Ask ten people that question and one will get at least five different answers. Even atheists are opining about the insane goings on throughout the world, which most will agree has lost its collective mind. But this was all prophesied to happen hundreds, even thousands of years ago. Some 2000 years ago Jesus of Nazareth described the past hundred or so years of mankind’s existence in response to a question asked by His disciples. He had just warned them that the magnificent buildings they were admiring would one day be nothing more than an unsightly mess with not one stone left upon another. This happened in 70 A.D. when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, the Temple and everything else that was of importance. to the Jewish nation.

In Matthew 24 we find Jesus and His disciples coming out of the magnificent Temple with all of its beautiful trappings. As they were admiring the building that was the envy of the world Jesus said something that had to have sobered them instantly. They had asked Him about His return to earth, the end of the age (era) and the sign that would precede His arrival. In response Jesus described a time in the far distant future when the destruction, chaos, terror, fear and death the world had suffered from Eden to that moment would pale in comparison to what would come on the world just before His Second Advent. It would be so deadly that if He did not intervene there would not one soul left alive on the earth. THE THREAT OF HUMAN EXTINCTION WAS PREDICTED 2000 YEARS AGO. What has taken place before the coming horror will be nothing compared to what is just over the horizon as you read this.

When Jesus predicted this world-wide devastation, wars were being waged using swords, spears, bows and arrows. Mankind could not have destroyed himself using those weapons. Many years later a weapon was invented that was so deadly and accurate that it was called “the weapon to end all wars.” It was the crossbow. Jesus was looking into a time far removed from 31 A.D. He was looking to TODAY. This present age is the only time in world history when man could actually destroy himself. This is irrefutable evidence that we are living in the last days of this world. Never before has man had the capacity to destroy every human being on earth. Christ’s Words could not have been fulfilled before the invention of the atomic, and later the hydrogen bomb. Today the United States, and I am sure other nations, have weapons that are many times more powerful and deadly than either of those bombs.

Staying with Matthew 24 let us look at some of the SIGNS OF THE END OF THE WORLD that He prophesied would take place just prior to His return (vs 3). The first sign was a warning about false religion. Bear in mind that He was not warning about the various “isms” that have sprung up worldwide. He was addressing His true disciples, then and now. Neither they nor we need to be warned about the heathen religions that have destroyed so many people over time. Jesus was referring to false Christianity, specifically Catholicism and Protestantism which are counterfeits of His “pure religion” (Jam. 1:27) based upon His holy Gospel. Recall that later the Apostle Paul would chastise the churches of Galatia for embracing a perverted gospel (Gal. 1:6-9). He also warned the Corinthian Church about embracing “another Jesus” (2 Cor. 11:4). The modern church is guilty on both counts, which is why this website exists. Christ’s modern day apostles are still warring against false Christianity that bears an outward resemblance of God’s true church but in reality is nothing more than white-washed Satanism.

Jesus warned salvation seekers in 24:4 ,5,11,24 to beware of false prophets who would keep them in ignorance of God’s Word, making it easy to deceive them. Many would lose their “crown” (salvation–Rev. 3:11) from having followed the “ministers of righteousness” sent forth by the “angel of light” (2 Cor.11:13-15) who has “deceived the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). The reason this is so easily carried out by Satan and his army of false prophets can be summed up with one word–IGNORANCE. Biblical ignorance is a self-inflicted wound with which billions of people have deliberately inflicted upon themselves. Spiritual laziness runs rampant within the false church. And as was the case in days of old, false believers “love to have it so” (Jer. 5:31).

In verses 6 and 7 Jesus revealed several other signs that would take place which would serve to warn His true saints that the end of the world was approaching, one of which was war. World War I saw the destruction of over 8 million people. A generation later World War II took the lives of some 55 million people. According to one authority, totalitarian governments have slaughtered over 170 million people for racial, ethnic, tribal, religious or political reasons. Nations have continued to rise against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms. Since WWII there have been over 225 armed conflicts in 148 countries.

The third sign mentioned by Jesus concerned famine (vs 7). According to those who keep track of such things, at the turn of the century almost 5 billion people lived in the developing world; almost 800 million of them were undernourished. Millions of people die each year from lack of food. Many others are physically stunted due to malnutrition. Jesus is telling us that even greater famine is on the way.

In Matthew 24:7 Jesus warned of diseases (“pestilence”) that would travel throughout the world maiming and killing people en masse. Pestilence is also caused by food shortages. Malnutrition weakens the body so that it cannot fight against viruses and diseases that are continuously attacking the human species. Adding to this is the fact that today over 50% of mankind lives in cities where people are compacted into small areas, making the spread of disease take place much easier and much more rapidly. Also, where people live in close proximity, garbage and filth are common problems. Such problems also affect the air, water and ground. In such a situation, diseases spread rapidly. In every epidemic and pandemic mankind had suffered, germs and viruses spread from person to person, Keep in mind that modern man also lives in a toxic situation. He inhales polluted air, drinks contaminated water and eats pesticide-ladened foods. This weakens the body’s immune system, making infection more probable.

The final sign Jesus gave to announce the soon-coming end of the age is the proliferation of earthquakes (vs 7). When earthquake activity reaches a peak, will people recognize that God is the orchestrator of the disasters they have been living with all of their lives? Will they realize that their concept of a “loving God” is totally wrong? Invariably, following a natural disaster religious people give God praise for saving their lives. However, they fail to recognize that it was God Himself Who sent the disaster. Nor do they understand His reason for destroying what they had spent their lives accumulating. And when God’s apostles tell them Who sent the tornado, earthquake, etc. and why, and then show them in the Scriptures where He said He would do exactly what He had done to them and why, they immediately reject His Word on the subject found in their own Bibles which they claim to believe. Read Second Chronicles 7:13-15 and Deuteronomy 28:15-62. Note Who said that He would bring on sinners the plagues listed in these passages–GOD HIMSELF. Also note why He does what He does. As a result of man’s rejection of God’s Law there is no change in men’s hearts when disaster arrives. There is no obedience to His Law. Everything remains as it has always been. Man refuses to learn and obey what God said. For this reason, Satan still reigns supreme over professing Christendom.

Following WWI the world’s intelligence community came together to create a multi-national body that would draw all men together for mutual aid and support. This organization was called “The League of Nations” which would bring reason and mutual concern into man’s national relationships. However, these dreamers forgot one thing–man’s self-centeredness. The result of this ignorance produced WWII which broke out two decades later. Following that war, Biblically ignorant man tried once again to form a global association that would draw the nations of mankind into peaceful coexistence. To no surprise of Bible students, that hasn’t worked either. Man cannot figure out why? He still believes that he can make the world’s people work together. He cannot. God-rejecting, self-serving man refuses to accept the fact that the solution to all problems is the One Whom the world, including the church world, refuses to believe and obey. .

But there will one day be peace on earth when Christ “rules the world with a rod of iron” (Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15). That day is soon approaching. But between then and now man must pay for his rejection of God’s Law. What we are seeing take place today, though bad enough, is merely the “beginning of sorrows” that are just ahead of us (vs 8). Understand this, there will not be a “rapture” in which God will snatch up all members of “the” church and take them to heaven. Read The Rapture. Key word–Rapture. L.J.