These last few years the world has gone from one earth-shaking crisis to another. Many scientists warn that humanity now totters on the brink of unprecedented disaster and chaos. Day by day, the world’s problems grow more desperate and insurmountable. The question which must plague every thinking person is, “What lies ahead?”
Almost two thousand years ago, looking into the future, our Lord predicted exactly what our world would be like at the end of time. What events were to happen before Jesus’ return and what would be the signs of His coming and the end of the world?
Increased Wickedness
Christ predicted that wickedness would increase prior to His return. “And because wickedness is multiplied, most men’s love will grow cold.” Matthew 24:12 (RSV). Jesus exemplified the pre-advent social wickedness by referring to “the days of Noah.” “As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man.” Luke 17:26 (RSV).
During the days prior to the world-wide flood, mankind rejected God and tended to violence. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Genesis 6:5, 11.
In the last days of this earth’s history, there would be a repetition of the “days of Noah.” Violence throughout the world would surge to unprecedented levels. We are all painfully aware of today’s news full of tragic stories of senseless violence. Every day the stories get more horrible and shocking, while people are getting more desensitized to acts of unbelievable cruelty and viciousness.
• In the U.S., a teenager shoots his father because he wants to see someone bleed to death.
• In England, two ten-year-old boys kidnap and brutally murder a toddler.
• In Taiwan, four teenage boys imprison, rape and torture a fifteen-year old girl for a week
and then kill her.
• In Kosovo, young and old were massacred and laid in mass graves.
• In the U.S., a six-year old boy kills another six-year old classmate with a handgun.
“This was, after all, the third multiple homicide at a Southern school in the past six months. Each successive slaughter had a progressively younger accused killer and a progressively higher body count: In Pearl, Mississippi, in October, a 16-year old shot nine students, killing two (plus his mother, with a knife); in West Paducah, Kentucky, in December, a 14-year-old killed three of his classmates and wounded five more. Last week’s carnage in Jonesboro, Arkansas, may well have been the work of the youngest mass murderers in American history… When the fire alarm went off shortly after 12:30 p.m. last Tuesday, teachers and students at Westside Middle School marched dutifully outside. Four minutes and 27 bullets later, 15 bodies lay bleeding on the pavement.” U.S. News,April 6,1998.
• On April 20, 1999, the worst high school shooting in American history happened ……. when seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed thirteen people, injured two dozen more and then turned their guns on themselves. www.westword.com/issues/2002-10-31.
• In 2001, FBI statistics revealed that “U.S. crime rate is on the rise. The increase included a 3.1 percent rise in murders reported by police departments nationwide, along with significant jumps in the numbers of robberies, burglaries and car thefts…”
Lawlessness, violence and crime are indicators or signs that Jesus will be returning soon.
Wars and Rumors of Wars
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars… For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom….” Matthew 24:6, 7.
The world has never been completely free from the scourge of war, but no period in history has witnessed the escalation of wars as has the twentieth century. The International Red Cross estimates that over 100 million people have been killed in wars since the beginning of the Twentieth Century. Just think about the most recent conflicts: the Persian Gulf War, the Somalian Conflict, the bombing of Afghanistan, and the War in Iraq. All these have been a fulfillment of the prophecy in Matthew 24:7, “Nation shall rise against nation.”
Many see the prospects of another world-wide conflict. The threat of an all-out nuclear war hangs over the world. Nations such as North Korea, China, and India have weapons of mass destruction. Will the world be wiped out by a chemical, biological or nuclear war? Could this happen in our time? The Bible answer is, “Absolutely NOT!” It will be Jesus who will destroy the wicked and then set up His kingdom on the New Earth.
Preaching the Gospel
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
Never has the gospel been preached in all the world to all nations as it is now. If not directly by missionaries, it is certainly being preached through the modern media–radio, television, and the world wide web.
The gospel has been preached to over four billion people. Statistics on the translation and distribution of the Bible reveal the growth of the gospel witness. Over 50 million Bibles, as well as nearly 80 million New Testaments, are distributed every year. The entire Bible or parts thereof, having been translated partially or entirely into some 2,092 different languages and dialects, are now available to about 98 percent of the world’s population.
The world will end when every living person has heard the good news–the gospel of Jesus Christ. It won’t be much longer before 100 percent of the world will have heard the message of salvation.
Natural Disasters
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring.” Luke 21:25.
“In the United States, over 200 tornadoes were observed in January, nearly 14 times the average number… Through November, the U.S. experienced the second greatest number of tornadoes on record, following 1998’s recent year.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Climatic Data Center.
“After a string of tornadoes killed dozens and turned life upside down for tens of thousands of people in their path, residents of Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee try to clean up while bracing for the possibility of more twisters.” MSNBC News May 6, 2003.
“Large scale natural disasters are three times as common as they were in the 1960s experts said yesterday as they declared 1998 the most calamitous on record. Comparing the figures for the 1960s and the past ten years, we have established that the number of great natural catastrophes was three times larger.” The Times: World News, December 30, 1998.
Disasters appear to have increased significantly in recent years. Nature has gone berserk This clearly indicates that Jesus is coming again soon!
Famines and Pestilences
“And there shall be famines and pestilences.” Matthew 24:7. Famines have occurred many times in the history of this world, but they have not occurred on the scale with which they have in the Twentieth Century. Never before has the world had millions of people suffering from starvation or malnutrition. Jesus predicted that there would be an abundance of plagues and diseases marking the time of His return.
The medical community is now warning that not only are bacterial plagues on the rise, but viral killers like HIV and Ebola are occurring more frequently than ever. The World Health Organization states, “”Around the world, more than 6,000 people every day are infected with the HIV and the epidemic is getting worse.” Researchers have not found a cure for HIV. Malawi, like many African countries, is on the cusp of famine and every day new graves are being dug for those who have died of hunger. The combination of severe food shortages and the killer HIV is set to destroy many communities across southern Africa unless help arrives soon. Nearly 13 million people in six southern African countries are at risk of starvation.” “Crisis Looms in Africa” http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/africa/06/11/famine.charity/ June 11, 2002.
Mention must also be made of the deadly SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). This epidemic has caused panic, misery and death in various parts of the world, and it is still not contained.
Are not the frequent famines and the incurable diseases indicators that this generation is living in the end times?
Religious Decline
The widespread proclamation of the gospel does not necessarily mean a massive growth in genuine Christianity. Instead, the Bible predicts a decline of true spirituality toward the end of time. Apostle Paul wrote that “in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Timothy, 3:1-5.
So today, love of self, material things and the world has supplanted the Spirit of Christ in many hearts.
According to Bible prophecy, the signs of the times clearly and boldly declare the greatest event in history— the second coming of Jesus–to be imminent. Are we preparing ourselves for this momentous event?
“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.” Matthew 24:42, 44.
Now is the time for us to go to Jesus and let Him purify our sinful hearts. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37.