If you read through Matthew 24, then you’ll find a prophecy that looks toward both a pretty grim past and an equally grim future. Generally speaking, this prophecy is given by Jesus Christ himself as he talks to some of his followers, all of whom are desperate to know about when he would return and how they would know it. But Jesus only leaves them with unsolved mysteries, nothing near a clear answer.
However, he does give them some dark and cryptic signs. Among them are mentions that “not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down,” referring to a temple — presumed by many to refer to the real-life destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. After that, though, he continues by saying, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars … Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” Not exactly the brightest future for humanity, filled with violence, strife, and persecution.
And the part that’s perhaps most disturbing? Unlike the destruction of the temple, which has been ascribed to a specific event, the same can’t be said of those wars and natural disasters. Given that there’s no way to know when Jesus might return, this prophecy just seems to predict strings of dire events for the foreseeable future, without an end in sight. Then, just to top it all off, this prophecy further stipulates, “All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
