One thing I noticed while viewing and listening to the Newsmax interview (although it is a very small detail) was that when Graham was describing what Jesus had told us in the Bible regarding "the signs of the times" (and how to interpret such signs to mean that it is getting close to Jesus' Second Coming), Franklin neglected to mention, "rumors of wars."
Here are the quotes from the Bible where Jesus mentions "rumors of war":
Mat 24:6 "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.
Mar 13:7 "But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.
Luk 21:9 "But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."
Are you curious to know what "rumors of wars" means? I was interested in finding out so I did a search for commentaries about these verses over at Blue Letter Bible.
First, in Matthew, Jesus said:
Mat 24:6 "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all [fn] these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, [fn] and earthquakes in various places.
Mat 24:8 "All these are the beginning of sorrows.
All that we are experiencing right now - the earthquakes, pestilences, famines, etc. as a result of all of these disasters - are only "the beginning of sorrows." We need to be prepared for the worst case scenario. And I'm not just talking about food, fuel, and shelter. I am talking about eternal salvation!
I like Chuck Smith's outline of a sermon he did years ago (around the year 2000) on these verses.
"THE SIGNS OF HIS COMING"
Intro: Jesus promised His disciples, "if I go, I will come again..." The second coming of Jesus Christ is essential for the fulfillment of Bible prophesy. He shall return to the earth again with His Church to establish God's Kingdom.
I. THE DISCIPLES TWO FOLD QUESTION, "WHEN SHALL THESE THINGS BE, AND WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN OF THY COMING..."
A. Notice the questions do not deal with the rapture of the church which is a separate event.
1. There are no prophetic signs needing fulfillment for this event.
2. This could take place at any time.
3. Jesus said watch, be ye ready.
B. The rapture shall precede by seven years the second coming.
1. So signs of the coming of Christ can cause us to be aware.
2. Many of the signs here in Matthew shall not be fulfilled until last seven years.
a. Verse 14 fulfilled in Revelation 14.
b. Verse 15 happens in the middle of the seven year span and is the mark by which we can number the days 1,290 to the end.
II. WHAT WERE TO BE THE DEFINITE SIGNS.
A. "Nation shall rise against nation..."
1. This denotes world war.
a. Though wars and rumors of wars have existed and were not a sign, world war is to be a sign.
b. Some of you have lived through two such wars.
B. "Famines."
1. Amazing how much we are reading about famines in these days.
a. North Africa being plagued.
b. India has perennial problem.
c. Bangladesh
d. Great drought in mid-west causing some to talk of food rationing by next spring.
e. Food production not keeping up with population expansion.
C. Pestilences.
1. We read each year of new virus that are sweeping around the world.
2. Hospitals become plagued with staph infections [Christine: e.g. MRSA] which seem to be imperious to all disinfectants.
D. Earthquakes indifferent places.
1. Hardly a week passes that you do not read of an earthquake taking place somewhere in the world.
2. They can only speculate at what possible damage might incur here in Orange County if one of the five fault systems should slip.
a. Because of the high water table in this whole basin they speak of the ground liquefying.
b. "The Lord is my refuge and my strength."
III. "NOW LEARN A PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE."
A. A parable was intended to teach a lesson through symbols.
1. Expositional constance.
a. The field is the world.
b. The fig tree the nation Israel.
1. The cursing of the barren fig tree.
B. The re-establishment of the nation Israel was to be a sign.
1. This generation shall not pass.
What does "rumor" mean?
I have discovered that it doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as our current English dictionary states. But the "Word Origin & History" definition (in bold) is more accurate to describe the Greek meaning used in the Bible:
Word Origin & History
rumor
late 14c., from O.Fr. rumour "widespread noise or report" (Fr. rumeur ), from L. rumorem (nom. rumor ) "noise, clamor, common talk, rumor," related to ravus "hoarse." The verb is recorded from 1858 in the sense "spread a rumor." Rumor mill is from 1973. Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Looking in a Bible Concordance, we read the Greek word(s) and meaning(s):
189. akoe ak-o-ay; from 191; hearing (the act, or the sense, or the thing heard): - audience, ear, fame, which ye heard, hearing, preached, report, rumor.
191. akouo, ak-oo-o; a prim. verb; to hear (in various senses):- give (in the) audience (of), come (to the ears), ([shall]) hear (-er, -ken), be noised, be reported, understand.
What is the ultimate purpose of these signs? Namely, the spread of the Gospel! Such signs: "birth pangs" are to give the people of the earth one last chance to repent and accept Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives.
Have YOU heeded the call?
Hat tips to all links.