Signs Of The Times

On the Mount of Olives, Jesus told the disciples the signs of His returning:

1. Many will come in His name and will deceive many.
2. Wars and rumors of wars.
3. Nations rise against nations.
4. Famines.
5. Pestilences (a contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating).
6. Earthquakes in various places.

One through six are the "beginning of sorrows".

7. Delivered up to tribunals and killed.
8. Hated because of Christ.
9. Many will be offended by Christ.
10. False prophets arise to deceive many.
11. Love will grow cold.
12. The Gospel preached in all the world.

Then the end will come.

Let's look at these, one by one. Numbers 1 and 10 are very similar. Many will come and say they are Christ and false prophets will deceive many. While there have always been false prophets and those who claim to be Christ, the sheer number of those who are teaching falsehoods, and being followed by many, has increased dramatically. This is one more reason we should heed the warning to be careful what we listen to.

Wars and rumors of wars. Other than World Wars 1 and 2, there have never been so many conflicts in the world. The US, alone, is involved in 3 different wars, at the present time.

Nations rise against nations. Look at the magnitude of nations that are in non-military conflict with other nations. One prime example is the US and North Korea.

Famines. Wow, there are massive famines in Africa, but even in the US we're beginning to see huge losses in crops creating shortages.

Pestilences. How many epidemics have we seen in the past couple years? Strange occurrences of contagious illness that have spread like wildfire across the globe.

Earthquakes. I know many people discount this one by saying there have always been earthquakes, but in the past 5 to 7 years we're not only seeing more earthquakes in more places, but they're larger earthquakes which are causing much more damage.

Delivered up to tribunals and killed. We're beginning to hear more and more stories of Christians who are being charged in courts for being Christian. Iran, China, North Korea and other nations, especially nations that are controlled by conservative Muslim governments.

Hated because of Christ and many offended by Christ. Look at the escalation of lawsuits to prevent the name of Christ in our schools, governments or even in our own front yards.

Love will grow cold. Anyone who knows me knows one of my biggest concerns has been the loss of love amongst the church. But it's not just the church that is seeing love grow cold. The incidence of divorce has increased. Families no longer speaking because they don't love one another anymore.

The Gospel preached in all the world. Despite the threat of death, God's Word is being preached in every nation on this planet, often at great risk to those who are sharing the Word and the Bible with those behind the curtains of communism and radical Islam.

I know there are those who will say that these things have always gone on, and while I agree they have, there are two things that prove to me we are living in the final hours: the sheer escalation of each and every one of these "signs" and the fulfillment of the first timeline of Daniel's prophecy: from the time of the call to restore Israel as a nation, the first "time" is given as 63 weeks, which we interpret to be years. That 63 years from the call to restore Israel brings us to the year 2011.

We must make certain our lamps are filled with oil and our wicks are trimmed because the Bridegroom is approaching!