Matthew 24:10

New Testament

4 Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these things are the beginning of birth pains.

4 Ezra 15:15

2 Esdras
Pseudepigrapha

11 Egypt, but will use all my power to rescue them; I will strike the Egyptians 12 with plagues, as I did before, and destroy their whole land. How Egypt will mourn, shaken to its very foundations, when it is scourged and chastised 13 by the Lord! How the tillers of the soil will mourn, when the seed fails to grow, and when their trees are devastated by blight and hail and terrible storm! 14 Alas for the world and its inhabitants! 15 The sword that will destroy them is not far away. Nation will draw sword against nation and go to war. 16 Stable government will be at an end; one faction will prevail over another, caring nothing in their day of power for king or leading man of rank.

 Notes and References

"... We saw in chapter 4 that Judaism anticipated an increase in doctrinal error, false teaching, and deception during the latter days that lead up to the final judgment of evil and consummation of God’s kingdom. Likewise, we saw references to Israel committing evil in the eschatological period. In addition, during the end-time period preceding the consummation of history the saints will undergo severe suffering, including persecution for their faith, and humanity will experience all kinds of terrible trials involving wars and convulsions of the natural world. Second Baruch 25–27 asserts that the final “great tribulations” will consist of convulsions in nature together with a great outbreak of sin or demonic activity. ( So also 2 Baruch 70:2–8; 4 Ezra 6:24; 15:3–19; 16:18–39, 74; 4 Ezra 15:3–19 includes persecution of the godly, as do Testament of Moses 8:1–5; Greek Apocalypse of Ezra 3:11–16) Fourth Ezra 5:1–19 affirms the same thing but adds that “the way of truth shall be hidden and the land shall be barren of faith” in a great tribulation.5 Some texts emphasize only the upheavals of the natural world (4 Ezra 9:2–4). The Qumran community foresaw a final eschatological battle between “the sons of light” and the “sons of darkness” in which “it will be a time of suffering for all the people redeemed by God” (1QM I:11–12 [likewise XV:1]) through which they will be refined (4Q174 frgs. 1, II,3,24,5:1–4a) ..."

Beale, G. K. A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New (p. 190) Baker Academic, 2011

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