The end time scenario is uniquely custom designed by God to convey a clear message of warning, because God has always desired that nobody should mistakenly miss the implication of the future Judgment that is coming upon the earth for its wickedness. In the Bible, the end times signs are uniquely described by part upon part in which the intensity of the sorrows of each part’s devastation will increase upon mankind (Matt 24:8, 20-21). In other words it will be more like a pain of birth pangs that will keep on increasing until it ends at the climax. Jesus described a particular period of time after the rapture of the Church in which “there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matt 24:21). This is the climax of the whole end time signs from God, which will end with never before seen or heard judgment of God on earth. This is the only one tribulation wrath of God described in the end time. There is no scriptural basis for a greater and lesser tribulation as people wrongly believe these days. This is the reason Jesus called this unprecedented tribulation wrath of God as the ‘great tribulation’ (Matt 24:21). All the preceding signs are like wake-up call for mankind to avoid this one great tribulation which will start after the event of the ‘abomination of desolation’ (Matt 24:15-22). The intensity of each signs will increase in greater dimensions till the great tribulation ends.
1) Earth’s Population explosion
Statisticians of world population growth tell us that earth’s population at the time of Christ was about 250 million. It took over eighteen hundred years, or until about the year 1850, for the total population to reach one billion. Eighty years later, approximately 1930, world population rose to two billion. By about 1960 [i.e. only thirty years later] the world population climbed to three billions. Four billions was reached about 1975. By the end of 1986 we pass the five billion mark and the Six billion mark was reached about 1999. [Note: World population did not reach one billion until 1804. It took 123 years to reach 2 billion in 1927, 33 years to reach 3 billion in 1960, 14 years to reach 4 billion in 1974 and 13 years to reach 5 billion in 1987. It has taken just 12 years for the world to add this most recent sixth billion people. This is the shortest period of time in world history for a billion people to be added - (UNO data).]
World population is projected to cross the 7 billion mark in 2013. It is really breath-taking to see the population of the world explode in the last fifty years. This has not happened since men were created in this planet earth. How did this happen. Is it because of the latest invention of medicines that this was achieved? Of course God has released wisdom in man particularly before the end for the fulfillment of all His end time scenarios, but really because of God’s preordained end time purposes to be fulfilled this population explosion is happening now. It is God’s specific command of blessing which multiplies and fills the earth with people (Gen 1:28). That means someone may ask the question, Does this population explosion has to do anything with the end time scenario that God has foretold in the Bible? The answer is yes. In the Book of Revelation God has spoken and appointed a time for a 200 million combined army of the kings of the east [i.e. nation of India, China, etc] to march through the Euphrates river to fight the battle of Armageddon against Christ and His saints from heaven because God will make the river get dried up during that period of time (Rev 16:12-16). Apostle John wrote about this huge army in Revelation 9:15-16, “15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.” and also in Revelation 16:12 he wrote about them saying, “Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.” At that time when John the Apostle has written this revelatory prophetic information, the world’s population itself was only 250 million. For most people who must have read these prophecies in the first century must have looked at it more like a fiction story? But see how it is exactly fulfilled in our generation after nearly 2000 years had passed.
The combined population of both the country of China and India which is described as the kings of the east, together today holds more than one third of the whole world’s population. Is it by chance? By no means, it exists because God has claimed that He had prepared this end time event “for the hour and day and month and year” (v 15), so that nothing at the time of the end happens by chance. The end time scenario is perfectly controlled and planned by God. Always remember to say to yourself in such a distressing times like ours,” My God is in control of everything that is happening around me in the world.” As we move into the 21st century, India and China — the two most populous nations on earth —are both moving in to a category of the rising powers of the east. Both are economically competing each other in various ways and are economically moving in to a kingly zone of newfound riches. Half a century and before that time in the past, both these countries were in a very backward state compared to the western nations which were the only back bones of the world’s thriving economy and very technologically advanced ahead of these eastern nations. But now these eastern nations are building a very huge army of millions and equipping itself with all the latest advanced technology weapons because of a booming economy. How is it possible for these eastern nations to come up suddenly as the rising powers of the world? It is because God has planned this two hundred million combined army from the east which has been a sort of fiction in the past is possible now because I believe the time is up for the end time scenario to be orchestrated by God’s sovereign plan! Why they are economically booming? It is because in the end time scenario God has called these nations as the “kings from the east” (Isaiah 41:4). God calls each generation uniquely and designs it for His eternal purposes to be fulfilled. Praise the Lord!
2) Increasing knowledge
The knowledge of people around the world is increasing phenomenally day by day in an unprecedented way. Today’s latest technology is becoming obsolete by the same time tomorrow because someone is coming with a better technology within this period of time. The internet which was unknown to most countries of the world before just a decade and a half are today connected to the amazing world of web information technology. Almost all nations are amazingly increasing their usage of internet like never before. The whole world is connected together at just a touch of a button and cell phones are becoming more as an all in one web connected gizmos. The memory storage of these devises has increased in an unimaginable way in the past few years and thus the cost has come down and the usage is becoming universal. It is becoming affordable even to the least paid people in the most economically backward nations of the world. If we ask ourselves the question, why has these information technologies which have not been available to people from the beginning of creation [approx for the last 6000 years], are only available now in our technology minded generation? Has not man thought about interconnecting the world through silicon technologies all these centuries? Why just hardly the last two decades only? The answer is because God is the one who gives man the knowledge to get breakthrough’s in his life, He has released the knowledge only now in the end time for His purposes to be fulfilled (Isaiah 28:23-29). This purpose of God has been foretold thousands of years ago in the Book of Daniel 12th chapter 4th verse which says, “… [at] the end; knowledge [i.e. information] shall increase.” In today’s language we call this knowledge as information. Knowledge is nothing but collection of information. Thus arriving at the conclusion that the Information Technology we use today has been foretold nearly two and half millennium before itself. Very soon when Antichrist will arrive in the world stage, he will make all the people of the earth to register their biodata in a centrally connected computer network from which he will have all the information of all the people of the world and their back ground at his finger tip. He will forcefully make people to enroll themselves by receiving a silicon seal as a tattoo on their right hand or on their forehead which will identify them as a loyal worshipper of Satan and his son Antichrist where ever they may be in the world, in order for them to buy, live and trade to survive because of a one world government which will be established by him (Rev 13:16-17).The other most important medium through which people are updated with knowledge is through television. In today world, the whole world is connected through television. If anything happens on one part of the world, in the next few seconds it is televised in the global and regional news channels live through satellite technology. One of the important end time technology intertwined verses that Jesus spoke in the end time context is in Matthew 24:15-19, “15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!” Here in the preceding verses we see that Jesus was speaking to a variety of audiences. Jesus’ warning to the people involves seeing ‘abomination of desolation’ standing in the holy place, which will happen inside the temple which will allow only the priest to stand in the holy place. This abomination is Antichrist entering the temple and trying to take over its independent worship of offering and sacrifices which will be unhindered in the first three and half years of his peace covenant with the nation of Israel. My question is how can people see this ‘abomination of desolation’ happening inside the temple from all over Judea, from the housetop, from the field, pregnant and nursing mothers who may be in the hospitals and in their homes all at the same time unless they have all in one hand-held mobile television in their hand? Already internet is getting integrated with television because of increased bandwidth that is available day by day. Most television programs are already streamed through internet itself and are as good as seeing through television. The bottom-line is that the whole world will be connected through a major network and mostly all people will be hooked to television from their pockets at that time of ‘abomination of desolation’. So only the warning that Jesus gave his readers can be valid only with the present end time technology only. Jesus foresaw our time though his prophetic foresight and have spoken to our end time generation. This technology will play an important role for the people of God to escape to the mountains of Judea to get raptured at that time or else they will face death at the hands of Antichrist just before the rapture takes place. It will help others to be ready through watching and prayer to get raptured. This kind of technology is also a part of the fulfillment of the prophecy which says about ‘increase in knowledge’ at the end time. Praise the Lord!
3) Increase in violence
Violence is increasing all around the world due to lack of love in the heart of human beings. Two thousand years ago itself Jesus exactly predicted an upsurge of violence during the end time by saying “And because lawlessness [i.e. violent, insane and aggressive behavior] will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matt 24:12). Because of urbanization the community life are totally becoming nonexistent in our days. The process of leaving the country side to live in the cities due to lack of opportunities to prosper economically is a part of God’s end time agenda for the propagation of the gospel of Jesus Christ (v14). But these things are being used by Satan to accelerate his end time catastrophic agenda for mankind because the love of mankind is growing cold. Where there is no love, there is no opportunity for God to intervene, dwell and bless (1 John 4:12). Children are the closest replicas of the kingdom of God (Matt 18:2-5; 19:14; Luke 18:16-17). Children don’t naturally kill; they learn it from violence in the home and most pervasively, from violence as entertainment in television, movies, and interactive video games (Prov 22:6). The technological invention of the end time which has been released by the wisdom of God through man has been effectively used by Satan for the destruction of mankind which is his eternal desire. Murder rate are increasing in the cities rapidly with a vertical surge. If not for imprisonment and availability of medical technology it would have been still worse. Most murders are left unsolved and closed because of the magnitude of the work which is very much higher than the available infrastructure and man power in populated countries of the world.
The media plays an important part in the life of the children in our end time generation. Most of them when they come to home, the entertainment they prefer is viewing television rather than physical extra-curricular activities. Children are always amused by what they see and they are sight-driven. Without parental oversight because of their extended city based work timing, the children end up watching all kinds of violent and immoral things. Because what they see gets recorded in their mind, and what they think will be based on what is stored in their mind (Prov 4:23; Mark 7:20-23). This is the reason for their aggressive behavior. There are also many more factors involved, and none should be discounted: for example, the prevalence of guns in our society. But violence is rising in many nations with draconian gun laws. And though we should never downplay child abuse, poverty, or racism, there is only one new variable present in each of these countries, bearing the exact same fruit: media violence presented as entertainment for children. Let us learn and also teach our children to love God and others by being an example before their eyes in this end time generation. We cannot love anyone without the person of love emanating His unconditional love through us. God pours out His love in to our hearts when we maintain a consistent daily relationship with Him through His Holy Spirit (Rom 5:1-5). Praise the Lord!
4) Increase in transportation
The increase in transportation is a sure sign of the end times. The Bible says, “[At]… the time of the end; many shall run to and fro [i.e. travelling will increase].” (Dan 12:4). Ships on sea and horses, donkeys, bullock carts on road and camels on deserts were the primary means of transportation since the olden times. Only in the last two to three centuries new inventions such as trains, planes and cars have played a tremendous role in increasing the appetite of humankind to travel around the world. Trades between countries have increased in leaps and bounds because of increased transportation with in a limited period of time. Why such fast transportation have never struck man’s mind to invent it for all these millenniums except for a couple of centuries before? God gives the answer by saying, “3 “ I have declared the former things from the beginning; they went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that you were obstinate, and your neck was an iron sinew, and your brow bronze, 5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them, and my carved image and my molded image have commanded them.’ 6 “ You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them. 7 They are created now and not from the beginning; and before this day you have not heard them, lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’ ” (Isaiah 48:3-7). We see from the preceding verse that the reason God had declared these end time happenings from the beginning [i.e. from the time of Daniel the prophet nearly 2600 years ago itself] is because mankind may not say that these inventions have come because of their own effort apart from God’s wisdom. This is the reason the latest creations of mankind may be new to humanity but not to the God who has planned these things since the beginning of time. Man always idolizes his own effort and always substitutes an inanimate thing to substitute the giver of all good things, who is God Himself. This is because of the fallen nature of man (Is 48:8). But for the sake of God’s own glory He does all these things declaring it from the beginning of time, so that man may hear and understand His awesomeness (Is 48:11). One of the reasons God is giving man the wisdom and knowledge in the end times is for man to recognize the Giver and the Creator in much more intimate way and give Him back all the glory He deserves. It is God who has given man the idea two centuries before to invent fast transportation for efficiently using it in the end times so that all humanity may be blessed through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “….How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Rom 10:15). In those days the preachers used to walk with their beautiful feet. It took days and months to reach a neighboring country or to cross a continent, but in our end times it hardly takes a day or two. In our end times the preacher of the gospel of peace is carried by airplanes, buses, cars, trains and boats so that his opportunity to reach out to the people of the world is more than ever before! Praise the Lord! Glory to God!
5) Rapid disintegration of society
Apostle Paul by divine inspiration spoke describing a particular generation of the last days in which he said, “1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times [i.e. extremely stressful and dangerous times] will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2 Tim 3:1-5). Exactly as he had prophesied all these character traits are together seen in this end time generation like never before. Truly these days are fierce, dangerous and troublesome. In today’s world the billboards on the road says slogans like, ‘You deserve the best, you are the master of your own life, etc…’ which makes people more inclined to become lovers of themselves, destroys love and instills selfish survival at any cost. The end result of these above false concepts propagated usually results in lawlessness, loveless acts of selfishness and rebellion in the society which hates other people’s opinion even when it is good. As a result there comes an ‘I know everything’ attitude of rebellion which destroys order in the society, families, work place and worshipping communities. People are more boastful than ever to show forth and tell the world of their own achievements. Many have an ingrained thinking pattern of projecting only themselves and not at all recognize or appreciate other’s achievements (3 John 9-10). These are the end time attributes of fleshly people which should always be discouraged inside the Church. These people when they are unchecked will one day start to blaspheme when they are suddenly corrected. Blaspheme means ‘something which someone says or would do that shows they do not respect God or a religion’. These people will not respect authority of the elders in the Church. These characters should be dealt according to the way Jesus told the leadership to deal with (Matt 18:15-17). These people will become traitors and deceivers, and will not be loyal to the ‘doctrine of Christ’ finally (2 John 6-7, 9). These people will start to teach false demonic doctrines among brethren and will try to over throw the faith of some (2 Tim 2:18; 1 Tim 4:1-3; Col 2:18). If they do not change their ways and repent of their bad deeds, do not continue to fellowship with them (1 Tim 1:19-20; 2 Tim 4:10, 2:17-18). These people will hate to receive the true men of God because they will convict them of their sinfulness and thus they will form a faction (1 John 2:19). Be careful saints! These are the very traits of the spirit of Antichrist strongly influencing a person.
The other characteristics of end time spirit influence is being haughty and head strong. These types of people will think themselves as better than others and will always do what they want to do without listening to others. When corrected they will mock the one who will try to correct them for their own good. They will always display an unfriendly attitude towards unity and team work. Never ever even entertain such thoughts which are completely evil. These are evil of the end time that is taking the minds of people. The Bible says “…be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves. Do not be only interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others.” [NCV] (Phil 2:3-4). Cultivate true humility in your life, which is not thinking less of yourself, but it is thinking of yourself less. In other words you are thinking of others more highly whether they seem in the natural or not. It is a decision which will give you a safe landing on the ground when each time you are used of God to fly higher and higher by the grace of God.
In our end times more people are driven by money and love of money than in any other times in the past. So only when the stock crashes, we can only see gloomy news of distressed people committing suicides and also many times killing their families and dying brazenly. All the time they talk of money, think of money and will die for acquiring more of it. The end time root cause of all evil will be the love of money (1 Tim 6:10). Nations will be driven by money and will be more concerned about their economic health rather than their moral health of the nation, thus paving way for the one world economy and one world government of Antichrist (Rev 13:3, 17).
There is an intersection between mental health, mental distress and society. If the society disintegrates, the people who live in it will be affected by it, so only Apostle Peter wrote in 2 Peter 2:7 that the “…righteous Lot, …was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked”. In other words: A good man was vexed and afflicted by the conduct of all the wicked people around him who were practicing a wrong destructive pattern of life style as the only acceptable lifestyle of the society. We are exactly living in such a time as lot (Luke 17:28), where the people in the society are like the ones “…who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). These are the kind of people who are despisers of the good. They can’t handle someone being good and honest; they will start to blaspheme them openly. Living in such a society will need the strength of God to survive and be pure, resisting the oppression of evil in Jesus name. This type of senselessness to good moral things will be the main cause of the disintegration of the society in our generation. Because the people will be “lovers of pleasure more than God”, they will be motivated by whatever will amuse them no matter whether it is good or bad. This will be the kind of society that can be termed as ripe for the disastrous judgment of God. Wake up saints, do not be partakers with the wicked societal norms, but rather be ready for the rapture to take place any moment. Watch and pray!
We can see also the brutality in the name of religion in all parts of the world. Killing people and massacring communities of godly people who profess faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ! Terrorism that is causing shivers in the spine of the world leaders who are trying their best to curb this virus of violence without real success. These are spirit influence of hate that is disseminated through various hate mongering ideologies of religious people. Truly we are in the end time! These are the times of the end which Jesus described in Matt 24:9-10 saying, “9 “Then they [i.e. national leaders] will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.” But never forget to encourage yourself and by God’s strength endure to the end by being a living witness of the gospel of the kingdom and get saved through rapture from the tribulation wrath of God which will come upon the whole world for its wickedness (Matt 24:13-14).
All these character traits of the people of the end time are based on pride of man which God hates (1 Pet 5:5). Because of such prideful heart the end time generation will become blinded to eternal things and thus people who deceive and lie will be the entertainers of the end time generation (Matt 24:24). The Lord has clearly expressed things that he hates in Prov 6:16-19 which says, “16 These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.” In our end time generation all these things expressed above will be spearheaded by the spirit of Antichrist which has one aim, to unleash lawlessness in the society so that man’s mind can be deceived to such an extent where he will accept lawlessness as a normal lifestyle of living (1 John 4:3). When lawlessness is accepted by man as a standard, God has very little space to reside in man to guide him in His goodness (1 John 4:12; 3:4-9). When God gets no space in the heart of humans, the love of God will grow cold and will begin to fade away completely (Matt 24:12). The devil can only control mankind as much as man gives him permission by accepting the thoughts of Satan without resisting it (1 Peter 5:9).
John the Apostle described this spirit of the Antichrist to be active in the world even before two thousand years ago but foretold that its presence will be completely well-established in human mind set particularly at the end times. This is a specific spirit with a specific character who aim is to enthrone Satan as the god of this world physically and to make people worship Satan as lord of their lives. Under the spirit of Antichrist there are a lot of other spirits that are operating to fulfill this above sole purpose (1 John 4:3). Many false prophets of the end time will be operating under the influence of this particular brand of spirits (1 John 4:1). Testing the spirits whether it is of God or Satan is very important during these end times (1 John 4:1-6).
The other important area in which Satan is causing devastation in the lives of humans is by breaking the family unit which is the fabric that holds the society. The marriages are not ‘holy matrimony’ any more. It is becoming unholy and perverse because the gay marriages are legally happening around the world and divorce rate is increasing in all nations around the world mostly because of breaking the promise to practice sex with in the boundary of marriage. Many feel that the easiest way to indulge oneself to fulfill fleshly lust and polygamy is through a routine divorce schedule. In many instances infidelity, involvement in unrestrained pornography, unforgiveness, extra-marital friendship which increases unloving and unthankful attitude of grudge toward one’s spouse are some of the major causes of break up in the constitution of marriage around the world. Many people after getting involved in to such lifestyles without self-control, later they are unable to come out of such bondages in our end time generation. God hates divorce (Mal 2:16), because it destroys the soul of humankind along with the indescribable suffering brought to the children of the next generation (Matt 19:9; Prov 6:32; 2:16-17). When a child is affected by the divorce of their parents, it will grow up with a spirit of rebellion and will get hurt inside the heart. Naturally the child will become disobedient to parents and may even hate God for allowing such things in his life. More than ever the Church needs to love these people and show them that God desires them to come out of such rut and rottenness. And He will bring them out of it if only they will follow and accept the love of Christ! Saints wake up for the glory of the Lord has rises upon you!!! Be the light of the world!
More than ever people are indulging in slander, even within the Church. Slander means a false spoken statement about someone which damages their reputation, or the making of such a statement. More pastors are leaving their ministry and are trying to find a job to sustain themselves because of slander. Saints beware! These are the strategies of the devil to bring division among brethren and thus make the Church powerless, ineffective and deny it the blessing of God which comes only with unity (Ps 133; Acts 2:42-43). Slander, gossip, backbiting, faction, envy, strife are the root causes for division in the Church of God (1 Cor 3:1-4). These are promoted by demonic agencies from hell directly (James 3:14-16). If you are involved in any such activities, immediately humble yourself and repent! And start to support the Church leaders and submit to them whom God has kept over you. You are accountable to God for every idle [i.e. useless, unwanted and unnecessary] word that you speak, so ask the Lord to give to self-control to speak the right words to people and thus build the kingdom of God (Matt 12:36-27). It is all happening because we are in the end times! So stay away from it and instead make peace as the sons of God (Matt 5:9).
6) Signs in general to be like birth pangs, that is, increasing in frequency and intensity
All the described signs of the end times which are described above will steeply increase till the great tribulation starts in which all these signs will reach its zenith. These signs are not given in the Bible to make us fearful, instead to make us confident that our God is in control of all these uncertain times. These signs can be symbolized more as like birth pangs. Once it starts, it will end only at the pointed finish line. Until it reaches the finish line, each time it will keep on increasing in greater intensity after a period of time. The end time sorrows will be exactly like the mentioned birth pangs (Mark 13:8). Jesus described these various periods of time using different phrases. The following are some of it, “all these things must come to pass, the end is not yet”(Matt 24:6), “All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matt 24:8), “ For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” (Matt 24:21-22). This tribulation is planned by God not for the righteous people, but for the wicked. So only as the Bible says, “The righteous is delivered from trouble [i.e. great tribulation], and it comes to the wicked instead.” (Prov 11:8). The righteous people of God will be raptured to heaven in their brand new resurrected spiritual body and then all the wrath of God will come upon the wicked people who will be corrupting and destroying the planet earth.Jesus has also described roller-coaster changes in the temperature of the globe that will occur at the end before the tribulation will start. The world is calling this climatic change as ‘global warming’ which is occurring due to pollution and is preventable. Of course up to a certain extent this is true. The pollution which has been caused by the 21st century factors such as invention of cars, aero planes, high powered motorized ships, population explosion, industrial wastes are only a part of the reason. But the real reason is God is causing “…signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Luke 21:25-26). In the preceding verses we see an inter-connection between signs in the sun, the distress of nations and the sea and the waves roaring. This clearly gives us an idea that the scientific sign that can be traced in sun is the increase in temperature due to the rising heat emitted from the sun. Man made global warming has been a global debate which has made people say is the reason behind the Arctic melt down. But the real reason is God controls the thermostat of the sun. This can be seen in Rev 16:8-9, “8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.” God will literally do this during the great tribulation of the end time to break such false theories of man-made global warming which people misleadingly say are preventable by manmade resolution. This is the true ‘inconvenient truth’ that people deny. The change in the temperature of the sun is causing global climatic changes and spiking increase in the sea level. This dramatic roller-coaster change in temperature around the globe is causing many storms, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, floods, etc consistently around the globe. The intensity and regularity is increasing day by day. This is also one of the important sign of acceleration of the end times.
When these birth pangs will start to increase Jesus gave indication that a severe persecution will arise against the preaching of the gospel, but Jesus said that a apostolic company will arise who will stand before kings and rulers boldly to declare it in the mighty end time power of God (Mark 13:9-11). The calling of these apostles will be just like the calling of Apostle Paul who stood before the kings and rulers in the first century and preached the Gospel with His mighty power of the Spirit of God (Acts 9:15-16; Romans 15:18-20). Thus Jesus exhorted this end time apostolic generation to watch out for signs such as, “8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows [i.e. birth pangs]. 9 But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.” (Mark 13:8 -10). The preceding verses shows that God Himself will be waiting during the end times for the apostolic company to declare the gospel message fully to the world that will be at the brink of Judgment. Just like Noah preached the message of righteousness before the judgment of God came to the people of the whole world, so will be the apostolic company at the end time (Mark 13:11-13; Heb 11:7; Luke 17:26).
During these end time people will be lovers of themselves [i.e. humanistic], lovers of money [i.e. materialistic] and lovers of pleasure [i.e. hedonistic] rather than lovers of God (2 Tim 3:2, 4). People will be more involved with their business strategies to increase their business and to build more new engineering marvels. Jesus described the exact activities of this particular generation by comparing with Noah’s and Lot’s generation before God’s judgment came upon those generations and destroyed them completely. Jesus said, “27 They ate, they drank, they married wives [i.e. Note the plurality of the language], they were given in marriage … [i.e. during Noah’s generation] 28 …They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; [i.e. during Lot’s generation]” (Luke 17:27-28). The preceding verses shows that people of the end times will be more concerned about their day to day activities more than their eternal destinies. They will be more involved in trading earthly goods and storing earthly goods rather than store eternal treasures in heaven (Matt 6:19-33; 19:21; Luke 12:13-21). This is why these people are called as “inhabitants of the earth [i.e. earth dwellers]” in Rev 12:12. In other words these people will be more concerned about their earthly existence than their eternal existence. As these day to day concerns and involvement in these activities will increase, proportionately the sorrows that will come like birth pangs will also increase.
Watch out saints and persevere to the end in which Christ will come to meet all the saints and the bride of Christ will be raptured to the wedding of the Lamb (Mark 13:13; 1 Thess 4:14-18; Rev 19:7, 9). There will be great rejoicing. Don’t miss the wedding by being caught up in your day to day activities (Matt 22:1-14). Praise the Lord God for the rapture and comfort one another with the message of rapture during the tough times of persecution you will face while declaring the Gospel in our end time generation (1 Thess 4:18). Persevere, for we must finish our race to perfection. So keep on and keep’ in ongoing! Great destiny ahead!!!!!!
