StudyGrowKnow

Birth Pains VS Tribulation Judgments

This past week I’ve been studying up on the difference between birth pains and the judgments that occur inside the Tribulation. It’s amazing to me how people’s viewpoints differ on the subject. Here are a few examples of what I’m talking about with these linked articles. [1] [2] [3] [4]

I might as well add my voice and I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything if they disagree with me. I also won’t necessarily be going over each of the four highlighted articles with a fine tooth comb. They all bring some good points to the fore. I’m simply offering my opinion on what seems to make the most sense to me, based on the biblical record.

If you consider Jesus’ words, He specifically used the term “birth pains/pangs” in Matthew 24, which is considered to be the Olivet Discourse. Jesus had just left the Jewish Temple for the final time and was discussing aspects of prophetic discourse with His disciples. Of course they had questions, which He did answer, although the answers are spread across Matthew, Mark and Luke.

When Jesus joins His disciples, they opined just how majestic and beautiful the Temple was at that time. Jesus responds with this sad note from Matthew 24:2, “Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” This clearly intrigued the disciples who immediately wanted to know when this would happen and they wanted to know two other things; when He was going to set up His Kingdom and what were the specifics as to the very end of the age, (v3).

From our perspective, it seems clear that Jesus was looking ahead to AD 70, when Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem, attacked it, sacked it and destroyed the Jewish Temple that was standing at the time. It was a future event from where Jesus stood then, but it is an event in history from our perspective today.

Jesus then responds to them by first warning them to not be led astray (v4), because many would come in His Name and deceive many people throughout the world. So His first command to them was to not be deceived. Since the 1960’s (during my day as a young person until today), deception has been growing throughout society. It’s not merely in the area of religion either. We are seeing the deception that declares men can be women and women can be men. This type of deceit is ridiculous to those of us who see it clearly for what it is. Unfortunately, too many embrace it.

But of course Jesus was also especially referring to “messiahs” who would come in His Name and try to deceive the flock. Those believers who don’t know the Bible and/or have an active, growing relationship with God in Christ, are far more likely to be deceived than those who have some form of grounding in His Word and fellowship with other believers routinely.

Starting in Matthew 24:6, Jesus states the following about the other things that will be occurring.

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

Here, Jesus makes it clear that the following things will occur and likely in increasing measure:

• wars
• rumors of wars
• famines
• earthquakes

We’ll talk about these in a moment. In verse 8, Jesus states without equivocation, “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”

Birth Pains
Jesus here is specifically and deliberately referring to the process of when a biological woman gives birth. Physical birth has three stages:

1. Stage 1 – Dilation and Effacement (average 11-14 hours)
2. Stage 2 – Expulsion (average 30-60 minutes)
3. Stage 3 – Placental Delivery (average 5-10 minutes)

Stage 1 is normally not recognized until regularly spaced contractions begin to occur. Prior to this, there may be birth pains or contractions, but if they are not regular and evenly spaced out, even increasing in occurrence, then the woman is normally not considered to be in Stage 1, what is called active labor.

The goal of Stage 1 is to thin and dilate the cervix in preparation for the physical delivery/birth of the baby. During Stage 1, hormones like oxytocin and prostaglandins act to increase the intensity and frequency of contractions.

But let’s be clear here. Any contractions prior to Stage 1 are not considered part of active labor. These are considered the physical aspects that lead up to the beginning of the actual labor resulting in birth.

In that sense then, I tend to see these birth pains that Jesus mentions as preceding the coming Tribulation period. These events He specifically mentions – wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes – are those things that occur before the actual Tribulation begins. These tend to be cyclical throughout history, however, as the end of the age and the start of the Tribulation approaches, they will increase in frequency.

For instance, famine has always been part of our world in various places. Currently, according to the United Nations, 363 million people are at risk of acute hunger in 2026 and 45 million people are at risk of acute hunger because of Middle East conflict. [5] I’m not sure what, if anything that same UN is doing about it except warning the world, but if we stop to consider it, that’s over 400 million people in this world who risk serious hunger and potential starvation due to a lack of food.

When the Great Depression occurred, by 1932, over 60 million people were affected by severe food shortages and hunger. People were absolutely destitute and because of that, were starving. Simply Google world famines in history to learn how many, how often and how long famines have been around and the deaths caused by them and you will discover that famines have seemingly always been with us (and the Bible mentions numerous). It’s probably safe to say that the potential deaths from existing famines and/or severe food shortages today are far greater than many from the past.

Wars and rumors of wars have also always been with us, yet today, it seems as though many nations on are on edge, wondering if they are going to have to defend themselves against incursions from other nations/armies. It seems the world is collectively waiting for the other shoe to drop. Earthquakes also have been steadily rising throughout the earth.

My point is I’m not convinced that these “birth pains” that Jesus highlighted are actually part of the coming Tribulation. I know that some believe they are, while some do not. I’m one who leans toward the belief that these birth pain signs are those that lead up to the start of the Tribulation period. I certainly could be wrong there. The problem for me is that these specific signs that Jesus highlights have often been seen throughout history. They come, they go. They come around again, then go.

Right now, due to the war with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, fuel prices are skyrocketing. Because fuel prices are going up, food costs and everything else goes up with it because products/food need to be trucked to markets/stores. If it costs more for trucking firms to truck things to those stores, then obviously, they will pass that increase onto the consumer.

I’ve been reading from some within the prophecy circles that famine is going to be huge (bigger than it currently is now), because of the Iran war. It could be, but if the war dies down and things return to the previous normal, then it is also natural to consider that fuel prices will return to normal, what it was before the war. However, if it continues for any great length of time, we should expect prices to continue to rise.

So, because the four things that Jesus mentions – wars/rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes – have always been with us, I’m not convinced that these are actually part of the coming Tribulation since we can easily point to them in our past. However, due to their increased frequency and intensity, like a woman who is heading into active labor, but not ultimately there yet, these signs now could well mean that the actual Tribulation is coming soon, sooner than we thought previously.

Certainly, while God Himself credits Himself with wars and famines in the Bible, some of these signs are also artificially created by humanity as well. We see this happening with the Iran War. Even though the USA does not get its oil from abroad, the price of oil has risen quite a bit and I see that as corporate greed, using the excuse of the Iran War to push up prices. This inflationary cost is passed onto consumers and not just at the fuel pumps, but at all stores.

Wars and rumors of them are also specifically created by the way leaders of nations think and consider other nations. While God is completely sovereign and in charge, the actions of specific leaders point to the responsibility they bear if war is entered into with other nations. Certainly, no one would have thought that Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian armies attacking other nations including Israel meant the Tribulation was going to start soon. Warfare has always been part of society, unfortunately.

All of these events move us toward the starting point of the coming Tribulation still ahead of us, but we honestly cannot say that the wars, skirmishes and rumors of wars happening today are the ones that will directly usher in the coming Tribulation, can we?

We know that the Tribulation does not begin until the rider on the white horse of Revelation 6 comes into view. When that happens, the Tribulation will have officially begun, just as the women enters Stage 1 of the active labor process leading to a birth.

But another question to ask is this: what does the coming Tribulation period birth? Is it merely a seven year period of judgments, one followed by another in earnest? Is that the “birth”? Obviously not. The Tribulation has several reasons for occurring. First, it is to refine and judge Israel for their waywardness (Jacob’s Trouble), and gather the final remnant that will go into the Millennial Kingdom following the Tribulation period. Second, it is to judge the unbelievers of the world who have resolutely continued to reject God and His sovereignty. There is a third reason for it as well.

What happens at the end of the coming Tribulation? Jesus physically returns to this planet. In essence, He is “birthed” a second time into humankind but this time as a full grown adult, the God-Man, who returns to this planet in complete victory, destroying His enemies and setting up His Kingdom over which He will rule for 1,000 years. Once He completes His thousand year reign, He will give the Kingdom to His Father (1 Corinthians 15:23-24).

When we consider the 21 specific judgments that occur within the coming seven year Tribulation period (kicked off by the rider on the white horse’s appearance on the world’s stage; aka the Antichrist or Islam’s Final Mahdi), I see this whole period as Stage 1, 2, and 3 of the entire birth process (active labor), with the beginning of birth pains (wars, rumors of wars, famine and earthquakes), representing the time prior to the start of the actual three stage active labor process. The birth pains lead up to and introduce the coming Tribulation just as the mother who experiences intermittent birth pains and some contractions, but has not entered active labor.

If prophecy pundits didn’t have something to point to constantly, they’d have nothing to talk about and warn us of, so we hear from them on a regular basis. The trouble for me is when specific dogmatic statements are made about some event that may or may not be correct. General birth pains occur prior to the woman entering active labor. Once the woman enters active labor, she knows it’s go time and soon a human being will be born. For me, the active labor starts when the Tribulation period begins. While yes, there are contractions and pains, but until they become regularly occurring with growing frequency and force, the three stage active labor process has not yet officially begun.

I think the same is true for what we are witnessing in the world today. Wars, rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes have been around since humanity fell. So, we cannot use those as concrete guides to measure the end times. They certainly point to the fact that we are getting closer, but they do not tell us that we have actually entered the Tribulation. I don’t see the rider on the white horse, do you? Once he arrives and the Tribulation begins, the world will have entered the active labor process resulting ultimately in the return of our Lord, Savior, Messiah, God and King!

[1] https://biblestudysimply.com/end-of-the-world-according-to-jesus-study-guides/

[2] https://joelstrumpet.com/the-beginning-of-birth-pangs-the-timing-of-matthew-24/

[3] https://christskingdom.org/2026/03/21/birth-pains-before-the-coming-of-christ-matthew-241-8/

[4] https://www.raptureready.com/2014/11/28/birth-pangs-by-jack-kelley/

[5] https://www.wfp.org/global-hunger-crisis

June 1, 2026 at 1:37 PM 4 comments