SIGNS OF THE END

• 2/7/2020

It is becoming increasingly apparent to anyone keeping even one eye open to contemporary world events that we are rushing into hard times. Biblically speaking, it seems likely that the long prophesied “end of days' are upon us, or at least very close. The growing “signs of the end” (also known as birth pangs of the Messianic era) are multiplying everywhere, including a sharp increase in violence and lawlessness around the world (the cops now carry weapons even in the UK!). Divorce, drug abuse, mass shootings, domestic violence and child abuse, abortions, sexual slavery, pornography, terrorism, plus increasing “natural” disasters such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, drought and infectious diseases, are sweeping the globe, some of them probably the result of the exploding human population on the increasingly stretched planet--the number of people has now nearly tripled in just the six-plus decades I’ve been present on earth!



AS I’VE LONG spoken and written about, I anticipate the next major prophetic fulfillment will most likely be Isaiah 17, the destruction of Syria and of its capital city, Damascus, accompanied by “leanness” coming upon formerly “fat” Israel. Indeed, I witnessed and reported on modern Israel’s remarkable growth and prosperity after I moved there in 1980, with the small country going from a near “third world” status in its early decades to a thriving “start-up nation” today.

..WHILE WE ARE clearly seeing the alliances forming or firming up that are predicted in Ezekiel 38 and 29---Russia with Turkey, Iran, Libya and Sudan at its core--it does not appear that the Kremlin is ready at present to cut all ties with Israel, let alone to lead an invasion of the Lord’s special land. However, that could quickly change in the wake of Isaiah 17. But as I’ve shared before, I think the “prince” who comes from the Roman Empire (Dan 9:27) will appear on the world stage before that, especially since Ezekiel 39 ends with Israel’s total deliverance and full reconciliation with God.

..ONE THING IS CERTAIN--the world order is changing fast, and seemingly not for the better. The time of the Man of Sin is indeed most likely upon us, and it seems today that just one major war and resulting social and economic upheaval, on top of everything else mentioned above (especially a worldwide pandemic that might be developing at present) could bring him in. Technological breakthroughs have exploded in recent decades, meaning we no longer need to imagine what it would take for a world leader to seize total control over virtually everything and everyone on earth.

..WILL BELIEVERS be “raptured” (supernaturally removed) by the Lord before any of this takes place, as many of my friends believe and eagerly anticipate, or will we still be here for at least part of the endtime “tribulation” period? I wish for the former, but my own study has led me to expect that the “catching up” will transpire towards the end of the Beast’s 42 month reign. I was taught the “pre-trib” position at the Bible college I went to in the 1970s, and I certainly won’t complain if it turns out to be correct after all! Meantime I’m steeling myself for big trouble ahead, although I’m aware that any one of us can be “called home” at any time, be it via the rapture or simply personal death. Whatever the case, the current world scene is shouting out a warning that the end of this age is indeed upon us, culminating in the Lord’s return in glory to this sad, sin-sick world. May He come speedily in our day, and may YOU be among the saints that joyfully march into eternal life with Him!