Below are some of the signs that the Bible prophesies for the end of this age:

1. Wars, famines, plagues, and earthquakes will lead to a time of great distress on earth. Luke 21:10–11.

2. Violence will prevail on earth “as in the days of Noah,” and people will be terrified by what is happening. Luke 17:26–27, Luke 21:25–26, Genesis 6:11.

3. Sexual immorality will prevail “as in the days of Lot” (Sodom and Gomorrah). Luke 17:28–28, Matthew 24:12, Romans 1:24–27, 2 Timothy 3:1–9.

4. The earth will be polluted, and there will be environmental problems. Isaiah 24; Revelation 8:6–11.

5. There will be a restoration of Israel as a nation. A conflict over Jerusalem will involve all the nations of the world. Ezekiel 36–9, Zechariah 12–14, Luke 21:20–24, Revelation 16:16.

6. A process of globalization will unite the nations to form an antichrist world government. Revelation 13.

7. Rapid technological advancement. Daniel 12:4, Revelation 13:11–18.

8. False prophets will arise who will lead people astray and cause much confusion regarding God and salvation. Matthew 24:5, 24:23–27, Revelation 17:1–6.

9. The basic truths of the Bible will be attacked, and there will be opposition against those who preach the Gospel. Matthew 24:10–11, 2 Timothy 4:2–5, 2 Peter 2, 1 John 2:18–23.

10. The message of the Gospel will reach all nations, despite opposition and persecution. Matthew 24:9–14, Matthew 28:18–20.

All these events are already taking place, indicating the nearness of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and showing that the world is heading toward the period of the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:15–31). Old Testament prophecies describe this period in passages such as Isaiah 24, Jeremiah 30, and Daniel 12.

The seven-year period is based on the interpretation of the prophecy of “seventy weeks of years” in Daniel 9:20–27. This concludes with a seven-year period that brings the timeframe to a close. This time, it will begin with a peace treaty between the Antichrist and Israel. In the middle of this period, the abomination of desolation will be set up in the holy place referred to by Jesus in Matthew 24, which will lead to the final judgment of the Antichrist.

This time of tribulation is described in detail in the Book of Revelation, which begins with a rider known as the beast or the Antichrist, riding forth as a conqueror. His rise to power will be followed by war, famine, and death. In the middle of the seven-year period of the Tribulation, the image of the beast will be set up in the holy place (the abomination of desolation), and he will introduce the system of the Mark of the Beast (666).

Revelation 13:5 states that this will continue for 42 months—that is, 3 1/2 years—the latter half of the seven-year period. Daniel 9:27 states that the abomination will be set up in the middle of the week (at the halfway point of the seven years), and Daniel 7:25 speaks of “a time, times, and half a time” (a time = 1 year, times = 2 years, half a time = half a year, total = 3 1/2 years). Therefore, we conclude that the Tribulation is a 7-year period, divided into two halves of 3 1/2 years. During this time, humanity will sink even deeper into decadence and depravity.

The climax will be the system of the Mark of the Beast, which will control people, allowing them to buy and sell only if they have this mark on their right hand or forehead. This system will be implemented with the support of new technologies that are already available. To receive the mark, you must worship the image of the Beast. If you refuse, you will be cast out of society; but you must know that if you accept the mark, you are doomed to hell forever. Revelation 13:14–18, 14:9–11. God’s judgment will strike this wicked system, which will ultimately collapse (Revelation 18).

Many people will resist and turn to Christ during the tribulation (Revelation 7). They will be persecuted by the Beast (Revelation 13:9–10), and many of them will be killed, though there will be survivors faithful to Jesus who will refuse the mark. This terrible period in human history ends with the Battle of Armageddon and the second coming of Christ to earth (Revelation 16:12–16, 19:11–21), when He will destroy the reign of the beast, and the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our God and of His Messiah, and He will reign forever and ever (Revelation 11:15).

When Jesus returns, this time He will come as Lord of lords and King of kings, with all the power of God at His disposal. He will be accompanied by all true believers—those who died during the church age and were raised to life, along with those who are alive at the time of the church’s Rapture. The Lord will cast the beast and the false prophet into hell (Revelation 19:14, Zechariah 14:5, 1 Thessalonians 4:15–18). He will raise all the Old Testament believers (Daniel 12:1–3, 13) and all the believers who were killed during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 20:4).

Those who physically survive the Tribulation will be gathered for the “sheep and goats” judgment, when the goats (the unbelievers) will be cast out of the earth, while the sheep (believers) will enter the Messianic Kingdom and repopulate the earth (Matthew 25:31–46). The Lord Jesus will take over the reign of the Messianic Kingdom from Jerusalem, and there will be a period of universal peace and prosperity. (Isaiah 2:1–4, Zechariah 14, Revelation 11:15, Revelation 20). During this time, the devil will be bound in a place called the Abyss, from which he will no longer be able to deceive the people living on earth (Revelation 20:1–3). Unleashed for a time at the end of this period, he will gather those who have rebelled against the Lord for the final battle (Revelation 20:7–10). The Bible indicates that there will be children born to survivors of the tribulation, and some will sin against the Lord despite living in the best of all possible worlds (Isaiah 65:20, Zechariah 14:17–19, Revelation 20:8).

At that time, God will bring about the end of the world and create new heavens and a new earth where the redeemed will live forever:

But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day, the heavens will pass away with a roar, the heavenly bodies will melt away in intense heat, and the earth and everything on it will be burned up.... But we, according to His promise, are looking forward to new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will dwell. (2 Peter 3:10–13)

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice coming from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with people! He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them. He will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death will be no more. There will be no more mourning, no more crying, and no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1–4).Those who are not redeemed, whose names do not appear in the Book of Life, will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment. Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)

But before this scenario unfolds, the rapture of the church must take place, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16–18: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

At this event, there will be a gathering of all those who have died as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and those who will be alive at the time of the rapture. They will be supernaturally caught up into the air to meet the Lord, and our mortal bodies will be transformed into immortal bodies, which will no longer be subject to sickness, aging, or death (1 Corinthians 15:50–58) and we will be with the Lord forever.

According to Matthew 24:36–44, this event will take place at an unknown time, and we must be prepared for it to happen at any moment: “But about that day and hour no one knows— neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Indeed, just as it was in the days before the flood, when people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, right up to the day Noah entered the ark—and they knew nothing about it until the flood came and took them all away— so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Then, of two men in the field, one will be taken and the other left. Of two women grinding at the mill, one will be taken and the other left. Stay awake, then, for you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Know this: if the master of the house knew at what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would stay awake and not let his house be broken into. Therefore, be ready yourselves; for the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.”

We must be prepared at every moment for the moment of the rapture and take heed to the words of the Lord Jesus: “When these things begin to take place, look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28). Amen!