End Times: Introduction

Bob

My sister Jeanne is the one who encouraged me to learn about the End Times. Thank you! At that time I was a “Pan-Tribulationist.” I believed that since everything is gonna pan out the way God wants, there was no need to concern myself with the details. All I needed to worry about was managing my own daily affairs. But after taking my sister’s advice, I discovered that understanding the End Times dramatically changed the way I did daily life. To those who say that we don’t need to concern ourselves with the End Times, please tell me why the Bible provides so much information about them. It’s not just in Revelation. If you include the OT prophecies, the Bible has more to say about the End Times than any other period in history! And if all Scripture is “God-Breathed,” then the parts about the End Times are also “God-Breathed.” So we ignore them at our own peril. Depending on the survey, between 40% - 50% of American Christians believe that we are living in the End Times. Precisely how far along the timeline we are and how fast things will develop remain open to interpretation. Jesus said that nobody knows the precise day and time of His second coming. But He also said that we can know when the End is near by watching the signs, just like we can tell a lot about tomorrow's weather by watching the sky.

Jesus said that:

  • The end times will be marked by wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and natural disasters.
  • People will claim to be the Messiah and deceive others.
  • Christians will be persecuted.
  • He will return, and His return will be unmistakable for the faithful.
  • We should be alert and on guard, because no one knows precisely when He will return.
  • The End Times will unfold according to God's purposes. Things are not falling apart; they are falling into place!

The Reliability of Prophecy: The Bible contains approximately 2,500 prophecies that span the entire history of the world, from Creation in the Book of Genesis to its final End in Revelation. Approximately 2000 of the Bible prophecies pertain to the past. Every one of these has already been fulfilled. God's track record is 100%. The remaining (approx 500) prophesies pertain to the future. Since all of the past prophecies were fulfilled, it's reasonable to expect that the remaining prophecies about the future will also be fulfilled. In fact, some of these future End Times prophecies seem to be unfolding as we watch current events. This is not a time to remain ignorant! The following webpages describe 17 signs of the End Times to look for.