There are many predictions, prophecies, and statements about the end times. More recent “prophecies,” in particular, often quickly turn out to be false. The Bible contains numerous descriptions of the conditions in the “final times.” Some statements are certainly open to interpretation, while others are unambiguous because they are written in plain English. There are several of these.
Overview of end-time descriptions in the NT
The following is a summary of statements about the “final times” in the New Testament of the Bible. Without any explanation or interpretation. Everyone can form their own thoughts about the content and in comparison with current events.
- Many will claim to be Christ (a Redeemer).
- One (pagans) people will rise above the other
- Many wars and rumors of wars
- Famines, plagues and earthquakes
- God’s people will be abandoned to tribulation. God’s people will be hated and killed by all nations for Jesus’ name’s sake
- Mutual betrayal and hatred
- Many false prophets will appear and deceive many
- Lawlessness abounds
- Love will grow cold
- After the tribulation, just before Jesus returns, the sun and moon are darkened
- Nevertheless everything goes “its usual way” (like in the time of Noah)
- God’s people will be handed over to the “synagogues”, the courts and rulers, for the testimony of Jesus
- Parents and children will fight each other and also help each other to kill
- When “peace and security” is said, Jesus’ return is imminent
- Great Apostasy
- The man of sin (“son of perdition”) must be revealed
- The man of sin opposes God, rises above all, sits in God’s temple and poses as God
- Bad times in the last few days.
- People will love themselves, greedy for money, boastful, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, uncontrolled, violent, hostile to good, traitors, frivolous, conceited, loving pleasure more than God
- Fear of God on the outside, slanderous on the inside
- Men will resist the truth, depraved in spirit, unfit in faith
- At the end of days scoffers will come. They walk according to their own lusts. They ask where the promise of His return is
- Many antichrists will come, then it will be the “last hour”
The book of Revelation provides a whole range of descriptions of the end times. This is, however, very extensive and deserves a separate examination. Just as only one description of the end can truly be true, there are a whole range of teachings, some of which seem strange, especially in the area of temptation and, most notably, deception.
