Watchman: The Waning Signs Are Everywhere

NIV “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.

Jesus already faced a similar rejection when Mary and His brothers, afraid He had gone mad (Mark 3:21), tried to take Him back to Nazareth (Mark 3:31). Today, there are many parts of the country where conversion to Christianity is a betrayal to family honor. People have been killed by their own families for following Jesus.

Jesus challenged the culture in many ways, but one of the most significant is in the area of honor. In an honor-shame culture, such as the Middle East, honor is based more on how people treat you; it’s related to your position in society far more than your integrity or how you act. How a person is perceived is virtually all that matters. Honor is largely a family affair, and one errant relative can shame the entire group. Jesus rejects this way of thinking. He regularly devalues the importance of power and position in the world (Mark 9:33–37; 10:23, 35–45), and even teaches that we may have to choose not to identify with our families (Matthew 10:35–36; Mark 3:33–35). Our true family is the family of God (Romans 9:8; 1 John 3:1–2).

This does not give us carte blanche to be unloving or sinful. There’s a difference between being bold about our faith and being obnoxious (1 Peter 3:15–16). Peter specifically speaks against murdering, stealing, doing evil, and meddling (1 Peter 4:15). Punishment for sinning is not the same as persecution for our faith (1 Peter 2:20). We are meant to emulate Christ, so the evil in the world rejects us for being like Him, not because we’re also bad people (John 15:18–20).

Days before the crucifixion, the disciples extol the temple’s splendor. When Jesus tells them that the temple will be destroyed, they beg for signs of the impending destruction and His return (Matthew 24:3). Jesus answers their second inquiry with knowledge that is critical for believers in the end times and at any time. Christians throughout the Tribulation will experience horrible hardships and violence, as would believers throughout history, but they must realize that the hardships will not last forever. Jesus will return so rapidly that any attempt to follow the world’s rules will be fruitless.