The “end times” refers to the period the Bible describes immediately before Jesus returns – to gather His faithful, judge those who have rejected Him, and restore creation. In one sense, we have been “in the last days” since Jesus’ ascension. But when we compare today’s world with the conditions Scripture attaches to His return, the picture points uniquely to now.
These signs – Jesus called them “birth pains” – are increasing in both frequency and intensity. That convergence is what sets our generation apart.
Much of the Church, however, treats these passages as symbolic or simply glosses over them. The result is a loss of urgency the Bible consistently warns against:
Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night… But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:1–2, 4–6, NIV)
Christ’s first coming was fulfilled very literally, that’s God’s way of authenticating His word. There’s no reason to expect His second coming will be any less literal.
It’s worth noting how we tend to think about prophecy. We picture God predicting a future event and then watching it happen, because that’s how time works for us. But God exists outside time. He isn’t predicting what will happen – He is revealing what, from His vantage point, already has.
With that in mind, here’s why we believe the stage is set for the Coming King.
Signs in Nature
Jesus was specific about what to watch for:
For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am the Messiah,” and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. (Matthew 24:5–8, NIV)
Wars and rumours of war. Conflict has been a constant throughout history, but the last 150 years have seen a marked increase, including two world wars in the last century alone. Multiple live scenarios today could still trigger a major worldwide conflict, and global instability shows no sign of easing.
Famine. The world produces enough food to feed everyone on it, yet malnutrition remains widespread. Unpredictable weather, combined with corruption and mismanagement, keeps driving up prices and pushing more people into poverty.
Pestilence. Experts continue to warn of unprecedented outbreaks – Ebola, Chikungunya, even plague – in a world more interconnected than ever before. Covid-19 demonstrated just how fast a virus can spread, and how quickly panic can follow.
Earthquakes and volcanoes. Destructive seismic and volcanic activity has been escalating worldwide in recent years, with clusters of major events reported through 2025 alone.
Deception and False Christs
Of all the signs Jesus lists in the Olivet Discourse, He returns to one more than any other – deception, mentioned four separate times:
Watch out that no one deceives you. (Matthew 24:4 NIV, emphasis added)
For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am the Messiah,” and will deceive many. (Matthew 24:5 NIV, emphasis added)
And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. (Matthew 24:11 NIV, emphasis added)
At that time if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Messiah!” or, “There he is!” do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:23–24 NIV, emphasis added)
That emphasis matters. We’re seeing churches and denominations redefining the gospel to fit the culture rather than the other way round – softening or dropping sin, repentance, and judgment in favour of a message that’s easier to sell. Some services now lean toward entertainment over teaching, chasing an experience rather than substance.
Jude warned of exactly this:
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (Jude 1:3–4, NIV)
Meanwhile, sustained attacks on the authority of Scripture, from both outside and inside the Church, have left many treating the Bible as outdated. Ironically, this is happening at the moment in history when the Bible is more accessible than ever. The result is a Church more susceptible to deception, not less.
Moving Toward Globalism
Revelation describes a one-world system under the Antichrist’s control:
It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world…It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. (Revelation 13:7-8 and 16-17 NIV, emphasis added)
That passage only makes sense if a global system of control eventually exists. Three current trends point that way:
- A single faith. Interfaith movements (Chrislam, the United Religions Initiative) are actively working to merge the world’s religions. Some churches now read from the Quran during services as a gesture of solidarity. Many expect the Roman Catholic Church to take a leading role.
- A single currency. Global economies are tightly interconnected, and unsustainable debt – particularly across Western nations – leaves the system fragile. A serious financial collapse could open the door for a global body to step in and take control.
- A single government. It would take only one major shock – economic collapse, world war, natural disaster, even the rapture itself – to push the world toward a centralised authority stepping onto the world stage.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
If the mark-of-the-beast system requires a mechanism to monitor and control every transaction on earth, AI is the first technology in human history genuinely capable of it. Facial recognition, biometric verification, and real-time data processing at global scale are no longer speculative – they exist today, and they’re improving month by month, not decade by decade.
Revelation describes something worth reading in an AI age:
It was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. (Revelation 13:15 NIV)
For most of Church history, that verse was hard to picture literally – an image that speaks, that can act, that can enforce worship. It’s far less strange now that AI systems can generate a convincing voice, hold a conversation, and increasingly act on the world through connected systems, all without a human directly behind them in the moment.
AI also accelerates the deception Jesus warned of. Deepfakes and generated media make it possible to fabricate a person saying or doing almost anything, convincingly enough to fool most viewers. A world already struggling to agree on truth is being handed a tool that erodes the very idea of a reliable source. And the pace of change itself is a sign in its own right. Daniel wrote of knowledge increasing “in the time of the end” (Daniel 12:4); few technologies have compressed decades of expected progress into a handful of years the way AI has.
None of this means AI is evil in itself, like every other technology in this article, it’s a tool. But the speed of its arrival, and how neatly it fits the mechanisms Scripture describes for global control and deception, make it hard to ignore as part of the picture.
A Rise in Demonic Activity
We’re also seeing a marked increase in occult participation and fascination with the spiritual world – horoscopes, psychics, spiritualism, and more overt forms of occultism, all of which Scripture strictly condemns. Much of this has been encouraged by entertainment and mainstream media.
Alongside this, UFO and UAP sightings continue to rise, and what was once dismissed as fringe is now the subject of official disclosure. Governments, including the US, have declassified footage and held congressional hearings on unidentified aerial phenomena in recent years, with military and intelligence officials testifying publicly to encounters they cannot explain. Many assume an extraterrestrial origin, we suspect the more consistent explanation, in light of Scripture, is demonic. Either way, the growing willingness of officials to speak openly about it marks a real shift from the secrecy of previous decades. Scripture anticipates growing deception through supernatural means in the last days, and this looks like fertile ground for exactly that.
Climate Change
Ours is an age dominated by warnings of environmental catastrophe unless drastic action is taken, often met with hostility toward anyone who raises balanced questions. We believe in responsible stewardship of the earth’s resources, but we’re sceptical that human intervention can control the climate to the degree claimed. What Scripture does predict is far more dramatic:
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:10-13 NIV)
Revelation 8 and 16 describe this in more detail. Whatever the cause of today’s environmental instability, one thing is consistent across Scripture: God remains the architect, and humanity cannot ultimately stop what’s coming.
Transhumanism
Jesus states that:
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:37 NIV)
Genesis 6 describes widespread corruption before the flood, including the corruption of human DNA — Noah’s family alone remained “perfect in their generations.” We now have both the technology and, seemingly, the will to manipulate human DNA directly. Some in the transhumanist movement openly aim to redefine humanity itself within the coming decades. Not every application of this technology is harmful, but crossing that line – blending or re-engineering human DNA – strikes at the heart of what it means to be made in God’s image, with serious implications for the gospel itself.
Moral Decline in Society
Paul described the moral climate of the last days with precision:
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. Have nothing to do with such people. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-7 NIV)
Over the last thirty years, our culture has shifted sharply toward self-obsession, matching this list almost point for point:
| Trait | Meaning |
| lovers of themselves | lover of oneself, vanity |
| lovers of money | care more about making money that anything else |
| boastful | self-assuming; valuing themselves beyond all others; boasting of having what they have not |
| proud | showing themselves above their fellows; those who love to make a show |
| abusive | evil-speakers; those who speak impiously of God and sacred things |
| disobedient to their parents | manners of the young; whom their parents cannot control |
| ungrateful | who think they have a right to the services of all, yet feel no obligation, and consequently no gratitude |
| unholy | without piety; having no heart reverence for God |
| without love | bound by no promise; persons who readily promise anything, because they never intend to perform |
| unforgiving | forever holding a grudge |
| slanderous | slanderers; striving ever to ruin the characters of others |
| without self-control | lacking self-restraint; uncontrolled |
| brutal | wild; opposite of gentle |
| not lovers of the good | actively oppose those who do good |
| treacherous | betraying their friends, no loyalty |
| rash | reckless, irrational, inconsiderate |
| conceited | “puffed up” with pride; those who are full of themselves |
| lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God | pleasure and sensual gratification is their god; and this they love and serve |
Verse 5’s warning is the sharpest of all: a “form of godliness” that denies its power. That’s a warning aimed squarely at the Church, not just the world around it.
Evolution. Western nations were largely founded on belief in God, with legal and moral frameworks built around that foundation. Darwin’s Origin of Species began shifting that in the nineteenth century, and evolutionary thought has since hardened into a worldview with no accountability built in, no design, no purpose, no one to answer to. The twentieth century’s atheistic regimes are one visible fruit of that shift. When children are taught they’re the product of chance rather than the treasured creation of a loving God, that shapes how they treat themselves and each other.
Sexual attitudes. Scripture reserves sex for heterosexual marriage. Cohabitation, multiple partners, normalised adultery, and mainstream pornography are now simply part of the cultural landscape, and the Church often looks little different, including in its leadership. The erosion of marriage as a biblical institution carries consequences for the whole of society.
Abortion. Since the Abortion Act of 1967, over eight million abortions have taken place in the UK, with 209,917 recorded in 2020 alone, the highest figure since the Act was introduced. Even ancient pagan religions that practised child sacrifice generally regarded the womb as a place of safety; that’s no longer the case today. Alongside this, we’re seeing growing pressure toward euthanasia, which looks set to become a dominant issue in the years ahead.
Signs of Israel
Of all the signs, Israel may be the most significant – often called God’s prophetic clock. Israel became a state again on 14th May 1948, barely conceivable in the years surrounding the Holocaust, and reoccupied Jerusalem in 1967. Scripture described the land as desolate, rocky, swampland, ruined cities, until God restored it:
But you, mountains of Israel, will produce branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon come home. I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown, and I will cause many people to live on you—yes, all of Israel. The towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will increase the number of people and animals living on you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I will cause people, my people Israel, to live on you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance; you will never again deprive them of their children. (Ezekiel 36:8-12 NIV)
He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. (Isaiah 11:12 NIV)
Since the 1880s, Jews have returned to the land in growing numbers, now numbering close to seven million, and Israel has become one of the world’s leading economies, particularly in technology. Before 1948, it was hard to see how these prophecies could be fulfilled literally. Today, we’re watching it happen in real time.
Jews coming to faith. Ezekiel’s “dry bones” prophecy pictured a scattered, hopeless people brought back to life:
Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’” (Ezekiel 37:11-14 NIV, emphasis added)
Since the Holocaust, record numbers of Jews have come to faith in Jesus as their Messiah.
What’s next. Zechariah wrote:
On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. (Zechariah 12:3 NIV)
That tension is visible today. Israel’s neighbours remain openly hostile, and countries further afield – Iran, Egypt, Syria, Libya among them – have rarely hidden their intent. Recent offshore gas and oil discoveries add another motive for conflict. A war fulfilling Psalm 83 or Ezekiel 38–39 could begin at any time. Only God knows when.
Positive Signs
Not every end-time indicator is bleak. Scripture points to encouraging signs too.
Worldwide evangelism. Jesus said the gospel must first be preached to all nations (Mark 13:10). That’s now essentially true, satellite and internet access mean the message reaches almost every country, including those hostile to Christianity, where conversion rates are often highest.
Growing understanding of prophecy. Daniel was told his prophecy would remain sealed “until the time of the end” (Daniel 12:8–9). With Israel restored and Middle Eastern alliances shifting, that understanding is sharper today than at any point in history.
Increase in knowledge. Daniel also foresaw a dramatic rise in knowledge in the last days (Daniel 12:4). The last few decades bear that out – global communication, real-time imagery, and technology now make sense of prophecies once considered obscure, from nuclear capability (Zechariah 14:12) to worldwide broadcast events (Revelation 11) to the technical means for a “mark” system (Revelation 13).
Conclusion
Sceptics will point out that many of these signs have appeared, in isolation, for centuries. That’s fair. But it’s the simultaneous convergence, every sign increasing together, in frequency and intensity, that sets this moment apart.
When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:28 NIV)
Believers who take prophecy seriously should expect ridicule, scripture says as much:
Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. (2 Peter 3:3-4 NIV)
Jesus had sharper words still for those who read the sky but not the times:
He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? (Luke 12:54-56 NIV)
These signs point to the Coming King.
We believe the rapture of the Church is imminent – now is the time to take notice, and to be ready.