Signs of the End Times

Are we in the Last days? If so, when did they begin? We will soon be adding a NEW section on this blog that will be devoted to reporting specific News Items and Events pertaining to the “Signs of the Last Days”. We hope that this will be a blessing as we begin or continue to “Watch” and pray together, preparing ourselves for perilous times, to stand firm in our faith. Ultimately we need to be praying that we may be found worthy to escape the things that are coming upon the earth and stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36). https://dyingworld.org/2019/01/20/and-there-shall-be-signs/

Hebrews 1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, ² in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 

Hebrews 1 states that “the last days” began 2000 years ago with the arrival of the Prophesied Messiah, Jesus the Christ. Most Biblical scholars agree that the “LAST of the last days” began in 1948 with the regathering of Israel which started the fulfillment of Isaiah 11:11. It was only the beginning of the fulfillment because God is continuing to draw His people to Israel. As antisemitism increases around the world, more and more Jews are making Aliyah to the State of Israel.

Isaiah 11:11 Then it will happen on that day that the Lord
Will again recover the second time with His hand
The remnant of His people, who will remain,
From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath,
And from the islands of the sea.

The completion of Israel’s 70th year in the land given her by God Almighty on May 14, 2019 marks a very significant development in Last Days prophecy.

Jeremiah 25:12: Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.  ¹⁵ For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. 

¹⁶ They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” ²⁹ For behold, I am beginning to work calamity in this city which is called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment?  You will not be free from punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares the Lord of hosts.’ Jeremiah

What do we mean by “Last days”? Are we talking about “the end of the world?”

The answer to this question can be found in God’s plan of Redemption for mankind foreshadowed in the 7 day week that was instituted in the book of Genesis. God gave mankind 6000 years to go his own way, but the final 1000 years belongs to the Lord. https://dyingworld.org/2018/12/26/gods-7000-year-plan/

All throughout the Old Testament, beginning in the book of Genesis, God told mankind that He would be sending the “Promised Seed”, the Messiah, to save mankind from sin. Man fell into sin in the Garden of Eden, and ever since that time, man has had no ability to save ourselves. The soul who sins will die (Ez. 18:20). Sin is built into our flesh. All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. (Romans 3:23). There is none who are Righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10, Ps. 14, Ps. 53) God is completely Holy and Righteous and cannot just overlook sin. Because God is both Holy and Merciful, God instituted the Substitution Principle in the Garden of Eden. The life of the innocent in exchange for the life of the guilty. This was God’s plan to deal with sin, that GOD HIMSELF (in the form of HIS SON YESHUA (JESUS) would be the propitiation for mankind’s sin. God used the animal sacrifices that He taught the Israelites to point to the Promised Seed, the Sinless One, who would one day come to earth FROM HEAVEN, live a sinless life, and die as the Sacrifice for all mankind. For God so loved the world that He gave HIS ONLY SON that whosoever would believe in HIM (Jesus the Christ) should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Jesus came the first time as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is coming a second time as King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus is coming again to judge the earth and to set up His Millennial Kingdom. This is what is meant by the Last days. Even 2000 years ago at Jesus’ First coming, Jesus was eager to bring His Righteous Judgment to the earth and set up His Millennial Kingdom; however, first He had to fulfill His Role as the Passover Lamb of God.

Luke 12:49: “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!

When Jesus began His Public Ministry, it became His Custom to enter a city and teach in the Synagogues on the Sabbath. Luke Chapter 4 details Jesus walking into the Synagogue in His Hometown of Nazareth and teaching from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah. In this Chapter, Jesus basically tells the crowd that He IS the Anointed One who was sent by God to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy.

Luke 4: ¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus quoted Isaiah exactly, claiming to fulfill the prophecy, which He did, but the Gospel of Luke, Verse 20 then tells us that “HE CLOSED THE BOOK.” Why did Luke make such a dramatic point of mentioning that Jesus “closed the book”? Jesus closed the book because the next portion of Isaiah’s prophecy will not be fulfilled UNTIL JESUS comes again…” And the day of vengeance of our God”.

Isaiah 61:2: ⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, ¹⁹ To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,

God will not tolerate this sin-filled world forever. God, in His Great Mercy, has offered everyone a LIFE PRESERVER through His Son Jesus Christ, but for those who ignorantly or stubbornly REFUSE the LIFE PRESERVER, there is judgment waiting. Jesus is coming back, and He will bring the vengeance of our God to ALL who reject His Free offer of Grace. This judgment, the Tribulation and the “Day of the Lord” is detailed throughout much of the Old and New Testament, culminating in the book of Revelation.

Jesus’ Disciples understood that Jesus was going to set up His Millennial Kingdom on earth at some point. Jesus’ Disciples asked Him many questions about “His Coming and the End of the Age”, detailed in Luke 21, Matthew 24, and Mark 13. Although Jesus told His Disciples that “no man knows the day or the hour, not even the Son, but only the Father, He did not leave them without any information at all. The Disciples were given numerous “signs” to watch for to determine the approximate timing of Jesus’ Kingdom, namely the “Season” (not a literal season, but more or a reference to the general time-frame)

We are now in the LAST of the Last days, the end of 6000 years of mankind’s self-rule on earth, so it is very prudent to be watching for the Signs and preparing ourselves spiritually. We especially want to be ready for the Rapture so that we do not have to endure the Tribulation, the most horrible time that has ever existed on the earth, or ever will again. In Luke 21:36, the word “Watch” (agrypneō) means to exercise constant vigilance, to be sleepless or to keep awake. This word “Watch” has to do with being a night watchman, staying on guard and alert, constantly looking for the signs of the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.

Luke 21:36: Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Jesus told us to expect end-time signs in the skies including the sun, moon, and stars. Some of the signs have to do with earth changes, like mass animal deaths, famine, pestilence, seas roaring. Other signs have to do with nations and Kingdoms being “dismayed”, including wars and rumors of war. Still other signs have to do with individuals and societal breakdown due to extreme sinfulness. The signs have definitely been increasing in frequency and severity over the past ten to twenty years. The Global elite will blame these signs on “Global warming” or “Climate Change” because they absolutely DO NOT want us to understand the TRUTH! The beautiful thing about the time we are now in is that with the Internet and Technology, watching GLOBAL SIGNS can now be done very easily, whereas before, it would have been much more difficult if not impossible.

Biblical signs of the End Times

• False prophets and false teachers teaching Heresy within the Church (Mat. 24, Luke 21, Mark 13)
• Wars and “rumors” (reports) of wars (Mat. 24, Luke 21, Mark 13)
• Terrorism (Luke 21)
• Christian Persecution (Mat. 24, Luke 21, Mark 13)
• Falling away from the truth in the Church (Apostasy) (2nd Thess 2)
• Lawlessness, Moral Decay, Immorality, Extreme Materialism, sexual promiscuity and deviancy like the “days of Noah and Lot” (Sodom and Gomorrah) (2 Timothy 3, Luke 17)
• Drunkenness, lovers of pleasure, haters of good (2 Timothy 3)
• Disobedience to parents (2 Timothy 3)
• Conceited, narcissistic, reckless (2 Timothy 3)
• People’s love waxing cold, (Matthew 24)
• Famine (Luke 21, Mark 13, Matthew 24)
• Pestilence (Luke 21, Mark 13)
• Great Earthquakes in various places (Matthew 24, Luke 21, Mark 13)
• Israel back in her land and surrounded by neighbors (armies) who hate her (Luke 21)
• Mass Animal Deaths (Hosea 4)
• Signs in the sun, moon, and stars – (Luke 21, Matthew 24, Mark 13)
• Dismay among nations at the roaring of Seas and waves (Luke 21)
• Increasing “Knowledge”, technology and information (Daniel 12)
• Increasing Travel (Going “to and fro”) (Daniel 12)
• The build up to Daniel’s Beast Kingdom / the “New World Order” (Daniel/Revelation)
• Mark of the Beast Technology (Revelation)

The NEW SECTION of this blog will be devoted to reporting News Articles, Signs in the skies, Weather events, etc that pertain to the signs that we’ve been told to watch. These signs are also called Birth Pains because, like childbirth, they start out mild and grow in intensity and severity as we approach the time of Jesus’ 2nd coming. We want to report them here (as we see them) so that we can all be aware, stay AWAKE, and watch together. MARANATHA!!!