What Is The Time Of The End? ( 16)

The End Time in the Book of Revelation

In the biblical book of Revelation, Jesus Christ foretold many more signs of the time of the end. What do these mysterious signs mean?

In the Gospel accounts Jesus gave a brief summary of the events and conditions leading up to His return. But later He filled in many details. Sixty years passed before He revealed more of the specifics about the end time to the apostle John. This long and detailed prophecy is in the last book of the Bible, Revelation.

Here we find again the outline of the prophecy Jesus gave on the Mount of Olives, but represented in extensive symbolism. We also find additional details.

In the first chapter John writes that, in vision, he was taken to the time he called "the Lord's day"—the same period called "the day of the Lord" by earlier prophets and other apostles (Isaiah:13:6, 9; Joel:1:15; Amos:5:18-20

; Obadiah:1:15; Zephaniah:1:14;Zechariah:14:1; Malachi:4:5; 1 Thessalonians:5:2; 2 Peter:3:10).

Vision of the end time

Revelation is a book written to reveal the future, and Jesus Christ is the One who does the revealing: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place … Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him" (Revelation:1:1, 7).

Here is the theme of Revelation—the time of the end of the age and the return of Jesus Christ to establish God's Kingdom on earth.

John explains where he was when he received this vision of the end time: "I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet" (Revelation:1:9-10).

The Lord's day (also known as "the day of the Lord" or "the day of Christ" throughout Scripture) is the time of God's intervention in human affairs when He establishes His Kingdom. (Plainly in this context it does not refer to a particular day of the week for worshipping God. 

The apostle Paul, referring to this same time, says: "For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape" (1 Thessalonians:5:2-3).

In another epistle Paul calls it "the day of Christ" (2 Thessalonians:2:2). The reason is that Jesus Christ, the Lord, intervenes in a powerful way at this time to take over the world. This is why this end-time period is called the Lord's day.

John's vision of the Lord's day begins in Revelation 4: "Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne" (verse 2). After describing the scene in heaven, John focuses on a scroll God holds that lists end-time events. "And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals" (Revelation:5:1).

Only Jesus Christ, called the Lamb, is worthy to open the seals and unleash these end-time events. When God the Father determines the time is ready, He authorizes Jesus to initiate the events written on the scroll. They include the terrifying end-time occurrences prophesied throughout the Scriptures to take place during the 3 1⁄2 year period.

The seven seals describe the events before and during Christ's return to rule the earth. "Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels …saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!'" (Revelation:5:11-12). Here Jesus Christ is being authorized to unleash the final events and then establish His Kingdom on earth.

To be cont'd .

God bless you all. 

What Is The Time Of The End? (15)

'This Generation Will Not Pass'

What did Jesus mean when He referred to this generation?

Many are puzzled by Jesus Christ's words, "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place" (Matthew:24:34).

Did He mean that generation of His disciples? First, note the future context. Jesus had just said, "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!" (verse 33).

Did His disciples "see all these things" in their generation? Certainly not. They were not in a generation that had the ability to destroy all of mankind. Jesus said of the final, end-time generation, "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved" (verse 22). Clearly the weapons of that day were not sufficient to bring this prophecy to pass.

Although Christ's disciples did see wars, famines, plagues and persecutions, and some even lived to see the destruction of Jerusalem several decades later, these were not the total fulfillment of Jesus Christ's words. They were not the prophesied global events that would directly lead to Jesus Christ's return.

So what did Jesus mean when He referred to "this generation"? He could not have meant that current generation of His day. They died without seeing all the events leading to His return. The obvious meaning, then, is that He could only have meant the generation of the last days.

Jesus knew that the course of end-time events would not continue indefinitely. Once they were set in motion, all would occur within the lifetime of one generation. Only one generation will witness all the mounting global conditions described in God's Word. That generation will see the arrival of the specific 3 1⁄2-year period that will mark the end of "this present evil age" and usher in the Kingdom of God.

These events will not pass from one generation to another. Once the prophesied conditions exist, all will be fulfilled—including the return of Jesus Christ—within the lifetime of one generation. Considering the signs Jesus foretold that would mark that time, it appears to be here.

To be cont'd. 

God bless you all. 

What Is The Time Of The End? (14)

Did Jesus Christ Foretell Devastating Storms?

Are natural disasters, earthquakes and hurricanes, increasing as Jesus foretold?

In Matthew:24:7-8
, Jesus Christ foretold signs that would mark the time leading up to His return: "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places …"

We have certainly seen devastating earthquakes in recent years. The December 2004 earthquake off Indonesia was the most powerful in decades, unleashing a massive tsunami that took some 300,000 lives. Less than a year later, an earthquake in southern Asia killed another 30,000.

In Matthew:24:7, the Greek word translated "earthquakes" is seismos, from which we derive such English words as "seismology," referring to the study of earthquakes.Strong's Lexicon defines it as "a commotion, i.e. (of the air) a gale, (of the ground) an earthquake—earthquake, tempest" (Strong's No. 4578).

So seismos has a broader meaning than just the earth shaking. Matthew 8 records how a violent storm overtook Jesus and His disciples on the Sea of Galilee, threatening to capsize their boat and drown them—until Jesus miraculously calmed the winds and waves.

The word used in verse 24 for this powerful storm is seismos , here translated "tempest." So we see that seismos can also refer to violent storms and isn't limited strictly to earthquakes. When Jesus foretold "famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places," His words encompass natural disasters that include earthquakes, but can also apply to hurricanes, tornadoes and other such deadly storms.

As we saw with Hurricane Katrina, these storms can be enormously destructive. Katrina took more than 1,200 lives and caused an estimated $200 billion in damage, not counting the economic hit from losses to shipping, oil and gas production, fishing and agriculture. New Orleans, devastated by the storm, will not fully recover for decades— if ever.

A hurricane like Katrina, which reached category 5 strength before weakening, can produce winds greater than 155 miles an hour and push ahead of it a wall of water 18 feet or higher, doing major damage to virtually anything in its path.

Are such natural disasters increasing as Jesus foretold?

The Sept. 16, 2005, issue of Science magazine reports on research by scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. They concluded that while the total number of hurricanes and cyclones had not increased, there has been "a sharp increase during the past 35 years in the number of category 4 and 5 tropical cyclones, the most intense storms that cause most of the damage on landfall" (Richard Kerr, "Is Katrina a Harbinger of Still More Powerful Hurricanes?," p. 1807).

Specifically, the frequency of the most dangerous and damaging storms—those rated category 4 and 5— increased by 80 percent from the 1970s to the latest decade.

'This should certainly make us sit up and take notice. Later in Jesus Christ's same prophecy, as recorded in Luke:21:25-28


, He says: "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth …

"Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up, lift up your heads, your redemption draws near'.

To be cont'd. 

God bless you all. 

What Is The Time Of The End? (13)

Famines

You may remember the headlines of the 1960s and 1970s, when drought and exploding populations led to the starvation of hundreds of thousands in India and Africa. Later we learned that millions had died in China, the Soviet Union, Cambodia and Ethiopia during war's aftermath and communist takeovers in those countries.

Famine doesn't have to be caused strictly by natural conditions; human beings have been shown to be capable of producing their own famines through ill-founded ideologies, policies and practices. Famine is also a natural consequence of disrupted economies, transportation and normal agricultural cycles during times of war.

Widespread famines have taken hundreds of thousands of lives in African countries in recent years. It appears to be only a matter of time before a surging world population produces another round of drastic food shortages. In the last century alone the world population quadrupled to more than 6 billion. Some 80 million new people are being added every year, with another billion people expected to be added every decade.

If the rate of growth continues, the global population will double again in 50 years. What troubles many world leaders and organizations is that most of this growth will occur in countries least able to provide food, shelter and clothing for a flood of new arrivals. With so many new mouths to feed, starvation—and accompanying social disruption—will inevitably spread.

The situation is so tenuous that weather disruptions in food-producing areas could bring immediate food shortages. An often-overlooked factor in weather patterns is the relationship between people and God.

We have lost sight of the fact that God sometimes intervenes in the weather to bless or curse peoples according to their attitudes and behavior. King Solomon understood this when he prayed: "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because [the people] have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance" (1 Kings:8:35-36
).

As people's behavior continues to degenerate as the time of the end approaches, other prophecies indicate that drastic changes in weather patterns—and resulting famines—are a tool God will use to get the attention of an increasingly rebellious humanity.

Disease epidemics

Medical researchers have been shocked by a growing development in recent years—the sudden emergence of baffling new diseases and epidemics. AIDS has garnered the most headlines—and rightfully so, since it has devastated entire countries and in sheer numbers has claimed more lives than the Black Death that devastated medieval Europe.

AIDS is only one of the incurable plagues that worry governments and scientists. The exotic-sounding names of such killers as Legionnaires' disease, Lassa fever, hantavirus, Machupo virus and Ebola belie their deadliness. Some of these have resisted treatment or cure simply because they spread so fast and kill so quickly that scientists are unable to study how they are transmitted.

Equally frightening is the emergence of drug-resistant strains of old scourges such as tuberculosis, bubonic plague and some common bacteria. Other diseases once thought conquered—including malaria and cholera—are springing to life with deadly vengeance. Lest we forget, an unusual strain of influenza killed 20 million people in a worldwide epidemic in 1918 and 1919, taking more lives than were lost on the battlefields of World War I.

The 20th century saw skyrocketing rates of diseases rooted in human behavior, diet and other environmental factors—cancers, sexually transmissible diseases, diabetes, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver, to name a few.

If these were not enough, keep in mind that the breakdown in the social structure that inevitably results from war and famine will no doubt lead to massive and widespread epidemics. Chemical and biological weapons—such as smallpox and anthrax—are another possibility when we consider how biblical prophecies may be fulfilled.

Earthquakes in various places

Only in recent decades have scientists understood the underlying causes of earthquakes. The crust of the earth, they have discovered, is like a cracked eggshell encasing an interior of liquid magma. The giant pieces of earth's shell slowly move as they float on the magma. Where the pieces grind against each other, earthquakes and massive volcanoes periodically rock the earth.

Earthquake zones include some of the most densely populated areas of the world—including much of the U.S. West Coast, Italy, southeastern Europe, Turkey, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia and Japan.

Are earthquakes increasing? It's difficult to make long-term comparisons since modern seismographs have been in use for only just over a century. The Richter scale, which gauges earthquake magnitude, dates only to 1935. Also, far more sensitive instruments are in place today, so many earthquakes are detected that would have gone undocumented in earlier years.

Even so, records from the U.S. National Earthquake Information Center identify more than 20 quakes in the 20th century that each killed 10,000 or more people, including some monster quakes that took more than 100,000 lives each. Well over a million people have died in earthquakes in the last 100 years.

Literally thousands of earthquakes occur daily, although most are so minor they are detected only by instruments. However, almost 1,000 moderate to strong earthquakes (5.0 to 6.9 on the Richter scale) shake our planet in an average year, plus an average of 18 major quakes (7.0 to 7.9) and one massive quake of 8.0 or higher. Jesus Christ's prediction of "earthquakes in various places" certainly describes our time.

Remember, though, that Jesus said "all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet … All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matthew:24:6-8

). The many tragedies we see around us are chilling reminders of Christ's words and a foretaste of even greater catastrophes yet to come.

As a result of these terrible things, some of those who survive and remain will eventually be humbled enough to finally repent and accept our Creator's promise of a bright future in the world beyond our age. Only then will the age-old prophecies of a utopian world of peace and plenty find their fulfillment.

To be cont'd. 

God bless you.

What Is The Time Of The End? (12)

Jesus Christ's Olivet Prophecy: Where Are We Now?

In a remarkable prophecy shortly before His death, Jesus described the signs that would preceed His return. What do those signs reveal?

Jesus Christ, in His Olivet Prophecy recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, foretold several major trends that would increase and intensify before His return. The trends He emphasized were religious deception, wars, famines, disease epidemics, earthquakes and devastating storms.

This is especially apparent in response to His disciples' inquiry concerning what signs would precede His return and the end of this age. "Take heed that no one deceives you," He warned. Many would come claiming to represent Him, "and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matthew:24:4-8



).

Are any of these prophesied signs apparent today?

Religious deception and confusion

We have been horrified by the headlines of mass cult suicides such as Jim Jones and his followers in Guyana in 1978 and the Heaven's Gate cult in Southern California in 1997. Another tragic chain of events led to the deaths of David Koresh's Branch Davidians in Texas in 1993. These tragedies made the news because charismatic leaders led their followers not to life, but to death.

But by no means should we assume this is the only kind of religious deception Jesus intended by His warning. Even in the early days of the Church, Paul warned of "false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ … For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works" (2 Corinthians:11:13-15

).

Other apostles also warned of a great religious conspiracy masquerading as Christianity.Peter warned of "false teachers … who will secretly bring in destructive heresies" (2 Peter:2:1). John wrote that even in his day "many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John:4:1). He also reveals the power behind this great deception—"Satan, who deceives the whole world" (Revelation:12:9).

Some two billion people claim to be Christian. Yet they are divided among thousands of churches and denominations, all claiming to follow Jesus Christ even while they hold to a bewildering variety of contradicting beliefs and practices. Is this the Christianity of the Bible, or is it part of the religious deception and confusion Christ Himself foretold?

Wars and rumors of wars

World War I was supposed to be the war to end all wars, after it took 8 million lives. A generation later World War II claimed almost 10 times as many.

But what about other wars? Hundreds of thousands more have died since in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia and other countries. Although most rarely made the news, 20 to 30 wars raged at any given time in the late 20th century.

According to some estimates, wars in the 20th century alone killed more people than all earlier wars combined.

When the Japanese city of Hiroshima was destroyed by an atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945, the commander of the B-29 that carried the deadly payload wielded the power to destroy a medium-sized city. Today the commander of a single nuclear submarine oversees enough destructive power to vaporize more than 150 large cities—quite enough to bring several countries to their knees.

Dozens of such submarines bristling with nuclear weapons prowl the oceans, and that number doesn't begin to include the nuclear warheads that can be rained from other warships, aircraft, artillery and silo or trailer-launched missiles. Jesus said that world conditions at the time of the end would be so menacing that "no living thing could survive" unless He returned (Matthew:24:21-22
, REB). Only within recent decades has mankind held the enormous destructive capability to ­literally exterminate all human life many times over.

What will the last great war before Christ's return bring? According to Jesus Christ's revelation to John (Revelation:9:13-18




), well over a billion people will be slaughtered. With the development in recent decades of terrifying arsenals of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, such staggering casualties are now a sobering possibility.

To be cont'd. 

God bless you all. 

What Is The Time Of The End? ( 11)

Biblical Terms for the Coming End of Man's Age

Some biblical terms have a considerably broader application than the 3 1⁄2 year time of crisis immediately preceding Jesus Christ's return.

This can lead to some confusion should we try to force these terms into a strict end-time-only usage.

The Last Hour

The apostle John, writing in the first century, used the expression "the last hour" in referring to his day: "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour" (1 John:2:18).

Like others in his day, John likely thought Jesus Christ's return was imminent (Acts:1:6;1 Thessalonians:4:15-18


). But God has a considerably different perspective of time. A day with Him is like 1,000 years and 1,000 years as one day (2 Peter:3:8; comparePsalm:90:4).

John did warn us to be on the lookout for "antichrists," a term used for any professing to be like Christ but actually working against Him. A trend that began in John's day will continue to the time of the end, when this false representation of Jesus Christ and His teaching will grow worse.

The Latter Times

Paul, Peter, John and Jude use the terms last days, last time and last times to describe the final part of man's era. Paul warned Timothy that some Christians would leave the truth of God at the time of the end. He called this general future period the "latter times": "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith" (1 Timothy:4:1).

End of the Ages

Hebrews:9:26 uses the phrase "end of the ages" to depict the period from Jesus' sacrifice to His second coming. Hebrews:1:1-2
 tells us: "God … has in these last days spoken to us by His Son."

Last Times

Notice Peter's words: "He … was manifest [visible] in these last times for you" (1 Peter:1:20). John says: "Little children, it is the last time [because] many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last time" (1 John:2:18, King James Version).

Note that Jude also uses the term "last time": "… Remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit" (Jude 17-19).

The Latter Days

The expression "latter days" (Daniel:10:14) can include the "time of the end" (Daniel:11:35), a period leading up to and including the Great Tribulation (Matthew:24:21). The context of these words and phrases reveals their meaning.

To be cont'd. 

God bless you all. 

What Is The Time Of The End? (10)

The Time of the End: The End of What?

The Bible speaks of the time of the end. But exactly what will come to an end?

The Bible speaks of "the time of the end." But exactly what will come to an end?

Many think the reference is to the end of the world, especially since the King James Version of the New Testament has Jesus' disciples asking Him about "the end of the world" in Matthew:24:3. But the word translated "world" in this passage is the Greek word aion (from which we derive the English word eon ), signifying "a period of indefinite duration … marked by spiritual or moral characteristics" Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, "Age"). The New King James Version correctly renders the word as "age."

The Greek aion and its English derivative eon mean essentially the same thing—an age, an epoch, an era. Jesus' disciples were not asking about the end of our physical planet, the earth. Rather, they were inquiring about the end of this era of man's rule on the earth. They well knew the many prophecies of the Old Testament that foretell the coming age of the rule of the Messiah in the Kingdom of God.

Paul contrasted the age "which is to come" (Ephesians:1:21) with the world we know, which he called "this present evil age" (Galatians:1:4). Spiritually and morally, this age and the age to come are opposites.

To properly understand the two, we must realize that this is not God's world. God is not the author of the broken homes, shattered marriages, violence, racial and ethnic hatred, governmental corruption, greed, pollution, depression, disease and persecution and the resultant suffering we see around us. Paul pinpoints the cause of these sorrows as "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians:4:4), none other than Satan the devil.

How great is the influence of this being? The apostle John tells us that "the whole worldlies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John:5:19). All of humanity is influenced by the thinking, attitudes and actions of this wicked being and his evil cohorts, the demons. John further warns that Satan's deceptive power is so great that he "deceives the whole world" (Revelation:12:9).

Satan's influence is as powerful as it is pervasive. Odd as it may sound, one of Satan's greatest areas of influence is religion, where his ideas—not God's—dominate. Paul warns Christians of Satan's deceptive power even within Christianity: Just as "Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light," so do his representatives masquerade as "ministers of righteousness" and "apostles of Christ" (2 Corinthians:11:13-15

).

Paul warns those who would live godly lives that they must constantly struggle against unseen spiritual influences dominating the world around them. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians:6:12).

Under Satan's influence, the world has its own "wisdom" (1 Corinthians:1:20-29








), a way of thinking that considers the God of the Bible and His way of life as "foolishness" (1 Corinthians:2:14). As a result, mankind does not recognize that it is man's collective rejection of God and His ways that has brought the suffering and sorrow that permeate the world. (When Scripture mentions "the time of the end" or "the end of the age," it is referring to the coming end of the present evil age. This age—in reality the age of Satan —will draw to an end, replaced by the age of God's rule over and guidance of all of humanity.

This age to come—often referred to in the Bible as the time the Kingdom of God will govern the earth—will be ushered in by Jesus Christ at His return.

To be cont'd. 

God bless you all.