Do We Recognize the Signs of Our Time?
A commentary by Darris McNeely
United Church of God pastor, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana
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
Prophecy 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 Revelation, revealed under the first four
of the seven seals (Revelation 6:1-8).
Terrifying "earthquakes in diverse places" (Matthew 24:7)
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 Scriptures, will be in progress when Christ returns (Luke 21:20,
22; Zechariah 14:2-3).
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.
Bible 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 Revelation 17, it will fight
Christ at His second coming. Revelation'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 Prophecy—is to explain
the meaning of today's news in the light of Bible 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.
  To get a much fuller picture of where we are in the context of Bible
prophecy, be sure to request or download your own free copies of You
Can Understand Bible Prophecy and The
Book of Revelation Unveiled.
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