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Rumors Of War  

Jesus said that "you will hear of wars and rumors of wars"  (Mat. 24:6)  Unless it is my imagination, which it could possibly be, I think that many people explain this verse by saying at the end there will be many more wars than ever.  They count up all of the known was from one date to another and then they count how many wars there are in the world today.  They try to prove that there are more present day wars than in times past.     

By the same token they say the same thing about earthquakes and famines.  They count up how many earthquakes there have been in the last number of years, suggesting that there are more earthquakes now than before.  Experts seem to be divided on this point.  You may get different answers from different earthquake experts. 

Did Jesus say that there would be "more" wars, "more" earthquakes, and "more" famines.  No.  He just said that there would be wars, earthquakes and famines near the end.   

The interesting thing that I would like to suggest here is concerning "rumors of wars".  The Greek word "akoe" which simply means "a hearing" is translated "rumor".  Could Jesus have seen into our future, with our televisions, radios and cell phones.  With these devices we can hear of all sorts of wars, in all parts of the world.  Jesus could not have told these people that they would see wars on television at the end of the age.  They would not have understood a word of what He was telling them.  He obviously had to talk in the language of their day so they could understand.  "Rumors of war" would be a good way to explain what we now see on our television screen.  There are many rumors of war spread through our electronic media.  A rumor does not necessarily have to be a false report, especially when we consider the Greek word "akoe" (to hear).  Do we not hear of wars today easier than we ever have.  We certainly do.

This is just an idea, something to consider and think about.                

 

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