KingJ
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- Mar 31, 2015
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I firmly believe that we are living in the last days. But I thought it would be interesting to look at just how many of the signs and conditions described in Scripture we are actually seeing today.
Jesus said that His coming would be preceded by certain conditions. Some of these seem remarkably relevant to the world we are living in today, while others are much more difficult to interpret.
So I thought I would list those I know of and rank them from what I consider the clearest biblical indicators down to the more debatable or speculative possibilities.
1. Israel restored as a nation
Israel's restoration is one of the most remarkable developments to consider. Scripture repeatedly places Israel at the centre of the events surrounding the return of Christ. But there is an additional point that I think deserves serious consideration.
Psalm 90:10 describes a person's normal lifespan as 70 years, or 80 years with strength. Then, in the context of His discussion about the signs preceding His coming, Jesus gives the parable of the fig tree and says, "this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." If the generation that witnessed Israel's restoration in 1948 is the generation Jesus was referring to, then a 70–80 year timeframe would place us remarkably close to the period in which those things would be fulfilled.
Psalm 90:10; Matthew 24:32–34; Ezekiel 36:24–28; Isaiah 11:11–12
2. Jerusalem becoming a focal point for the nations
Scripture describes Jerusalem becoming a major point of conflict among the nations immediately before the Lord's intervention. Considering the extraordinary international attention and conflict surrounding Jerusalem today, this is certainly worth examining.
Zechariah 12:2–3; Zechariah 14:1–4
3. The Gospel being proclaimed throughout the world
Jesus gave a very specific statement concerning the Gospel and the end. The Gospel would be proclaimed throughout the world before the end would come. With Christianity now having a genuinely global reach, this is one of the clearest signs to examine.
Matthew 24:14
4. The world resembling the days of Noah
Jesus compared the time immediately preceding His coming with the days of Noah. Genesis describes a society characterised by widespread wickedness, violence, and corruption, while ordinary people continued with everyday life.
Matthew 24:37–39; Genesis 6:5–12
5. A great falling away from the faith
Scripture warns that before the Day of the Lord, there will be a significant departure from the faith. We are living in a time when biblical Christianity is increasingly challenged from within and without, and many who once identified as Christians are abandoning biblical belief.
2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1
6. The world resembling the days of Sodom
This one particularly interests me because Jesus specifically used the days of Lot as a comparison with the world immediately preceding His return. Sodom was characterised by profound sexual and moral corruption, and yet people continued living ordinary lives, completely unaware that judgment was imminent.
Today, we are seeing behaviours that Scripture identifies as sinful increasingly becoming socially accepted, and even celebrated. Jesus specifically said, "even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."
Luke 17:28–30; Genesis 18:20–21; Genesis 19:1–29
7. Increasing lawlessness and moral decline
Paul gives us an unusually detailed description of what humanity will look like in the last days. He says people will be lovers of themselves and lovers of money. They will be boastful proud disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection and without self-control. They will love pleasure more than God and will even have a form of godliness while denying its power.
What makes this particularly interesting is that Paul is not simply describing isolated sinful individuals. He appears to be describing the character of society in the last days. We can certainly see many of these characteristics becoming increasingly prominent today: extreme self-centredness materialism the pursuit of pleasure the rejection of traditional morality declining respect for authority and a growing hostility toward biblical Christianity.
Jesus gives a similar warning when He says that because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold. The basic idea seems to be that when wickedness becomes widespread and normalised it erodes people's capacity and willingness to love.
Matthew 24:12; 2 Timothy 3:1–5
8. Wars and rumours of wars
Jesus specifically warned of wars and international conflict preceding the end. This is certainly visible today, but I would rank it lower because wars have occurred throughout human history, and therefore cannot by themselves identify the final generation.
Matthew 24:6–7
9. Famines, earthquakes, and worldwide upheaval
Jesus described famines, earthquakes, and other upheavals as part of the events preceding the end. Again, these are genuine biblical signs, but they are difficult to use as a precise indicator because humanity has experienced them throughout history.
Matthew 24:7; Luke 21:10–11
10. A worldwide system capable of controlling buying and selling
Revelation describes a future system in which the ability to buy and sell is controlled through the beast's system. Modern digital identification, payment systems, and increasingly interconnected economies make something like this technologically possible on a global scale.
Revelation 13:16–17
11. The 6,000-year interpretation
I interpret the six days of creation as a prophetic pattern pointing toward 6,000 years of human history, followed by a seventh millennium corresponding to the Sabbath. If correct, this would put humanity remarkably close to the end of that period.
Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8; Genesis 1; Hebrews 4:1–11
12. The "two days" of Hosea
Hosea speaks of Israel being revived "after two days" and being raised up "in the third day." Some interpret these two days as representing 2,000 years, using the biblical principle that a day can correspond to a thousand years.
Hosea 6:1–2; 2 Peter 3:8
What do you think?
Which of these do you consider the strongest evidence that we really are approaching the return of Christ?
And are there any major signs I have missed?
Jesus said that His coming would be preceded by certain conditions. Some of these seem remarkably relevant to the world we are living in today, while others are much more difficult to interpret.
So I thought I would list those I know of and rank them from what I consider the clearest biblical indicators down to the more debatable or speculative possibilities.
1. Israel restored as a nation
Israel's restoration is one of the most remarkable developments to consider. Scripture repeatedly places Israel at the centre of the events surrounding the return of Christ. But there is an additional point that I think deserves serious consideration.
Psalm 90:10 describes a person's normal lifespan as 70 years, or 80 years with strength. Then, in the context of His discussion about the signs preceding His coming, Jesus gives the parable of the fig tree and says, "this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." If the generation that witnessed Israel's restoration in 1948 is the generation Jesus was referring to, then a 70–80 year timeframe would place us remarkably close to the period in which those things would be fulfilled.
Psalm 90:10; Matthew 24:32–34; Ezekiel 36:24–28; Isaiah 11:11–12
2. Jerusalem becoming a focal point for the nations
Scripture describes Jerusalem becoming a major point of conflict among the nations immediately before the Lord's intervention. Considering the extraordinary international attention and conflict surrounding Jerusalem today, this is certainly worth examining.
Zechariah 12:2–3; Zechariah 14:1–4
3. The Gospel being proclaimed throughout the world
Jesus gave a very specific statement concerning the Gospel and the end. The Gospel would be proclaimed throughout the world before the end would come. With Christianity now having a genuinely global reach, this is one of the clearest signs to examine.
Matthew 24:14
4. The world resembling the days of Noah
Jesus compared the time immediately preceding His coming with the days of Noah. Genesis describes a society characterised by widespread wickedness, violence, and corruption, while ordinary people continued with everyday life.
Matthew 24:37–39; Genesis 6:5–12
5. A great falling away from the faith
Scripture warns that before the Day of the Lord, there will be a significant departure from the faith. We are living in a time when biblical Christianity is increasingly challenged from within and without, and many who once identified as Christians are abandoning biblical belief.
2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1
6. The world resembling the days of Sodom
This one particularly interests me because Jesus specifically used the days of Lot as a comparison with the world immediately preceding His return. Sodom was characterised by profound sexual and moral corruption, and yet people continued living ordinary lives, completely unaware that judgment was imminent.
Today, we are seeing behaviours that Scripture identifies as sinful increasingly becoming socially accepted, and even celebrated. Jesus specifically said, "even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."
Luke 17:28–30; Genesis 18:20–21; Genesis 19:1–29
7. Increasing lawlessness and moral decline
Paul gives us an unusually detailed description of what humanity will look like in the last days. He says people will be lovers of themselves and lovers of money. They will be boastful proud disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection and without self-control. They will love pleasure more than God and will even have a form of godliness while denying its power.
What makes this particularly interesting is that Paul is not simply describing isolated sinful individuals. He appears to be describing the character of society in the last days. We can certainly see many of these characteristics becoming increasingly prominent today: extreme self-centredness materialism the pursuit of pleasure the rejection of traditional morality declining respect for authority and a growing hostility toward biblical Christianity.
Jesus gives a similar warning when He says that because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold. The basic idea seems to be that when wickedness becomes widespread and normalised it erodes people's capacity and willingness to love.
Matthew 24:12; 2 Timothy 3:1–5
8. Wars and rumours of wars
Jesus specifically warned of wars and international conflict preceding the end. This is certainly visible today, but I would rank it lower because wars have occurred throughout human history, and therefore cannot by themselves identify the final generation.
Matthew 24:6–7
9. Famines, earthquakes, and worldwide upheaval
Jesus described famines, earthquakes, and other upheavals as part of the events preceding the end. Again, these are genuine biblical signs, but they are difficult to use as a precise indicator because humanity has experienced them throughout history.
Matthew 24:7; Luke 21:10–11
10. A worldwide system capable of controlling buying and selling
Revelation describes a future system in which the ability to buy and sell is controlled through the beast's system. Modern digital identification, payment systems, and increasingly interconnected economies make something like this technologically possible on a global scale.
Revelation 13:16–17
11. The 6,000-year interpretation
I interpret the six days of creation as a prophetic pattern pointing toward 6,000 years of human history, followed by a seventh millennium corresponding to the Sabbath. If correct, this would put humanity remarkably close to the end of that period.
Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8; Genesis 1; Hebrews 4:1–11
12. The "two days" of Hosea
Hosea speaks of Israel being revived "after two days" and being raised up "in the third day." Some interpret these two days as representing 2,000 years, using the biblical principle that a day can correspond to a thousand years.
Hosea 6:1–2; 2 Peter 3:8
What do you think?
Which of these do you consider the strongest evidence that we really are approaching the return of Christ?
And are there any major signs I have missed?
