Prophecies concerning the end of the world

by Angelo Jansen

No other generation has heard so much talk about the end of the world. Many fear that the world will end in a nuclear holocaust, others believe that there would be a major earthquake and this would destroy the nations, still others worry that economic chaos will set masses of humanity against one another.

Famine

During the past few months, there had been many articles, books and even TV programs indicating that the world would end in December 2012. These predictions and speculation are based on the ending of the Mayan Calendar on December 21, 2012. If one would type '2012 End of the World' on Google, you would be surprised to see that there are more than 2,170,000,000 Google results on this subject. Could this world really end? And when will this world end?

Date setting fiascos

It is true that after many date-setting disasters and debacles, the message of the End of the Age (End of the World) hardly gets a hearing. But the fact remains that as time passes by such self-made prophets of deception, urged and motivated by the spirit of deception, will make a fool of themselves in setting such dates.

Recently there was an article titled 'Do natural disasters herald a new age?' by Mineka Wickramasinghe (dated October 28, 2012). In this article the writer said that in the Holy Bible the date May 8, 1999 had been predicted when mankind would be wiped out from the Earth. Before I go further in explaining the facts about the End of the World, I wish to say that this date is never mentioned in the Holy Bible, and as a matter of fact in all 66 books of the Holy Bible (From the first book Genesis written over 3,500 years ago and the last book Revelations written in 90 AD) there aren't any precise dates and times given as to when the World would end.

The Holy Bible - the Living Word of God Almighty speaks of hundreds of Biblical Prophecies and signs which should be fulfilled before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the End of the Age. Speaking about the signs of His Second Coming and the End of the Age the Lord said, "I tell you the Truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. No-one knows about that day or hour...., be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come." (Mark 13:30-36).

The signs of the end

The Holy Bible very clearly speaks about the signs and situations that would lead to the End of the World. In the book of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah and many other books in the Holy Bible (all written over 2,600 years ago) gives precise details such as the nations, places and events that would be as signs and warnings to all mankind concerning the End Times. Two-thousand years ago when Jesus Christ and His twelve Apostles left the Temple of the Lord on Mount Moriah (the precise place where the Doom of the Rock stands today) and when they were walking towards the Mount of Olives, the 12 apostles of the Lord asked Him the date and time of His Second Coming and the End of the World.

"Tell us", they said, "when will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3)

The Lord did not give just one event as "The Sign" nor did He give a precise date and time of His Second Coming and the End of the Age, He described many world events and situations. All of these would take place during the time that the Biblical writers called "The Last Days" on earth leading up to the Lord's return.

The Lord described in a brief outline form the conditions that would indicate His Second Coming is near; "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying 'I am the Christ', and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom." (Matthew 24:4-7). "Now learn from the fig tree.

As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. No one knows about that day or hour not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (God Almighty). Therefore, keep watch. Because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour which you do not expect Him." (Matthew 24:32-33, 36 42-44).

Let us look at a few of the many Biblical Prophecies and what "Sign" did Jesus Christ (Yeshua) give of His Second Coming and of the End of the World! The Greek word here translated "Coming" is pa.rou.sia, and it means "Presence", that is, actually being on hand.

Wars and rumours of wars

Jesus Christ said, "You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom." (Matthew 24:6-7).

War in modern times has been greater magnitude than ever before. World War I (1914) was supposed to be the war to end all wars, and saw an estimated 10 million military deaths and another 20 million wounded. A generation later World War II claimed almost 70 million lives, and war continues to ravage the earth, even up to this day. The Lord said that even though there would be World Wars, the end is still to come! Thus one can see that peace in these Last Days is as exclusive as ever. Even though some diplomacy has prevented a nuclear holocaust thus far, but will not succeed for long.

As President John Kennedy once said, "Full scale nuclear exchange lasting less than 60 minutes, could wipe out 300 million Americans, Europeans and Russians".

Famines and earthquakes

The Lord said, "There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains." (Matthew 24:7).

In Matthew 24:7 the Lord cites famines as one of the signs for the End Times or 'beginning of birth pains'. Following World War I came perhaps the greatest famine in all history.

Flesh eating disease

A terrible famine also followed World War II. Undoubtedly there have been famines in the past, but the severity and intensity of food shortage have increased tremendously. A UN report on famine once stated that, "In the years 1973-74 one thousand million people were affected by the worst worldwide famine in modern times". As at today these numbers have increased substantially and had shown no signs of declining.

The Universal Almanac tells us that there were only 21 earthquakes of major strength between the years 1000 and 1800 AD. But between 1800 and 1900 AD there were 18 major earthquakes. Between 1900 and 1950 AD, there were 33 major quakes, between 1950 and 1991 AD there were 93 major earthquakes, almost triple the number of the previous half century which claimed the lives of 1.3 million people around the world. Numerous scientists warn that we are currently entering a period of great seismic disturbances. According to Hal Lindsay, "The number of earthquakes per decade has roughly doubled in each of the decades since 1950".

Pestilence and plagues

Jesus Christ said, "There would be pestilences in various places." (Luke 21:11)

In Luke 21:11 the Lord says that there will be pestilence and plagues (of great proportion) before the End of the Age comes. Although modern science has done wonders in constantly battling against the rising tide of plagues and diseases caused by microbes, insects, rodents, locusts and other pests, yet it seems we are fighting a losing battle. Right after World War 1, some 21 million people died of the Spanish flu. Science digest reported: "In all history there had been no sterner, swifter visitation of death". Since then Heart disease, Cancer, AIDS, Flesh eating Bacterium, Ebola Virus and many more other plagues have killed hundreds of millions.

The Jews will return to their homeland

The Lord said, "I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again. I will make you a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

I will send down showers in seasons; there will be showers of blessing. The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops."

This prophecy has certainly found fulfilment since the late 18th century. The people of Israel (The Jews) have been expelled from their homeland by the Assyrians (in 722 BC), Babylonians (in 586 BC) and the Romans (in 70 AD and 135 AD). And the Jews - perhaps more than any other group of people - have been subject to hatred, scorn and persecution throughout the world. During the time of the Jewish Prophet Ezekiel who lived about 2,600 years ago in the Land of Israel, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and took many Jews as captives to Babylon (586 BC).

Other Jews fled to Egypt and other countries in North Africa. Some Jews returned to their homeland after Babylon was conquered by the Medo-Persians, but they were again scattered by the Romans in 70 AD and in 135 AD. The Romans scattered the Jews to several countries.

But since the late 1800s, millions of Jews have returned to Israel and reclaimed independence in 1948. About one of every three Jews in the world now lives in Israel. But the Holy Bible says that someday all Jews will return and seek the Lord.

In Isaiah 66:7-8, The Lord says that "Israel would be reborn in just one day." The Jewish Prophet Isaiah who lived about 2600 years ago descries a woman giving birth before going into labour, and he speaks of a country being born in one day.

This accurately describes what happened on May 14, 1948 (On Friday, The Fifth of Iyar, year 5708 - according to the Hebrew calendar) - when the Jews declared independence for the first time in almost 2000 years. On that same day, the United States issued a statement recognising Israel's sovereignty, and hours beforehand, a United Nations mandate expired, ending British foreign control of the land of Israel, and Israel had declared its independence and its independence was acknowledged by other nations. Modern Israel literally was born in a single day.

Israel would prevail over its enemies

In Leviticus 26:3, 7-8, The Lord says that "The army of Israel would have a supernatural power to prevail during times of conflict."

This Holy Bible passage says that five Jews would chase away 100 people, and that 100 would chase away 10,000.

Is there any proof to this incredible claim? Judge for yourself:

Within hours of Israel's declaration of independence by PM David Ben-Gurion in 1948, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon invaded Israel (All these nations were equipped with the latest Russian made war tanks, aircraft and other sophisticated military weapons). The combined population of those countries was at least 20 million at that time. Israel had fewer than one million Jews (of which the fighting force of Israel was less than 60,000 trained fighters - only 18,900 were fully mobilised, armed and prepared for war).

Even so, the Jews won the war and expanded the size of the Jewish State by 50 percent.

During the War of 1967 (By combined Arab forces against Israel), Israel attacked the air force bases of the surrounding countries and again gained control of the ancient Jewish Capitol Jerusalem for the first time in about 2,000 years since the Jews were exiled from their Biblical Homeland in 135 AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian.

During the six-day war in 1967, Israel also gained control of the Biblical Jewish land Bashan, commonly known today as the Golan Heights.

On October 6, 1973, Israel was attacked by Egypt and Syria. Other countries joined the attack later. But the Jews pushed back the attacking armies again proving to the world that Israel was capable of defending itself against much larger nations combined.

Wars surrounding Israel and wars against the Jewish State, Many will come claiming to be the Christ but are impostors, increase of false prophets and religions, Increase in apostasy, Increase in hatred and wickedness, The Middle East crisis (Unrest in Egypt, Libya and Syria), Environment crisis and global warming, Fast travel and modern transportation, Increase in knowledge and Education, Persecution of Christians and Jews around the world, Global media, The rise of the European Union, Increase in ignorance and idol worshipping, Nuclear Warfare, Financial crash's, Russia to emerge as a powerful nation, Capital and Labour conflicts, Moral breakdown in the society, Rise of lawlessness, Rise of occultism and Cults, Cost-of-living to increase drastically, Tsunamis, The rise of scoffers, scoffing and following their own evil desires and saying, "Where is this 'coming' He (Jesus Christ) promised?" Nuclear and military alliance between Russia and Iran.

The Lord said, "There will be signs in the Sun, Moon and Stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea (Tsunamis).

Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken." (Luke 21:25-26).

The collapse of the whole economic system of the World, The Rapture of the Saints (Believers), The future political leader of the world to be revealed. This man called the Anti-Christ will rule the world for seven Years. The seven-year period is known as the Tribulation period, Building of the third Jewish Temple (also known as the Temple of the Lord) on Mt. Moriah, also known as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Today this 32-acre of land is occupied by the Dome of The Rock, Russia and Iran to lead an Arab coalition against Israel, The final military battle of the world (the third world war known as Armageddon) to take place in the plains near Jezreel - the Valley of Megiddo in Israel, The Jews to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, Cosmic crash and Nuclear warfare are few of the many Biblical prophecies awaiting imminent fulfilment before the Lord's Second Coming and the End of the Age.

The Holy Bible is the best known book in the world. It is the first book ever to be printed mechanically. It has been translated and published in over 2,000 languages and dialects. It is also the most widely distributed book. Of all ancient books this is the best documented in the world.

The Biblical record of prophecy is long and astoundingly accurate. No human seer could have accurately predicted the remarkable rise and fall of kingdoms, leaders and people that we find in the Holy Bible.

"For I am God," declares the Lord, "and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand..." (Isaiah 46:9-10). God alone has the power to foretell the future-and then bring it to pass.

The Lord Jesus Christ said, "So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

When you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.

I am the Light of the World, whoever follows me, will never walk in darkness. What I say to you, I say to everyone: "Watch!"

"I will take vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations that have not obeyed me."