We do not know when the end (the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ) will occur, but the Bible has given us specific events we may look for that indicate that Jesus’ Second Coming is near. Let me give you some indications, as quoted from the booklet, 101 Last Days Prophecies:4
We’ll have weapons that are able to dissolve their victims. “Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths” (Zechariah 14:12b). This describes perfectly the results of the victims of the atomic bomb in WWII. When this prophecy was made, the greatest weapons were spears and swords!
Israel will make a peace treaty that the other party will confirm and eventually break (Daniel 9:27). Who besides God could have known Israel would today be threatened on all sides by enemies, and the U.S.A. would try to broker peace treaties with the nations?
Babylon would re-emerge in the land of Shinar (see Isaiah 13), known today as Iraq. Saddam Hussein spent over twenty years rebuilding the city of Babylon.
A global economic system would exist. “And 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” (Revelation 13:16-17). This economic system was unthinkable in the decades after Jesus’ death, but entirely plausible with the interconnectedness of the digital age.
The nation of Israel would be born in one day (Isaiah 66:8). On May 14, 1948 Israel became a nation when Britain agreed to return the land to the Jews.
The Jews would regather to Israel from many nations. “It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea” (Isaiah 11:11. See also Ezekiel 37:21-22, 38:8). Over 5 million Jews have returned to Israel in our times! Never has a people group been dispersed for hundreds of years throughout the globe and then regathered back to their homeland.
Israel would prosper economically (Ezekiel 38:12-13). This recently regathered, tiny nation exported over 30 billion dollars worth of goods in 2004. In contrast, their neighbor Jordan exported less than 3 billion in 2004.
Surrounding nations would unite against Israel (Psalm 83:4-8, Zechariah 12:2). The news media report on this fact almost every day.
Jerusalem would be “a heavy stone for all peoples” (Zechariah 12:3). The media reports of conflicts over Jerusalem often.
Israel would be partitioned by all nations. “They have also divided up My land” (Joel 3:2a. See also Daniel 11:39). This is another amazing prophecy, for Israel has been divided up as the West Bank, Golan Heights, and the Gaza Strip in our time.
Israel, which had been divided into two kingdoms since the time of Solomon (950 B.C.) as Judah and Israel, would be one united nation in the last days (Ezekiel 37:15-22). And so it is now.
The Temple will be rebuilt (Daniel 12:11; Mark 13:14, Revelation 11:1-2). Today, the Temple Institute has created the temple furniture, vessels, and priestly garments. Several hundred Jewish men are in training for the Levitical priesthood.
What Do You Think?
a. How many prophecies must be literally fulfilled before you start taking the end-time prophecies seriously?
b. Isn’t the fact of so many verifiable prophecies occurring during and just before your lifetime reason to take the end times seriously?
c. If you went to an opera, you may receive a bulletin outlining the three-act play, which would help you follow the story to its final act. Did you know that prophecy is like that bulletin, showing history leading us to the final act – the Second Coming of Jesus Christ?
d. Why would God tell us about these events in advance?
4. Tetlow, Jim, 101 Last Days Prophecies. (Eternal Productions, 2003). Tract booklet from http://www.eternal-productions.org
