But when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be not disturbed, for [this] must happen, but the end is not yet.
The disciples had asked when the temple's great stones would come down, and the Lord answers first by telling them what will not be a sign. Wars are coming, He says, but they settle nothing about the timing. So His first word is about their own hearts.
The warning is not against expecting the Lord. It is against letting present trouble convince you that the last crisis has already arrived. One writer weighs how the word is used elsewhere. (Older translations read "be not troubled" where the ESV has "do not be alarmed.")
"Be troubled" is used in Matthew 24:6 and Mark 13:7 just as it is used here: present troubles should not make them think the end is near, or that the day of the Lord has come. In neither case is the problem a wrong expectation. It is trouble from present circumstances, which alarms the mind and takes away its security, so that it fears as if the day of the Lord were already here. "When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed." The trouble clearly came from disturbing causes that were really and visibly at work.
The Lord does not call wars good. He calls them necessary. The reason lies in how the world treated Him.
The Lord also warns the disciples not to conclude that the end is near because of "wars and rumors of wars." Such things must happen in a world that has rejected Christ. Wars, earthquakes, famines and troubles are the beginning of sorrows, not the end.
Another writer comes at it from the other side. Only the reign of the King they refused will end war.
Moral improvement, truth winning the day, peace for mankind — these were still misleading dreams, and they were to be on their guard against them. They would hear of wars and rumors of wars. Only when He takes His great power and reigns could it be otherwise, as Isaiah predicts. His disciples were not to let this disturb or deceive them. Such evil things must be because the King was rejected, and the end is not yet.
The Lord gives this warning so that His servants can keep working while the world shakes.
So the Lord is providing what would guide and strengthen His witnesses, keeping them calm and steady in their places. The end was not yet. He gives instruction that would keep them calm in service, not stirred up by circumstances or by false hopes, not saying, Look! here, or Look! there, and not shaken by what shook the world. They might still serve quietly on.
Kelly points to the servant character of Christ, kept even in this prophecy:
Christ Himself is the perfect Servant of God, the Prophet here on earth preaching the Gospel and doing works in the spirit of it. So even in His prophecy He is still the Servant, giving them what would matter so much, not only for their souls but for their work. It is not only a prediction of coming judgments. It also warns and instructs them in their testimony.
Here the Lord says the end is not yet. The letters written to Christians say the end is at hand. Kelly explains the difference by asking who is in view.
When Scripture addresses the Church, it presses the opposite attitude: for the Church, the end is at hand... These judgments fall as payment for the Jews' rejection of the true Christ. The Church has received the true Christ, and so does not come under them. So the word of God always presses on the Christian the assurance that the end of all things is at hand. "The night is far gone; the day is at hand" (Rom. 13:12). The point for the disciples on the Mount of Olives — for they stood not for Christians, but for the remnant of Jewish disciples in the last days — is that these distresses and troubles come before the disaster that ends this age, but the end is not yet. The Lord was providing for them twice over. His instruction would hold true then and up to the fall of Jerusalem, and it would fit the last days too, when Jerusalem is besieged a second time.
One writer, asked about a war of his own day, turned the argument around.
Judging from Scripture, my own feeling is that this war is certainly not one of those spoken of... Those wars are after the church is gone — when the Jewish remnant has been developed, and false Christs are presenting themselves to the Jews... so that if this were one of the wars and rumors of wars of Matthew 24, it would rather be a proof that the end is not yet.
- Cause. War is not random. Such things must happen in a world that has rejected Christ, and only His reign in power will end them.
- Command. "Do not be alarmed" aims at one fear — that present trouble means the day of the Lord has come.
- Correction. Wars are the beginning of sorrows, not the end — the very sound of them proves the end is not yet.
- Contrast. To these disciples the word is "the end is not yet"; to the Christian the word is that the end of all things is at hand.
- Consequence. The aim is calm servants: not agitated by what agitates the world, but quietly serving on.
For nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be earthquakes in [different] places, and there shall be famines and troubles these things [are the] beginnings of throes.
The Lord has just told His disciples that the temple will fall, and they have asked when it will happen. His answer gives them no date. Instead it gives them a category: wars, earthquakes and famines are not the end, but the first pangs of it.
The ESV renders the closing phrase "the beginning of the birth pains." That is the force of the Greek word, which the Bible only uses a handful of times.
The Greek words kopos, ponos, mochthos, and odin have similar meanings, but they carry different ideas. Odin occurs only four times in the New Testament. In its literal sense it refers to the pangs of a woman in childbirth. It has that sense in 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Twice it refers to the pangs that will seize the wicked when God pours out His judgements on the earth: Matthew 24:8 and Mark 13:8. Once it refers to the pains of death endured by the Lord, in Acts 2:24.
Birth pangs go somewhere. They are not random pain but pain with an outcome attached.
For nation would rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there were to be earthquakes, famines, and troubles in different places; these were the beginnings of this world's throes for the bringing forth of judgment.
These upheavals settle nothing about the timing. A world that has turned its back on Christ should expect them.
The Lord warns the disciples not to conclude that the end is near because of "wars and rumors of wars." Such things must take place in a world that has rejected Christ. Wars, earthquakes, famines and troubles are the beginning of sorrows, not the end.
These events prove nothing about the date, so they should not unsettle anyone. The Lord wants His witnesses working, not watching the headlines.
But the disciples were not to be troubled. All this would come to pass. These were no signs of His coming; the end was not yet. So the Lord is caring for what would guide and strengthen His witnesses, keeping them calm and steady in their places. The end was not yet. He gives them instruction that would make them calm in service, not stirred up by circumstances or by false hopes. They were not to say, Look here, or Look there, or to be stirred by what stirred the world. They might still serve quietly on.
Mark's account of this prophecy keeps circling back to the disciples' work. That fits the whole character of his book.
But here we find that the Lord's warnings and instructions clearly have their service in view. This has been the character of Mark all through. Christ Himself is the perfect Servant of God, the Prophet here below preaching the Gospel and doing works in its spirit. So even in His prophecy He is the Servant, still giving them what would be of such high importance, not only for their souls, but in their work.
Here is a striking contrast. Elsewhere Christians are told the end is near; here disciples are told it is not yet. Commentators explain the difference by who is being addressed.
When Scripture addresses the Church, it presses the opposite attitude: for the Church the end is at hand… These troubled times of the end fall on the Jewish people, not on the Church. They repay the nation for rejecting the true Christ. The Church has received the true Christ, and so does not come under these judgments. That is why the word of God always presses on the Christian the assurance that the end of all things is at hand… But the disciples on the Mount of Olives stood for the faithful remnant of Jewish disciples in the last days, not for Christians. So the point for them is this: these distresses and troubles come before the disaster that ends this age, yet the end is not yet.
Almost twenty centuries have passed since the Lord spoke these words. One writer finds mercy in the delay.
Almost 2000 years have now passed, and in them God is gathering out the Church. This prophecy does not take that long gap into account, apart from the mention of general troubles such as wars, earthquakes and famines. The disciples would certainly not have expected so many centuries to pass before the Lord's words were fulfilled. But God has lengthened the time of His grace far beyond what anyone would expect. How great is His patience and grace!
- Pangs, not spasms. The word means the pains of childbirth — pain that is going somewhere, and what it brings forth is judgment.
- Beginning, not end. Wars, earthquakes and famines settle nothing about the date. In a world that has rejected Christ, such things must take place.
- Steady, not stirred. These are no sign of His coming, so the Lord aims at workers who "might still serve quietly on" while the world shakes.
- Servant, not spectator. Mark records the prophecy with the disciples' service in view. His subject is Christ the perfect Servant of God.
- Patience, not delay. The centuries the prophecy passes over in one phrase are God lengthening the time of His grace — "How great is His patience and grace!"