Final War

In the end there will be many wars; this will be one of the signs that the end is near. In Matthew 24:7-8, Jesus Christ foretold signs that would mark the time leading up to His return: "e;For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places "e;We have certainly seen devastating earthquakes in recent years. The December 2004 earthquake off Indonesia was the most powerful in decades, unleashing a massive tsunami that took some 300,000 lives. Less than a year later, an earthquake in southern Asia killed another 30,000. In Matthew 24:7, the Greek word translated "e;earthquakes"e; is seismos, from which we derive such English words as "e;seismology,"e; referring to the study of earthquakes. Strong's Lexicon defines it as "e;a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquakeearthquake, tempest. Seismos has a broader meaning than just the earth shaking. Matthew 8 records how a violent storm overtook Jesus and His disciples on the Sea of Galilee, threatening to capsize their boat and drown themuntil Jesus miraculously calmed the winds and waves.