17 Signs of the Second Coming

Why We’re on the Cusp of the 7-Year Tribulation and the Return of Jesus Christ…

Why does the world seem to be in a constant state of crisis? Why do we seem to be encountering one major global threat after another? The answer is simple.

Jesus is coming.

The constant state of crisis we see today is exactly what Jesus said the world would look like just before his return:

"Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, "Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?" Jesus told them, "Don't let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Messiah.' They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come." Matthew 24:3-8 (NLT)

In the rest of Matthew 24, Jesus went on to describe a number of events that will take place just prior to His return.

The prophets also had a lot to say about what will take place.

And guess what? We see those signs today, AND they're unique to our day and time.

Here are just a few:

1) Israel Back in the Land

In A.D. 70, Roman soldiers put down a rebellion, sacked Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, and carried the Jewish people to the farthest corners of the Roman Empire to serve as slaves. They tried to eliminate every trace of the nation of Israel, even renaming the land Palestine in honor of Israel's historical enemies, the Philistines. Rome intended to erase the memory of Israel forever.

But God had other plans. Thousands of years ago, He foretold the long exile of His people. He promised to call them from "among the nations" (Ezekiel 39:28), from "the farthest corners of the earth" (Isaiah 11:12), and from "north, south, east, and west" (Psalm 107:3). He promised to welcome the Jewish people home from the lands where they were scattered (Ezekiel 20:34), and He promised to restore them to the land of Israel from distant lands (Jeremiah 30:2,10; Jeremiah 23:7-8). And this is exactly what He did.

And when the people returned, God promised to return and establish His everlasting kingdom (Isaiah 11:11-12). Every person on earth is an eyewitness to the modern miracle of Israel. Long ago, the prophets said this restoration will precede a monumental event - the coming of the Messiah to set up His everlasting Kingdom (Isaiah 35; Joel 3; Jeremiah 23; Micah 4). In other words, Israel's existence in our day and time is a sign the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is near.

2) The Jewish People in Control of Jerusalem

When the disciples asked Jesus to reveal the signs of His coming and the end of the age, He gave them one of the keys to understanding the timing of His return. He told the disciples this: Jerusalem "will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles come to an end." And then? After that, Jesus promised to return (Luke 21:24-28).

So when did this time period begin? The Gentile trampling of Jerusalem began with the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 by Titus and the Roman legions. For centuries thereafter, Gentile kings and kingdoms held complete control over the Temple Mount and the Old City of Jerusalem. However, in June 1967, the Six Day War concluded with Israel in control of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount for the first time since A.D. 70. Since 1967, the Jewish people have controlled Jerusalem. And according to Jesus, the Jewish repossession of Jerusalem will immediately precede His return.

3) The Gospel Preached Throughout the World

When asked about the end of the age and the signs of His coming, Jesus said to look for a very specific sign. He said:

"And the Gospel will be preached throughout the entire world, so that every nation will hear it - and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14 (NLT)

For centuries after the crucifixion, the Gospel was confined to a small area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. In the past two centuries, Christians have brought the Gospel to every nation in the world. Today, missionaries are in every nation. The Bible is translated in hundreds of languages, and the message of Jesus is sent around the world by radio, TV, satellite, and the Internet. This generation is on the verge of spreading the Gospel to every last person on earth.

4) An Increase in Travel and Knowledge

Six hundred years before Jesus, an angel gave Daniel a special message. He said “travel and knowledge” will increase in the end times (Daniel 12:4). For centuries of human history, dramatic gains in travel and knowledge did NOT take place. Yet the last two hundred years have seen explosions in the speed and frequency of travel as well as the amount and availability of knowledge.

In Daniel’s time, a horse was the fastest way to travel over land. This remained true for over two thousand years. During all those centuries, the speed of human travel didn’t change in any noticeable way. In the year 1800, the fastest land-based mode of transportation was… still a horse. Then, it all changed. Human travel exploded, and the change was both swift and dramatic. In the 19th Century, the Industrial Revolution gave birth to the steam locomotive. This revolutionized the speed of travel. While the average horse galloped at 30 mph, by 1900, trains routinely traveled twice that speed. Then, in the early 20th Century, the horseless carriage (the car) took the world by storm. In 1908, the Ford Motor Company produced the first Model T – a car with a top speed of 40 mph. By the 1920’s, race cars topped 100 mph.

And air travel? No other mode of travel better illustrates Daniel’s long ago foretold increase in travel and knowledge. For several thousand years, men dreamed of controlled flight. But for centuries, that’s all it was. A dream. Then, in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright put together an airplane that flew for 12 seconds and traveled 120 feet. Just 66 years later, Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon.

In the ancient world, the Library of Alexandria was considered the greatest collection of written knowledge on the planet. It contained an estimated 500,000 papyrus scrolls - equal to approximately tens of thousands of original works comparable to today’s books. Today, you can buy a device for less than a hundred dollars and hold a library larger than the Library of Alexandria in the palm of your hand. In fact, we long ago surpassed the point in time when more information is added to the Internet every single day than existed in the Ancient Library of Alexandria.

If all that's not an explosion in travel and knowledge, what is?

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5) Arrival of the Exponential Curve

Jesus said a variety of global signs will come before His return and the end of the age. These signs will be spiritual, natural, societal, and political in nature. He said they will appear in a distinct way – "like birth pains" (Matthew 24:3‐8). This means the frequency and intensity of these signs will increase as we near His return. Our generation has seen the exponential increase in war and famine Jesus said to look for. In the 20^th Century alone, more people died from war and famine than lived on the earth when Jesus spoke these words.

We also see the exponential curve when it comes to technological development. Right now, we're witnessing explosive growth in artificial intelligence. Its computational power is rapidly advancing, with some estimates suggesting it's doubling approximately every six months. The amount of data A.I. absorbs is doubling every eight months. A.I. is assisting in the development of quantum computing which will lead to more powerful A.I., and A.I. agents regularly engage in groundbreaking research, including the discovery of new materials.

6) Mark of the Beast Technology

The Book of Revelation describes an end times financial system often referred to as “the mark of the beast system”:

"He required everyone — small and great, rich and poor, free and slave — to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name." Revelation 13:16-17 (NLT)

The construction of a system identical to the mark of the beast system in capability and function is underway right now. It’s primarily composed of three elements central bank digital currency (CBDC), tokenized assets, and digital IDs.

CBDCs and tokenized assets are fully programmable. This means governments can manipulate them in real-time. They have the ability to raise and lower interest rates on your currency in real-time. They have the ability to put restrictions on your currency in real-time, such as where you can spend it and on what. They'll have the ability to control what assets you can buy and when. These technologies give governments full insight into every financial transaction you make, as well as full control over the currency itself, meaning the government can cancel your ability to use it at any time.

In other words, they'll be able to control "who can buy and who can sell." For generations, fulfillment of the events described in Revelation 13:16-17 was impossible outside of the supernatural. For the first time, our generation is capable of implementing such a system on its own.

7) The Ability to View Global Events in Real-Time

Ours in the first generation of Christians able to witness many of the events foretold in the Book of Revelation outside of a supernatural fulfillment. For example, the ability of the mark of the beast to determine who can buy or sell (Revelation 13:16-17) was, outside of the supernatural, impossible for past generations to implement. While a global government could have demanded such a system, it’s unrealistic to believe they could have ended all black market activity. Today, we see how.

But the digital financial system isn't the only such event.

The Book of Revelation tells us God will send two witnesses to testify on His behalf during the Tribulation. After these two witnesses complete their testimony, the Antichrist will kill them. When he does, their bodies will lie unburied in the main street of Jerusalem (Revelation 11:8) and the entire world will look upon them and celebrate:

"And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will stare at their bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them." Revelation 11:9 (NLT)

According to the Bible, the entire world will look upon the bodies of the two witnesses. Outside of the supernatural, this was impossible when the Book of Revelation was written, and it remained impossible up until very recently. Today, with broadband satellite technology and smart devices, people all over the world can watch events take place anywhere in the world in real time.

8) We’re on the Verge of “No Flesh Surviving”

When the disciples met with Jesus on the Mount of Olives and asked Him to describe the signs of His coming and the end of the age, Jesus told them what to look for. Then He said, “Unless those days are shortened, no flesh will survive” (Matthew 24:22).

What did Jesus mean when He said this? The traditional interpretation is this… Humanity will bring itself to the brink of destruction in a cataclysmic world war. Then the world will avoid total destruction when Jesus suddenly appears and stops the madness. But is this what the Bible says? No.

Remember, Jesus didn’t say, “Unless those days are shortened, no one will survive.” He said, “No flesh will survive” (Matthew 24:22). The key word in this passage is the Greek word “sarx.” It doesn’t mean “people.” It means “flesh” or “animal meat.” It refers to the external body, and not necessarily an entire body with a soul. So taken in its original context, it’s more accurate to say “no flesh will survive” than to say “no one” or “no people will survive.”

Think this is just semantics? Maybe. But what if the transhumanist movement succeeds in its quest to create a race of “posthumans” who no longer need human bodies to survive? If that happens, the words of Jesus take on a whole new meaning.

This isn't a fantasy I'm peddling. Powerful people all over the world are actively working to create such a world. For example, in this article from The Guardian, we read the following (emphasis mine):

In his authorized biography of Musk, Walter Isaacson describes how the billionaire first began thinking about implanting chips in brains in 2016, when he was travelling in a car with his chief of staff, Sam Teller, and became frustrated by how long it took for him to type a message on his iPhone. “Imagine if you could think into the machine,” Musk said, “like a high-speed connection directly between your mind and your machine.” Musk immediately asked Teller to find him a neuroscientist who could help him understand BCIs...

Musk hopes the enhanced human brain will be able to keep one step ahead of – or at least keep up with – computers. “If we can find good commercial uses to fund Neuralink, then in a few decades, we will get to our ultimate goal of protecting us against evil AI by tightly coupling the human world to our digital machinery,” he told Isaacson.

We also read this (emphasis mine):

It sounds like telekinesis, I say. Noland shrugs. “I called it telekinesis – you’re moving something with your mind – but Elon Musk called it telepathy, because I’m communicating with a computer through my mind.”

Musk’s goal is not to allow quadriplegics to move things, after all – it’s for minds to have seamless interfaces with computers.

If Elon Musk and the rest of the transhumanists have their way, “no flesh will survive.”

9) Israel Surrounded by Enemies

The Bible says enemies will surround Israel in the last days. More than three thousand years ago, the prophet Asaph claimed the surrounding nations would be unanimous in their contempt for Israel. He said they'll say:

“Come, let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence.” Psalm 83:4 (NLT)

and

“Let us seize for our own use these pasturelands of God!” Psalm 83:12 (NLT)

Do those statements sound familiar? They should. They’re almost word for word what we hear in the Middle East today. And we’ve heard these same declarations from the Muslim world over and over again since May 14, 1948. Ezekiel predicted these same neighbors would say:

“Those people are far away from the Lord, so now he has given their land to us!” Ezekiel 11:15 (NLT)

and

“The lands of Israel and Judah will be ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care that the Lord is there!” Ezekiel 35:10 (NLT)

Isn’t this what we read in the headlines each day? It is. The people of the surrounding nations claim the land of Israel belongs to them, that “the mountains of Israel have been given to us” (Ezekiel 35:12-13). Syria, which lost the strategically important Golan Heights in the Six-Day War joins a chorus of Israeli critics in claiming “the Golan Heights belong to us” (Ezekiel 36:2). Ever since the rebirth of Israel in 1948, the daily headlines have included these Bible verses. Israel’s Muslim neighbors claim the land of Israel for themselves, and they have no regard for the God of Israel.

10) Israel’s Exceedingly Great Army

In his Valley of the Dry Bones vision (where God breathes life back into the Jewish people), the prophet Ezekiel saw the Jewish people come to life and stand up as "an exceedingly great army” (Ezekiel 37:10). Zechariah repeated this promise, speaking of a day when Israel is like a fire among sheaves of grain, burning up the neighboring nations (Zechariah 12:6). In fact, he claims even the weakest soldier among them will be like David (Zechariah 12:8). Do we see this today? We sure do.

What are the odds of Israel winning four conventional wars in a 25 year period? Israel barely cracks the Top 100 nations in terms of population, but its military consistently ranks among the most powerful in the world. The whole country is less than 13,000 square miles (approximately the size of New Jersey). That’s less than one-tenth of one percent of the land mass of the surrounding nations that wish to destroy her. Does this sound like a recipe for “an exceedingly great army”?

Yet, that’s exactly what the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is. Surrounded on all sides, a brand new nation that didn’t even have a formal military emerged victorious in a multi-front war in 1948. With Syria, Jordan, and Egypt preparing for war, the Israelis struck preemptively in 1967. The result? They achieved overwhelming victory in just six days.

Caught by surprise on Yom Kippur in 1973, her enemies almost cut Israel in half within 48 hours. But the IDF quickly won back all the territory it lost in the opening days of the war, and the world brokered a truce with the IDF at the gates of Cairo and Damascus. Against all odds, Israel always seems to come out on top.

And what does the Bible say about the timing of Israel’s emergence as a world military power? When does it say Israel will have an “exceedingly great army”? The Bible says, "when God’s people are re-gathered in the land just before the Messiah returns" (Ezekiel 12, 36, 37). When the Jewish people have been “brought back from the nations where they were scattered, and given the land of Israel by God Himself” (Ezekiel 11:17).

11) Rise of the Gog of Magog Alliance

More than 2,600 years ago, the prophet Ezekiel warned of a future time when a vast coalition of nations will attack Israel. The leader of this coalition is a man known as Gog, the ruler of Magog (Ezekiel 38:1). This is why the invading force is known as the Gog of Magog coalition. According to Ezekiel, this alliance will send an overwhelming force to invade Israel in the last days. And today, for the first time in human history, we see this alliance forming.

The military forces of the three most powerful members of the Gog of Magog alliance – Russia, Iran, and Turkey – are now present in Syria. This puts their joint military forces right on Israel’s border. And not just any border – Israel’s northern border. This is where Ezekiel said the invading force will come from – north of Israel (Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2). Is this a coincidence? I don’t think so. Never in history have these three nations formed an alliance. Now, they’re all stationed directly to Israel’s north.

The stage is being set for the fulfillment of the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecies. In recent years, Turkey has made a strategic choice to align itself with Russia and Iran of a number of matters, breaking with the desires of its traditional western and NATO allies. Furthermore, Russia and Iran have developed more and more strategic military and economic ties - ties that were non-existent up until the past 20 to 30 years. Both those nations also have military assets located in other Gog of Magog nations, such as Libya and Sudan. In addition, one of the coalition members - Afghanistan - remained a mystery up until four years ago. Those who studied bible prophecy wondered, "Why would Afghanistan, currently occupied by Israel's greatest ally, the United States, attack Israel?" Today, the Taliban is back in power, and all the nations of the Gog of Magog coalition are aligned in one way or another.

Ezekiel said this coalition will attack Israel “in the last days” (Ezekiel 38:16) “after they’ve been gathered from among many nations” (Ezekiel 38:8). The prophet Jeremiah spoke about this same regathering from among the nations. He said God would “gather the remnant of His flock from the nations where he had driven them and bring them back into the land” (Jeremiah 23:3-4). And then? And then God will “raise up a righteous descendant of King David, a king who will rule the land with wisdom” (Jeremiah 23:5-6). In other words, the Messiah will return.

12) The Rise of a United Europe

The Bible says a revived Roman Empire will come to power in the end times (Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Revelation 17). According to Daniel, it will be a ten nation alliance of weak and strong nations. Some parts will be as strong as iron, while other parts will be as weak as clay (Daniel 2:42). We see the beginning of this alliance in the European Union – a coalition of weak and strong nations struggling to stay together.

Since its inception, the EU has been an odd collection of governments, economies, currencies, and militaries. From the Schuman Declaration in 1950 to the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007, the rise of the EU has been marked by a struggle to agree on important issues. These include arguments over a single currency (the United Kingdom and Denmark opted out), disagreements over how to handle debt crises (the Greek bailouts), disputes over open borders (the Syrian refugee crisis), the United Kingdom leaving the union (Brexit), and foreign policy disputes (the Russia-Ukraine war). Each step along the way, the EU struggled to survive.

All this volatility makes it more likely the EU is an early phase of the alliance Daniel described. It’s the mirror image of the revived Roman Empire the Bible says will appear in the last days (Daniel 2:40-43; Daniel 7:23-24). It’s made up of weak and strong nations (Daniel 2:42). It’s divided against itself (Daniel 2:41), and the effort of these nations to come together and strengthen themselves is volatile and unstable (Daniel 2:43). The only characteristic of the final empire not exhibited by the EU is it’s not ruled by ten kings. But the next crisis could quickly change that.

13) The Rise of Global Government

The Bible says a single government will rule the world politically (Revelation 13:7), religiously (Revelation 13:8), and economically (Revelation 13:16‐17) in the last days. It will rule over “all people, tribes, and languages” on the face of the earth (Revelation 13:7). Its authority will be so complete no one will be able to buy or sell anything without its permission (Revelation 13:16‐17). For centuries, a true global government was impossible. Today, world leaders openly discuss it.

Not only to do many world leaders want global government, but advancing technologies make it inevitable.

The rise of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, drone swarm technologies, and molecular manufacturing are destabilizing events. Together, these new technologies will overturn the post-World War II stability of mutual assured destruction (MAD). Once this happens, World War III will break out, and when the dust settles, one nation or group of nations will rule over the entire world.

14) Language Barriers Disintegrating

The Tower of Babel is more than just a story – it’s a prophecy of things to come. And the events we see right now indicate our generation will fulfill the Tower of Babel prophecy.

This means should expect to see a reversal of God's actions in Genesis 11 when he ended common language for humanity and broke up the world into nation states.

As previously mentioned, we're already on the road to global government, but we've already seen the erasure of language barriers via advanced technology. For example, using Google Meet, people who speak different languages can now converse in real-time while maintaining their authentic voice and tone. In addition, A.I. agents can communicate with each other at speeds humans cannot comprehend, facilitating global cooperation in research, business, and other endeavors.

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15) Rumors of War

Jesus said rumors of war will be another sign of His coming (Matthew 24:6). Since the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, we’ve seen a constantly escalating conflict between NATO and Russia – most recently in the form of Ukraine's surprise drone attack on Russia. Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb destroyed 41 Russian warplanes, including nuclear-capable strategic bombers.

The U.S. defense readiness condition (DEFCON) level isn’t public, but some estimate we’ve been at DEFCON 3 (a level reached only three times in history) since the start of the war – over three and a half years ago. None of those previous instances lasted more than a few days, making this is the longest period of heightened U.S. nuclear war readiness in the more than six decades of the alert system’s existence. A strong case could be made we’re closer to nuclear war now than we’ve ever been in the post-World War II period.

But the Russia/Ukraine conflict isn’t the only source of rumors of war. Since the October 7th attack, Israel has been actively engaged in a campaign to eliminate the existential threats on its border. Ongoing conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria have threatened to erupt into a wider regional war throughout the past year. And with the recent fall of Syrian leader Bashar Assad, it remains to be seen what new conflicts could emerge.

In addition, Taiwan has lived under the threat of imminent Chinese invasion for several years now. Time and again, China has sent ships into nearby waters and warplanes into Taiwanese airspace, and with the Chinese economy trapped in a deflationary spiral, war may be the preferred option of China’s leadership when it comes to avoiding civil unrest at home.

Meanwhile, we continue to hear rumors of war in other parts of the world - Israel/Iran, India/China, North Korea/South Korea, and countless other places. The sheer number of possible conflicts between major powers, many armed with nuclear weapons, makes this the most dangerous time since World War II.

16) “The Days of Noah and Lot…”

Jesus said when He returns, the world will be “like it was in the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:37). Jesus said:

“In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.” Matthew 24:38-39 (NLT)

Is this what we see today? I think so. In the past five years, we’ve seen a global pandemic, pandemic shutdowns, vaccine passports, a global supply chain crisis, assaults on European energy pipelines, threats of famine, threats of cyberattacks, and threats of war. Yet, despite all this, many people continue on as though it’s “business as usual.” They’re still enjoying banquets and parties and weddings. In other words, much of life remains normal. Only a few people seem to be alarmed at what we’ve seen and what’s around the corner – including concerns about artificial intelligence and drone swarm warfare. After a series of events that should have shaken the world from its slumber, most people continue to go about their daily lives unaware of and unconcerned about the times in which we live.

17) Denial of the Signs

Almost two thousand years ago, Peter issued a warning. He said in the last days people will mock the idea of Jesus returning. They will make fun of those who believe in the Second Coming and say exactly what we hear today – things like, “I thought Jesus was coming back? What happened to His promise? Generation after generation has said He’s coming. Yet, since the beginning of the world, everything has remained the same!” This is what we read in the Bible:

"Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, 'What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.'" 2 Peter 3:3‐4 (NLT)

This is exactly what we hear today.

The Hour is Late

It’s simply not true to say these signs have always been present. Generations of Christians lived and died without witnessing any of these signs. In fact, for centuries of Christian history, none of these signs were present. Zero. Today, they all are.

Remember:

• For 93% of Christian history, the nation state of Israel did NOT exist…

• For 94% of Christian history, Jerusalem was NOT in Jewish hands…

• For approximately 75% of Christian history, the Gospel was mostly confined to western European and the area around the Mediterranean Sea…

• For 99% of Christian history, mark of the beast technology was NOT possible...

• For 96% of Christian history, the ability to view people in another global location in real-time was NOT possible...

The Bible says the Tribulation will not come and the Antichrist will not be revealed until “a great falling away” happens first (2 Thessalonians 2:3). We see this taking place today. It’s not a coincidence we see so many people denying the foundational principles of Christianity. It’s not a coincidence we see so many people claim they were once “Christians,” but now they deny Jesus. It’s a sign of the times.

The times in which we live are clear to anyone who knows the Bible. We are living in the days just before the Tribulation takes place. Jesus will soon return to take His church (1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18). How can I be so sure? Because Jesus says so. Jesus said this:

"So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!" Luke 21:28 (NLT)

And we see the signs He said to look for right now.

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