Chapter Seven – Is the End Near?

Back to 1The Bible’s Greatest Prophecies Unlocked!

The question of whether we are in the last days has within it a related, but somewhat different, question—and it towers over that of when the Bible’s greatest prophecies will be fulfilled. It is summarized in the chapter’s title—have we possibly even reached the period near the close of the last days—is the end of the last days near? In other words, is there now almost no time left in the 6,000 years allotted to mankind to rule its own affairs?
We have already discussed character breakdown, the warnings of Christ and other “signs of the times.” We also briefly examined the last 200 years and how a series of societal changes, generally thought to be advancements, bringing civilization to the Industrial Revolution, and subsequently the Modern Age, the Space Age, and lastly the Information Age—culminated in the final age—the perilous last days before the glorious Return of Jesus Christ.
This rapid progression of a changing civilization laid the foundation for the time of the end. Remember, the disciples’ question to Christ was about what would precede His Return and the end of the age.

Now we ask: What about religious confusion at the end? Jesus warned more than once about future great deception: “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I [Jesus] am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matt. 24:4-5). In other words, many would claim to represent Jesus, and would acknowledge that He was indeed the Christ, but bring a message that deceives their listeners. The confused, competing, disagreeing and multiplying groups within professing Christianity today confirm Jesus’ words.
Jesus’ warning is critical. Modern preachers all stress the Person of Jesus Christ, instead of His Message! They focus on the Messenger not His Message! Saying Christ was, in fact, the Christ—the Messiah—is a true statement! The deception starts when His message of a coming world-ruling kingdom—with all that this means—is ignored, and even suppressed.
Herein lies the greatest deception! Understand this!

False Gospel Proclaimed

Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom of God. Here are His first recorded words: “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying...the kingdom of God is at hand[Christ was there representing it]: repent you, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). Many verses show Jesus consistently preached this message.
Within 30 years of Jesus’ crucifixion, Paul warned of those who were already perverting Christ’s gospel with a counterfeit message. This understanding was so central that he pronounced a double curse on any who did this (Gal. 1:6-9). He also warned, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him” (II Cor. 11:3-4).
Preachers misrepresent Christ by bringing what is “another Jesus,” “another spirit” and “another gospel,” other than the kingdom of God.
The power of deception is very real. This includes those who specialize today in confusing, incomplete hodgepodges of prophetic theories about how the last days will play out. We saw the utter nonsense of these conflicting “experts” and prognosticators, like Nostradamus and other supposed prophets and prophecy fiction writers, is without end.
In Matthew 24:14, Christ foretold, “This gospel of the kingdom”—the true gospel!—“shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations [this describes a huge, worldwide effort, and just before the end]; and then shall the end come.”
Christ’s prophecy is still true! Its fulfilment having begun in 1934, The Restored Church of God continues this commission for a few more years. (More on this later.)

Wars, Famines, Pestilences and Earthquakes

The previous two subheads and this one involve five subjects (four of which are the horsemen of Revelation) that are so large and important that each commands its own later extensive chapter. But it is necessary to very briefly cover them here in the context of whether the end of the last days is near.
The most cursory look—our purpose at this point—reveals that this world is not led by God. Just the world’s biggest problems prove this. After Christ warned of the danger of false Christianity, His warning continued, “And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars...and there shall be famines, and pestilences and earthquakes, in divers [various] places,” but then explaining that “all these are [just] the beginning of sorrows” (Matt. 24:6-8).
Who can doubt these things have come to pass in a greater way? For instance, how often do we now hear of devastating earthquakes? A well-known television commentator stated that “for some reason” there are now more earthquakes occurring every day. Seismologists record 12,000 separate, measurable earthquakes annually. 88,000 died in them just in 2009.
New, serious outbreaks of old diseases—some now antibiotic-resistant—are reported more frequently. These include the HIV epidemic, cholera, typhoid, dengue fever, flesh-eating bacteria, Legionnaire’s disease, the Ebola and West Nile viruses, malaria, the return of stronger, more resistant strains of tuberculosis and diphtheria, and an explosion of sexually transmitted diseases. Whooping cough is again on the rise. These are but a small part of an immense, constantly emerging picture of frightening new diseases—and old ones returning with a vengeance!
Consider one illustration. Over 10,000 die from lung disease every year just in Hong Kong—just due to pollution. But 1.28 million die in China—one country!—each year!—just due to lung-related diseases.
About 24,000 people on Earth now starve to death every day—with this number steadily rising! Think. I live in a city of just about 24,000. This means a medium-sized city disappears from the face of the earth every 24 hours!
Wars, and what the gospel writer Luke called “commotions,” including acts of terror and protracted riots in more places, fill headlines—bringing more suffering and death. Greater disease and starvation are merely natural by-products of the population displacement and confusion that always follow in the wake of armed conflict.
In recent years, scientists have warned of climate change. Few any longer doubt that more extreme weather has arrived on the front edge of a worldwide phenomenon, whatever the cause. Storms are more severe, and more often. Abnormal flooding and devastation of the land are contributing to famines and disease epidemics in unheard of proportions. Weather catastrophes, earthquakes, wars and resulting disease and hopelessness tend to exacerbate what is already an epidemic of suffering.
The Bible also foretells more volcanic activity—and this is happening!

God Must Intervene

The world needs God’s Law, which, if kept by all nations, would bring universal peace, happiness, abundance and prosperity!
Cities could become beautiful. Disease, famine and war could disappear, as could racism, ignorance, poverty and all false religion. Yet, no man, no government, nor all the governments of men put together can bring these things!
Only God’s kingdom can, led by Christ and the saints who have qualified to join Him. The world must learn about the laws of God. Both Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:1-4 also speak of the “last days,” when this will happen. God’s Law universally obeyed and His love are prophesied to replace the lawlessness and hate between people and nations today!
God has to intervene! You saw Christ explain, “Except those days should be shortened [cut short], there should no flesh be saved [alive]: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matt. 24:22)!
Think! When has mankind held the capability to destroy all human beings? Only with the advent of nuclear, chemical, biological and now “radiological” weapons could this be possible. We live when all of these are available—and nuclear weapons alone possess the capability, with the stockpiles that currently exist, to wipe out all mankind many times over! As one leader said, “Once would be quite enough.”
Some assert that these weapons are too terrible to ever be used—that they exist only as a “deterrent” against their use.
Do not be fooled! They will be used. Many prophecies make this clear. Remember, the moment these weapons became available, and the United States felt it in its interest to use them, President Truman ordered bombs be dropped in August 1945—and without hesitation! Yet, the two bombs that landed on Japan were little more than “firecrackers” compared to what exists today.
It is no coincidence that the true gospel began being preached around the world at the time weapons of mass destruction became available—proving correct the timing of Christ’s prophecy about danger to the survival of all humanity!
All of what you have seen shows that we are now in the very last of the last days—the end of man’s rule is near.

Daniel Revisited

There is an element of Daniel’s long prophecy that must be brought out here—and it is absolutely crucial. The first reference in Daniel’s book to “the time of the end” is in Dan 8:17. Later, in Dan 11:40, and six times in chapter 12 alone, the word “end” is used.
Now get this! Daniel was not permitted by God to understand what he recorded. Recall God told him that his prophecy was sealed until the end of the age—and it would only then be unsealed. This has happened—and Daniel’s prophecy has now been opened to understanding.
Next, in Dan 12:10 it states, “the wise shall understand,” but “none of the wicked shall understand.” This means some—a relative few—will comprehend events around them—step by step by step! They will be able to understand what happens when, as well as where and to whom. And they will understand why.
Daniel 12:4 gives two more vital clues to knowing when the end time has arrived: “the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
We have already discussed the astonishing knowledge explosion brought about just by the arrival of computers (and cell phones) in scores of millions of homes. Great numbers now have access to vast amounts of knowledge—instantaneously! What can be quickly known by anyone seeking information is staggering! Surely we have arrived at the time when “knowledge shall be increased”—along with its easy access!
What about “many shall run to and fro”? The arrival of railroads in the middle of the nineteenth century—then great ships driven by powerful engines to move them ever faster across oceans—followed by automobiles—and finally, passenger jets, made our planet universally accessible, and quickly. Jets turned the Atlantic Ocean into little more than a large lake.
Earth seemingly grew much smaller because of its inhabitants’ ability to “run to and fro” almost anywhere at any time!

Four Prophesied Kingdoms

Daniel addresses other great prophecies. The second chapter contains another unusually long prophecy spanning over 2,500 years, concluding with Christ’s Second Coming. It pictures a giant man consisting of four metals (gold, silver, brass, and iron mixed with clay), which represent four succeeding world-ruling kingdoms that began in Daniel’s time and culminate with a final revival of the Holy Roman Empire.
This will be the final Beast of Revelation 17:18 that will come upon an unsuspecting world with stunning speed and force. With the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the reunification of Germany, the last resurrection, consisting of countries and kingdoms throughout Eastern and Western Europe, will be a kind of United States of Europe.
This chapter has brought light on subjects you have almost certainly not even heard referenced, never mind explained.
Fifty Bibles are sold every minute worldwide. This translates to over 26 million each year. How many believe and act on its contents? All convicted Bible readers should by now be sobered and motivated to want to carefully study all the events we have discussed—and we are only beginning. All others, including less convicted Bible students, will soon wish they had brought a more serious approach to the greatest events in all human history.

How Scoffers Think

Today’s world is truly filled with “scoffers.” They do not believe God will intervene—or that this is even necessary! Most believe man is capable at the last minute of “snatching victory from the jaws of defeat,” and will save himself by solving his own problems! They think “everything will turn out all right—somehow!” And “Everything may look bad now, but it will get better because it always does.”
Though wrong in the short term, this is ultimately correct—but by means they have not anticipated!
Scoffing at the thought that Jesus Christ is returning, people choose to live rotten, sinful lives, following “their own lusts.” But dismissing them as irrelevant will not change the truth of God’s prophecies! Men must learn bitter lessons—that they have utterly failed to bring the conditions everyone longs for—that peace, happiness, prosperity and abundance will remain elusive despite humanity’s best efforts to find them.
Armies “trying to make the world safe for democracy,” humanitarian efforts, missionaries, “think tanks,” new scientific laboursaving devices, computers, cell phones, better school systems, fundraising efforts to eradicate deadly diseases, etc., will all fail—because humanity will not humble itself and seek the God who does have solutions—all of them!—to man’s greatest troubles!
But, when it is almost too late, the living Christ will intervene in power and glory to save man from himself!

What About You?

Daniel also foretold: “At that time...there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation...” (Dan. 12:1). Paralleling Christ’s own words in Matthew 24:1-51, this is serious. In fact, one could scarcely imagine a passage in the Bible that could be more serious!
Admit now that you are the “captain of your own ship”—the “master of your own destiny.” It is your choice to reject God’s warning or to yield yourself to Him and ask Him to prepare you for rulership in His kingdom!
More than reading a book, you are being warned. You now know the last days are here. Will you prepare yourself for what lies ahead?
If you do not intend to act on what you are learning, put the book down now, for it contains a great deal more knowledge for which you will be held accountable. You are better off to join the “willingly ignorant” scoffers in the “bliss” of not knowing the shocking details of the long, violent storm just ahead.
A formal inset statement is vital here. Many write or call our World Headquarters to thank us for what they call the “service” we are performing—for “boldly” or “courageously,” they often add, “educating” or “informing” the public about matters others will not address. Of course, we appreciate such gratitude. But The Real Truth magazine, The World to Come broadcast and our vast library of literature, including this volume, are infinitely more than a mere “service” or attempt to “inform.”
Just knowing about the last days means nothing. There is a warning attached to this subject. Here is what God said in Ezekiel (twice) to one who would be alive at the end of the age: “I have made you a watchman unto the house of Israel [again, my book America and Britain in Prophecy explains in detail who is the house of Israel]: therefore hear the word at My mouth, and give them warning from Me” (Eze 3:17; 33:7)—meaning, this is from God, not any human.
The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “watchman” is instructive. It is tsaphah, and means “to lean forward,” “to peer into the distance; by implication to observe, await: - behold, espy, look up (well), wait for, (keep the) watch (-man).” It is of interest that espy means “to catch sight of (something distant, partially hidden, or obscure); glimpse.”
This definition describes a responsibility that involves scrutiny—the term “to lean forward” paints a picture of one taking a very serious look at what lies ahead “in the distance.” He is one intently interested in “catching sight of” what is apparently obscured to the view of most or all others.
Just before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receives whomsoever I send receives Me; and he that receives Me receives Him [the Father] that sent Me” (John 13:20).
Another verse amplifies this point, making absolutely crystal clear just how important this principle is to God. It is found in Matthew 10:1-42 “He that receives you [God’s representatives] receives Me, and he that receives Me receives Him that sent Me” (Mt 10:40). This is almost identical to John 13:20.
To receive those whom God sends is to receive both Christ and the Father. Conversely—and obviously—to reject or ignore those Christ has sent is to reject or ignore Christ and the Father!
God would not send someone without ensuring we could know that he came from God. If God sends a man, He would obviously want it known. He would make it plain!
Understand. Someone, somewhere—yes, someone, somewhere!—had to be raised up to fulfil Ezekiel 33. God does not speak audibly from the heavens, but rather through His human servants. But make no mistake. The warning is not from the servant, it is from GOD!
No one else is saying these things.
Similarly, Jesus Christ—not the apostle John, who merely recorded His words—revealed to His servants an entire book of prophecy…