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The signs of the end of the world.

II. SIGNS THAT ARE TO PRECEDE THE GENERAL JUDGMENT
The Scriptures mention certain events which are to take place before the final judgment. These predictions were not intended to serve as indications of the exact time of the judgment, for that day and hour are known only to the Father, and will come when least expected. They were meant to foreshadow the last judgment and to keep the end of the world present to the minds of Christians, without, however, exciting useless curiosity and vain fears. Theologians usually enumerate the following nine events as signs of the last judgment:

1. General Preaching of the Christian Religion. Concerning this sign the Saviour says: "And this gospel of the kingdom, shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come" (Matthew 24:14). This sign was understood by Chrysostom and Theophilus as referring to the destruction of Jerusalem, but, according to the majority of interpreters, Christ is here speaking of the end of the world.
2. Conversion of the Jews. According to the interpretation of the Fathers, the conversion of the Jews towards the end of the world is foretold by St. Paul in the Epistle to the Romans (11:25-26): "For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, . . . that blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in. And so all Israel should be saved as it is written: There shall come out of Sion, he that shall deliver, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob".
3. Return of Enoch and Elijah. The belief that these two men, who have never tasted death, are reserved for the last times to be precursors of the Second Advent was practically unanimous among the Fathers, which belief they base on several texts of Scripture. (Concerning Elijah see Malachi 4:5-6; Sirach 48:10; Matthew 17:11; concerning Enoch see Sirach 44:16)
4. A Great Apostasy. As to this event St. Paul admonishes the Thessalonians (2 Thessalonians 2:3) that they must not be terrified, as if the day of the Lord were at hand, for there must first come a revolt (he apostasia).The Fathers and interpreters understand by this revolt a great reduction in the number of the faithful through the abandonment of the Christian religion by many nations. Some commentators cite as confirmatory of this belief the words of Christ: "But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?" (Luke 18:8).
5. The Reign of Antichrist. In the passage above mentioned (2 Thessalonians 2:3 sqq.) St. Paul indicates as another sign of the day of the Lord, the revelation of the man of sin, the son of perdition. "The man of sin" here described is generally identified with the Antichrist, who, says St. John (1 John 2:18), is to come in the last days. Although much obscurity and difference of opinion prevails on this subject, it is generally admitted from the foregoing and other texts that before the Second Coming there will arise a powerful adversary of Christ, who will seduce the nations by his wonders, and persecute the Church.
6. Extraordinary Perturbations of Nature. The Scriptures clearly indicate that the judgment will be preceded by unwonted and terrifying disturbances of the physical universe (Matthew 24:29; Luke 21:25-26). The wars, pestilences, famines, and earthquakes foretold in Matthew 24:6 sq., are also understood by some writers as among the calamities of the last times.
7. The Universal Conflagration. In the Apostolic writings we are told that the end of the world will be brought about through a general conflagration, which, however, will not annihilate the present creation, but will change its form and appearance (2 Peter 3:10-13; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:2; Apocalypse 3:3, and 16:15). Natural science shows the possibility of such a catastrophe being produced in the ordinary course of events, but theologians generally tend to believe that its origin will be entirely miraculous.
8. The Trumpet of Resurrection. Several texts in the New Testament make mention of a voice or trumpet which will awaken the dead to resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; John 5:28). According to St. Thomas (Supplement 86:2) there is reference in these passages either to the voice or to the apparition of Christ, which will cause the resurrection of the dead.
9. "The Sign of the Son of Man Appearing in the Heavens." In Matthew 24:30, this is indicated as the sign immediately preceding the appearance of Christ to judge the world. By this sign the Fathers of the Church generally understand the appearance in the sky of the Cross on which the Saviour died or else of a wonderful cross of light.

The General Judgement

All the NT writers believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime. This is apparent in many places where they use words such as "soon" or "at hand". If you say they were wrong about the timing then most other things they said would be suspect. Fortunately they were correct.

In Daniel's vision he was told to "seal up the prophecy, for its time is not yet." 450+ years later, John's Revelation has a last admonition "do not seal up the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand." The date of the writing of Revelation is of much debate but some scholars put it as early as A.D. 64, shortly before the seige of Jerusalem by the Roman army. The Christians had already left Jerusalem by the time the Romans surrounded the city, as they had been told to "flee to the mountains" so they were not there when the prophesied tribulations took place in Jerusalem.

Also:

Item 1 was fulfilled during the time of the Apostles (although late in this period). Paul said that they had preached the gospel to all creation. Apparently he is referring to the known creation of that time, i.e., the known world. In Acts the apostles were termed "those who have turned the world upside down". In Romans Paul told the church in Rome that "your faith is spken of throughout the whole world".

Item 2 - the conversion of the Jews - has nothing specifically to do with eschatological timelines.

Item 3 - return of Enoch and Elijah - v. 17:12 says that Elijah had already come at the time of the writing of the book. I assume Sirach is in the Apocrypha, which I am not familiar with.

Item 4 - the apostasy - this passage in 2 Th. was fulfilled during the siege of Jerusalem (A.D. 67-70) when the Temple was desecrated by a man who proclaimed that he was God.

Item 5 - The term "Antichrist" never refers to one person. Ref: 1 John 2:18, 2:22, and 4:3. Nowhere is there a tie between 2 Th 2:3 with the passages in 1 John, in fact the passages can't tie together because 1 John refers to numerous "Antichrists" and 2 Thess. refers to a man.

Item 6 - The Extraordinary Perturbations of Nature - meaningless, as there are no more recorded earthquakes and other disasters today except in Algore's mind. Also, there are still many wars and rumors of wars today, so the idea of the end coming during a time of peace can't apply to current events. The Pax Romana of the first century would have been a time of peace when it would have been appropriate to look for the End Times.

Item 7 - These passages are subject to interpretation, but if interpreted in keeping with the rest of Scripture, then they are not literal, but figurative. For example, the famous passage in Acts about "the sky shall be darkened and the moon turned to blood" is also found in Joel 2:31. This is familiar poetic language which applied to eariler OT prophecies and would be familiar to the first-century Christians and students of the OT.

Item 8 - The Trumpet sound was a familiar reference which occurs many times in the OT. The people knew to gather for battle when the Trumpet sounded. In the OT the word was used in both a literal and a figurative sense. See also the next item.

Item 9 - Sign of the Son of Man - refers to Christ coming on the clouds of glory. In the OT the symbology of clouds is used to refer to God's appearance, such as Duet. 33:26, "There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heaven to your help, and in His majesty on the clouds." This is used as a literal reference sometimes and a figurative one sometimes.