The Lord said that His people would know neither the day nor the hour when He would return to clean up the mess man has made and to set up His Father’s kingdom. However, He did say that His obedient saints (His “very elect”) would recognize “the season” when His returning would be “… at the door.” We are studying the “signs of the end of the age” in order to gauge where we are on the end-of-time countdown. Having studied what Jesus tells us in the Book of Revelation concerning the time following 31 A.D., we are now focusing on end-of-time signs that have been manifested since the mid-1940’s.

The sign we are studying today began to come to fruition when the United States developed the atomic bomb that ended World War II. Not long after its incredible power was demonstrated the Soviet Union developed an equally powerful weapon. The “Cold War” had begun. Since that time numerous nations have either developed or purchased nuclear bombs and, as man is wont to do, have taken it several steps forward. Today the United States has bombs thousands of times more deadly than the ones dropped on Japan. It has been estimated that world-wide the explosive power in the hands of men equals 50 billion tons of TNT. And more firepower is being produced daily. Man now has the ability to eliminate himself, which is one of the signs Jesus provided which would alert His people that the time of His return is near.

A fact to bear in mind is that man has never invented a weapon that he did not eventually use. And today we have men in leadership positions that are willing to unleash death from above on his fellow man, knowing that billions will die. There are multitudes of people whose fondest desire is to destroy the world and its people so that those who are left alive can begin anew. For the first time in recorded history, man has the capacity to accomplish this. The nations of the world have the combined nuclear weaponry to kill every man, woman and child on earth 5 TIMES OVER. Looking ahead to this point in time, Jesus prophesied that a final global war would take place just before His return, and that if that time were not cut short, no living thing would survive. But for the sake of God’s elect (obedient saints) that time will be cut short (Mat. 24:22). World War III will take place during the Great Tribulation–the first 2 1/2 years of the “whirlwind” sinful man is prophesied to reap. During this time Satan will afflict mankind in order to show his hatred for God’s most precious creation. This will be followed by the “Day of the Lord”–the final year of this age in which God Himself will pour out His wrath on sinners, including “sinners saved by grace.” Then the Lord will return to establish the Kingdom of God on earth from which He, His Father and the very elect will rule the universe. See The Kingdom of God. L.J.