It’s true. Whether you or I believe it or not, it’s true. All of it, 100%. The Bible is true. It says what has been, what is, and what is to come. It prophesied every kingdom’s rise and fall from the time of Daniel in the Lion’s Den until Christ’s first coming. It prophesied to the day that Christ would ride on a donkey into Bethlehem and people would greet Him with palm branches. They knew the Messiah would show up that day. That’s why they were ready with palm branches. Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophesies through His birth, life, death, and resurrection. That’s mathematically impossible, except with God. Yet the Bible has more prophesies that have not yet been fulfilled. Knowing these can help us not only interpret the times, but prepare for the coming days!
Ever since Jesus rose from the grave over 2,000 years ago and then ascended into Heaven, we have been living in the last days. The Bible speaks about the last days.
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power…”
(2Timothy 3:1-5).
It sounds a lot like today, right? We will continue living in these last days until Jesus returns a second time to make all things right and new and beautiful. While nothing has to happen before Jesus returns again, the Bible does give quite a few details about what will happen. Many of those things have already taken place. I just want to point out four things as of late to bring to your attention to say, get ready. Jesus could come back sooner than we all think!
- An increase in natural disasters (Luke 21:11, Matthew 24:7). Talk to any scientist and they will tell you that the number of earthquakes and hurricanes in the last decade is significantly more than the previous century combined.
- There are more people living on the Earth right now who know Christ than we have had Christians ever before in all of history combined.
- Nearly every tribe, tongue, and nation has heard about Christ. This has been the mission of the church from the time Jesus left (Matthew 28:18-20). I have spoken with those who work with Bible translation. They believe it’s very likely that every tribe will have the Bible in their own language within the next 2.5 years! Not only that, but each nation has its own nationals who are reaching the various people groups within their nation. In other words, we English speakers will likely not be the ones translating the Gospel for the last tribe on Earth to know Jesus. Therefore, we will not be the first to hear when this task is complete. Therefore, we need to be ready regardless.
- Lastly, Israel. The Bible speaks about Israel. It says right before Jesus returns, that all nations will be against Israel. Then Jesus will come and win the war. So I suggest you choose Israel’s side if you want to be on the winning team here. (And for reference, it’s in Ezekiel, Revelation, Daniel and a lot of the prophetic books. This is not a one or two verse prophecy, but something when looking at all the prophecies combined, it’s a picture that is made clear.)
So what do we do with all of this? Am I prophesying Jesus’ return within the next three years? No. I do not know when He will return. Only the Father knows such things. I am saying that we are told to be aware of the signs of the times and be ready for Jesus to return, always. Perhaps every tribe will hear the Word and yet Jesus will wait to return. Perhaps things happening in Israel will move much slower than imagined. Perhaps these are all just birth pains. But perhaps, just perhaps, we really are near the end. In which case, we need to make sure our hearts are right with the Lord, as well as those we love.
I leave you with this song by Crystal Lewis, “People Get Ready.”
