Jesus stated clearly that at the end of this age there would be unmistakable signs in the heavens at the end of the great tribulation just prior to His coming. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Matthew 24:29). “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars, and on the earth, distress of nations.” (Luke 21:25). These prophecies, given during His Olivet discourse echo the Old Testament prophets Joel and Isaiah. Speaking of the day of the Lord, Joel prophesied: “For the day of the Lord is coming,…A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.” (Joel 2:2). “The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness.” (Joel 3:15). “Behold, the day of the Lord comes…For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.” (Isaiah 13:9-10). The apostle John puts it this way in Revelation: “I looked when He opened the sixth seal and behold there was a great earthquake; and the sun became as black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.” (Revelation 6:12-14). “And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth.” (Revelation 16:18)
It is difficult to even imagine the intense turmoil occurring on the earth at this time. Broad devastation will result. Thankfully, it will be short in duration. Try to envision a time of intense darkness interrupted by what appears to be vast meteor showers that strike the earth with ferocity and resulting smoke blotting out the sky day and night. Couple that with an earthquake that is the mother of all earthquakes, flattening everything from cities to mountains over the entire earth. All of this is part of God’s final judgment of evil on this earth. There is no escape for the wicked. The writer of Hebrews says this when recalling God’s similar past judgments: “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now has promised, saying,’Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ “ Now this ‘Yet once more’ indicates removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.” (Hebrews 12:25-27). The things that cannot be shaken are those things God deems fit for the kingdom of His Son. Everyone and everything else will be destroyed.
We need to make sure that everything we are building on this earth is designed to last into the kingdom. How can we know for sure that it will last? Simple. Just be sure the foundation of everything you build is on solid Rock. And that Rock must be Christ.
Maranatha, Jim