“Knowing this first, that there shall come IN THE LAST DAYS (capitals mine) scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, WHERE IS THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING? (capitals mine) for since the fathers fell asleep (died), all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

2 Peter 3:3-4

In writing about Biblical prophecy, one of the most common responses I receive is “How come if we have always had earthquakes, wars, famines, pestilences, etc. can you claim we are NOW in the Last Days simply because those things are still happening?” An excellent question and I hope to give you an even better answer!

“And Jesus answered and said unto them. Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and deceive many. And because iniquity (sin) shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure  unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

Matthew 24:4-14

Jesus Himself said we have always had “…wars and rumors of war”. He the goes on to say those are not the End. What He does say is a whole bunch of other things will also be happening. These things have also been happening since the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. What we haven’t had however is the “convergence” or coming together of these events. Most definitions of convergence center around the notion of various things all coming together, at a particular time, resulting in a combined and powerful outcome. For example, let’s assume you drive to work daily on a freeway. But if work hour traffic, or an accident, bad weather, road construction, police activity, nighttime or some other event is there, traffic typically slows down. But put all these events converging together at the exact same time like an accident during rush hour traffic in bad weather at night with police blocking a road that is under construction and you won’t be moving at all! You will be stopped! This is a convergence of various events all coming together at the exact same time and it will change dramatically you getting to work on time. But, what if you had been told before you left to take a different “route”? There IS a different way!

In the Scripture above, Jesus clearly describes on the Mount of Olives, after being asked by a few of His disciples when the End would come, He told them about various events they would see. Wars. Rumours of wars. Nation against nation. Kingdom against kingdom. Famines. Pestilences. Earthquakes in various places. Persecution. False prophets. Increasing sinfulness, etc., etc. etc. For the past 2,000 years ALL of these events have occurred. Just not necessarily all at the same time, especially with increasing frequency and strength! The preaching of the Gospel throughout the entire world. “…AND THEN SHALL THE END COME” (capitals mine) is perhaps the most significant event because it clearly signals the LAST thing to happen is the preaching of the Gospel to the entire world. Guess what? The preaching of His Word to the whole world has now happened! In other words, people have seen all of these things individually but it won’t be until ALL these things happen together at the same time becoming rampant with increasing intensity and frequency that the End will then be coming soon.

“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail (labor) upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren are not in darkness (unaware of His prophecies), that that day should overtake you as a thief.”

1 Thessalonians 5:2-4

When a woman goes into labor prior to the birth of her child, the birth pains are minimal and far apart. As she gets closer, the pain becomes more intense and closer together. At the end, near the birth of the baby, the pain is most intense and the frequency of contractions are much closer together meaning both have converged together. When this happens, the end is near! The baby is about to be born! It doesn’t happen 3 months later. So, when we see all the various things prophesied happening at the same time with increasing occurrence and intensity, you can be sure His Return is not far off!

Now it would take an entire book (or more) to explain all the things He said would happen with increasing intensity and frequency before the End. Of course, we have the Bible which does that. I am taking the liberty of also highlighting many of these current events with a few past articles I have written where I pinpointed how today things like major earthquakes are not only happening more frequently but are more destructive and more powerful than ever. That partial list is below:

•  Jesus’s Prophecies  – Jesus’s BEST Prophecies? The Olivet Discourse!
•  Wars and rumors of wars – Jesus DID say we would have “…wars and rumors of wars”?
•  Earthquakes – Jesus DID say we would have “…earthquakes”
•  Famines & Pestilences – Jesus DID say we would have “…famines & pestilences.”
•  Deception – Have You Ever Attended a Laodicean Church? Hopefully, you never will!!
•  Persecution – Christian Persecution – Yet Another Biblical Sign of the End Times!
•  Preaching of  the Gospel to the World –  Has the Gospel been Preached YET to the Whole World?

Of course, as I mentioned earlier regarding driving to work at night, in bad weather, in a traffic jam, or on a road under construction, etc. THERE IS A DIFFERENT WAY! While there is the Waze app for your iPhone which can direct you around traffic jams, there is also what the Bible says. It calls for you to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Accept the Gift of His Sacrifice for your sins and repent of those sins and you will be Raptured from this world before all these things converge during the final 7 year Tribulation period. Please remember the Promise Jesus made to us in Revelation 3:10-11:

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation (Tribulation), which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly ( in the twinkling of an eye at the Rapture): hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”

In my 43+ years of studying  Biblical prophecy and watching the news I have never seen the beginnings of the “birth pains” or convergence of all those things prophesied to happen like I have seen in just the past few years. The anti-Semitic and Christian persecutions, even here in the U.S.; the VERY SOON coming war of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38 & 39); the increase in earthquakes, diseases, famines, bad weather (tornadoes and hurricanes); the increasingly favored view of globalism and socialism (one world government); the hatred of man against man (think of all the riots going on in Hong Kong, Germany, Iran, Paris, Iraq, Moscow, Great Britain, Albania, Venezuela, etc.), along with the rampant and perhaps never before seen sinfulness of the world can only lead a sane person (or Believer in Jesus) to believe something is getting ready to happen TODAY! And it is!

But we as Believers have nothing to fear as we have been Promised by Jesus of our eternal salvation by simply accepting His Promise. Knowing this and especially witnessing these things happening in front of my very eyes does not scare me a bit! It in fact comforts me to know ahead of time by reading the Bible what is God’s Ultimate Plan for His Creation as the prophecies of the Bible tell us. Remember as Jesus said, His Word would be preached in all the world. We can all help do this in fulfillment of His Prophecy. If you are also comforted by this article, please help me by sharing, liking and/or forwarding this to your friends, to do what we are all instructed to do and that is to “…therefore comfort one another with these words.” Not my words. His Holy Word!!!

May God Bless you as we look up and watch for our Redemption draweth near!