10 Signs We May Be Near the End of History by ALEX MCFARLAND for Charisma News
GNN Note – I can’t even count the number of people asking about “end times” and several current events happening around the world. It’s not just the Chinese coronavirus getting peoples attention.
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“Surreal” … doesn’t even begin to describe the scene. It was an evening I will never forget (though parts of it, I’d like to).
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It was about 8:30 p.m. on a Saturday night, and I and the group with me had spent nearly three hours in the police station. And this was not just any police station—we were in one of the most famous cities in the world. Our tour group had been robbed. Cellphones, laptops and wallets were gone, but most troubling of all, many of us had been relieved of our U.S. passports.
There in the office, the police chief was speaking with investigating officers, staff and our group in English and two other dialects—one of which I could tell was Hebrew. For over a week we had been in Jerusalem, all of us deeply stirred, visiting one monumentally significant locale after another. But even the most awestruck spiritual pilgrim becomes singularly focused when they’re 5,000 miles from home and in our situation. The one question on our minds, was, “How can we get a new passport?”
The Jerusalem police were super helpful, and though none of our stuff was recovered, they did get us to the U.S. embassy and helped with temporary IDs and such. The Jewish officers were pretty empathetic and reassuring during the process. They sensed our anxiety and talked with us encouragingly.
One officer asked about my occupation and I told him I taught apologetics at a university. “Apologetics … what is that?” he asked. I explained that apologetics deals with evidence for the Bible. “So, you teach theology,” he said. “Well, yes, that’s part of it,” I replied.
Cutting his eyes left and right the officer leaned toward me, asking in almost a whisper, “What about end of time? Do you believe God, uh, Jesus to truly come back?”
The holy city is no place for the unholy act some street thieves did to us. But getting to talk with the officer about what Scripture says regarding the end times made the hassle a little more bearable. He seemed deeply interested in learning more about this question.
Many are asking: Is this world reaching its expiration date? Eschatology (pronounced, “es-cuh-tology”) is the study of “future things.” The term comes from the Greek word eskatos, referring to “last things” or “ending things.” The Bible has a lot to say regarding the culmination of history and the final judgement of all people—and much about the end times we learn from the words of Jesus Christ.
As the COVID-19 situation has enveloped the globe, and as the impact on all of our lives has ranged from hours not worked and wages lost, to increasing shortages at the grocery, anxiety is only growing. People are scared, economies are crumbling and many rightly wonder, “Just how permanent will be the loss of civil liberties COVID-19 is creating?” Online and on-air, our organization is daily getting numerous inquiries about how close humanity might be to the end times, and specifically, to the return of Christ.
Why might people believe that Scriptural promises/warnings about the “end of days” be close at hand? What will be some of the precursors to Jesus’ return? Consider the following:
- The growth of the Christian church. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14).
- Increase in evil. “Iniquity will abound” (Matt. 24:12). The Bible predicts that in the last days there will be much hedonism (pursuit of pleasure as the highest good) and relativism (everyone makes their own “truth” for themselves).
- Increase in false prophets (see Matt. 24:4, 24). The apostle Peter warned against false teachers in the end times (1 Pet. 2:1; see also Jude 17-18). The Bible warns that in the end times people would forsake salvation in Christ for various types of occultism. Demonically inspired false religions would proliferate (see also Matt. 24:5; Mark 13:6).
