Many Bible
prophecies predict the conditions and events of our day as signs
of the end of the world—today’s headlines written nearly 2,000
years ago. Consideration of these prophecies establishes: (1) that
the Bible is indeed the inspired Word of God; (2) that we are
living in unprecedented times prophesied in Scripture as the
"end of the world"; and (3) that man is standing at the
threshold of lasting peace and economic security in
a pollution-free earth.
Daniel 12:1
and 4 give four signs that mark the "time of the end,"
or end of the world:
(1) A time of
trouble such as never was since there was a nation;
(2) Many
shall run to and fro;
(3) Knowledge
shall be increased; and
(4) Your
(Daniel’s) people (Israel) delivered.
Unprecedented
Trouble—Daniel 12:1
That the
first sign, unprecedented trouble, is the hallmark of our time is
confirmed by historians. True, the world has always had trouble,
but never before has it been in such staggering proportions.
Wars:
In the 20th Century over 100 million lives were lost through war.
From 1990 to 1995, 70 states involved in 93 wars killed 5.5
million people. Forty wars were waged in 1999. The unprecedented
terrorism of September 11 marked 2001.
In his book Out
of Control, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security
Advisor and professor of American Foreign Policy at John Hopkins
University, notes that the 20th century began amid great hope and
promise, but became the century of insanity. In elaborating on his
observation of 175 million slaughtered in the name of the
"politics of organized insanity," he says:
"Contrary
to its promise, the twentieth century became mankind’s most
bloody and hateful century of hallucinatory politics and of
monstrous killings. Cruelty was institutionalized to an
unprecedented degree, lethality was organized on a mass production
basis. The contrast between the scientific potential for good and
the political evil that was actually unleashed is shocking. Never
before in history was killing so globally pervasive, never before
did it consume so many lives, never before was human annihilation
pursued with such concentration of sustained effort on behalf of
such arrogantly irrational goals."
The
population explosion and industrialization of Third World nations
accentuate the oil crunch. Nations will go to war for oil. Many
Third World nations have the poor man’s bomb—chemical warfare,
and are working on actual nuclear warheads. Such volatile weaponry
in the hands of these regimes spells trouble. The economic and
political instability of the Soviet Union could result in a
military coup.
Population
Explosion: Before 1650 A.D. the
population doubled every 1,000 years. In 1804 A.D. the population
was one billion. It doubled in 1927 (123 years later). And doubled
again in 1974 (only 47 years later). In 1990 the world population
was 5.5 billion. By 2000 A.D. it increased one billion.
Up to 15
million people die of starvation annually. There are 40 million
refugees worldwide and 100 million homeless. Each day 40,000
babies die of starvation in Third World countries, while Americans
spend over $900 million yearly feeding dogs and cats.
Pollution:
The U.S. has 4.6 % of the world’s population, but annually
disposes of 290 million tons of toxic waste, uses 26% of the world’s
oil, 26% of the world’s coal, and 27% of the world’s natural
gas; releases 26% of the world’s nitrogen oxides; and produces
25.5 % of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. Air pollutants
from car exhaust and industry spawn disease. Deaths from
respiratory disease double every five years. Skin cancer and
cataracts caused by ozone depletion are increasing. From 1950 to
1980 melanomas increased by 500%.
Solid wastes,
radioactive and toxic chemical wastes are contaminating our
rivers, lakes and oceans. In the last 200 years, the U.S. has lost
50% of its wetlands, 90% of its old-growth forests, and 99% of its
tall-grass prairie. The world is losing tropical forests at a rate
of almost 42 million acres per year, an increase of 50% from a
decade ago. At the current rate, tropical forests will be gone
within 115 years. Rain forests cover only 7% of Earth’s surface,
but contain over 50% of its species. Acid rain is destroying our
forests, which in turn will produce "global warming.’’
Global
Warming:
"Except for nuclear war or a collision with an asteroid, no
force has more potential to damage our planet’s web of life than
global warming." (Time Magazine, April 9, 2001) The
1990s were the hottest decade on record. Over the 20th century,
Earth’s average temperature rose approximately one degree.
Warmer climates have widespread effects on the environment.
The sea level
will rise as oceans absorb heat from the atmosphere and expand.
Polar ice caps will melt. Increases in sea level will flood and
erode coastal areas inhabited by half the world’s population.
Tropical storms will become more frequent and intense. Weather
patterns will become extreme, causing flooding. Soil moisture will
decrease impacting crop failures and life-threatening droughts.
"Breadbasket farmland" (like our Midwest) will become
barren desert. Markets and food supplies will be disrupted. Severe
food shortages will result.
Time is
running out, according to Lester R. Brown, president of the highly
respected Worldwatch Institute. "Preceding generations have
always been concerned about the future, but ours is the first to
be faced with decisions that will determine whether the earth our
children inherit will be inhabitable."
Scientists
are now concerned that the population explosion could hasten and
increase the effects of global warming. Drastic climate changes
resulting in economic disaster in many nations could trigger wars
for survival.
Drugs:
We are losing the drug war because the huge profits are too
corrupting. There are 2.2 million hard-core drug users in the
United States. While one out of forty persons in New York City is
hard-core, nationally one out of one hundred are hard-core users.
The number of casual users is substantially higher. Is it any
wonder the crime rate is spiraling? Seventy percent of New York
City’s drug users are affluent. One thousand drug addicted
babies are born every day.
Economic
chaos:
The U.S. entered 2000 with a staggering debt of $5.6 trillion and
a perilous foreign trade imbalance. The nineties were the
"decade of uncertainty." Outstanding consumer credit
debts have increased from $349.4 billion in 1980 to $1,395.4
billion in 1999.
Indeed, our
generation is experiencing a "Time of Trouble such as never
was since there was a nation."
Increased
Travel—Daniel 12:1
The second
sign is increased travel. Transportation has expanded rapidly
because of the automobile. Selden made the first automobile in
1877. Today there are over 600,000,000 cars. Through numerous
modes of transportation millions are crossing and recrossing each
other’s paths around the world. In the past 100 years, man has
increased his travel from 30 mph to 25,000 mph off the planet to
the moon.
Knowledge
Increased—Daniel 12:1
If the
increase of knowledge from the dawn of history to the 1880s is
given a value of one, then knowledge has doubled 16 times within
the last 10 years. One hundred years ago, 90 of the world’s
population could neither read nor write. Today, 40% of the world’s
population can read and write, and in the Western world literacy
has reached nearly 90%.
Ninety
percent of all scientists who have ever lived are alive today.
Fifty percent of the world’s inventions have been created in the
last decade.
Sophistication
in communications allows man to see and hear throughout the world
instantly. U.S. homes with telephone answering devices jumped from
31% in 1990 to 74% in 2000. Cordless telephones jumped from 25% in
1990 to 78% in 2000. In 1989 there were 3.5 million cellular
telephone subscribers; by 1999 there were 86.0 million. In 1990
there were 9.9 million pagers; by 1999 there were 53.5 million.
In 1995,
31.7% households had personal computers; by 2000, 53%. In the last
decade, 66.3 million computers were sold. In 1993 there were 3
million Internet users; by mid 1999 there were nearly 200 million;
by 2000 there were 332.7 million.
The noted
historian, Barbara Tuchman has observed,
"Man
entered the Nineteenth Century using only his own and animal
power, supplemented by that of wind and water, much as he had
entered the Thirteenth, or for that matter, the First. He entered
the Twentieth with his capacities in transportation,
communication, production, manufacture and weaponry multiplied a
thousandfold by the energy of machines." (The Proud Tower,
Foreword, xvi)
Unprecedented
travel and increase of knowledge marks our day at the "time
of the end."
Israel Becomes a
Nation—Daniel 12:1
The fourth
sign which marks us at the "time of the end" is that the
Lord will stand up for Daniel’s "people," the Jewish
nation. If we are living in this "time of the end," we
should expect dramatic evidence of God’s favor on behalf of the
Jewish people.
Against this
background, Matthew 24 becomes meaningful. "What shall be the
sign of your coming [Greek, parousia], and of the end of the world
[age]?" Matt. 24:3
Matthew
24:32-34 gives the deliverance of Israel as one of these signs.
"Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet
tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh: So
likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is
even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall
not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."
Israel Restored
Students of
prophecy from many denominations generally recognize that the fig
tree is pictorial of the nation of Israel. (See Jeremiah, Chapter
24). In Matthew 21:19, Jesus cursed a fig tree because he found no
fruit on it. As a result of his cursing the fig tree withered.
Several days
later Jesus applied the lesson of the withered fig tree. He
proclaimed judgment on the nation of Israel, "Behold, your
house is left unto you desolate" (Matthew 23:38) because it
had not borne fruitage to God. Israel was subsequently scattered
and persecuted.
Israel’s
restoration is an outstanding sign of the end of the age. The fig
tree coming back to life and putting forth leaves represents
Israel coming to life as a nation, and receiving God’s
increasing favor. Historians agree that Israel’s rebirth is a
miracle of history. Never before has a nation been destroyed, its
people dispersed to the ends of the earth and then—nearly 2,000
years later—its descendants regathered to their homeland and
re-established as a nation.
Compare Luke
21:29-32 with Matthew 24:32-34. The restoration of Israel means
the kingdom is at hand.
"And he
spoke to them a parable: Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
when they now shoot forth, you see and know of your own selves
that summer is nigh at hand. So likewise you, when you see these
things come to pass, know you that the kingdom of God is nigh at
hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away,
till all be fulfilled." Luke 21:29-32.
The
generation that witnesses Israel restored as a nation will also
witness the complete end of the world or age, and the full
establishment of the Kingdom of God.
Scriptures
are charged with signs that have become the headlines of our day:
Jerusalem is no longer trodden down by Gentiles (Lk. 21:24). Many
new nations have gained independence (Lk. 21:29,30). Evil is
exposed as never before (I Cor. 4:5). Most people, even the
professedly religious, lack faith (Lk. 18:8). Men love themselves,
have no respect for parents, and have no natural affection (2 Tim.
3:1-5). Turmoil grows between labor and capital (Jas. 5:1-4). Wars
and war preparations intensify (Joel 3:9-11). All the while men
proclaim "peace" (I Thess. 5:2,3). Men’s hearts fail
for fear (Lk. 21:36).
One more sign
bears consideration.
Nations on the
Run —
Another
Remarkable Prophecy
"Woe
unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for
you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. As if a man
did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house,
and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him." Amos
5:18,19,20
In Amos’
prophecy the fleeing man represents the world’s experiences in
this dark "time of trouble." At the dawning of our era,
Great Britain ruled the most expansive empire on earth. The lion
in this prophecy, Britain’s national symbol, appropriately
illustrated the mighty nation that devoured (colonized) weaker
nations. Colonialism’s suffocating grasping led to the world’s
fleeing to another form of government.
The man in
Amos 5:20 escaped the lion only to meet the bear—a form of
government diametrically opposed to the grasping greed of
colonialism—communism! The former Soviet Union, the
"bear" of Amos’ prophecy, offered man another hope for
safety in this time of trouble. Communism’s failure to rescue
man was underscored by its precipitous fall. Nations are now
seeking another hope of security—nationalism.
Entering the
"house" of nationalism has been anything but comfortable
for the nations of the world. Bosnia, Serbia, Germany and other
nations seeking safety in nationalism have suffered civil war,
economic malaise, the rise of new "hate groups" and
other ills. While in the supposed security of ultra-nationalism
(will church and state reunite?) the people place their hand on
the wall. Seeking rest in the supporting structure of human
government will result in being bitten by the serpent. That old
Serpent, the Devil and Satan, which once deceived the nations to
think that they were Christ’s Kingdom (Revelation 12:9) will
bite them again. Then the nations will feel the rebuke of Jehovah
in the great time of trouble.
All of these
prophecies mark the time when the present evil world is being
destroyed. God is now revealing Himself as never before in
history, a revelation which will climax with the establishment of
the Kingdom of Christ on earth.
Take heart—even
though things must get worse before they get better. It is the
unprecedented severity of world problems (Matthew 24:21) and the
paralysis of hopelessness (Luke 21:25) that mark us at the
threshold of the great Kingdom blessings which God has in store
for man.
Just as urban
renewal requires the demolition of old structures, so the full
establishment of Christ’s Kingdom requires the removal of our
corrupt civilization (Hebrews 12:28). The present generation will
see the Kingdom in all its glory (Luke 21:21-32).
