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This teaching is based on the work of Dr. David Reagan of Lamb & Lion Ministries. David is a friend and is very knowledgeable about end-time Bible prophecy.
Even though many Christians and Messianic Jews aren’t interested in end-time prophecy, they should be for the following reasons: A significant part of the Bible is about end-times prophecy and it’s important for us to know everything that’s part of the Bible. The end-time prophecies, as well as the other prophecies in the Bible, give evidence that the Bible is God’s inspired Word and demonstrate that the Bible is a unified book, a unified book that we need to understand from start to finish. Prophetic knowledge honors the God who knows the end from the beginning and has revealed some of that knowledge to us. It satisfies our desire to know the future, creates dynamic hope, produces patient waiting and watchfulness, and inspires us to serve the Lord with greater enthusiasm. Knowledge of the end-times prophecies encourages us to be committed to our local faith community, results in holy living, gives us the ability to understand current events, enables us to know that we are getting close to the Lord’s return, and helps with evangelism. Many good reasons for us to be interested in end-time Bible prophecy, wouldn’t you agree?
Now let’s consider the end-time prophecies by categories: Signs of Nature; Signs of Society; Negative and Positive Spiritual Signs; World Political Signs; the Sign of Israel; the Sign of the Temple.
Signs of Nature
Messiah gave this prophecy: There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places (Luke 21). Of course earthquakes, famines and pestilences have happened in the past, and are happening now; but as we get closer to the Lord’s return, expect them to increase in frequency and intensity. Why? Messiah, who is the greatest prophet, compared the signs He gave to a woman in labor. All these are the beginning of birth pains (Matthew 24:8). As a woman gets closer to giving birth, her labor pains increase in frequency and intensity. As we get closer to Messiah’s return and the birth of a glorious new age, many of these signs will increase in frequency and intensity.
Signs of Society
Messiah gave this prophecy: Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold (Matthew 24). I don’t know about societies in Africa and Asia, but there’s no question that there has been a dramatic increase in wickedness in post-Christian western civilization because God has been rejected. The Bible has been rejected. A Biblical world-view has been rejected. Bible-based morality has been rejected. Expect wickedness to continue to increase.
More about the decay of the society of the last days in Rabbi Paul’s second letter to Timothy: But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Timothy 3). In the midst of this moral and spiritual degeneracy, the people of the end-times will have a form of godliness – but deny its power. They will consider themselves to be good, religious, spiritual people, but they will be anything but good, religious or spiritual.
The Bible predicted a population explosion in the last days. The book of Revelation predicted that the kings of the East would field an army of 200 million. They will cross the Euphrates from the east and invade Israel (Revelation 9:15-16 and 16:12). John recorded this: The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. Toward the end of the first century, it’s estimated that the entire world’s population was roughly 200 million. Now it’s over seven billion, and the Asian nations can field an army of 200 million.
Negative Spiritual Signs
False prophets and false messiahs: Messiah gave this prophecy: Many will come in my name, claiming, “I am the Messiah,” and will deceive many … many false prophets will appear and deceive many people … false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect (Matthew 24). Expect false prophets and messiahs to increase.
Apostasy in Messiah’s Community: Rabbi Paul wrote to Timothy: The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons (1 Timothy 4). Since I became a follower of Messiah in 1975, I’ve witnessed a significant falling away in the Church from true teachings to false teachings, no doubt inspired by demons. Some examples: churches ordaining homosexuals and lesbians; churches teaching the corrupt prosperity gospel; the denial of the need for people to respond to the Gospel with faith in order to be saved; universal salvation – everyone will be saved; the denial of the reality of Hell. Expect this abandoning of the faith to continue and increase.
Movement toward a one-world religion: Because women are beautiful, women are used to represent beautiful concepts like liberty and justice. The statue of liberty is a woman. Justice is portrayed as a woman with her eyes blindfolded, so that she can make impartial decisions. In Proverbs, a woman is used to represent wisdom. Faith is like a beautiful, faithful woman. Conversely, in Proverbs, a woman is also used to represent the opposite of wisdom – foolishness. She is beautiful, yet corrupt and deadly. In Revelation 17, a woman is used to represent an unfaithful and deadly world-wide religious system. The woman is the great prostitute. She is unfaithful to God and to the truth. She persecutes and kills God’s holy people – the true believers. She sits by many waters, which represent peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. She has world-wide influence. She is politically powerful. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.
At first, the great prostitute works with the future world ruler, the anti-Christ; later he turns on her and destroys her. The woman is connected to a great city with seven hills that rules over the kings of the earth. I think the woman represents a future false religious system that will be led by the Catholic Church and mixed with false teachings from other religions and philosophies. If I am right, we can see this false religious system already starting to come together.
The world will turn against Christians and Messianic Jews: Messiah predicted: You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. The world already does not like true Christians and Messianic Jews. Expect the world to hate us more and more.
The rise of the future world ruler, the anti-Christ: Paul wrote: Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2). He’s not only the future world ruler, like wicked king Antiochus of the Chanukkah story, but also anti-Christ will claim to be God and demand that everyone worship him.
Persecution of the Jewish people living in Israel by the anti-Christ: Messiah predicted: When you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel – let the reader understand – then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. (Matthew 24). The anti-Christ represents humanity.He will hate the Jewish people living in Israel and will persecute us. This same spirit is prevalent in the world today. Much of today’s anti-Semitism is based on the Jewish people being back in Israel. Israel is hated, and Jewish people living outside of Israel are hated. Expect this anti-Semitism, this hatred of Israel and the Jewish people outside of Israel to increase.
Positive Spiritual Signs
The worldwide proclamation of the message about the Messiah: This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24). After many centuries of evangelism, we are at the point, or very close to the point where the message about the Messiah is being proclaimed to the whole world.
A great outpouring of the Holy Spirit: The Lord speaking to us through Joel: And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days (Joel 2:28-29). At some point in the future, expect a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which causes dreams, visions and prophecies. However, be very discerning because there will also be many false messiahs and false prophets who will do miracles and deceive many