In this 13th Chapter of Mark, the disciples will have questions concerning the end times. Their questions are relevant to us in that we also wonder about end time events. Jesus helps them (and us) to understand by speaking through metaphor -- one thing to always remember is that our time here is as long or short in length as God decides, and that's the only way we should want it to be. We have nothing to fear, we know that to be with Him is to have life always. We do not know specific dates, only God knows that information, but He helps us to identify signs of its nearness and we will cover them in this Chapter, which correlates with Matthew 24 and Luke 21.
Our time here on Earth is a learning experience, an opportunity to create who we want to be. We have complete freedom here to use our circumstances to shape our souls. When all have been given the opportunity to do so, God will lead us into the next phase of our lives (individually and collectively). We must remember that our time here is purposeful and so we have much to do before it ends. In the end times, there will be an abundance of work for God's children to do and so Jesus prepares us for that time in the case that we might be present during it. Our faith, courage and guidance from God expertly leads us through all circumstance.
We lived with God before our time on Earth, and as the Bible teaches us, 1/3 of God's children chose a different god to follow: a angel who represented everything that God rejects -- despotism, vengeance, deceit, greed. God gifted us the Earth and a clean slate to begin anew, a chance to make better decisions (especially if we had make the wrong ones previously) and in the end times, God will give us a chance again to choose who to follow: the rogue angel, or the Creator of All, our True God. Our documentation of this is written throughout the Bible, but specifically today we will use Revelation 12:4 and Ezekiel 28:12-19 as our reference.
13:1 The disciples marvel at extravagant architecture. They are still impressed by material and wealth even though Jesus has been teaching them about the true wealth: faith, compassion and wisdom. Sometimes we also have to step back and redefine what we are impressed by; aesthetic pleasures often capture our reverence and our attention.
13:2 Of course Jesus turns their awe into a moment of teaching: He wants us to understand that the expensive and impressive cities we build, the fame and celebrity we give to things and people, are brittle compared to God's creation and plan. When God is ready for all of humanity to return to the spiritual, the Earth will return to it's natural glory as well. What humans create here cannot be compared to what God creates and none of it stands any chance during God's restoration.
This should not be frightening. God's overall plan is so much more comprehensive and brilliant than we can even fathom. Cities and buildings will not be destroyed out of anger but instead as a way to restore the Earth, to cleanse it of the pollution and chaos it has supported during humanity's time here.
Jesus does not want us to put our awe and love into such dispensable, inanimate things such as all that represents human ingenuity because those things are not what loves you, what protects, sustains you... God is. Our greatest accomplishments on Earth are not the things we engineer but the relationships we create and foster. Compassion is indestructible, that building will fall and there will be no evidence that it ever even existed, but compassion transcends time and space eternally. Our focus should be on the eternal, the bigger picture, the love which cannot be quantified.
13:3 A few of the disciples have a matter they would like to discuss privately with Jesus... the information of the end times is open to everyone who wants to know, but at the same time, is heavy information that perhaps only some are spiritually focused enough to discern. Throughout history we have seen many evil humans use fake scripture to manipulate and scare people with. End times information is for those who can metaphorically understand without fear or personal agenda. The ends times are just a point before we continue into another time and when covering this material, it's an essential truth to remember.
13:4 Here Jesus is asked the questions: when are the end times and how will people know? Jesus' teaching from above likely inspired them to ask. His explanation of the building being turned into a pile of stones in the end piqued their curiosity.
13:5 Jesus' first piece of advice: be careful that no one deceives you. Jesus put this piece of advice first for a reason: it's something we will face, and do face even today. There is a constant stream of manipulation and influence surrounding us, we must be able to discern who is speaking unbiased truth and who is speaking with hidden agendas. We must ensure that any information presented to us (from anyone) is based entirely in truth. We must make up our own opinions and create our own thoughts in order to decide what is truth and what is not.
More specifically: remember the discussion is about the end times. So we can expect that in the end times, there will be a lot of forces trying to distract us away from truth and logic. Already the world is familiar with this kind of deception: leaders of countries and news media have already for generations been working to sway their audiences in order to benefit themselves in some way.
Remember also from our prelude in this chapter that Satan, as he is sometimes referred to in the Bible, was able to convince, persuade, deceive 1/3 of God's children into following him. It makes sense that God would recreate the opportunity for the 1/3 to choose between Satan, the ultimate deceiver, and God.
Let's break that down: there are many ways to live life but there are two major categories. A person either lives a kind life or an unkind life. Forget about the famous, scary name "Satan" and just think about this situation in simple terms: God wants us to choose kindness or unkindness, selfless truth or selfish deception. One entity represents the latter and One Entity represents the former.
Quickly we journey to Ezekiel 28 in order for us to not fear the name Satan or to have the wrong impression of him as an entity... he is not a monster, or visually grotesque... he was an angel created with perfection... and then we went rogue.
Ezekiel: 28:12 You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
Ezekiel 28:15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till inequity was found in you.
Ezekiel 28:17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
We learn that God was generous in creating this particular angel. Satan was made with perfection and beauty -- just the qualities that would enable him to ensnare so many. Think back to the first couple of verses of this chapter, beauty captures people's awe and they forget what's important. The disciples, were standing with the manifestation of compassion and wisdom Himself and yet were distracted by... a building.
The disciples are a great symbol for humanity. Of the 12, 2 (we know from our studies in Mark) were ambitious and strong in their faith and the other 10 were good also, but easily distracted and really needed Jesus to constantly keep them focused. No one is better than another, some people are naturally students and some are naturally teachers of the Word. But from this lesson we can learn that all are distracted by the ways of the world... when what should concern us is our behavior and interactions with one another.
13:6 Many people will come pretending to be religiously superior. Many people will let their arrogance and greed fuel a campaign to trick people into following them. We've already had, in history, humans convince large groups of people to follow them... only to find out that their leaders were corrupt. People will also come pretending to be Jesus Himself... for example, we can expect the anti-Christ to come as such (we already know he looks the part (remember he's not scary!) and we also now that he knows scripture well enough to tweak it and tempt people away from the truth (from our studies in Matthew when Satan tries to tempt Jesus).
13:7 Do not be afraid of turmoil in the world. Humans constantly compete for power and control... for thousands of years there have been wars and rumors of wars. It's unfortunate but it's the reality of humanity. God does not want you to fear war... with Him you always win and your eternal life with Him cannot be taken away by it.
So, when contemplating the end times, do not picture in your mind a time of warring and disruption as is commonly thought.
13:8 We can, however, expect to see an imbalance of nature and power around the world in the end times. The word "sorrows" in this verse is actually translated "labor pains" and we can deduce from that that the world will begin to prepare itself for it's new age, it's restoration, it's birth of a new time. We can expect to see a bit of chaos in nature and some frenzy between nations... this is foreseeable, as the population increases, land becomes more scare and therefore more (perhaps desperately) sought after. As the population increases, diversity will (and even does now) create a myriad of ideologies -- each competing for space and opportunity.
13:9 We're going to spend a bit of time on this verse because there is a lot of detail and deeper message in it that we can understand better by travelling to additional scripture. The first thing Jesus warned us of (concerning the end times) was false teaching and because He gave that lesson first, we can expect that the circumstances in the end times will pertain to spiritual deception.
As students of our true God, our mission will be to defend spiritual truth during a time when most of the world will be deceived by false teaching. We spoke, in this very chapter, of the 1/3 of God's children who were misled into following "Satan" or how we can also think of it: into following and doing what he represents. In the end times, those circumstances will be recreated (for the gift of a second chance to reject him) and we will journey over into the following verses to supplement that system and the leader of it: (Keep in mind that Revelation will be covered in its entirety after this Bible study progresses through the New Testament, book by book and verse by verse to it, the final chapter.)
Revelation 6:2, Consider this metaphorically: one will arrive who will enter into the global sphere quite triumphantly and beautifully with the intention of deceiving people into believing he is a true leader. At first, his true intentions will be hidden from the public. The true God in the 7th chapter (known as the 7th seal) and so at the least, we know that anyone coming before him, claiming to be Him, is fake.
Revelation 12:3-4, This verse is a metaphor of Satan's system (Satan is referred to as a dragon through much of the Bible) and with this system, he captures (spiritually) 1/3 of God's children. Satan will recreate this system on Earth.
Revelation 12:9, Satan's names are cleared up for us here: the old serpent, the devil, Satan..."who deceives the whole world."
Revelation 12:12, Scripture tells us that he will be here... but also that he will have a short time here. How much time? Well, in Revelation 9:10, we learn that he will have 5 months.
Revelation 13:1-8, This is Satan's global government, described metaphorically as a beast (horns and crowns represent political positions and leaders who will help Satan accomplish his system).
Revelation 13:11-18, Here is Satan described as a religious or spiritual leader. His outer appearance is appeasing and inspiring... but inside he is a deceptive dragon-like entity. He exercises the authority of the political system we learned about above. He is capable of miracles and incredible signs... that and his beauty and seeming intelligence will capture the reverence of many.
Why is Satan so capable of deceiving all? Well, besides it being a second chance for those who perhaps accidentally chose him before, his presence is a test that our perception and spirituality must pass. God gives us wisdom and perception and in this Book, He tells us of all of the events we can expect. Those who love God are going to keep close to His word and are going to be vigilant against people who try to deceive God's children. We love God, we implement his instruction in our lives and therefore cannot be overtaken by lies.
Satan is given a small amount of time and it is not time you should fear. Satan's goal is to trick the world into following him... in order to do that, he has to behave peacefully and he has to hide his true intentions. It's going to appear to be a very beautiful time for Earth... his signs and miracles are going to fix a lot of wrong we have in the world. But remember that if given more time, taken would take his followers and destroy them... his system would quickly reveal itself to become an evil dictatorship. Satan loves vanity, greed and control and God snips his time so that he cannot harm anyone.
God loves us. His plan is centered around protecting us -- but because so many children chose to follow Satan, God had to grand us freedom (here on Earth) to make a better decision this second time.
Finally, before returning to Mark 9, we venture to The Book of Daniel to reiterate the manner in which Satan will come: peaceably.
Daniel 11:21-24, Again we read that Satan will come peaceably and with intrigue. He will perform miracles that have never been seen or done before on Earth to capture the world's attention and reverence. So, do not be afraid of him. The media likes to talk about apocalypses and the anti-christ and when they do, they make it seem dark and dangerous. This is helpful to Satan -- it works better for his system if you cannot properly identify it when it comes. He comes in pretending to be a magnificent hero... he looks beautiful (remember our studies in Ezekiel) and from Revelation we know he sounds beautiful and accomplishes beautiful things. There is nothing to fear besides being tricked by his show.
Return to Mark...
So, when this verse (Mark 13:9) speaks of being "delivered up" we can now understand that it means we will be confronted for not participating in Satan's system. The entire world will think we are crazy for denying him, and when we refuse to be a part of his government, we will have to speak to explain ourselves. Do not be afraid of the harsh language, you know that your eternal life cannot be taken away. Also consider two more things:
1) Remember when James and John asked for more responsibility? Well, God is going to give responsibility to those who ask for it and those who can handle it. You don't have to be afraid of anything when God is on your side but of course God will use His students whose faith and courage is strong enough to deal with these extreme circumstances.
2) In Luke 21:18 we learn that we cannot be harmed by Satan so long as we love and follow the true God. So when harsh language is used in this verse we can guess that perhaps it is metaphorical. Our spiritual beliefs will be powerfully challenged... we will not (at first) be understood by the world. Our truth will not be accepted and we will face a lot of adversity because of that.
The selected leaders or "horns with crowns" in Satan's governmental/religious system or "beast" will summon us for rejecting the system they are trying to uphold and enforce. It's quite a deep topic and will be covered in more depth as we continue our studies!
13:10 It's important to God that all have (at least) the opportunity to hear the truth (His scripture). We are given the chance to read and learn the Bible but many do not. God does not punish anybody but He certainly makes our lives a lot easier when we DO work to understand the Bible.
13:11 We are given much relief in this verse. God wants us to know that if we choose to be a worker of His word, if we reject what the antichrist brings to the world...God is going to supply us with our campaign against Satan... down to the very word. We do not have to plan or be especially eloquent... God is going to take control in the situation. He's going to be with us... He is with us now... and so He will certainly be there when we are defending Him and His truth.
13:12 Many misinterpret this verse. What is verse means is that because so many will convert and follow Satan, they will convince and bring their family members with them. Satan represents death, we know that all of God's children are offered eternal life with Him but followers of Satan are eliminated from existence. For example, parents will want their children to follow this supposedly great leader and by convincing them to do so, they will be delivering their children to falsity.
13:13 People will not understand why you do not follow the antichrist. Remember how impressive he seems? People will think you're strange for not following him. Stick with God... He leads you through difficult experience and eventually everyone will understand the truth you always stood for. You are saved from deception because you love God and you follow Him.
Side note: many people believe that God will "rapture" or collect His children before the antichrist comes -- we are learning here that that is not true! God needs you as a worker here defending the truth! God's children need you here. The opportunity is a blessed one and children of God are proud and courageous to be a part of it.
13:14 The abomination of desolation = Satan. People should flee him but they won't... because they do not know the truth of his deceptive game.
We briefly ventured to Daniel (mentioned in the verse) and I want you to understand that Satan's plan is spoken of in many places of the Bible! The Old Testament contains much information about the end times (Daniel, Zechariah, Ezekiel) and so there is much reiteration, much corroboration of his time here (because it is so important!) God gives you plenty of references, examples and explanations.
13:15-16 In the end times, people who are aware of the truth should not try to escape... they should take up their armor of God and defend their spirituality when the time comes with God's help. The field is the world... we are workers in the world because it needs us.
13:17 This is another commonly misinterpreted verse: it's an adultery metaphor. God is who we are supposed to be united with. So, if God returns to see you "nursing" the "child" (false scripture of Satan), He's going to know you were not faithful to your spirituality with Him, your true God. Woe to those people because they chose a harsh entity... but God will continue to give them the chance to choose Him (another study for another time -- The Millennium!).
13:18 This is a metaphor. Jesus is teaching that we should ensure that our spiritual journey does not take place so late in time. It will be especially hard to uncover the truth when the leader of deception had converted the world. Be prepared!
13:19 There has never been (nor will there ever be) such a time when the entire world is so fully captured by a false teacher.
13:20 Jesus is giving us a clear picture of exactly how successful Satan will be in converting the world -- nobody except for God's truest, most wise, most faithful children will be safe from his deception.
These are the elect... the truest, most wise, most faithful children. For their sake, and the challenges and work they will face during this time, God shortened Satan's reign to a mere 5 months. The will be inundated with spiritual work (God will help them) and God does not want to overwhelm them. God chose these elect because of their strong faith, He knows they are capable.
Also remember that God uses the humble, the unsuspected and unsung. Even if you do not feel special or capable... God knows your faith and He will choose you and guide and be with you during your journey (He's with you even now during your journey) if you are informed and following His compassionate truth.
Also keep in mind -- Satan only needs 5 months to convert the whole world! Imagine how impressive and convincing he must be in order to do that.
13:21 If you know who God really is, you will always recognize His true workers and children. When our true God returns, every knee shall bow, Romans 13:11, and this is because our spirits will recognize our Creator and we will be so blessed and comforted by His brilliance. There will be no doubt, no need of signs or speeches... when the True Entity returns our whole bodies respond.
13:22-23 There will be many people trying to corrupt your faith for their own gain -- this even exists today so it's not hard to imagine. So many religious and spiritual institutions are hypocritical, they do not practice what they teach and neither do the follow the text that they say they stand for. We learned of these types in the previous chapter: people who act holy or dress the part but are not humble or wise or kind underneath their outward appearance.
13:24-25 After the tribulation, after Satan's reign for 5 months, the entire world, even the natural world will react to God's return here. God is the creator of everything...every intricate piece of this world and universe and therefore all of it responds to Him.
13:26-27 And then there is a beautiful, brilliant occurrence...the return of Jesus to collect God's faithful followers (and later to collect everyone who wants to also be a part). God's angels, His faithful workers will help Him with the task.
13:28 We spoke of the Parable of the Fig Tree in chapter 11 and it resurfaces here (and in many other places in the Bible). Remember the metaphor of planting and harvesting. Jesus gives us enough information to at least be aware of the general season (time) of the "end" (continuation of life in a new format). The Parable of the Fig tree is sometimes equated with certain historical occurrences by biblical-scholars but those will be addressed in a future special-study concerning the parable.
13:29 Jesus is reminding us that when we observes these occurrences in the world, we will know that God's return is soon.
13:30 The current age and order of present times will change and reform (by God's hand) but God wants us to be assured that He never changes in form or policy. He is always Everything. He is always brilliant and wise and compassionate. He is, always.
13:32 God is the only keeper of the specific date and time of His return. If anyone claims to know a specific date, they are fabricating information. It might sound silly but humans in the past have actually been able to deceive followers into believing they had figured out "the end."
Talking about "the end" should not be strange or scary because I think even a non-believer is aware of their truer self, what is often called "the soul." There is more to us than is overtly apparent... look around the world at nature, at the impossibility of this globe we live on... we live among uncountable miracles and intricacies.
13:33 Jesus is just teaching us to be vigilant and to be observant. He wants us to always be our best selves because only God knows what is ahead and we need to be prepared in order to always have strength and peace inside of ourselves.
13:34 A metaphorical story: God gave the world to us to live on and grow on and He took a step back so that we would have complete freedom. He would like for us to be vigilant against deception and unkindness but He ultimately gives us choice to decide what we will do with our time here.
13:35 We do not know when He is coming and we do not want to be caught off guard when He returns... we do not want to be living cruel or selfish lives when our father returns because we will likely be ashamed and sorry for it.
13:36 Don't let God find you sleeping on the job -- the world needs you to be vigilant and a worker of kindness and hope for others. Our time here can be precious and instructive if we remain focused and productive.
13:37 He says to: all. This helpful advice is available to all who will receive it. Watch, so much unfolds and occurs before your eyes.
As students of our true God, our mission will be to defend spiritual truth during a time when most of the world will be deceived by false teaching. We spoke, in this very chapter, of the 1/3 of God's children who were misled into following "Satan" or how we can also think of it: into following and doing what he represents. In the end times, those circumstances will be recreated (for the gift of a second chance to reject him) and we will journey over into the following verses to supplement that system and the leader of it: (Keep in mind that Revelation will be covered in its entirety after this Bible study progresses through the New Testament, book by book and verse by verse to it, the final chapter.)
Revelation 6:2, Consider this metaphorically: one will arrive who will enter into the global sphere quite triumphantly and beautifully with the intention of deceiving people into believing he is a true leader. At first, his true intentions will be hidden from the public. The true God in the 7th chapter (known as the 7th seal) and so at the least, we know that anyone coming before him, claiming to be Him, is fake.
Revelation 12:3-4, This verse is a metaphor of Satan's system (Satan is referred to as a dragon through much of the Bible) and with this system, he captures (spiritually) 1/3 of God's children. Satan will recreate this system on Earth.
Revelation 12:9, Satan's names are cleared up for us here: the old serpent, the devil, Satan..."who deceives the whole world."
Revelation 12:12, Scripture tells us that he will be here... but also that he will have a short time here. How much time? Well, in Revelation 9:10, we learn that he will have 5 months.
Revelation 13:1-8, This is Satan's global government, described metaphorically as a beast (horns and crowns represent political positions and leaders who will help Satan accomplish his system).
Revelation 13:11-18, Here is Satan described as a religious or spiritual leader. His outer appearance is appeasing and inspiring... but inside he is a deceptive dragon-like entity. He exercises the authority of the political system we learned about above. He is capable of miracles and incredible signs... that and his beauty and seeming intelligence will capture the reverence of many.
Why is Satan so capable of deceiving all? Well, besides it being a second chance for those who perhaps accidentally chose him before, his presence is a test that our perception and spirituality must pass. God gives us wisdom and perception and in this Book, He tells us of all of the events we can expect. Those who love God are going to keep close to His word and are going to be vigilant against people who try to deceive God's children. We love God, we implement his instruction in our lives and therefore cannot be overtaken by lies.
Satan is given a small amount of time and it is not time you should fear. Satan's goal is to trick the world into following him... in order to do that, he has to behave peacefully and he has to hide his true intentions. It's going to appear to be a very beautiful time for Earth... his signs and miracles are going to fix a lot of wrong we have in the world. But remember that if given more time, taken would take his followers and destroy them... his system would quickly reveal itself to become an evil dictatorship. Satan loves vanity, greed and control and God snips his time so that he cannot harm anyone.
God loves us. His plan is centered around protecting us -- but because so many children chose to follow Satan, God had to grand us freedom (here on Earth) to make a better decision this second time.
Finally, before returning to Mark 9, we venture to The Book of Daniel to reiterate the manner in which Satan will come: peaceably.
Daniel 11:21-24, Again we read that Satan will come peaceably and with intrigue. He will perform miracles that have never been seen or done before on Earth to capture the world's attention and reverence. So, do not be afraid of him. The media likes to talk about apocalypses and the anti-christ and when they do, they make it seem dark and dangerous. This is helpful to Satan -- it works better for his system if you cannot properly identify it when it comes. He comes in pretending to be a magnificent hero... he looks beautiful (remember our studies in Ezekiel) and from Revelation we know he sounds beautiful and accomplishes beautiful things. There is nothing to fear besides being tricked by his show.
Return to Mark...
So, when this verse (Mark 13:9) speaks of being "delivered up" we can now understand that it means we will be confronted for not participating in Satan's system. The entire world will think we are crazy for denying him, and when we refuse to be a part of his government, we will have to speak to explain ourselves. Do not be afraid of the harsh language, you know that your eternal life cannot be taken away. Also consider two more things:
1) Remember when James and John asked for more responsibility? Well, God is going to give responsibility to those who ask for it and those who can handle it. You don't have to be afraid of anything when God is on your side but of course God will use His students whose faith and courage is strong enough to deal with these extreme circumstances.
2) In Luke 21:18 we learn that we cannot be harmed by Satan so long as we love and follow the true God. So when harsh language is used in this verse we can guess that perhaps it is metaphorical. Our spiritual beliefs will be powerfully challenged... we will not (at first) be understood by the world. Our truth will not be accepted and we will face a lot of adversity because of that.
The selected leaders or "horns with crowns" in Satan's governmental/religious system or "beast" will summon us for rejecting the system they are trying to uphold and enforce. It's quite a deep topic and will be covered in more depth as we continue our studies!
13:10 It's important to God that all have (at least) the opportunity to hear the truth (His scripture). We are given the chance to read and learn the Bible but many do not. God does not punish anybody but He certainly makes our lives a lot easier when we DO work to understand the Bible.
13:11 We are given much relief in this verse. God wants us to know that if we choose to be a worker of His word, if we reject what the antichrist brings to the world...God is going to supply us with our campaign against Satan... down to the very word. We do not have to plan or be especially eloquent... God is going to take control in the situation. He's going to be with us... He is with us now... and so He will certainly be there when we are defending Him and His truth.
13:12 Many misinterpret this verse. What is verse means is that because so many will convert and follow Satan, they will convince and bring their family members with them. Satan represents death, we know that all of God's children are offered eternal life with Him but followers of Satan are eliminated from existence. For example, parents will want their children to follow this supposedly great leader and by convincing them to do so, they will be delivering their children to falsity.
13:13 People will not understand why you do not follow the antichrist. Remember how impressive he seems? People will think you're strange for not following him. Stick with God... He leads you through difficult experience and eventually everyone will understand the truth you always stood for. You are saved from deception because you love God and you follow Him.
Side note: many people believe that God will "rapture" or collect His children before the antichrist comes -- we are learning here that that is not true! God needs you as a worker here defending the truth! God's children need you here. The opportunity is a blessed one and children of God are proud and courageous to be a part of it.
13:14 The abomination of desolation = Satan. People should flee him but they won't... because they do not know the truth of his deceptive game.
We briefly ventured to Daniel (mentioned in the verse) and I want you to understand that Satan's plan is spoken of in many places of the Bible! The Old Testament contains much information about the end times (Daniel, Zechariah, Ezekiel) and so there is much reiteration, much corroboration of his time here (because it is so important!) God gives you plenty of references, examples and explanations.
13:15-16 In the end times, people who are aware of the truth should not try to escape... they should take up their armor of God and defend their spirituality when the time comes with God's help. The field is the world... we are workers in the world because it needs us.
13:17 This is another commonly misinterpreted verse: it's an adultery metaphor. God is who we are supposed to be united with. So, if God returns to see you "nursing" the "child" (false scripture of Satan), He's going to know you were not faithful to your spirituality with Him, your true God. Woe to those people because they chose a harsh entity... but God will continue to give them the chance to choose Him (another study for another time -- The Millennium!).
13:18 This is a metaphor. Jesus is teaching that we should ensure that our spiritual journey does not take place so late in time. It will be especially hard to uncover the truth when the leader of deception had converted the world. Be prepared!
13:19 There has never been (nor will there ever be) such a time when the entire world is so fully captured by a false teacher.
13:20 Jesus is giving us a clear picture of exactly how successful Satan will be in converting the world -- nobody except for God's truest, most wise, most faithful children will be safe from his deception.
These are the elect... the truest, most wise, most faithful children. For their sake, and the challenges and work they will face during this time, God shortened Satan's reign to a mere 5 months. The will be inundated with spiritual work (God will help them) and God does not want to overwhelm them. God chose these elect because of their strong faith, He knows they are capable.
Also remember that God uses the humble, the unsuspected and unsung. Even if you do not feel special or capable... God knows your faith and He will choose you and guide and be with you during your journey (He's with you even now during your journey) if you are informed and following His compassionate truth.
Also keep in mind -- Satan only needs 5 months to convert the whole world! Imagine how impressive and convincing he must be in order to do that.
13:21 If you know who God really is, you will always recognize His true workers and children. When our true God returns, every knee shall bow, Romans 13:11, and this is because our spirits will recognize our Creator and we will be so blessed and comforted by His brilliance. There will be no doubt, no need of signs or speeches... when the True Entity returns our whole bodies respond.
13:22-23 There will be many people trying to corrupt your faith for their own gain -- this even exists today so it's not hard to imagine. So many religious and spiritual institutions are hypocritical, they do not practice what they teach and neither do the follow the text that they say they stand for. We learned of these types in the previous chapter: people who act holy or dress the part but are not humble or wise or kind underneath their outward appearance.
13:24-25 After the tribulation, after Satan's reign for 5 months, the entire world, even the natural world will react to God's return here. God is the creator of everything...every intricate piece of this world and universe and therefore all of it responds to Him.
13:26-27 And then there is a beautiful, brilliant occurrence...the return of Jesus to collect God's faithful followers (and later to collect everyone who wants to also be a part). God's angels, His faithful workers will help Him with the task.
13:28 We spoke of the Parable of the Fig Tree in chapter 11 and it resurfaces here (and in many other places in the Bible). Remember the metaphor of planting and harvesting. Jesus gives us enough information to at least be aware of the general season (time) of the "end" (continuation of life in a new format). The Parable of the Fig tree is sometimes equated with certain historical occurrences by biblical-scholars but those will be addressed in a future special-study concerning the parable.
13:29 Jesus is reminding us that when we observes these occurrences in the world, we will know that God's return is soon.
13:30 The current age and order of present times will change and reform (by God's hand) but God wants us to be assured that He never changes in form or policy. He is always Everything. He is always brilliant and wise and compassionate. He is, always.
13:32 God is the only keeper of the specific date and time of His return. If anyone claims to know a specific date, they are fabricating information. It might sound silly but humans in the past have actually been able to deceive followers into believing they had figured out "the end."
Talking about "the end" should not be strange or scary because I think even a non-believer is aware of their truer self, what is often called "the soul." There is more to us than is overtly apparent... look around the world at nature, at the impossibility of this globe we live on... we live among uncountable miracles and intricacies.
13:33 Jesus is just teaching us to be vigilant and to be observant. He wants us to always be our best selves because only God knows what is ahead and we need to be prepared in order to always have strength and peace inside of ourselves.
13:34 A metaphorical story: God gave the world to us to live on and grow on and He took a step back so that we would have complete freedom. He would like for us to be vigilant against deception and unkindness but He ultimately gives us choice to decide what we will do with our time here.
13:35 We do not know when He is coming and we do not want to be caught off guard when He returns... we do not want to be living cruel or selfish lives when our father returns because we will likely be ashamed and sorry for it.
13:36 Don't let God find you sleeping on the job -- the world needs you to be vigilant and a worker of kindness and hope for others. Our time here can be precious and instructive if we remain focused and productive.
13:37 He says to: all. This helpful advice is available to all who will receive it. Watch, so much unfolds and occurs before your eyes.
