Jesus reproached the Pharisees and Sadducees for their inability to interpret the signs of the times. They were concerned with the weather but should rather have concentrated on understanding the times.
He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘The weather will be fine, for the sky is red.And in the morning: ‘There will be bad weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the heavens, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times, (Matthew 16:2-3).
Watchman, how long is it at night? Watchman, how long is it at night?” The watchman answers, “The morning is coming, and the night also, (Isaiah 21:11-12).
There is a direct invitation from Jesus that we should interpret the signs of the times. His disciples responded to this invitation and asked him about what is recorded in Matthew 24:3-44. He had just told his disciples that Jerusalem would be destroyed so that there would be no stone left on stone (v. 2). They wanted to know more about that event. Then they asked Him what the sign should be of His coming and of the end of the world (v. 3).
In this passage of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus mentions all three of these events: the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, His coming, and the end of the world. All these great events would have in common that great signs would precede them and mark the time when it comes.
The signs we will focus on in the following are signs that are discussed in connection with Jesus’ return in a general sense. In this regard, it is of less importance whether one views the rapture of the Church and Jesus second coming as one or two separate events. These are signs that says that Jesus will soon come again, and that it is important for us to be ready when He comes.
There are many signs that are mentioned in the Bible. Let’s take a closer look at some of them. To make it easier to get an overview, we will divide them into:
- Signs Among the Nations
- Signs in nature
- The Nation of Israel
- World Evangelism
Signs Among the Nations
The Evolution of Superpowers
In the Bible’s description of the end times, we meet three central superpowers:
- A federation from the north led by Gog, (Ezekiel 38; 39)
- The Roman Federation led by the Beast, (Rev. 17:13; Dan11:40–45; Zech. 12:2-4)
- The kings of the East, (Rev. 16:12)
There are different interpretations of which nations are hiding behind these superpowers, but the Bible gives us a clear message that such superpowers will emerge in the end times.
The scenario we encounter in the Bible’s picture of the end times is that the development has gone beyond international cooperation. These supranational unions have developed a common foreign and military policy to the point that they have a common army that goes to war against each other. There are several Bible passages describing big armies entering the arena in the last days before Jesus returns to earth to establish the Millennium.
World trade
The development of industry and trade tells an exciting story that lays the foundation for another end-time sign, world trade. The 1800s saw the emergence of small industry. The factories bought raw materials that they refined and processed. The finished product was sold to wholesalers who in turn left it to traders and stores to sell it to the end user. We saw a horizontal development of industry and trade.
During the 1900s, this developed further. Producers of raw materials who processed and marketed and sold them, were part of the same international group owned by the same investors. We saw the emergence of large trading companies that handled everything from raw material production to sales. They controlled all links in the value chain. They also run the banks and financial institutions helping customers buy their goods. Large trading- companies controlled industry, trade, and finance. This has developed since and characterizes the international markets today.
Through this development, we see a preparation for what is written in Revelation13:17: […] and make it so that no one can buy or sell except he who has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. The conditions are arranged for a single person to control all trade.
War and modern war techniques
Bible prophecies about the end times are both encouraging and frightening. King Jesus, the Messiah will come and take a stand against all injustice. The world is heading towards a new day. But it also paints a picture of great wars, devastating weapons, enormous suffering and bloodshed.
War and misery have been part of human history from the very beginning. That brother stands up against brother and people against people is nothing new, unfortunately. But in the prophecies of the end times, these wars have dimensions that we have not seen before. Jesus foretells this in His answer to the disciples in Matthew 24:6-7a: And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure you don’t get frightened! […] For nations will rise against nations, and kingdom against kingdom.
The prophet Isaiah writes, among other things, in chapter 13 verse 12: I will make mortal men rarer than fine gold, man will be rarer than gold from Ophir.
A slaughter of people described here presupposes weapons of mass destruction that were not known at the time of writing. Such a grotesque extermination of humans is today unfortunately possible through nuclear weapons, chemical weapons and biological/bacteriological weapons.
Hunger
Jesus continues His answer to the disciples in Matthew 24 with this short but terrible prophecy: And there will be a famine. (v. 7) Famine on an Earth of Abundance! Famine on a planet where more than enough food is thrown away to feed the earth’s population so that no one would have to starve!
Moral decay
In his letter to his young companion, Timothy, Paul describes a moral decay that will characterize the last days. These are phenomena that characterized the apostles’ recent past, but which will also to a greater or lesser extent characterize history until the second coming of Jesus:
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For then men will love themselves, love money, boast, be proud, blaspheme, disobey parents, unthankful, profane, unthankful, unholy, without natural love, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-discipline, brutal, without love of good, traitors, hot-headed, puffed up, and those who love lust more than they love God, (2 Timothy 3:1-4).
False Prophets and False Messiahs
Jesus warns against false prophets and false messiahs: Jesus answered them: “See that no one deceives you. Many will come in My name and say, ‘I am the Christ.And they will seduce many, (Matthew 24.5).
Persecution against the believers and against the Jewish people
When Jesus talks about persecution against believers, it points both to the Christian congregation and to Israel.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples what will await them when they begin to preach the gospel. They will expel you from the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming when everyone who kills you will think that he is doing God a favor, (John 16:2).
Christians experienced this persecution in abundance, both under the Roman emperors before 311 AD and later throughout the history of the church right up to the present day. The revivalist movements and so-called heretics in the Middle Ages suffered terrible from from the Church of Rome!
Christians in our own time has suffered in totalitarian countries where many were martyred. The situation of the suffering church today in different parts of the world bears its clear witness that whoever will live godly in Jesus Christ will be persecuted, (2 Timothy 3:12).
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells of a persecution that will primarily affect the Jewish people, and which will culminate in the Great Tribulation: Then they will subject you to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, and they will denounce and hate one another, (Matthew 24:9-10).
Signs in nature
Nature and the environment
There are frightening perspectives relating to the nature and the environment meeting us in Revelation:
The first angel blew. There were hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown down to the ground. A third of the trees were burned, and all green grass was burned. Then the second angel blew. And something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea turned to blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Then the third angel blew. And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, for it was made bitter, (Rev. 8:7-11).
From a future interpretation of Revelation, this is something that will take place in the great tribulation, just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. But this is not just a prophecy of the future. It is also a description of what we see around us today, with pollution of nature and the environment and the catastrophic consequences this has had for our planet.
The Nation of Israel
The greatest of the signs of the times, as we see it, is that Israel regained its historic land when the modern state, Israel was proclaimed in 1948. They gained control of even more of their old territory after the Six-Day War in 1967. These historical events are a prerequisite for the fulfillment of much of the other events in the prophetic end-time picture. Israel’s return to its land, Eretz Israel, makes possible a literal interpretation of the end times and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
What Jesus says about the fig tree in Matthew 24 is often used about Israel and to emphasize that Jesus’ return must be near, since Israel has now regained its land.
Learn this parable from the fig tree: Once the branches have become soft and leaves appear, then you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you will know that He is near the doors. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things come to pass. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away, (Matthew 24:32-35).
World Evangelism
Will the Great Commission be carried out before Jesus comes for His church? This author thinks so. Although the Bible paints a dark picture of moral decay and religious apostasy in the end times, during this there will be multitudes who convert to Jesus Christ. The fullness of Gentiles will come in. We see today a harvest of people who are accepting the gospel. This is particularly happening in the Global South. God’s Word is not bound. The light of the gospel shines in the darkness.
Jesus says it this way in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world, as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.” After the rapture church and the world entering the time of tribulation, people will receive the gospel. This harvest, as we see it, will take place through some chosen servants from the tribes of Israel, the 144,000 sealed. The result of their preaching of the gospel is seen in Revelation 7:
Then I saw a great crowd, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God, the One who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, “Amen! The blessing, the glory and wisdom, the thanksgiving and the honor, the power and the strength belong to our God for all eternity! Amen.” Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me: “Who are these who are wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “Lord, you know it.” Then he said to me: “These are the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, (Rev. 7:9-14).
During the Tribulation period, when Almighty God allows the Antichrist to rules the world , the Gospel will be preached, and a countless crowd of people will be harvested into the Kingdom. They must give their lives and end up as martyrs, (Rev. 6:9-11; 20:4). But they share in the First Resurrection and are saved for eternity.
Conclusion
When all these things begin to happen, look up and lift your heads, for your redemption is drawing near, (Luke 21:28).
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should come upon
you like a thief. You are all children of light and children of today. We do not belong to the night or darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as the others do, but let us watch and be sober. Those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who belong to the day be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love and put on the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not ordain us to wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that we might live with Him, whether we are awake or sleeping. Therefore, you must encourage and edify one another, as you also do, (1 Thessalonians 5:4-11).