It is common for Christians to claim we are living in the last days. After centuries since Christ left the planet it is apparent that there has been a delay.
The long delay has forced Christians to change their behavior, even if their belief is slow to follow.
I know this to be true because the same Christians who point out ‘rumours of wars’ will have no problem having children. Christians continue having babies (as they should) despite the Lord’s teaching of the last days of prophecy in Matthew 24.
“And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! … For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” – Matthew 24:19, 21
With all the jokes about children of woe aside, it seems that Jesus is warning against family planning in such bad times that will accompany the last days.
This is one of the many topics that require careful study and right division. In contrast to Jesus’ warning to the pregnant, Paul encourages them:
“I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.” – 1 Timothy 5:14
Setting aside the issue of gender roles for the moment, Paul clearly states that marriage and children are good things for young women to do.
Clearly there is a different context. This proves the need to rightly divide prophecy from mystery information. During this dispensation of God’s grace revealed to Paul (Eph 3:1-2), we are not living in the prophetic time of tribulation. God’s wrath is not the word, but God’s grace and peace offered to the world through Christ.
Consequently, it is not a woeful thing to have children today.
If Christians really believed we were living in the last days of Matthew 24, then why don’t they follow the Lord’s warning about having children?
Why don’t they shut down the family ministries! While they give lip service to Matthew 24, their choices betray their beliefs and force them to follow Christ’s instructions to Paul.
Christ will return to the earth, and that after he returns in the air for his church, but Matthew 24 is not written about us. Instead it is written about Israel going into the time of great tribulation.
The great mystery of Christ and the church, the Body of Christ, had not yet been revealed. The audience of Israel in Matthew 24 is different than the audience of the church in 1 Timothy 5.
We are living in a time that was not prophesied, it is a time of mystery ‘kept secret since the world began’ (Romans 16:25). Separating prophecy from mystery will change the way you view the Lord’s instructions … and possibly the size of your family.
Article Index Published: February 27, 2009
Last Modified: January 14, 2017