You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
8 And they
shall be afraid [bahal]: pangs [tsiyr] and sorrows [chebel] shall take hold ['achaz] of
them; they shall be in pain [chuwl] as a woman
that travaileth [yalad]: they shall be amazed [tamahh] one ['iysh] at another [rea`]; their faces [paniym] shall
be as flames [lahab]. KJV-Interlinear
8 And they
will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe
like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their
faces aflame. NASB
Under normal circumstances, a typical pregnancy will run its course in about nine months. Then, at the end of that time frame, labor begins and birth soon follows usually within a matter of hours.
In comparison, the labor and birth process are very short and quick as opposed to the entire duration of the pregnancy. They come on quickly and almost unexpectedly, even when you know with common sense that they are very near.
Someone caught out and unaware could expect a tremendous ordeal and would be helpless to do anything about it.
And that is the intended description within this verse.
The people who will be set against God in those final days of history, will know at least in general terms, the story of the return of Christ, but they will be caught unaware and by surprise by His actual return.
Throughout history there have been wars and world wars and at no time has Christ returned to end it all.
This last battle will be no different in the minds of the evil people fighting it.
And then suddenly as though out of nowhere, Christ will return, but not alone.
There is a mighty and countless host right behind Him. The numbers and the appearance and noise will be staggering.
Looking at each other in astonishment, means simply that they will be dumb founded, totally caught off guard, totally by surprise, staring at the heavens and at each other with a stupefying empty gaze where their thought processes will seem to have stopped completely.
And while the pains of child birth are very real, those folks will be in similar pain, but of an overwhelming mental nature as when a sudden calamity overcomes a person. Their distress and anxiety and fear and terror will be beyond their ability to deal with or even control.
Their faces will be as flames, further describes their mental attitude and reaction to such an invasion.
Typically when people are overcome with anguish they are pale, but here those people will be red faced with rage.
Instead of falling face forward in surrender, instead of falling face forward in seek of mercy and forgiveness, instead of falling on their knees in recognition of Christ as Lord, they will turn to rage and anger and indignation at the appearance of the unwelcome invaders. How dare anyone come and ruin or interfere with their destruction of humanity!
Review the study of Revelation, and you will recall that the world will have fallen head first for years, into total ruin at the behest of the anti-christ leadership, and yet no one will look around and recognize the miserable failure that has been running the world for those past seven years.
There are those who will never turn away from their hate, who will never see their hate nor the repercussions of their hate. And yet they know their own actions and they know the disasters that exist all around, but they stubbornly refuse to make any changes in themselves.
With a lack of doctrine, you will be like that.
With doctrine learned through your study, which is the only way that you can learn, you will not be like that.
Bible doctrine or the lack of it, ultimately decides where you will end up in life.
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