow any possible transaction for survival — buying and selling, and those who do not take this mark will be prohibited from performing any transaction, which can result in starvation and death. However, an Angel of God warns against taking this mark in Revelation 14: 9–11:

“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

This is because these chips / devices, potentially equipped with very powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) neural links, would be co-existing with the human seed of those who host them, thus augmenting and / or altering their human capabilities. Also these devices could hold further data on identity, payment and potential body operational data, even sensing / inducing thoughts, making the bearers fully controllable by the Antichrist and his system. This would accentuate the days of Noah sign, where the world would be having violent, augmented humans, doing whatever they choose to do, creating a depraved system, while being armed with extensive nuclear arsenal, which could result in no human’s survival unless Jesus returns. The Antichrist will be allowed a time of 1260 days or 3 and a half years to unleash evil in this manner, which would be rightfully met with the Most Holy God’s fury.

At the heightened state of all these anguish, all people will eventually hear the Gospel, Israelites will cry out that Jesus is their Messiah and will bless His name, and the sign 15 will appear with the sun, moon, stars and other powers of heaven giving their power away, leading to the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, appearing in glory with all His mighty angels and His Bride, to put an end to all of Satan indwelt Antichrist’s and his system’s atrocities. Satan will be bound and sealed in the bottomless pit for the 1000 years of Jesus’ peaceful Millennial reign, on an earth restored by Him.

Looking up, being watchful!

Jesus encouraged through many later passages In Matthew 24: 42–25: 28 to remain watchful about the times. He mentions in Matthew 24: 36 that no one, man or angel would know the exact day or hour of when He would come, just like that of a baby’s birth. The human side of Himself, while being in the mortal body on the earth, was not given that timing revealed, even when His Godhood could know that. However, He also gives multiple scenarios reminding to remain watchful, not to be found sleeping or engaging in undesirable, and unrepentant sinful activities at the time of His coming, through the examples of the faithful and sensible servant vs. the evil servant, the parable of the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins, the parable of the three servants entrusted with different talents etc.

God, the Father designs everyone’s life, and He knows when each baby is to be born to fit into His perfect master plan. However, the earthly parents of the baby and the supporting personnel will make necessary preparations for the baby’s arrival. They make themselves ready by setting aside their regular patterns of life, to welcome and care for the baby. They make provisions ready, and hospital visits and stays are planned. They prepare the other family members like their other children, and other dependents for the baby’s birth as well.

In the same manner, we now understand that the Second Coming and Millennial Kingdom of Jesus is at hand, not only by being at the moment of the fulfillment of time patterns set by God after progressing through the different events in between, but also through all the concurrent and prevalent signs, along with multiple foreshadows of the Tribulation. As Apostle Paul mentions in 1 Thessalonians 5: 4 – 11, we are not in the dark about these things, but we are children of the light and day, who are given these insights revealed to us through God’s Word and through multiple signs. So we should be ready, when the Bridegroom comes to take His Bride with Him to the Father’s House (John 14: 1–3), to the place that He prepared for us, and eventually we will come with Him, back to the earth on His Second Coming, to reign beside Him in the Millennial Kingdom.

References

1. The Holy Bible, https://www.biblegateway.com/, New King James Version.
2. History.com, State of Israel proclaimed, 05/12/2020, as retrieved on 09/01/2023 from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/state-of-israel-proclaimed
3. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1967: The reunification of Jerusalem, 2013, as retrieved on 09/01/2023 from https://mfa.gov.il/Jubilee-years/Pages/1967-The-Reunification-of-Jerusalem.aspx
4. Joshua Project as retrieved on 08/31/2023 from https://joshuaproject.net/

Articles in this series

1. The Ministry of John the Baptist
2. Jesus the Christ — Atonement for Human Sin
3. God’s pattern of sevens
4. The Third Day
5. The Seventy Weeks of Daniel
6. Birth Pains
7. Rapture and Beyond