OPINION (Jennifer Leclaire) – When I led a team to the Holy Land in February, the Holy Spirit spoke these words to me: “The earth is groaning louder in Israel.” I shared it with a few people and have been praying on it. I knew immediately the Holy Spirit was pointing me to Romans 8:22-24,
“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?” The whole creation includes the earth, stars, plants, animals and human beings. But the Holy Spirit specifically pointed to the earth groaning in Israel, and even louder in Israel than in other places. What does this mean?
It means we’re edging closer to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. After Joel prophesied about God pouring out His spirit on all flesh and people prophesying, having dreams and visions in Joel 2:28-29, he prophesied about the end-times in verses 30-32: “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.” The signs of the times are all around us, and Jesus expects us to recognize them (see Matthew 16:3).
Certainly, we’ve entered into the beginnings of sorrows Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24:4-8: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” READ MORE
