IS THE END

NEAR
An analysis of scripture on the end times

DM Arendse

TABLE OF
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 3
SIGNS THAT THE END IS NEAR ....................................................... 4
THE FIRST SIGN ............................................................................. 5
SIGNS SINCE THEN ........................................................................ 6
BIBLICAL PROPHESIES................................................................. 17
CONCLUSION ................................................................................ 20
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................ 21

INTRODUCTION
So often we hear people say things like; the signs of the end times are so
prevalent, or the end must be near, just look at our world. The truth is that we as
human beings are obsessed with our own destruction, for centuries the question
has been asked, When is Jesus coming back?
We may never know the answer to this, however we do need to study the scriptures
in order to have a proper understanding of the different opinions that are all so
often thrown around.
In reality when we look around our world today, with the millions who are poverty
stricken, or the thousands that die every day from starvation, when we see the
destruction we bring upon ourselves in the way of wars and weapons, or the
intolerance we have for one another, it is no wonder people believe that at no other
time in the history of the world have we been so near the end.
However in many respects this way of thinking is nave at best, and this paper will
attempt to set out a clear argument that helps to understand the scriptures and the
modern day events that we are seeing around us today and that have happened
over the course of living memory which paints a clearer picture for us to understand
whether or not these doomsday prophets could perhaps be right.

SIGNS THAT THE END IS NEAR

When one looks at the world today it paints a very bleak outlook for the future of
mankind. Before we even begin to look at the biblical prophecies, we need to look
at some of the raw statistics on offer which really dont build much confidence.
We all know that The Bible says we cannot know the time of the Jesus return
(Matthew 25:13), speak to any person about this topic and they will very quickly
quote that, however we hardly ever hear that the Scriptures also make it equally
clear that we can know the season of Jesus return (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6):
"You yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come
just like a thief in the night... But you brethren, are not in darkness,
that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons
of light and sons of day. We are not of night or darkness; so then
let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober." (1
Thess. 5:2-6 NIV)

This passage clearly states that Jesus is coming like "a thief in the night." However
it also proceeds to make it clear that this will be true only for the non-believing
world and not for believers. His return should be of no surprise to those who know
Him and His Word, for they have the Holy Spirit guiding them and helping them
understand the nature of the times.
The Scriptures also give us signs to watch for; signs that will signal that Jesus is
ready to return. The writer of the Hebrew letter referred to these signs when he
proclaimed that believers should encourage one another when they see the day of
judgment drawing near (Hebrews 10:25-27). Jesus also referred to the end time
signs in His last week of life (Matthew 24 and Luke 21). Speaking of a whole series

of signs which He had given to His disciples, He said, "When you see all these
things, recognize that He is near, right at the door" (Matthew 24:33).

THE FIRST SIGN

While there had been signs of an Anti-Christ found in books such as Titus as well
the corruption of the Roman Church, the first sign that really began to spark interest
was the Balfour Declaration which was issued by the British government on
November 2, 1917. (Halff 1997:63)
This Declaration came about at the end of World War I. During the war Turkey
sided with Germany. When Germany lost the war, so did Turkey, and the victorious
Allies divided up both the German and Turkish empires amongst themselves.
The Turkish territories, otherwise known as the Ottoman Empire, contained the
ancient homeland of the Jewish people. An area the Romans had named Palestine
after the last Jewish revolt in 132-135 AD.
At the time of the end of the war, in 1917, the Palestinian territory included all of
modern day Israel and Jordan. When the Allies divided the German and Turkish
territories between themselves, Britain was given Palestine, as a result of this the
Balfour Declaration was signed.
Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, declared that it was the intention of the
British government to establish in Palestine "a national home for the Jewish
people."

The leading Evangelical in England at the time was F. B. Meyer. He noted the
significance of the Declaration, making reference to the Scriptures which prophesy
that the Jewish people will return once again to their homeland in unbelief right
before the return of the Messiah as found in Isaiah 11:11-12.
During the year of 1917 another significant event took place. On December 11,
1917 General Edmund Allenby liberated the city of Jerusalem from 400 years of
Turkish rule.
There is a strong school of thought that believes that there can be no doubt that
these events in 1917 marked the beginning of the end times because they led to
the worldwide return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the reestablishment of the Jewish state.

SIGNS SINCE THEN

Moving on from 1917 and the Balfour Declaration, we have witnessed throughout
the 20th Century the appearance of what can be described by many to be signs
after signs pointing to the Christs imminent return. Many believe that we are living
on borrowed time as a result of the signs they point to over the years since 1917.
It is a mammoth task searching and identifying every piece of scripture that points
to the signs of Jesus return. However it is possible to put together a fairly logical
and comprehensive argument based on scriptural authority that supports the idea
that in fact we are living in the end times.

The easiest way to consolidate this list is to place it into categories. Below are six
categories that speak into the idea that Christ will return soon.

Nature
"...and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines;
and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven." (Luke 21:11)
This category has always been the least respected, even among believers. Simply
mentioning it usually causes people to doubt and often simply disregard the
argument altogether? This is because there have always been natural disasters,
and although they range in severity earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes are
nothing new.
The issue is that those who have this attitude forget that Jesus Himself said the
signs would be like "birth pangs" (Matthew 24:8). That means they will increase in
frequency and intensity the closer we get to the Lord's return. In other words, there
will be a greater frequency of these natural disasters and their intensity will grow
in magnitude.
One simply just needs to look at the news on a daily basis to see that this statement
seems to make sense. For example, between October 1991 and November 2004,
a period of just 13 years, the United States experienced:

9 of the 10 greatest disasters as ranked by FEMA relief costs.

5 of its costliest hurricanes in history.

3 of its 4 largest tornado swarms in history.

Keep in mind that these statistics were compiled before Hurricane Katrina, the
Christmas Day tsunamis and other major disasters we have seen over the past 10
years since 2004.

Society
"Realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers
of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revellers, disobedient to parents,
ungrateful, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of
good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of
God..." (2 Timothy 3:1-4)
While we often overlook this passage based on the fact that it seems to speak into
the lifestyle of all non-believers for centuries, there are some key points that need
to be unpacked which are relevant to our society today.
It is important that one understands what the love of self is. Known as humanism,
it is the belief that Man can accomplish anything on his own. It is a psychological
term that seeks to establish why man is so obsessed with himself. While humanism
is the love of man, the love of money is Materialism. The issue is when Humanism
is your religion, your god will always be money. We see in scripture that Jesus
Himself warns against the love of money saying; I tell you, it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom

of God." (Matthew 19:24) Lastly the love of pleasure is the third love that is
mentioned. This love is known as Hedonism, the connection is that this lifestyle is
always produced by Humanism and Materialism.
The reality is that when one falls into the traps of following Humanism, Materialism,
and Hedonism, they inevitably begin to feel an incredible sense of despair.
The world today is consumed by despair, our society is plagued by abortion,
homosexuality, domestic violence, child molestation, blasphemy, pornography,
alcoholism, drug abuse and gambling.
Just as we see time and time again in the Old Testament, people are doing what
is right in their own eyes, and the result is that people are calling evil good and
good evil (Isaiah 5:20).

Spiritual Signs
This category is by far the most in-depth and comprehensive. Many are evil in
nature, but there are also some very positive ones. Concerning the negative signs,
a typical passage is the following one found in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
"The time will come when they [professing Christians] will not
endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they
will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their
own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will
turn aside to myths."

The negative spiritual signs that are specifically prophesied include the following:
the proclamation of false Christs, forming of cultic groups, speaking heresies,
apostasy, scepticism, deception, occultism, and persecution.
We see Jesus mentioned one in particular most frequently. This was a warning for
believers to be aware of false Christs and their cultic groups (Matthew 24:5, 11,
24). It would seem, that as a result of the exponential growth of cults throughout
the world this prophecy is being fulfilled.
However not all signs are to cause despair. There are positive spiritual signs that
will be seen in the end times. The most important one, which is prophesied in many
places in the scriptures, is the hope we have by the great outpouring of the Holy
Spirit (Joel 2:28-29).
There is a strong school of thought that believes that this outpouring began at the
dawn of the 20th Century, and proved to be one of the greatest spiritual surprises,
and blessings, of the century. When the century began, the prevailing viewpoint
among both Catholics and Protestants regarding the Holy Spirit was Cessationism.
This view held that the gifts of the Spirit ceased when the last Apostle died. In
effect, it was a belief that the Holy Spirit had retired and was no longer active in
believers lives.
In the early 20th Century a revival began. The first noted signs were at a small
Bible college in Topeka, Kansas in 1901. Three years later, a similar revival swept
Wales and began to spread worldwide. Then, in 1906, the Spirit fell with great
power on a humble Black preacher in Los Angeles named William J. Seymour.

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The Azuza Street Revival, as it came to be called, continued for four years and
gave birth to the Pentecostal Movement.
The Bible prophesises two great outpourings of the Spirit and symbolically pictures
them as the "early and latter rains" (Joel 2:23), based on the two rainy seasons of
Israel. According to this there is a school of thought that holds that the early rain
occurred at Pentecost in the First Century when the Church was established. The
latter rain was prophesied to occur after the Jewish people had been reestablished in their homeland (Joel 2:18-26).
The latter rain began with the Pentecostal Movement, which is close to when the
Jews began to return to their homeland. However the rain did not become a
downpour until after the re-establishment of the state of Israel in May of 1948, this
is in line with what was prophesied by Joel.
At this time we begin to see signs of a great revival. These can be identified by the
anointing of Billy Graham's ministry in 1949, followed by the Charismatic
Movement of the 1960's.
Today, most of Christianity, whether Pentecostal, Charismatic, or Traditional, fully
recognizes that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is alive in worship, the continuing
validity of spiritual gifts, the reality of spiritual warfare, and the importance of a
Spirit-filled life.
In addition to the rediscovery of the Holy Spirit, there are other positive spiritual
prophecies being fulfilled. These are signs such as the preaching of the Gospel
worldwide (Matthew 24:14), China hosts the fastest growing church in the world,

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South Korea is now the number one sending nation of missionaries, the Gospel is
reaching far and wide.
We are also beginning to see a greater understanding of Biblical prophecy. It would
seem that the Hebrew prophets often did not understand the end time prophecies
that were given to them. One such example can be found in Daniel 12:8-9 where
the prophet complains to the Lord that he does not understand the prophecies that
have been entrusted to him. The Lord's response was, "Don't worry. Write the
prophecies. They have been sealed up until the end times."
The Bible teaches that many of the end time prophecies will not be understood
until the time comes for them to be fulfilled. It would seem that this is what has
been happening in the past 100 years. Historical developments and scientific
inventions are now making it possible for us to possibly understand end time
prophecies.
Israel for example is the centre of all end time prophecies. Yet how could those
prophecies be understood when the nation of Israel did not exist and there was no
prospect that the nation would ever exist again?

World Politics
"You will be hearing of wars and rumours of wars... for nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom..." (Matthew 24:6-7)

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The Bible prophesises a very specific end time configuration of world politics. Israel
is pictured as being re-established (Ezekiel 37:21-22) and surrounded by hostile
Arab neighbours intent on its destruction (Ezekiel 35:1 - 36:7). This would seem to
be very similar to the situation in the Middle East since the Israeli Declaration of
Independence in May of 1948.
Daniel prophesied that the Roman Empire would be revived (Daniel 2:36-41),
something many men such as Charlemagne, Napoleon, and Hitler attempted to do
through force. However the prophecy had to await God's timing for its fulfilment.
We see here certain scholars suggesting that this came after World War II, with
the formation of the European Common Market which has since grown and
evolved into a world superpower known today as the European Union. Its borders
mimic and expand those of what was the Roman Empire today, and holds a similar
power and influence over the Mediterranean and surrounding areas.
The Bible goes on and paints pictures of a great power located in the land of Magog
in the "remote parts of the north." This can be identified today as Russia and as is
said in the Bible, it will cause trouble for Israel in the end times and will ultimately
lead an invasion of Israel together with their allies, all of which are modern day
Muslim states (Ezekiel 38:1 - 39:16). Russias silent intolerance of Jews seems to
be the beginnings of a greater dissatisfaction of Israel, and events such as the
Syrian war or Iranian Nuclear build up, both backed by Russia, all seem to suggest
that perhaps this idea is not as farfetched as it may sound.

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The scale of wars and warfare which the world has been exposed to since the turn
of the 20th Century is another fulfilment of end time prophecy related to world
politics. Like birth pangs, the frequency and intensity of war increased
exponentially, and it is now estimated that more people died in wars during the
20th Century than in all the previous wars throughout all of recorded human
history.

Technology
"Men will faint from fear over the expectation of the things which are coming upon
the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Luke 21:26)
There is a very strong school of thought that believes that the development of
nuclear weapons is foreshadowed by this prophecy in Luke 21. It speaks of people
"fainting from fear" due to the "powers of the heavens being shaken." The
incredible carnage of the Seal and Trumpet Judgments portrayed in chapters 6
and 8 in the book of Revelation indicates that the Antichrist will conquer the world
through the use of nuclear weapons. It speaks on how one-third of the earth will
be burned and one-half of humanity will be killed, this is evidence to suggest that
what is being prophesised here is in fact a nuclear holocaust, and this can be
backed by the prophecy in Revelation 16 where we are told that at the end of the
Tribulation the survivors will be covered with sores that will not heal (Revelation
16:11).

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There are also many prophecies that simply cannot be understood without the
development of mans own modern technological developments. Take for instance
the prophecy in Revelation 11. Here we have two witnesses who will call the world
to repentance during the first half of the Tribulation. When they are killed by the
Antichrist, their bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days,
and the whole world will look upon them (Revelation 11:9). A question which is
often not asked is how could anyone understand such a prophecy before the
development of satellite and cable television in the 1960's? The world would not
have been able to see these developments unfold if it werent for this development.
In the same way how could it be possible for the Antichrist to control all buying and
selling worldwide (Revelation 13) without the aid of computer technology? How
could the False Prophet create the illusion of giving life to a statue (Revelation 13)
without the technology of holograms, virtual reality, and robotics? How could an
army of 200 million come out of the Far East (Revelation 9) before the population
explosion that was produced by modern medical technology, and the exponential
growth of the Asian nations? How could the Gospel be proclaimed to all the world
(Matthew 24) before the invention of motion pictures, radio, television, and the
Internet? The list it seems goes on and on.

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The nation of Israel

"And it shall come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for
all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth
will be gathered against it." (Zechariah 12:3)
Based on this it would seem that the Jews are God's prophetic time clock. What is
meant by this is that the Scriptures will often tie a prophesied future event with
something that will happen to the Jewish nation.
One such example can be found in Luke 21:24 where Jesus prophesied that the
Jews would be dispersed from Jerusalem and be led captive among the nations.
But then He added that one day they would return to re-occupy Jerusalem, and
when this happens, the end time events will occur that will lead to His return.
There are many prophecies concerning the Jews in the end times, many of which
began to be fulfilled in the 20th Century, but there are a few key ones.
The first is their worldwide re-gathering in unbelief (Isaiah 11:11-12).
In 1900 there were only 40,000 Jews in Palestine. By the end of World War II that
number had risen to 800,000. Today, there are more than 5.7 million who have
come from all over the world. Very soon there will be as many Jews in Israel as
died in the Holocaust. The prophet Jeremiah says twice that when history is
completed, the Jewish people will look back and conclude that their worldwide regathering was a greater miracle than their deliverance from Egyptian captivity
(Jeremiah 16:14-15 and 23:7-8).

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The second key prophecy concerning the Jews is a natural consequence of their
return. It is the re-establishment of their state which occurred on May 14, 1948
(Isaiah 66:7-8).
The third key prophecy is the re-occupation of Jerusalem which occurred on June
7, 1967 during the miraculous Six Day War (Zechariah 8:4-8).

BIBLICAL PROPHESIES
This is a collection of Biblical prophecies which seem to be able to represent an
event that has occurred or is unfolding before us today.
It is by no means a tool to speak with authority, it is simply a collection of Biblical
texts which can be drawn to represent events that have or are unfolding today.

Increasing instability of nature. (Matthew 24:7 & Luke 21:11)

Increasing lawlessness and violence. (Matthew 24:12)

Increasing immorality. (Matthew 24:37)

Increasing materialism. (2 Timothy 3:2)

Increasing Hedonism. (2 Timothy 3:4)

Increasing influence of Humanism. (2 Timothy 3:2)

Depraved entertainment. (2 Timothy 3:4)

Calling evil good and good evil. (2 Timothy 3:3 & Isaiah 5:20)

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Increasing use of drugs. (2 Timothy 3:3)

Increasing blasphemy. (2 Timothy 3:2)

Increasing paganism. (2 Timothy 3:1-4)

Increasing despair. (2 Timothy 3:1)

Signs in the heavens. (Luke 21:11,25)

Increasing knowledge. (Daniel 12:4)

Increasing travel. (Daniel 12:4)

The explosion of cults. (Matthew 24:11)

The proliferation of false Christs. (Matthew 24:5)

Increasing apostasy in the Church. (2 Timothy 4:3-5)

Increasing attacks on Jesus. (Romans 1:18-19)

Increasing attacks on the Bible. (Romans 1:18-19)

Increasing persecution of Christians. (Matthew 24:9)

Increasing occultism. (1 Timothy 4:1)

Wars and rumours of wars. (Matthew 24:6)

Weapons of mass destruction. (Luke 21:26)

Increasing famine. (Luke 21:11)

Increasing pestilence. (Luke 21:11)

Computer technology. (Revelation 13:7)

Television. (Revelation 11:8-9)

Satellite technology. (Revelation 11:8-9)

Virtual reality. (Revelation 13:14-15)

Unification of Europe. (Daniel 2 & 7)

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Far Eastern military powers. (Revelation 9:16 & 16:12)

Movement toward world government. (Daniel 7:23-26)

Re-gathering of the Jews. (Isaiah 11:10-12)

Re-establishment of Israel. (Isaiah 66:7-8)

Reclamation of the land of Israel. (Ezekiel 36:34-35)

Revival of Biblical Hebrew. (Zephaniah 3:9; Jeremiah 31:23)

Re-occupation of Jerusalem. (Luke 21:24)

Resurgence of the Israeli military. (Zechariah 12:6)

Re-focusing of world politics on Israel. (Zechariah 12:3)

Russian threat to Israel. (Ezekiel 38 and 39)

Arab threat to Israel. (Ezekiel 35 and 36)

Denial of the Second Coming. (2 Peter 3:3-4)

Denial of creation by God. (Romans 1:18-22)

Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. (Joel 2:28-29)

Translation of the Bible into many languages. (Matthew 24:14)

Preaching of the Gospel worldwide. (Matthew 24:14)

The revival of Messianic Judaism. (Romans 9:27)

The revival of Davidic praise worship. (Amos 9:11)

The understanding of Bible prophecy. (Daniel 12:8-9)

There can be no doubt that through His Word God has spoken to us in order to
equip us so that we might be ready.

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CONCLUSION
It was not the intention of this paper to attempt to prove the validity of the argument
that the end times are in fact upon us. However it was the intention to completely
and comprehensively discuss the arguments and schools of thoughts that are
present today. Although some may sound farfetched, while others sound very
plausible. None should be discarded.
There is therefore a very strong case for the argument that we are living in the end
times, and that never before in the history of mankind have we been as close as
we are now to the return of our Lord and Saviour.
Is Jesus about to return? That answer cannot be answered, however it would
seem that it is plausible that many of these prophecies are unfolding before our
very eyes.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Benyon, Graham. 2010. Last Things First. Intervarsity Press: USA

Calvin, John. 1982. Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids
End Times Prophecies. 2009. Signs of the End Times. Online [Available].
http://www.end-times-prophecy.org/signs-end-times.html
Erickson, Millard J. 1998. Christian Theology: Second Edition. Baker Academic:
Grand Rapids, MI.
Halff, Charles. 1997. The End Times Are Here Now. Intervarsity Press: USA
Jefferson, David John. 1996. The Victory of Christ's Kingdom. Canon Press: UK
LaHaye, Tim. 2001. Charting the End Times. Harvest House Publishers: Harvard
McHyde, Tim. 2010. Ten Signs of the End Times (or Zero So Far?). Online
[Available].
Unknown.

http://www.escapeallthesethings.com/last-generation.htm
2011.

Bible

Signs

of

the

End

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Online

[Available].

http://www.signs-of-end-times.com/
Reagan, Dr David. 2006. 50 Reasons why we are living in the end times. Online
[Available]. http://www.raptureforums.com/Signs/50reasons.cfm
Rhodes, Ron. 2001. The End Times in Chronological Order. Harvard House
Publishers: Harvard

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Rushdoony, John. 1994. Systematic Theology, Vol. 2. Ross House Books:

Vallecito
Self, Will. 1991. Revelation. Canongate Books: USA

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