24:8 beginning of sorrows. “The beginning of sorrows [i.e., ‘travail’] is the sign just given (i.e., widespread war, famines, etc.). The signs indicate that there will be a succession of similar “travail pains,” in preparation for the birth of the new age to come. The first time such a complex of events ever occurred in history was during, and immediately after, the years of World War I. There have been a number since, a fact which encourages many to believe that the Lord’s second coming is near.