All the events going on are not a coincidence, the chaos, the hate, the greed, the political upheaval and the lawlessness, it’s all leading up to something huge. This world is basically a stage that is being prepared for what the Bible describes as the end of this age or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Satan and his demonic powers have been allowed to rule this world — roaming this earth looking for anyone he can devour (1 Peter 5:8), people he can influence and use to do his evil and wicked work. He can even affect the minds of unbelievers so that they struggle to see the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4).

What we’re seeing is a world filled with self-righteous and godless people who have rejected God and live by their own moral truths, an evil that is intensifying to a level that will be used to usher in a new world order. Don’t think for a second that any of this has blindsided God or that He didn’t see it coming. God has been using and will continue to use world events to usher in a time which He will judge the world and finally bring in His eternal Kingdom. But first, events need to intensify in order to lead us there and the Bible’s description of the season before the end of this age seems to be matching up very well with the condition of the world today.

The Labor Pains Have Begun

The Bible has revealed to us so much regarding the time of the end. While no one can know the day or the hour of Christ’s return, Christians are commanded to know the times and the seasons. Jesus has told us what the season before His return will look like.

Also recorded in Matthew 24 and Luke 21

Since Jesus walked this earth we’ve seen many come in His name but do sinful things and some even claim to be Him. Jesus tells us that they are all liars and have and will deceive many. He tells us that we’ll hear of wars and rumors of wars. Wars have happened all throughout human existence, but wars and rumors of wars have increased exponentially in the last 120 or so years. We live in a world where conflicts, even localized, can greatly affect the world in some form or another. Today we’re not only fighting wars on terror, there are wars in various countries and we are constantly hearing of rumors of wars, like the US and China, the US and Iran, Iran and Israel, and so many others. Along with those things, Jesus tells us that “nation will rise against nation” and “kingdom against kingdom”. In the original Greek text of the New Testament, the word nation is translated from the Greek word ethnos, which is where we get our English word, ethnic. It’s more than apparent that we have division right now in the US and other parts of the western world, based on ethnicity.

There have been and currently are pestilences and famines in various places. Current examples in the last 10-15 years alone have been SARS, H1N1, Ebola, Covid-19, and most recently a threat of large-scale famine due to food shortages happening in many African nations. The threat of famine has been building up for various reasons but currently being made worse by the Biblical-scale locust swarms which are destroying crops within a matter of minutes. This is happening in 13 different countries as of the writing of this article.

What Jesus is saying is that all these things happen but in the time leading up to the end they will increase in frequency like birth pains upon a pregnant woman. As a pregnant woman’s contractions become closer together and more frequent, the baby is about to be born. In this case it is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, but first the unbelieving world will have to go through what the Bible calls the Great Tribulation. Jesus said He would return when our day resembles the days of Noah and the days of Lot.

The Apostle Paul, in 2 Timothy, gives us insight into human behavior in these last days leading up to Christ’s return, it’s hauntingly accurate and shows the level of increase in evil on this earth.

You could argue that people have behaved like this throughout all of human history, that’s true. But I will counter back that we have not seen a time in which the entire world is so greatly affected by a multitude of people behaving like what Paul has described and in addition to increasing disasters and diseases, and moral corruptness. In the days of Noah, we’re told that mankind was completely corrupt (Genesis 6:11-13) and that in the days of Lot sin ruled the lives of those who inhabited Sodom and Gomorrah, especially sexually immoral sins (Genesis 13:13, Jude 1:7). During those days, people lived in complete delusion, seemingly unaware of the fact they were living in absolute sin. They went on living life as usual until God’s judgment and wrath hit out of what seemed to them like nowhere. We now are living in a world that is resembling those times more and more, a world where so many encourage the murder of unborn babies, celebrate abhorrent sexual behavior and where truly good things are called evil, and truly evil things are called good, just like Isaiah 5:20 tells us — another sign of the approaching end. Biblical history shows that God judges nations when they turn away from Him and start taking pride in their sins, especially the murder of children and sexual immorality.

You might say again, but we’ve seen worse times, like the world wars. And I will say to you that the world wars did not affect almost every person in the world like Covid-19 has, nor has this world been so affected by so many different issues in such frequency. It seems that almost daily there is something going on. It’s no illusion that life has changed in a matter of months. Also prior to 1948 one big piece of the Biblical prophetic puzzle was missing, Israel. The Jews had not had a nation since the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. After the events of WWII, the nation of Israel was born in a single day on May 14, 1948. Israel being a nation and more specifically the Jews being in Jerusalem is key to these end time events taking place. Because the Antichrist needs a Jewish nation to confirm a covenant with, Jerusalem needs to have a third Jewish temple built by the halfway point of the Tribulation, and the Bible tells us that Jesus will return to Jerusalem. As of this writing in 2020 all the Jews need is the go ahead to build the temple, the planning is pretty much complete.

This Battle is Spiritual

What is important to know and remember is that all of this is a spiritual-rooted battle. Paul tells us that as Christians our battle is not against people, but the spiritual evil which drives people to act in such a way. We must armor up with the spiritual armor such as our faith in Jesus, His Gospel message, prayer, God’s Word (the Bible) and our hope of salvation in Him. The days are growing evermore evil and it is showing in all parts of life, from entertainment, to politics, education, and pretty much every facet of life. A loud speaker has been given to the voices of evil, through government and media. People are being turned against one another, godless things are being taught to children and God’s moral standard is being thrown out for whatever the moral whim is for the day.

Satan is using anyone and everyone he can, to push this world into darkness. In 1 Timothy 4:1 we are told that another sign of the last days will be people departing from true Christian faith to take on false religion as well as false teachings masked as Christianity. I truly believe that we are seeing the beginnings of that take place at this moment. Europe, once primarily Christian is now littered with abandoned Church buildings and the Christian population has dropped and keeps dropping. In North America, we have many influential “Christian” churches which don’t even teach the Word of God and some of those pastors hardly, if ever mention Jesus in their sermons. Some twist the Gospel message so much that it becomes a gospel of man or of prosperity and bears little resemblance to Christ’s work on the cross. It’s demonic doctrine that fuels pastors who’d rather sell books and please people, than please God and lead people to Christ. Apostasy is taking place in the west at an increasing rate. In the Middle East and Asia however, people are turning to Jesus Christ in large numbers. Iran has the fastest growing Christian population in the world. God is moving to call His elect and to use world events to bring about the Tribulation and Second Coming.

What Is This Tribulation Period?

In summary the Tribulation period is a period of seven years that God has promised to the people Israel through the prophet Daniel (Daniel 9:26-27) and Jesus gives us more detail about it in the book of Revelation. God’s focus will be on His people Israel, specifically those Jews who come to know Jesus during that time. God will also bring judgment and wrath upon this world in order to bring the remainder of those (both Jews and non-Jews) who are to be saved to repentance and salvation, but sadly not everyone will want God’s gift of salvation. He will then send judgments upon the unrepentant and wicked people, destroying the man-made systems of false religion, and the sinful economic and political system. These seven years will usher in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to this earth, who will come back to this earth as King.

Getting into more detail, the Bible tells us that things will get extremely rough on this earth, all the things causing the birth pains now, will become more extreme in nature. At the time of the Tribulation a leader will rise up, who looks like the answer to the world’s problems. He will confirm a covenant of peace with Israel for seven years or one week as described in the book of Daniel (Daniel 9:27). In that prophecy a week is equal to a period of seven years, each day representing a single year. At this time a global governing entity will be in place in some form, though perhaps not fully completed, as the world will be looking for ways to “fix” the issues that now plague humanity in such extreme.

This leader will somehow be fatally wounded then brought back to life, he will be possessed by Satan and is known as “the Man of Lawlessness”, “the Beast” or “the Antichrist”. Three and a half years into the seven year Tribulation period, he will be revealed for what he is, a brutal dictator, breaking the peace covenant with Israel. During that time he will claim to be god while blaspheming the name of the One True Living God. He will require everyone, rich and poor, great and small to receive a mark on their forehead or right hand, which will be used to track people and allow them to buy and sell. The unbelievers of the earth will choose to worship him and receive this mark as a result. Those who do not will be killed for not worshiping him. He will end up being the worst dictator this world has ever witnessed or ever will. Prior to the last decade or so, mankind has not had all the technology capable of tracking everyone on earth. Now with satellites, connected cameras, facial recognition, tracking databases, 5G, digital currencies and connected injectable / implantable chips, everything is here that could be used for this purpose. What the mark ends up being I am not certain of, but the technology is available for such a thing. Something which previously seemed ridiculous and impossible ever since Revelation was written around 95 AD.

During this time God will bring many people to a state of repentance and many will be saved, we call them “Tribulation Saints” and the Antichrist will behead them for their faith. God will allow this vicious Antichrist reign to go on for forty-two months while raining down judgments upon the earth. Jesus tells us that if He doesn’t come back when He does, not a single person would be saved (Mark 13:20).

So What Is the Hope Then?

The hope we have is in Jesus Christ. Salvation from God’s just wrath and the death sentence for our sins can only be found in Him alone. The Bible also tells us of an event that will take place, separate from the Second Coming and it’s referred to as the Rapture. In recent history the Rapture has fallen into a place of uncertainty and ridicule. Unbelievers and some Christians, writing it off as a joke or wishful thinking — claiming it’s not actually in the Bible at all, while others adamantly claim that it is. On top of that those of us who believe that it is Bible doctrine can’t agree on when it takes place. So what evidence do we have and should we place our hope in it?

The Biblical evidence that we have for the Rapture is found most strongly in: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and John 14:1-10. The Greek word used in the original texts is Harpazo, translated in Latin to Rapturo, then to English as Rapture. You’re most likely not going to find that word in your English translation, instead you’re going to find the definition words, like caught up or take up. The Greek word Harpazo means “to take by force”, “to seize” or to be “caught up”.

If we focus on 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians, Paul is telling believers that this is a “mystery” of the Lord. A Biblical mystery is something that had yet to be revealed until that point. So Paul is revealing to them that a moment in time will come when the bodies of the dead in Christ will rise up and meet their souls and those Christians who are still alive at that time will also be “caught up” or raptured up into the air with Jesus Christ and those previously dead believers who came with Him. Paul states that at that moment we will all be transformed in a twinkling of an eye and will forever be with the Lord, perfected body, spirit and soul, resurrected just as Jesus was.

Next if we look at John 14, Jesus Himself tells us that He will be going to prepare a place for us (all believers) and if He does that, then He will one day come back and take us to Himself, so that where He is (Heaven), there we may be also.

I think that is more than enough evidence to show that the Rapture is truly Bible doctrine and will be an event that happens. Now how can we be sure it happens before the Tribulation and not during or after? Well that’s not as clear, but I truly believe from what God’s Word has given us, we can rest in knowing that Jesus will come back for His Church (all believers at this time) before the Tribulation begins. For instance we read in Revelation 3:10, that Jesus promises if we endure in faith, He will keep us from the hour of testing that is coming upon the entire world (the Tribulation). In 1 Thessalonians chapters 1-5 there are verses like 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 which state that we are not appointed to God’s wrath. As Christians we should know that Jesus took on God’s wrath for us already, we no longer need to be punished. Yes in this world we will have suffering as Jesus told us in John 16:33, but we are not appointed to suffer God’s wrath. It’s obvious that Paul and the other disciples, through their writings believed for a while that the Rapture would happen in their lifetimes. The Rapture is imminent in nature, meaning it can happen at any time. Nothing prophetic needs to happen like with the Tribulation and events surrounding it. Jesus could literally snatch His Church away now if He wanted to.

Another strong indication is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8, Paul tells us that the Man of Lawlessness (Antichrist) will not be revealed until the one restraining him is out of the way. Who is the one restraining? That would be the Holy Spirit who indwells all born-again Christians. This passage alludes to, and I believe strongly alludes to the fact that the Church needs to be gone before this all can take place. Imagine if all the true Christian are suddenly gone from this earth, things would go from bad to worse really quick.

Other indications of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture can be found in the book of Daniel. It indicates that this last seven year period of history is Jewish-focused. The Church and Jesus were unknown to the world when God revealed this to the prophet Daniel. In addition, the book of Revelation is structured in such a way that we see the past age, the present age and the age to come. The Church is not mentioned on earth after Revelation chapter 4, which is right before the details of the Tribulation period begin. The Church is then again mentioned after chapter 18 which is after Jesus returns to earth with His saints (the Church) in tow. How John wrote Revelation shows that he watched the events from Heaven, while in the Spirit, rather than from earth. The twenty-four elders who are described in Heaven in Revelation 4 seemly represent the believers who lived before the start of the Tribulation, consisting of those who believed upon God’s promise of salvation before Christ was revealed to the world, and those of us since who have believed in God’s promise through Jesus Christ.

I think there is a great deal of evidence and this is an event that we should place our hope in. As it describes in Titus 2:13, we (Christians) are awaiting the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Those who love God through faith in Jesus will be taken care of and will find eternal life, not wrath. God will establish His eternal Kingdom through Christ and we who believed will be with Him for eternity. Those who don’t and are alive at the time will go through the Tribulation for sure, and may or may not find salvation during that time, only God knows the hearts of people. If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, there is no need to fear, for now is the time to wake up, because your salvation is nearer than when you first believed! (Romans 13:11)

For us believers, we have this awesome promise to store in our hearts:

How Can I Be Saved?

God does not want anyone to perish but for all to come to Him. If you’re struggling and wondering if you should reach out to Jesus, then YES, He is calling out to you.

It starts by understanding that you’re a sinner who is in need of a Savior. We all sin and nothing we can do will grant us forgiveness and access to Heaven outside of faith in Jesus Christ. You must repent, or turn away from your own self-righteousness and turn to the Savior and His righteousness (Mark 1:15).

God loves us so much that He paid the price for our sins in the person of Jesus Christ. He took on all the world’s sin and God’s wrath for the believer by dying on the cross. He proved to the world that He was indeed God by raising Himself back to life on the third day, which defeats the punishment of death that our sin earns for us.

If you believe that Jesus died for your sins, rose again on the third day and you invite Him to take residence inside your heart, you will be saved. In doing so, you pass from death into eternal life in the Lord Jesus.

I pray that you’ve already made this decision or did this moment because death can come at anytime and the end is quickly approaching, I believe much faster than we think.