Top 20 Signs Of The Rapture And Second Coming Of Christ

Unsealed.org ^ | 5/12/16 | Gary

[amessenger4god]

In this author's humble opinion these are the 20 clearest signs that the end of the age is quite literally imminent:

1. In a technical sense the Gospel has now been preached to every nation on earth in fulfillment of Mark 13:10.  Some scholars argue that we must interpret the Greek word for "nation" strictly as an individual ethnic group, but even if that is the correct interpretation, this prophecy was likely fulfilled sometime toward the end of the 20th century or the beginning of this century.  There are certainly still several isolated tribes where the Gospel has not been preached, but the biblical "nation" must necessarily encompass a larger people group than merely a single tribe or else Paul could not have said of the Mediterranean world of his time in Colossians 1:23:

This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

2. After nearly two millennia the twelve tribes of Israel are back in the Promised Land and the nation of Israel has been reborn.  This fulfills numerous prophecies: Isaiah 66:8, Isaiah 11:10-12, Ezekiel 36:22-28, Ezekiel 37:12, Ezekiel 38:8, Jeremiah 30:3-4, Zechariah 10:10, and others.  Read more about this here.

3. A final, great apostasy as prophesied in 1 Timothy 4:1 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is clearly and uniquely underway.  Many professing Christians have fallen away over the centuries, but nothing in history can be even remotely compared to the mass abandoning and corruption of faith beginning in the 1950s and 1960s.  This is a phenomenon that no other generation of Christians has experienced.  Church attendance has literally been cut in half across most of the western world as has the essential biblical belief that faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation - a plurality of Christians now believe their way is but one of many.  Dozens of denominations have embraced homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion, no-fault divorce, and Darwinism.  Dozens more have rejected biblical inerrancy.  Heretical Christians that profess a culturally-acceptable faith persecute Bible-believing Christians at school, at work, and at every level of government.

4. Worldwide moral conditions are now the same as they were in the days of Noah as Jesus said they would be in Matthew 24:37 and Luke 17:26.  The three specific things the Bible says about the immorality of the world at the time of Noah were that there was genetic manipulation (Genesis 6:4), violence everywhere (Genesis 6:11), and every human thought was evil continually (Genesis 6:5).

Worldwide, 56 million children are now murdered every year via abortion.  That is one-in-four children.  As many children are murdered in one year now as people died in all of World War II - history's single bloodiest conflict.  There are also 54 simultaneous armed conflicts ensuing as I write this - likely more than at any other time in history.  Don't forget that there is also an unprecedented level of terrorism, mass shootings at least every week, and record violence against Christians.

Did the pre-Flood world have even this level of violence before judgment?  I seriously think not, which makes one wonder: if we've surpassed the level of corruption and violence that existed in Noah's day, how close are we to judgment?

5. Jesus also said the time immediately before His coming would be as it was in the days of Lot (Luke 17:28).  The story of Lot only mentions a single specific sin that the wicked inhabitants of Sodom attempted: a homosexual gang rape of Lot's two guests.  That, coupled with the name "Sodom," from which we derive the English word sodomy, points to a time when homosexual sin had reached its zenith.  To bolster Jesus' analogy, the Apostle Paul describes how these sins point to a final, peak immorality (see Romans 1:24-32).  Let there be no doubt that this has been fulfilled in our time - in fact in only the last few years.  A domino effect across the world has led to dozens of countries legalizing gay marriage, an official endorsement of sin not even seen in Sodom.  Even the United Nations has effectively endorsed gay marriage and homosexual behavior, as well as transgenderism.  Media of all kinds is inundated with it and world leaders promote it as normal, healthy behavior.  Anyone opposed is labeled a 'bigot' and a 'hater' even though true love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6).

6. There is an actual proto-global government in the form of the United Nations, which appears to be strengthening rapidly as globalist world leaders eradicate their borders and cultures in the face of an onslaught of Islamic migration and anti-nationalist media.  A whole slew of supporting global institutions (e.g. IMF, World Bank, BIS, ICJ, WTO) and international agreements (Law of the Sea Treaty, Paris Agreement, etc) have arrested control from nation-states on countless issues.  There has not been anything remotely close to a global government since the time of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.  This fulfills the requirement of a number of scriptures such as Revelation 13:7 and will surely be used by the antichrist during his ascendance to power.

7. The stage is set for the Mark of the Beast as described in Revelation 13:16-17.  The technology, infrastructure, and economic motivation for implementation all exist and widespread social acceptance of such a system is perhaps only a year or two away.

8. Broadband, satellites, TV, and internet live feeds fulfill the requirement that the inhabitants of the earth witness the events of Revelation 11 in regards to the prophetic ministry of the two witnesses.

9. The world is unsustainable.  For those with eyes to see, it is obvious that the world has reached a climactic moment with no obvious way out except by divine providence.  Global debt and liabilities that can never be paid back, interest rates that cannot go any lower nor higher without triggering collapse, nuclear disasters that are polluting the entire global ecosystem and can never be cleaned up (Fukushima, Chernobyl, Washington State, etc), peak oil, mass animal extinctions, unprecedented nuclear weapon proliferation, population growth, peak fresh water supply, etc. 

10. Unprecedented mass animal deaths, which appear to have begun in force in 2010 in fulfillment of Hosea 4:1-3.  

11. Signs in the sun, moon, and stars in fulfillment of Luke 21:25.  More of these possible signs here, here, and here.

12. Global epidemics wrought by globalization (Ebola, Zika, Measles, Hepatitis C, Bird Flue, Swine Flu, AIDS, Yellow Fever, etc) and record-breaking hurricanes and cyclones in fulfillment of Luke 21:11 ("pestilences" and the "sea and the waves roaring").  Also a significant rise in the number of earthquakes of all sizes and in many places that have little-to-no history of seismic activity (Oklahoma and North Texas, the U.S. Midwest, New England and Mid-Atlantic, parts of Europe, the Middle East, etc) in fulfillment of Mark 13:8 and Matthew 24:7.

13. The Six-Day War and the 1967 Israeli conquest of Jerusalem paved the way for Christ's return.  The Bible is clear that Jesus will reign on the throne of David for one thousand years (see Revelation 20 and Ezekiel 40 on).  David's "shelter" was in ruins for two millennia and controlled by the Gentiles.  Not anymore (see Amos 9:11).  Jews are now living all over Jerusalem and more are streaming to it every day, which fulfills Zechariah 8:7-8.

14. Israel has become more prosperous than at any time before and the country, a desolation for two thousand years, is now flourishing.  This fulfills Ezekiel 36:11, Isaiah 41:18-20, and Isaiah 27:6.

15. Jesus said He would not visit Israel again until its people recognized that He came from God (Matthew 23:39).  The early Church was primarily Gentile because the Jewish people largely rejected Christ as their Messiah in fulfillment of Romans 11:25 and Acts 15:14-16.  But in just the last few decades there has been an explosion of faith among the Jews with thousands turning to Yeshua.  There are some 300,000 Messianic Jews now, and hundreds of thousands more are turning to God through Messianic ministries such as Jews for Jesus, Chosen People Ministries, IMetMessiah.com, and others.  Truly there are now hundreds of thousands of Jewish people who declare of Jesus Christ: "Blessed is He who come in the name of the LORD."

16. Israel is ready to build the Third Temple with just a moment's notice and it has taken many, many years to get to this point.  The architectural plans are finished, actual descendants of Aaron have been identified for priestly service and trained, a temple service training school has already been established, the temple's altar has been rebuilt, the temple's cornerstone has been cut and is ready for installation, and the priestly garments and artifacts are ready for use.  God does not bring to the very point of delivery and then not deliver (Isaiah 66:9).

17. A spirit of lawlessness covers the land in fulfillment of Daniel 8:23, 2 Timothy 3:1-7, and 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7.  As Isaiah 5:20 says, the world calls what is good "evil" and what is evil "good."  Though every human being since Adam (except Christ) has been a sinner, the current generation has taken their fallen state to a whole new level and is actively fighting against any form of moral restraint whatsoever.  Murder, homosexuality, obscenity, transgenderism, and sorcery are not only encouraged, but actually state-sanctioned around the world.

18. We are at the very end of the sixth day of the Millennial Week.  God created the universe in six days and then rested on the seventh day (Exodus 20:11) and it has been noticed by many dozens of biblical scholars that this pattern appears to apply to the whole history of mankind.  This teaching is not new - it was actually taught in the early Church and even the Jewish Talmud indicates that this is likely God's plan.  Adding up the ages given in the Old Testament genealogies shows that about 4,000 years transpired between Adam and Christ and from Christ's first coming to our day has been another 2,000 years.  Revelation 20 describes a 1,000 year reign of Christ over the whole earth at the end of history, so when you put the pieces together there have been 6,000 years of mankind striving and an imminent 1,000 year Sabbath where mankind enters God's rest.

19. The world is attempting to divide God's covenant land Israel in half (via the "Two-State Solution"), which is the event that the Bible describes as the catalyst for God's coming judgment on all the nations (Joel 3:2).  This division of land is supported by all major nations and the United Nations itself - literally all the nations are attempting to sever Israel from Judah, Samaria, Gaza, and the Golan Heights.  Amazingly, the Bible takes this prophecy a step further and indicates that the "boundary stone" the nations try to move will include Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:3), which is exactly what we see happening right now with the nations trying to steal East Jerusalem from the Jews.

20. Headlines are appearing every day showing how the world is on the cusp of fulfilling Isaiah 17 (the destruction of Damascus) and ultimately Ezekiel 38 and 39 (the War of Gog and Magog).  Damascus is on the verge of destruction already and any number of entities could finish the city off.  Simultaneously, several of the chief nations in Ezekiel 38 that come against Israel from the north have not only formed a military alliance, but are actually within the technical, biblical boundaries of northern Israel (which are within the current borders of southern Syria).  These nations include Russia (probably Magog) and Iran (Persia).  Ezekiel 38:13 indicates Gog and Magog come to take a spoil from Israel and interestingly that spoil is now evident to all - the massive oil and natural gas discoveries in northern Israel including in the Golan Heights that major gas and oil exporters Russia and Iran covet.

[Ezekiel]

Keep your eyes on the eastern sky.

West. And a lot closer to the ground.

Matthew 24

27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

lightning = light shining, the gleam of a lamp (not necessarily lightning)

So as the gleaming light emanates out of the east, and manifests/sheds light in the west, so shall also the coming of the son of man be.

First in the east, and then in the west.

Look west. That makes sense with the verse about the eagles.

[GingisK]

Thanks for that completely “on target” rebuttal.

[publius911]

Good Grief...

I must be at the wrong conservative site...

[Larry Lucido]

nuclear disasters that are polluting the entire global ecosystem and can never be cleaned up (Fukushima, Chernobyl, Washington State, etc), peak oil, mass animal extinctions, unprecedented nuclear weapon proliferation, population growth, peak fresh water supply, etc.

We can stop reading right here and all go home. Total fruitcake.

[The_Republic_Of_Maine]

Interesting.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

[Maudeen]

Of one thing you can’t deny, no one is guaranteed a next breath on this earth. . . Ready or not. . .so the wise thing to do is to be ready. . . believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. . . that’s all God asks. http://www.patburt.com/

[metmom]

Amen....

[metmom]

No one is predicting the hour but Jesus did tell us that we can know the season.

There is nothing wrong with watching the signs of the times and knowing it is near.

[johniegrad]

It’s easy for scoffers to chide the notion that we’re in end times, repeatedly throughout the decades and centuries.

Res ipsa loquitur.

[piytar]

Interesting.

I really don’t see the US military participating in a war against Israel. We’re pretty far gone, but not THAT far gone. Frankly, I don’t see many US service members accepting orders to do so. (I know more than a few.)

In fact, one reason the US may not be mentioned much in prophecy is that we basically may sit the war out while questioning the motives of Magog. IOW, the US is the nation referred to as the “ships of Tarshish,” not Spain.

I do however see the EU going there and attacking Israel en masse. There has been a growing broad streak of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment in Europe for a LONG time now.

But I could be wrong. In fact, I probably am — not much of a Biblical scholar.

[af_vet_1981]

There will be no “rapture”. That episode was fulfilled when the Christians left Jerusalem before its destruction in 70 A.D.

The destruction of Jerusalem did not herald the Parousia (coming of the Son of Man). Jerusalem is rebuilt and there are Jews and Gentiles living there in tension as we await the Messiah.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches :

840 And when one considers the future, God's People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.

[TwelveOfTwenty]

There is nothing wrong with watching the signs of the times and knowing it is near.

Yes there is. How many will fall away when the false prophecies fail to materialize? How many will die without seeking Christ, because they thought they had more time than they actually had? How many more reasons do we need to give the world to mock Christ? Isn't it hard enough to witness to a hostile world, without giving our enemies more failed false prophecies to use against us?

There is nothing new under the sun. Wars? What about the last century? Disease? What about the Black Plague, or the influenza following WW1? Evil? How about slavery? Lynching? Persecution of Protestants? There are plenty of others.

Have you noticed how many who have predicted when the end would happen who turned out to be wrong? 100%. With a batting average like that, why continue to push their prophecy?

[metmom]

Read Matthew 24.

If Jesus thought being aware of the signs of the end were wrong, He would not have given them to us.

And besides, people fall away because of SPECIFIC prophecies where people predict the day and the hour which Jesus said KNOW ONE would know.

They followed false teachers. THAT’S why they fell away.

[TwelveOfTwenty]

If Jesus thought being aware of the signs of the end were wrong, He would not have given them to us.

I have read Mat 24. When he said to watch for the signs, he was talking about events that would happen in the disciples' time. He also says "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but the time is not yet."

When he gets to the part where the end comes, we'll all just be going about our business working in the fields or whatever our vocations are when it occurs. No one will have a clue it's about to happen.

And besides, people fall away because of SPECIFIC prophecies where people predict the day and the hour which Jesus said KNOW ONE would know.

You don't have to give a specific date that misfires to be a false prophet. I've been hearing "the signs are all there" for decades without it happening, and current events are always manipulated to fit prophecy. How many times does that have to fail before we stop discrediting Jesus' name with our own misinterpretations.

We don't know when He is coming. We don't know if it will be tomorrow or 500 years from now, and if we did we don't know that we even have that much time. All we know is that we need to repent and accept Christ.

[G Larry]

I’m missing your point.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has NO reference to any “rapture”.

[af_vet_1981]

I’m missing your point.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has NO reference to any “rapture”.

Neither does it allow the preterist teaching that there was a Parousia in 70 AD.

We still await the fulfillment of the promise of his coming (Parousia).

[G Larry]

And where did I insinuate a Parousia in 70 A.D.?

[af_vet_1981]

And where did I insinuate a Parousia in 70 A.D.?

There will be no “rapture”.
That episode was fulfilled when the Christians left Jerusalem before its destruction in 70 A.D.

4 posted on 5/13/2016, 5:08:44 PM by G Larry

[G Larry]

It seems you’re the one conflating Parousia with the Christians leaving Jerusalem before its destruction in 70 A.D.