He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. Matthew 16.
I said before that many conversations I’ve had of the last few weeks have been about the end of the world implications of what we’re going through today. Everything from wildfires to hurricanes to earthquakes. There’s an interesting reaction to these things from a Christian perspective. Many talk about more prayer and repentance to stop the destruction and Jesus says when these things happen we should be glad because our redemption is getting close.
There are other signs of the times and that is the behavior of people and their attitudes toward life and others and Christ. Here is Jude’s poetic description of them –
12They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
The picture above is eerily beautiful. The picture of the contenders against Christ is sad and horrible.
