Matthew 24:7 Commentary: Study, Wars, Famines, Earthquakes as Signs

Jesus spoke these words on the Mount of Olives, just days before his crucifixion, in response to his disciples’ question: “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). The temple stood behind them, a symbol of national pride and religious identity, yet Jesus had already predicted its complete destruction (Matthew 24:2). The disciples expected a single, glorious moment of consummation. Jesus instead gives a series of escalating birth pains.

The first-century world was primed for upheaval. Roman rule stretched from Britain to Persia, and provincial tensions repeatedly erupted into open revolt. In Judea, resentment against Roman taxation and interference boiled over. Josephus records a massacre at Caesarea in AD 66 where 20,000 Jews were killed after a dispute over civic rights; the Jewish population retaliated by ravaging Syrian villages. Clarke and Barnes cite these specific conflicts as fulfillments of “nation rising against nation.” Rome itself saw civil war in AD 69, the Year of the Four Emperors, when Otho and Vitellius fought for the throne, fulfilling “kingdom against kingdom.”

Natural disasters compounded the chaos. A severe famine prophesied by Agabus struck Judea around AD 44 (Acts 11:28). Barnes notes that famine struck Rome, Palestine, and Greece four times under Claudius. Pestilence followed famine; Josephus records a plague in Babylonia in AD 40, and Tacitus notes one in Italy in AD 66. Earthquakes toppled cities across Asia Minor, Laodicea, Hierapolis, Colosse, parts of Pompeii, all before Jerusalem fell in AD 70. The Old Testament background (Isaiah 19:2, 24:19; Ezekiel 14:21) frames such catastrophes as divine judgments, covenantal curses for unfaithfulness. Jesus takes these familiar images and reorders them: they are not the final wrath, but the opening contractions of a new age.

The Greek text of Matthew 24:7 is well established across the major manuscripts (א, B, D, etc.). The only variation among the supplied English translations is the inclusion or omission of “pestilences” (λοιμοί). The WEB, KJV, YLT, and Darby include it; the ASV and BSB omit the word, likely following Codex Sinaiticus and Vaticanus which lack λοιμοί in this verse. The reading with “plagues” appears in Codex Bezae and many later manuscripts, possibly imported from the parallel in Luke 21:11. Regardless, the weight of external evidence slightly favors the shorter reading, but the longer reading has strong early support. The interpretive meaning is not substantially affected, Jesus’ point about escalating disasters remains clear either way. The consulted sources (Clarke, Barnes, Gill, et al.) do not discuss this variant.

From the second century onward, Christian readers interpreted Matthew 24:7 as a prophecy whose fulfillment they could see in the Roman-Jewish wars. Eusebius of Caesarea, in his Church History, explicitly connected the Jewish revolt and the siege of Jerusalem to Jesus’ words, citing Josephus as a witness. Early church fathers such as Tertullian and Origen read the passage as both a historical warning for Israel and a spiritual admonition for the church. During the Reformation, the Geneva Bible notes (1599) and Matthew Henry’s commentary (1710) continued this dual reading: the events were fulfilled in history, yet they also stand as a pattern of divine judgment for all nations. In the nineteenth century, dispensationalist teachers (e.g., John Nelson Darby) shifted the emphasis to a future fulfillment during a seven-year tribulation, separating the passage from its first-century context. This produced an ongoing debate, still active in evangelical circles, between a preterist reading (past fulfillment) and a futurist reading (still future). Despite these differences, Christians across traditions have consistently used this verse as a call to endurance and hope in times of global crisis.

Three-Point Outline

1. Birth Pains, Not the Finale. Jesus intentionally brackets these horrors with verse 6 (“the end is not yet”) and verse 8 (“the beginning of birth pains”). Wars, famines, and earthquakes are not the finish line, they are the start. This frees believers from panic and fixes their hope on what comes after the pain.
2. God’s Sovereignty in Chaos. The verb “will rise up” (ἐγερθήσεται) is passive, nations are stirred. The famines, plagues, and earthquakes are not random; they happen “in various places” under divine permission. God is not caught off guard by headlines of conflict or disaster.
3. The Church’s Call to Endurance. Verse 13 promises, “He who endures to the end will be saved.” Signs are not given to satisfy curiosity but to strengthen perseverance. Knowing the pattern in advance (v.25) keeps disciples from being shaken.

Five-Point Outline

1. Christ predicts escalating international conflict (nation vs. nation) as the normal state of this age.
2. Natural disasters, famines, epidemics, earthquakes, compound the suffering, creating conditions of systemic fragility.
3. These events fulfill Old Testament prophetic patterns (Isaiah 19:2, Ezekiel 14:21) and serve as divine wake-up calls.
4. Jesus explicitly reframes them as “birth pains”, pain that signals life is coming, not death.
5. Disciples are called to watch, pray, and endure, trusting that the gospel will be preached to all nations before the end arrives (v.14).

Illustration Hooks

• The news cycle: A 24-hour news feed of wars, famines, and earthquakes can feel overwhelming. Jesus’ words give Christians permission to see the same news and not be paralyzed.
• Childbirth analogy: A woman in labor knows the pain is intense but temporary. She focuses not on the contraction but on the child she will hold. Jesus invites believers to look past the pain to the coming King.
• Building on shifting ground: Earthquakes remind us that nothing in this world is permanent, not institutions, not nations, not even the ground under our feet. Only Christ’s kingdom cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28).

Questions Your Congregation Is Asking

• “Are these wars and natural disasters signs that Jesus is coming very soon?”
• “If God is in control, why does he allow so much suffering and chaos?”
• “How should I respond when I see alarming headlines, should I prepare for the end or keep living normally?”

Matthew 24:7 sits inside Jesus’ longest recorded sermon about the future. The disciples asked for a timeline; Jesus gave them a framework for faithful living. This small-group study focuses on how to interpret and apply the “birth pains” he describes. Read the passage slowly together (Matthew 24:3, 14), then work through the questions below.

Discussion Questions

1. Observation: What specific events does Jesus list in verse 7? How does he describe them in verse 8?
2. Observation: Read the context, verses 4, 6 and 9, 14. What does Jesus say should not happen to his followers when they hear of these things?
3. Interpretation: Why do you think Jesus calls these events “the beginning of birth pains” rather than “the end”? What does that image communicate about God’s purposes?
4. Interpretation: The Old Testament passages cited by commentators (Isaiah 19:2, Ezekiel 14:21) use similar language for God’s judgment. How does Jesus’ use of the same language change or expand its meaning?
5. Application: When you hear news of international conflict or a major earthquake, what is your immediate emotional reaction? How might Jesus’ words reshape that reaction?
6. Application: Some Christians see every disaster as a direct sign of the end. Others see them as normal suffering in a fallen world. Which view do you lean toward, and why? How does this passage help you hold both perspectives together?
7. Application: Verse 14 (“this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world”) is attached to the same timeline. How does the mission of the church relate to the “birth pains” of this age?