Christ referred to “the beginning of sorrows” (lit., “the beginning of birth pangs,” Mt. 24:8). The fact that He called those “the beginning of birth pangs” indicates that more birth pangs would follow them. It seems apparent that by this expression He had in mind the earlier, less severe birth pangs that precede the later, most severe birth pangs of hard labor. Concerning the deceptive false messiahs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in many places that Christ said will make up the beginning of birth pangs, George Bertram said they “are the woes with which the end-time is ushered in, or the beginning of sorrows which will be followed by others that are even more severe.”

Two things indicate that the beginning of birth pangs will occur during the first half of the 70th week (Dan. 9:27). First, it is obvious that Jesus was drawing an analogy with a woman’s birth-pang experience. Just as a woman’s beginning, less severe birth pangs precede her later, most severe pangs of hard labor, so the beginning, less severe pangs of the world’s future time of trouble must precede its later, most severe pangs of hard labor. Since those later hard labor pangs will occur during the second half of the 70th week, the beginning of birth pangs must take place during the first half of those seven years.

Second, Christ introduced and discussed the beginning of birth pangs (Mt. 24:4-8) before He introduced the abomination of desolation and the Great Tributation (Mt. 24:15-21), and it appears that He introduced and discussed events in chronological order in this section of Matthew 24. This implies that the beginning of birth pangs will precede the abomination of desolation (of the middle of the 70th week) and the Great Tributlation (of the second half of the 70th week) and therefore will occur during the first half of that seven-year period.

The Beginning of Birth Pangs and the First Four Seals

A comparison of Christ’s description of the beginning of birth pangs in Matthew 24:5-7 with the first four seals of Revelation 6:1-8 indicates that the beginning of birth pangs and the first four seals are the same thing.

In addition, immediately after His description of the beginning of birth pangs, Christ referred to the killing those associated with Him (Mt. 24:9). Parallel to this, the fifth seal refers to people killed because of their testimony (Rev. 6:9-11).

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Ancient Judaism taught that a seven-year period of time will immediately precede the Messiah’s coming to rule the world. The Babylonian Talmud states, “Our Rabbis taught: In the seven-year cycle at the end of which the son of David will come. . . at the conclusion of the septennate the son of David will come.”

Raphael Patai, writing on the Messianic texts said, “The idea became entrenched that the coming of the Messiah will be preceded by greatly increased suffering. . . This will last seven years. And then, unexpectedly, the Messiah will come.” According to The Babylionian Talmud “the advent of the Messiah was pictured as being preceded by years of great distress.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls and other literature called the severe troubles of the seven years before the Messiah’s coming “the birth pangs of the Messiah.” Millar Burrows pointed this out in his book on the Scrolls” “A prominent feature of Jewish eschatology, as represented especially by the rabbinic literature, was the time of trouble preceding Messiah’s coming. It was called ‘the birth pangs of the Messiah,’ sometimes more briefly translated as ‘the Messianic woes’ “.

Why call these future troubles “the birth pangs of the Messiah”? Because travail precedes birth, and this travail “precedes the birth of a new era” — the Messianic Age. Just as a woman must go through a period of agony before her child is born into the world, so the world will go through birth pangs before the Messianic Age is born into the world.

Martin Buber wrote in Gog and Magog that “the world-body must be in labor, must suffer great pain, must come to the brink of death, before Redemption can be born. For its sake God permits the earthly powers to rise up against Him more and more. . . until the struggle be intensified into the pangs of the Messiah.” Those birth pangs, according to the Apocalypse of Abraham, will involve such things as the sword (war), famine, pestilence, and wild beasts. In addition:

The pangs of the Messianic times are imagined as having heavenly as well as earthly sources and expressions. From Above, awesome cosmic cataclysms will be visited upon the earth: conflagrations, pestilence, famine, earthquakes, hail and snow, thunder and lightening. These will be paralleled by evils brought by men upon themselves: insolence, robberty, heresy, harlotry, corruption, oppression, cruel edicts, lack of truth, and no fear of sin. All this will lead to internal decay, demoralization, and even apostasy. Things will come to such a head that people will despair of Redemption. this will last seven years. And then, unexpectedly, the Messiah will come.

Some rabbis have taught that the Messiah will not come until the birth pangs become so severe that the Jews will “despair of the Redemption. . . When, as it were, Israel will have neither supporter nor helper.”

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