The End is near...or is it?

[xxclaro]

On another forum that I frequent(non-religious) there was a discussion going on about the current events in the middle east,particularily regarding Israel. Anyway,quite a few of the posters believe this is end times prophecy manifesting itself. My question is this-Do the current events really correspond with end times prophecy as laid out in the Bible? I don't really care if you believe it's true or not, but if you have a good knowledge of the Bible and it's end times prophecy I'd like to hear from you.
As far as I can see, Christians since the time of Christ have believed that the end is near. Is there any reason to think that the current events are more indicative of end times than any other time in history? It's been a while since I read the Bible,but from what I recall there are still many things left undone for the prophecies to be considered fulfilled. I think sometimes people see doom and gloom around them and think it's unprecedented and must therefore indicate some sort of impending apocalypse,but so far I'm not convinced.

 

[Tiapan]

I doubt it

Cheers

 

[sandandfoam]

Given how precarious human life is the end is always nigh in one sense.
To my way of thinking every time a man dies a universe dies with him.

 

[rusra02]

On another forum that I frequent(non-religious) there was a discussion going on about the current events in the middle east,particularily regarding Israel. Anyway,quite a few of the posters believe this is end times prophecy manifesting itself. My question is this-Do the current events really correspond with end times prophecy as laid out in the Bible? I don't really care if you believe it's true or not, but if you have a good knowledge of the Bible and it's end times prophecy I'd like to hear from you.
As far as I can see, Christians since the time of Christ have believed that the end is near. Is there any reason to think that the current events are more indicative of end times than any other time in history? It's been a while since I read the Bible,but from what I recall there are still many things left undone for the prophecies to be considered fulfilled. I think sometimes people see doom and gloom around them and think it's unprecedented and must therefore indicate some sort of impending apocalypse,but so far I'm not convinced.

To answer the question if we are living in the end time or last days, we need to compare what the Bible says would be occurring with world events. It is not enough for one or two prophecies to match. All the features of the last days mentioned in the Bible must be present. Jesus disciples asked him for the sign of his presence and the 'end of the world' or 'conclusion of the systems of things'. In response, he mentioned wars, food shortages, great earthquakes, pestilences, increasing lawlessness and other events (Matthew 24 and 25.) 2 Timothy 3:1-5 describes the critical times occurring in the last days due to the breakdown of morality and the bad qualities people would display.

Telling us what will mark the last days, Jesus said: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be great earthquakes, and in one place after another pestilences and food shortages; and there will be fearful sights and from heaven great signs.” (Luke 21:10, 11) Jesus also said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”(Matthew 24:14) The events that Jesus mentioned—wars, earthquakes, pestilences, food shortages—would not be new in themselves. They have been happening since early in human history. The difference would be that they would all occur in one time period.
‘When have all the facets mentioned in the Gospels occurred in the same era? Since the year 1914, man has witnessed devastating world wars; great earthquakes with their tragic consequences, such as tsunamis; widespread deadly diseases such as malaria, flu, and AIDS; millions of people wasting away for lack of food; a global climate of fear because of threats from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction; and the preaching of the good news of God’s heavenly Kingdom worldwide. These events have occurred just as Jesus foretold. Other prophecies about the last days have also been fulfilled.​

 

[Cordoba]

Nobody knows for sure when the end will be

Ten years ago, people predicted it would be in the year 2000, and nothing happened

Now some people say it's 2012, another wild assumption

Only God knows when the end will be

Let's hope it's not in our generation, nor that of our children / grandchildren

Ameen

 

[angellous_evangellous]

No. The end is rear.

I don't know where people got "near" from "rear."

 

[sniper762]

ARE YOU SCARED? i look forward to it, as should all who are saved

 

[logician]

The end of mankind is not the end of the world. The rest of life on earth would be much better off w/o us. Just look at the BP catastrophy.

 

[sniper762]

well, dont fret..........for bible believers, we have at least 1000 years left

 

[*Anne*]

No. The end is rear.
I don't know where people got "near" from "rear."

xxclaro, I don't believe in any prophecy, but I'm fascinated enough to listen to others who do. The History Channel features something on this topic every once in a while. (The last one I watched not-so-subtly painted Obama as the possible Anti-Christ. My teen jokingly said, "Ooh, I hope that isn't true, otherwise Dad's really going to be mad at you for voting for him! )

 

[Peacewise]

Can't help you with bible revelation for I haven't read that bit yet... but...

In a consumer society the cry "the end is nigh" merely equates to "this special is about to finish, buy NOW!"

Someone or other has been crying the end is nigh for thousands of years, civilisations will rise and fall, yet it seems that humanity is here to stay.

Even if this great crash that I've read a few environmentalists think will occur, ie 90% of people dying around 2050ad due to food, water, resource shortages, still that will leave a billion humans alive. We will go on.

I don't even see the sun going red giant in a few billion years as the end either, I feel confident we'll have left the solar system by then.

 

[LuisDantas]

I'm a bit surprised that people still expect to learn of the end times from the Bible. It is not like it didn't happen before.

In some senses the end is indeed near. It has been nearer before. But it has nothing to do with the Bible, or for that matter with any other scripture or new-age belief.

 

[BruceDLimber]

Greetings!

Do the current events really correspond with end times prophecy as laid out in the Bible?

Yes, they do, but not in the way most people think!

The problem is in fact one of translation:

The original Greek New Testament used the term "eras," which means "world or age."

But the compilers of the King James Version picked the wrong meaning: this verse in fact speaks of the end of the Age!

Which in the Baha'i view already came and went a century and a half ago!

Simple as that.

Peace,

Bruce

 

[Sunstone]

I doubt the apocalypse gets us before we pollute ourselves to death. Surely the next 100 years will see a die off of humans. Maybe as many as 80% of us will die off -- according to one scientist.

 

[Noaidi]

The end of mankind is not the end of the world. The rest of life on earth would be much better off w/o us. Just look at the BP catastrophy.

Indeed. Humans haven't really done much to improve 'god's Earth', have they? Perhaps it's time to pass the baton.

 

[xxclaro]

I don't think it's really as bad as all that. Yes,we still polute the earth and tend to be destructive, but if you look back in the not so distant past,we have done much worse. Certainly great strides have been made in how we handle waste and what is dumped into the oceans and whatnot. Much can still be done to improve, but the effort is being made and I beleive it's increasing. People like to go on and on about how we're destroying the earth without having any idea's or solutions to the problem.
Communication has increased on a grand scale over the last 100 years. I think this is the reason many think the Biblical end times are near. We here,read and see so many things going on it the world that it seems the end must be near,yet these things have always been going on. Before,people were more or less only aware of what was going on in their own country or their surrounding area. World news was probably hard to come by and unreliable. Now,with the internet,we see everything going on in the world.Inevitably there will be terrible things going on somewhere in the world,but they were going on before too,we just didn't know about it. I think Jesus purposely left it open ended like that, trying to get them to unsderstand that there was no way of knowing.

 

[Tiapan]

The End is near...or is it?

Gosh, I thought that's what the GFC was.

Cheers

 

[newhope101]

Hey great idea for a thread. Prophecy is awesome!
Luke 17:20 “The kingdom of God will not come with your careful observation, nor will people say ‘here it is’ or ‘there it is’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke is the only writer that makes this additional statement of the kingdom being in you in discussing the great tribulation.

Up until recently my reading of bible prophecy re the great tribulation and Armageddon was interpreted as a physical event, with the earthquakes etc being literal. The scripture quoted above leads me to think that perhaps it is not so literal.
I would not be surprised if mankind is not undergoing the ‘Great Tribulation’ right now. I’m starting to think that it’s a spiritual thing. Until fairly recently a belief in a God of some sort was fairly common place among the nations. With advances in science, the theory of evolution, realising earth is not the centre of the universe has supported a great falling away from the faith as prophesied for the last days.

Mathew 24:21 says ‘there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world, until now, never to be equalled again.” and Mat 24:22, “If those days had not been cut short, no-one would survive, but for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened”. This is curious. Now the elect at the time of the GT will have their faith also in the face of physical death. The elect must undergo a physical death to get to heaven. So why say the days will be shortened or not even the elect will be saved. The elect won’t be saved if they loose their faith. That’s the only thing that can change the elects’ hope to be with Jesus and being saved. The bible does not usually put much importance on physical death. It is spiritual death that is important. Mathew goes on to say that after the great tribulation the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its’ light and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Could this scripture be speaking to spiritual darkness and lack of hope?

If the fall of Babylon the Great refers to the fall of false religion, the killer of Jesus and the prophets,… it’s already started. Look at what the nations generally feel about religion. It sickens many people today.

The bible states many times that the GT will come unexpectedly while people go about their usual day. Could it be because most are awaiting the physical fulfilment of this prophecy?

The earth has had extinction level events in its’ past. For the GT to be physically worse than these is saying something.

If the nations are now undergoing a great spiritual tribulation then perhaps the next sign will be the coming of Jesus in great glory. I believe “every eye will see him”. So everyone will see with the eye of understanding and know what’s going on. It will no longer be a matter of faith. Whatever happens will be plain to see by everyone. Then people will have the choice in full knowledge of the truth to decide if they want to be a part of it or not.

The news of the Kingdom is being preached world wide by various Christian faiths. Pretty much everyone should have heard about the God of the bible by now even if they believe it to be myth. The general message..there is a God who can grant eternal life and what you are doing is going to make a difference is a standard message among the various faiths.

I agree that todays communication systems allow people to know what’s happening in the world. It would have been harder to discern the times in Jesus day. I think communication systems will still be here for these end times so we can all hear and see. So a huge physical catastrophe would limit the nations ability to discern the times and perhaps any signs.

For many nations life could not be much worse. There is war and depravity in many lands. How would the GT stand out to these nations?

All these questions have led me to start thinking we are now undergoing the Great tribulation and perhaps Armageddon is very close. The "Kingdom being within you" refers to the great tribulation, the beginning phase of the coming kingdom, is the tribulation within spiritually and that's why no one will notice it happening.

Does anyone else see things this way?

 

[Copernicus]

I doubt the apocalypse gets us before we pollute ourselves to death. Surely the next 100 years will see a die off of humans. Maybe as many as 80% of us will die off -- according to one scientist.

I really hate to agree with this statement, but I think that all signs point to it. The global warming statistics are inexorable, and world governments are finding it politically impossible to do what is necessary to alleviate the problem. Most of the world's population lives near coasts, and there will be panic as large population centers face rapidly rising sea levels later in this century. We cannot wean ourselves off of carbon-based energy supplies quickly enough. It is difficult to see how civilization can survive in the face of rising sea levels, the depletion of fresh water supplies, the disruption in the food chain, and the loss of arable land in the next several decades.

 

[BruceDLimber]

Hey great idea for a thread. Prophecy is awesome!

If you're interested in prophecy, you should check out this site, which details the many prophecies that have already been fulfilled, unbeknownst to many folks of whom you appear to be one!

www.bci.org/prophecy-fulfulled

Best!

Bruce