You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not terrified. For these things must take place, but the end is not yet.”​—Matt. 24:4-6.

“WARS AND REPORTS OF WARS”

11. When was it that the apostles were to “hear of wars and reports of wars”?

¹¹ Besides the appearance of false Christs (which would indicate that Jesus Christ would not be personally present in flesh), the apostles were to “hear of wars and reports of wars.” In the case of some wars, the apostles would be so close to the neighborhood of them as to hear directly the sound of them, and not hear mere reports of distant battles. When would this be? Since Jesus’ prophetic words here are leading up to his description of the destruction of earthly Jerusalem, these wars would be between the time of his prophecy and the destruction of the holy city. Especially so if the apostles were to “hear of” such wars.

By going on to say that nation would rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, Jesus is explaining why it is that they would hear of wars and reports of wars. But they should not get disturbed at such wars, because these are not the visible proof that the end is right upon them. And according to secular history, there were wars that occurred between the time that Jesus ascended to heaven and the destruction of the holy city. There were the Parthian wars in southwest Asia and the uprisings that took place in the Roman provinces of Gaul and Spain. There was the war waged by Asinaeus and Alinaeus against the Parthians to the east of the Roman Empire. There was the Parthian declaration of war against King Izates of the land of Adiabene.a