Do We Recognize the Signs of Our Time?

Every year, as the calendar year turns over, we see the usual reviews of the past year and projections for what will come for the next. At this time of year I always read a magazine published by The Economist titled, for the current issue, The World in 2005. Its editors try to look ahead and give us a forecast of what is to come. Try as they may, their forecasts don't always hit the mark.

We may place much greater confidence, however, in the accuracy of those projections about the future that Jesus Christ outlined in His Olivet ProphecyA prediction of events to come. "A discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; esp[ecially] by foretelling future events" (Revised Thayer's Greek English Lexicon, "Propheteia"). of Matthew 24. He spoke of the impact of corrupt religion, war, famine, pestilence and other specific indicators of what the world is certain to experience in the future (verses 3-8). The same signs or indicators that the end-time crisis is near are covered in the well-known "four horsemen" prophecy of RevelationThe disclosure of God's Word and plan to mankind. In the Bible this refers to making obscure things clear; bringing hidden matters to light; causing especially called individuals to see, hear, perceive, know and understand the things of God; the unveiling of biblical mysteries (Romans 16:25)., revealed under the first four of the seven seals (RevelationThe disclosure of God's Word and plan to mankind. In the Bible this refers to making obscure things clear; bringing hidden matters to light; causing especially called individuals to see, hear, perceive, know and understand the things of God; the unveiling of biblical mysteries (Romans 16:25). 6:1-8 [1] And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
[2] And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
[3] And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
[4] And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
[5] And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
[6] And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
[7] And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
[8] And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

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Terrifying "earthquakes in diverse places" (Matthew 24:7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
See All...) are also prophesied to grab the attention of the whole world at that time. As I write the world is reeling from last month's earthquake and tsunami that occurred off the coast of Indonesia. Over 150,000 are known dead (some estimate the count could go as high as 1 million). Ironically this quake occurred one year to the day after another huge quake killed thousands in northern Iran.

The past decade has seen an astonishing rise in "super disasters" that take a devastating toll in life and property. Doubters scoff and dismiss the recent escalation of these natural disasters. They reason that, since such events have always occurred, we hear more about them only because modern communication does a better job of reporting them. But Jesus Christ predicted that such events would be only "the beginning of sorrows" (verse 8).

He also pinpointed the Middle East—Jerusalem especially—as the area in which calamities more traumatic than natural disasters will become common (verses 15-16). Present events in the Middle East are moving the world closer to a devastating military conflict that, according to the ScripturesThe divinely inspired writings of both the Old and New Testaments. The term Scripture is used in the New Testament to refer to both the Hebrew Bible (Luke 24:44-45) and the new apostolic writings accepted as inspired (2 Peter 3:16; 1 Timothy 5:18)., will be in progress when Christ returns (Luke 21:20And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
See All..., 22; Zechariah 14:2-3 [2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
[3] Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

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Radically militant Islamic groups, in plotting the destruction of the West, have made the little nation of Israel—Jerusalem in particular—the centerpiece of their animosity toward Western style democracies. These same militants are also threatening the stability of most other Western nations. The recent brutal stabbing of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by an Islamic extremist served as a wake-up call for Europe.

Militant extremists could have a revolutionary effect on the Europe of the future. A terrorist assault on Europe of the magnitude of America's September 11 attack could easily push the European Union into an uncharacteristic, reactionary mode of thinking.

Such possibility is very real. A resurrected Roman Empire is prophesied to dominate the world for a short time immediately before Christ returns. BibleThe books (Greek, "biblia" ) that are acknowledged as canonical (authoritative) by the early Christian Church. It includes both the books of the ancient Hebrew prophets and those of the apostolic witnesses to Jesus Christ. prophecy reveals that this modern, European-based power—operating hand-in-glove with a powerful religious entity—will become a world-dominating political, economic, military and religious colossus.

As the "Babylon the Great" of RevelationThe disclosure of God's Word and plan to mankind. In the Bible this refers to making obscure things clear; bringing hidden matters to light; causing especially called individuals to see, hear, perceive, know and understand the things of God; the unveiling of biblical mysteries (Romans 16:25). 17, it will fight Christ at His second coming. RevelationThe disclosure of God's Word and plan to mankind. In the Bible this refers to making obscure things clear; bringing hidden matters to light; causing especially called individuals to see, hear, perceive, know and understand the things of God; the unveiling of biblical mysteries (Romans 16:25).'s description of its nature tells us that major changes in the world as we know it today are certain to occur when this integrated colossus emerges in all of its power.

One of the missions of our publications—including The Good News and World News and ProphecyA prediction of events to come. "A discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; esp[ecially] by foretelling future events" (Revised Thayer's Greek English Lexicon, "Propheteia"). — is to explain the meaning of today's news in the light of BibleThe books (Greek, "biblia" ) that are acknowledged as canonical (authoritative) by the early Christian Church. It includes both the books of the ancient Hebrew prophets and those of the apostolic witnesses to Jesus Christ. prophecy. Each year brings us closer to the fulfillment of those end-time events prophesied to occur before Christ's return.

As we step back and review the events of a year or a decade, we can see the movement the world has made toward the fulfillment of these major prophecies. It is not pleasant to bring what some call "bad news" to the attention of our readers. But it is necessary. We are compelled to be true to the biblical mandate to watch and to warn.

We always attempt to frame our message in the true and living hope of the "restoration of all things" that Christ will ultimately bring. He has promised to shorten the days of trouble that are ahead in order to save mankind from total annihilation. We place our faith and hope in that promise.