And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. John 14:29
Only God can declare the future. One of the purposes of prophecy is to encourage faith. As Bible prophecy is consistently fulfilled we know we can trust the Word of God and its author with our lives and the future. What does the Bible say about the end times? What are the signs that we will know we are in the last days?
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation (ethnos) shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences (plagues/disease), and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Matthew 24:3-8
So the Bible predicts many false Christs and false messiahs, increasing news of wars and rumours of wars, racial tensions, famines/food shortages, plagues and diseases, and earthquakes occurring in different places.
But wait, some will say, such things have always afflicted mankind. True, but the Bible tells us that in the last days, like labour pains upon a woman, there will be a marked increase in both severity and frequency. Meanwhile, men will attempt, in vain, to assure one another, refusing to rightly interpret events as signaling the soon return of Jesus and the end of this world.
Only those walking in faith and obedience to God's word will not be caught off guard by the things coming upon the earth.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail cometh upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, breathren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4
...men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: Luke 21:26
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity (unrighteousness/lawlessness) shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 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. Matthew 24:9-14
...then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christ, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. ...Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. Matthew 24:21-24, 26
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. Luke 17:26-29
Again, even with all that will be coming upon the earth, the wicked and unbelieving will seek to live their lives as normal. Meanwhile God's people will be hated by all: betrayed, persecuted, and killed. Satan will have his ministers posing as messiah figures, prophesying lies, performing the most convincing signs and miracles, and Satan will even attempt to counterfeit the second coming of Jesus. Meanwhile the true gospel will go out and be heard in all the world.
Thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by they sorceries were all nations deceived. Revelation 18:23
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Daniel 12:4
...there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they werefrom the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 2 Peter 3:3-6
The word translated "sorceries" in Revelation 11:18 is pharmakeia in the original Greek text. The Word of God predicted a great merchant class in the last days with the power to deceive the whole world, even Big Pharma!
The Bible predicted the information age yet, despite this unprecedented access to information and evidence, people will mock the idea that Jesus is coming soon, as well as the literal creation account given in Genesis where God created everything by his word, and the Biblical description of a flat earth and the story of the global flood in the days of Noah.
The Bible also predicted man's destructive impact on the earth as well as the unprecedented wealth accumulated by the wealthy through fraudulent means at the expense of their labourers and injustice being the norm.
And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. Revelation 11:18
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. James 5:1-6
Paul goes into more detail regarding the character of the unrighteous and lawless in the last days.
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 2 Timothy 3:1-5
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