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When Is Jesus Coming Back?
Signs of the Times
(Matthew 16:1-3), Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.
Jesus explains here that one of the ways to know the time of the Lord’s coming is by recognizing the “Signs of the Times” which simply means that there are going to be undeniable Biblical prophetical events that will occur right before He comes.
Another thing we see in this verse is that the Lord expects us to know what they are so our hearts may be comforted and ready.
What might those signs be and are they happening in our generation? The purpose of this study is to answer both of these questions. Let us begin our journey!
In The Last Days, The Jewish People Must Be Back in Their Own Land
Because the people of Israel did many bad things against God 2,600 years ago, the Lord caused them to be taken from their homeland and scattered throughout the world.
(Ezekiel 36:16-19), Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds…Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.
This happened in 605 B.C. when God chose King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to bring his soldiers against the city of Jerusalem and punish the people of Israel. He destroyed their city, their Temple and took them away as slaves. The people of Israel were no longer a nation and were scattered all over the known world at that time. Year after year passed by and they were still scattered without a homeland. Even after 2,554 years later they had no place to call their home.
Stop just for a moment and consider how impossible it was for a scattered people over 2,500 years, with no homeland, no central government, no military might, and hated by so many other countries world-wide, to come back together, back to their homeland and back once again as a nation of people!
Many believed, IT WOULD TAKE A MIRACLE!
But God in His mercy promised that one day He will bring the people of Israel back to their land and become a nation once again.
(Ezekiel 36:24-28), For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land…. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
Then one day, JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAID IT WOULD HAPPEN, the people of Israel were able to go back home!!! On May 14, 1948 A.D., two thousand, five hundred and fifty-four years later, Israel was declared a nation once again! With the help of the countries of Britain, America, Russia, and the majority of the United Nations, Israel was declared to be a nation once more.
In The Last Days, The Jewish Temple and Its Holy Place Must Be Rebuilt
(Matthew 24:3-15), Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”… Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),
For almost 2000 years, there has never been the opportunity for the Jewish Temple to be rebuilt. But now, TODAY; Israel is a nation once again
At this very moment, plans are underway and materials are being gathered to build it again!!
In The Last Days, We Can’t Buy or Sell With a Number, Unless Approved
(Revelation 13:16-17), He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
The technology is now in place to enable a global entity (government or bank) to approve or decline any digital based purchase, anytime, anywhere, around the world.
In the Last Days, Many Shall Run to and Fro
(Daniel 12:4), But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro,
When the 20th Century began, the vast majority of people were still traveling the same way they had been since the dawn of human history — namely, walking and riding a horse. Today we have cars, bullet trains, supersonic airplanes, and space ships. And all of this developed in about 80 years’ time! As you “step out of the box” and look at what has immensely multiplied in just this past generation, concerning the way we now travel, and at the speed we now travel and the amount we now travel, it is absolutely astonishing!
In the Last Days, Knowledge Shall Greatly Increase
(Daniel 12:4), But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase
Throughout history we have had a slow and little increase in knowledge. But take a look at the EXPLOSION of knowledge over the past 150 years! Technology has developed at a rapid pace, which has led to great improvements in computer power, scientific discoveries and the medical advancement. Just look at how much we have learned about the human body with things like DNA and Cellular Structures, etc. We never knew, how little we knew.
Our increase of knowledge has been overwhelming. It was estimated that knowledge used to double every century. By 1982 knowledge doubling occurred every 1.5 years. Some say now it’s even faster. Many sources state that one copy of the New York Times Sunday edition contains more information than the average person from a few centuries ago was exposed to in their entire life time! Through the World Wide Web, you can instantly access information from all over the world. With one click you can read from the great New York City Library, then from there to the Library of Congress, and then from the Jerusalem Museum.
The increase in the speed knowledge travels is incredible too. In the 19th Century it could have taken months for the news of a terrorist attack in India to reach the United States. Even during the first half of the 20th Century it could have taken several days or weeks. But today, the news arrives “live” and in real-time. Consider the years it took to reach an audience of 50 million people: Radio 38 years; Television 13 years; Internet 4 years; I-Pod 3 years; and Facebook 2 years. In 2023, the Threads app (by Meta / Instagram) reached 100 million people within 1 week of launch. That is truly a massive acceleration to the speed of, the increase of knowledge!
In The Last Days, Man Will Have the Ability to Destroy the Entire Human Race
(Matthew 24:22), And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
In the course of the human race, mankind has never had the ability to destroy all flesh. We now have that ability. With just a push of a button nuclear missiles can be launched and all life destroyed.
The Gospel Will Be Preached Throughout the Whole World
(Matthew 24:14), And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
So, is this being fulfilled today as one of the end time signs? Yes, because God’s people are preaching the true gospel throughout the world like never before. Through the internet, tv, radio, in the pulpit, and through print. We have never had the resources available before to reach the world the way we can now.
There were fewer than 300 million people alive when Jesus walked the earth. In April of 1996 Billy Graham preached a sermon that was broadcast to 200 countries in 40 different languages. It is estimated that 2.5 billion people heard that message. The presentation was followed-up with the distribution of 445 million pieces of literature in over a hundred languages.
“The Jesus Film” produced by Campus Crusade in 1979 reached over 7 billion people by 2015. Based upon the Gospel of Luke, the film has been translated into over 1,000 languages and is currently being shown in almost every country in the world by more than 2,500 mission teams.
The “10/40 Window Project” and other missions, focus their attention of their evangelistic efforts in the area across Africa and Asia called the 10/40. That’s from 10 degrees latitude north of the equator to 40 degrees latitude north of the equator. Of the 55 least evangelized countries, some estimate that 97% of their population lives within this geographical window.
The result has been a great harvest of souls. More Muslims have come to Jesus in the past twenty years than in the previous one thousand years.
The Last Days Will Be as the Days of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah
(Luke 17:26-30), And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
What was it like in Noah’s day and Lot’s Day? We need to go to two other Bible verses to see what it was like. Genesis 6:13 tells us that in Noah’s day the “earth was filled with violence.” And in Jude 1:7 it says that in Lot’s day, Sodom and Gomorrah had given itself over to “fornication and strange flesh”. So, violence prevailed in Noah’s day and sexual immorality (including homosexuality) prevailed in Lot’s day. These will exist and noticeably increase just prior to Christ’s return.
Concerning violence, here are some noteworthy statistics;
- 2016: Murder rates rise in 29 of the largest cities in America in 2016
- 2017: 1,516 mass shootings within 1,735 days in America
- 2023: For 6 years in a row, Mexico’s sustained record highs of around 30,000 murders
- 2024: Over 110 active armed conflicts worldwide
Concerning the sexual immorality that brought God’s judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, a similar rebellion against God’s design for sexuality and marriage has been on an alarming increase in the recent years.
- 2001: Homosexual marriage is legal in 30 countries. And more countries are being added to this list as time goes on.
- 2015: The U. S. Supreme Court declares homosexual marriage legal
- 2019: Over 1 MILLION people are infected with a sexually transmitted disease every DAY around the world! (374 million new infections yearly)
- 2021: A record breaking 70% of Americans supported homosexual marriage
- 2024: Adolescent pregnancy is a sustaining global issue. The World Health Organization estimates that over 21 million girls ages under the age of 19 became pregnant each year. And about 9 million of them do not give birth.
Just look back 50 years and you will not see the same degree and acceptance of sin, and rebellion towards God. We see a shocking increase just as God warned us. It is portrayed on the internet, TV, movies, video games, and all forms of media. Violence, lust and all manner of evil, on an alarming increase like we see today, will be the case in the end times just prior to Christ’s return.
In the Last Days, There Will Be Existing East of Israel a 200 Million Man Army
(Revelation 9:15-16), So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.
Many countries, such as China’s 1.4 billion people, could easily form an army of 200 million.
In the Last Days, All Nations Will View the Same Deadly Event at the Same Time
(Revelation 11:8-10), And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
We now have that ability!
We hope this study has encouraged you to continue to grow in faith and to search the scriptures for more end-time prophesies on your own. There are countless verses that have already been fulfilled. Each one shows the prophetic power of our God. They demonstrate that He is always in control, nothing ever catches Him off-guard, and our Lord Jesus Christ is truly coming back soon!
Now, let us continue on and see more amazing “Signs of the Times” concerning nations of the end times.
Israel – Back in the land after 2,600 years
JUST LIKE THE BIBLE PREDICTED~
Dispersion and Their Miraculous Return!
(Jeremiah 9:13-16), And the Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them… I will scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.
(Ezekiel 36:16-19), Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds… Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.
(Jeremiah 30:3), For behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
(Ezekiel 36:24-28), For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
The dispersion happened around 606 BC by God using King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. At that moment in history Israel ceased to be a nation.
- They were scattered worldwide
- They were weak with no political, economic, or military power
- They were the most hated and persecuted people
And yet with all this, in 1948 AD the impossible happened. After 2,600 long years Israel became a nation once again to continue to be that witness to us even today, JUST AS THE BIBLE PREDICTED IT WOULD HAPPEN!!!! The God of Abraham, the God of the Bible, that same God that has formed Israel and sustained her, He is the one true God and the Bible is His one true Word!
Israel’s Temple in the Last Days
(Matthew 24:14-16), And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
In order for Christ to return, there must be a Jewish Temple in the land of Israel. For almost 2000 years since Christ said these words, there was no possibility for this to happen. Today, the children of Israel are back in the Land, and the Temple is ready to be built!
Egypt – In a peace accord with Israel in the last days
JUST LIKE THE BIBLE PREDICTED~
It is a well-known fact as we read today’s headline news, that the nation of Israel is surrounded by nations that hate her and want her entirely annihilated. And not in just today’s headline news, but throughout her entire history as a nation.
But God’s Word, the Holy Bible, predicted that in the last days, one nation would be in a peace accord with the nation of Israel. It boldly declared that this nation would be, the nation of Egypt.
The context of the passages we are about to read is last days and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Isaiah30:26-27), Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, And the light of the sun will be sevenfold, As the light of seven days, In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people And heals the stroke of their wound. Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, Burning with His anger, And His burden is heavy; His lips are full of indignation, And His tongue like a devouring fire.
Now, let’s continue;
(Isaiah 30:1-2), Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin; Who walk to go down to Egypt, And have not asked My advice, To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
(Isaiah 31:1), Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, Who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the Lord!
Now, let us read our headline news dated March 26, 1979 about Egypt;
“EYGPT AND ISRAEL SIGN FORMAL TREATY, ENDING A STATE OF WAR AFTER 30 YEARS”
On September 17, 1978, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, established peace between the two nations by signing The Camp David Accord.
And now, let us read about the reaction in the Arab world
This treaty was received with enormous controversy across the Arab world, where it was condemned and considered a stab in the back. The sense of outrage was particularly strong amongst Palestinians, with the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat, stating: “Let them sign what they like. False peace will not last”. On the other hand, the treaty led both Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin to share the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for bringing peace between the two states. In order to regain legitimacy in the eyes of the other Muslim-majority countries after the peace treaty with Israel, Egypt appealed to Islamic justifications based on the sacred scriptures of Islam to facilitate its efforts to describe its innovative peace policy, and simultaneously to refute the anti-peace campaign led by Islamist organizations in the Arab world and the Middle East.
However, as a result of the treaty, Egypt was suspended from the Arab League in 1979–1989, and Sadat was assassinated on 6 October 1981 by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Syrian President Hafez al-Assad severed all relations with Egypt after the signing of the peace deal, and diplomatic relations were not re-established until 2005, when Egypt once again enjoyed warm relations with Syria under the rule of Bashar al-Assad.
It is one thing for the Bible to be accurate concerning the nation of Israel, but to be accurate to the finest detail concerning the nation of Egypt in the midst of such controversial objection of joining in on a peace accord with the Jewish people is nothing short of phenomenal.
In light of the prophetical power of the Holy Bible, every heart should be fearing and trembling at the thought of playing games with it and taking it lightly!
What are the chances of an Arab nation taking on such a risk to befriend the nation of Israel in such a hostile environment?! And yet, just like the Bible said it would be, Egypt has established a peaceful relationship with the Jewish nation.
Gog, Magog, Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, and Gomer
All 5 nations will exist in the last days, worthy of headline news and anti-Sematic -Against Israel
JUST LIKE THE BIBLE PREDICTED
In both the Old and New Testament Scriptures, God’s Word refers to the following nations and cities and speaks of their locations;
- Persia (todays Iran)
- Ethiopia and Libya (as we know it today)
- Gomer (the area of Turkey) (Todays Germany is also known as descendants of Gomer, the first born of Noah’s son, Japheth – Gen. 10:2-3)
- Gog and Magog (the area of what we call Russia and Turkey) (Ezekiel 38:1-4; 39:1-2)
As we see in today’s headline news it is very clear that all these areas contain some of the most anti-Sematic views and policies, along with their historical harsh treatment of the nation of Israel and its Jewish people.
- We have Germany’s Hitler that murdered literally millions of Jewish people.
- Turkey is no stranger to antisemitism.This is a quote from an October 6, 2014 publication of Haaretz; “Turkey, once a safe haven for Jews, now outranks Iran in harboring anti-Semitic sentiment.”
- We have today’s Russia that supports countries that desire to eliminate the nation of Israel while they themselves are clearly no friend to them.
- It is no secret that Persia, our modern-day Iran, would rain nuclear warfare on Israel if it were possible for them to do so and get away with it.
- Once home to a very large and thriving Jewish community, Libya is now completely empty of Jews due to anti-Jewish organized massacres.
- Ethiopia has a consistent history up to today of persecuting, imprisoning, torturing and killing Jews. There is presently a mass exodus of Ethiopian Jews taking place to Israel and other neighboring countries.
With all this said, it is amazing that the Bible knew 2,600 years ago, in the days of Ezekiel, and 2000 years ago in the days of the apostle John, that Israel would be once again back in the promised land, in the last days, and threatened by war from all these neighboring areas as we see in its’ following Scriptures;
(Ezekiel 38:1-6, 16-19), Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops–many people are with you.
You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.” Thus says the Lord God: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them? “And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel,
Revived Roman Empire and Four Gentile World Powers Leading Up to It
JUST LIKE THE BIBLE PREDICTED
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream – 5 Ruling Nations
After King Nebuchadnezzar conquered the world around 600 B.C., God gave him a dream about a huge statue of a king made of different metals;
(Daniel 2:31-33), You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
God’s Word goes on to explain beyond our own understanding and with amazing accuracy that there will be five nations that will rise to power and rule the world and then Jesus will come with His kingdom.
- Head of Gold = Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian nation
606 B.C. – (Daniel 2: 36-38)
- Silver = The Medes and Persians
538 B.C. – (Daniel 2: 39a; 5:30-31; 6:28; 8:20)
- Brass = Greece (with Alexander the Great)
330 B.C. – (Daniel 2: 39b; 8: 21a)
- Iron = Rome – 80 B.C. – (Daniel 2: 40)
- Iron and Clay = The last gentile kingdom before Jesus comes with His kingdom – (Dan 2: 41-42)
What powerful proof of the Bible’s ability to foresee the future. We are talking about a real miracle! What do you think the chances are of someone during the time of Daniel be able to predict the next four nations that would rise to a state of being the most powerful nations in the world over the next 600 years?!!! History happened exactly how the Bible said it would!!
The Fifth and Final Gentile Kingdom Before Christ’s Return
The prophetical power of the Holy Bible continues to move on and crushes anything in its way that tries to stop it.
Stop and think for a moment:
- The first four world powers all happened within approximately 600 years of human history, exactly as the Bible predicted.
- This prophetical passage of Daniel chapter two, stands powerfully unmovable to this very day. For the past 2000 years, mankind had its chance to prove this prophecy to be in error. When the “legs of iron” (Rome), ceased to be a world dominating power, no other gentile power or kingdom has risen to be a world dominating political, military, and economic might. Today, we have gentile nations which possess great power, but none come close to the world-wide control and power, that the first four kingdoms had for their day. And so, the prophecy of Daniel chapter two still phenomenally maintains its accuracy TODAY!!!
As we look at the metals of this prophecy, the first four are distinctly different from one another. What is peculiar is that, the fifth and final kingdom has something to do with the fourth kingdom. With this in mind, it is safe to assume that the last world gentile power before the coming of Christ has something to do with the revival of the old Roman empire.
Over the past 2000 years, with this area of the world developing so many divisions between its borders, one would think it would be absolutely impossible for this area of fragmented gentile nations to come to one world power.
And so, many have scoffed and laughed over the centuries at the final prediction of Daniel chapter two.
They are no longer mocking or laughing.
All around the world, a new flag has risen whose color is a deep blue with 12 golden stars in a circle formation.
Question: Whose flag is this?
Answer: The European Union
Question: What gentile power was at the core of it?
Answer: Rome
Question: What does that new flag represent?
Answer: A new political, military and economic might that supersedes the power of any other nation on earth.
The European Union seems to effectively be the revived Roman empire. The stage is set for the last world ruler, the antichrist, to come and take world political, military, and economic control, just like the Bible predicted.
Four world-ruling Gentile kingdoms have come to a fulfillment. How close are we to the fifth and final Gentile kingdom before Christ’s return?
- Notice that the first four kingdoms are totally different from each other.
- Notice that the fourth and final kingdom are related. The fourth kingdom was Rome. The final kingdom is still Rome and powerful, but weakened internally under divisions.
- Rome ceased to be a worldwide power around 476 AD and the land mass of the empire wound up becoming an area filled with numerous countries greatly divided from each other with their “iron curtains” and “Berlin walls”.
- When will “Rome” become united once again, but this time, under divisions?
It seems it already has!
See the “Treaty of Rome and the Formation of the European Union” details in the previous lesson, and its news articles for more details, or just “Google” it and be amazed!