“There’s something else interesting,” he continued. “Do you remember, I told you that America began as a nation on April 29, 1607, when a prayer of dedication was offered by the first English settlers? If you measure four hundred years from then—that’s ten Bible generations—it takes you to the year 2007. The United States of America is the greatest Gentile power in history. I find it fascinating that the end of forty generations of U.S. existence and the end of the Gentile age take place about forty days from each other in 2007.”

Carl spoke up. “I’m beginning to see what you meant when you told us earlier that God had given you insight into Bible prophecy and the present world. It’s astounding that all this fits so perfectly. But I’d be curious to know what else you found out.”

John said, “Well, let’s see what else Jesus had to say about it. Luke twenty-one roughly parallels Matthew twenty-four. Carl, why don’t you read Luke twenty-one, verses ten and eleven for us?”

Carl turned some pages, found the verse, and read, “‘Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.”’”

“Good,” said their teacher. “Now, turn back to Matthew twenty-four, which describes the same thing. But something has been added. Please read verse eight.”

Again, Carl turned the pages until he found these words. “‘All these are the beginning of birth pains.’”

“I’ve never had kids,” said Dave Busby, “but I know a lot of people who have. And what they say about birth pains is, they’re short little pains at first, maybe thirty or forty minutes apart. Then they start coming quicker, and they also last longer and get more intense. And labor can last a long time. When my sister, Julie, had her first baby, she said the pain was so bad that when she was in the middle of labor, she decided she didn’t want to have any more babies. But the minute the doctor put the baby in her arms she forgot all about the pain. Now she’s got five kids!”

“That’s great, Dave.” John Edwards laughed. “Once again, you’re right on target. The signs keep coming closer and closer together and with more intensity until the delivery comes.”

Lori laughed too. “You’re too much, Dave!”

John continued, “The next sign of Jesus’ coming that I saw in the 1990s was the frequency and intensity of war, which we’ve already talked about. But there has been more carnage in the last one hundred years than in all the previous history of the world combined. I believe that a century filled with so much war and destruction can, in itself, clearly be a sign. The wars were, however, only the beginning—not the end.”