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In Matthew 24, Jesus describes wars, famine, and upheaval before the end. 6 Ezra similarly describes conflict and disasters in the end of the age, using Jewish expectations of turmoil before a new age.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Matthew 24:7
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.
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
6 Ezra 15:15
2 Esdras 15–16
Early Christian
11 but I will bring them out with a mighty hand and with a high arm, and will strike Egypt with plagues, as before, and will destroy all its land.” 12 Let Egypt and its foundations mourn, for the plague of the chastisement and the punishment that God will bring upon it. 13 Let the farmers that till the ground mourn, for their seeds will fail and their trees will be ruined through the blight and hail, and a terrible tempest. 14 Woe to the world and those who dwell in it! 15 For the sword and their destruction draws near, and nation will rise up against nation to battle with weapons in their hands. 16 For there will be sedition among men, and growing strong against one another. In their might, they won’t respect their king or the chief of their great ones.
Date: 262–313 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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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. 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 fragments 1, II,3,24,5:1–4a) ..."
G. K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011), 190.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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