“For 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.”
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains — the birth-pain metaphor is significant: birth pains precede new life. The events described (wars, earthquakes, famines) are not the end itself but the beginning of birth pains — the labor that precedes the new age's arrival. The image communicates both the genuine suffering involved and its purposive character: these are not meaningless convulsions but the labor that brings the kingdom.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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