Are These The Days Of The End?
Strange words were sent to the ancient prophet. They told him what the days at the end of history would be like. But what could the words mean? Here they are: Many will rush here and there and knowledge will greatly increase. The prophet lived hundreds of years BC. How could knowledge suddenly increase toward the end? In 1900 human knowledge had been doubling approximately every 100 years. By the end of 1945, the rate was every 25 years. What is called the “Knowledge Doubling Curve”, was created by Buckminster Fuller in 1982. Using that curve, in an article found in Industry Tap, researcher David Schilling, estimates that in recent years, on average, human knowledge has been doubling every 13 months. However, with the Internet very soon it will double every 12 hours. And how has the speed of travel changed since 1900? How are we rushing here and there? So what does this prophecy mean for the world? What does it mean for you and me?
The prophet’s name was Daniel and the words I quoted are found in Chapter 12 of his Old Testament book.
But the greatest prophet of all told us much more about what the days before the end would be like. Here is the prediction of Jesus Christ found in Matthew chapter 24 of the New Testament.
I quote: “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things will be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
The Four Sorrows
The beginning of sorrows that lead to the end.
The most heartbreaking and dangerous period in all of history. And Jesus says the sorrows will come in four terrifying areas: war, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. For our discussion, I’m going to draw a line of demarcation with the year 1900, because that could be called the start of the truly modern era when the four sorrows began to overwhelm the world.
First, the sorrow of war.
From 1900 to the present, the wars that have been fought have brought horror that far exceeds all of previous history. It is very difficult to accurately measure the number of deaths from war. Historians estimate that the median number of people killed during 79 wars from 1900 to the present is 163,341,000. This counts only wars with more than 25,000 deaths. Dozens of smaller wars were fought during this period. How does that compare with the past? Let’s start at 549 BC with the wars of Cyrus the Great and end in 1899. That is a period of 2448 years. Over that time, historians list 84 major wars each with over 25,000 people killed. In some of those wars, millions died. Historians calculate that in all of them the total median number of people killed directly or indirectly due to all the conflicts is estimated to have been 289,081,000. This gives us an average of 188 thousand people killed in each of those 2448 years.
Think of the brokenhearted families over all those centuries. But how does that compare with 79 wars over the past 121 years? The average estimated number of deaths due to wars during each of those years is 1,331,000. Over 7 times as many for each year as in all of the previous millennia. My source for this is the Wikipedia entry List of Wars by Death Toll. Of course, the world population was much smaller before 1900. By 1900 it was approximately 1.6 billion. Right now at the beginning of 2022, the world population is estimated at 7.9 billion. Exponential growth in the technologies of killing, coupled with exponential growth in population, have brought sorrow from war such as there has not been in all of history.
Now the sorrow of famine:
And here I must say that words fail me. The number of people who have starved to death since 1900 is so staggering that I can’t give you any meaningful calculation. What is clear is that the millions who have died from war are few in comparison to the masses who have died from starvation. I urge you to study the Wikipedia entry List of Famines by Death Toll to see the stupefying horror in country after country. Here is a tiny sample from that list: During the two decades from 1900 to 1920 over 31 million starved to death in famines around the world. In Stalin’s famine of 1932 over 5 million died in Ukraine and Kazakhstan. From 1958 to 61 36 million people died during Mao’s famine. From 1970 to 79 two million Cambodians starved to death. And on and on. While devastating famines have killed millions throughout history, because of population growth nothing compares to the past 120 years.
Now the sorrow of pestilence or pandemics:
It is very difficult to estimate the number of deaths by disease from ancient times to the present. How many died during the Bubonic Plague of the 14th century? Estimates run from 75 million to 200 million. The numbers I’m going to give you for the years since 1900 are from the World Health Organization, the CDC, MPH Online and Our World in Data. The most lethal, short-term pandemic was the Spanish flu of 1918 which killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. The cholera pandemic of 1911 killed 800,000 people. During the 1956-58 Asian flu epidemic, 2 million people died. Between 250,000 and 500,000 people die from the flu each year. Over 100 years a conservative estimate is that there have been 30 million deaths from the flu. Since 1981 the HIV/AIDS pandemic has killed 36 million people worldwide. Healthdata.org estimates that by June of 2022, almost 7 million people will have died from Covid-19. During the 100 years before its total eradication in 1977, it is estimated that smallpox killed 500 million people. And new pandemics are expected. The larger the population the more people available to die.1
Next earthquakes:
Since 1900, around the world there have been more than 10,000 “strong” earthquakes with magnitudes of 6 or greater. This according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Once again, I point you to Wikipedia and its List of Deadly Earthquakes. Earthquakes are becoming much more frequent. According to Tom Parsons, a research geophysicist at USGS and I quote, “We have recently experienced a period that has had one of the highest rates of great earthquakes ever recorded.’ End of quote. In the past year, a 7.7 quake struck off the coast of Jamaica. Not long before that, a 6.4 hit Puerto Rico. A few years before that Haiti was devastated. In 2021 there were 160 earthquakes of 6.0 or higher and 12 greater than 7.0. It is now March of 2022. So far there have been 28 earthquakes above 6.0.
According to Jesus, another measure of the time of sorrows is people appearing who claim to be Him. According to the Wikipedia list of people who claimed to be Jesus, since 1900 there have been 31 well known individuals who decided that they were the Son of God come back to earth. This doesn’t count the vast number of those who made the claim, but are not well-known. A good example of a powerful false Christ was Sun Myung Moon. Though he is dead, his Unification Church still has between 1 and 2 million members. In addition to false Christs Jesus said there would be false prophets who would draw millions to destruction. Right now, the world rages with lying voices that claim great authority. They spew from the depths of social media to the highest levels of government. The diseased individual that calls himself QAnon is a good example. At no time in history has there been such an opportunity for false prophets to control the minds of millions.
Jesus didn’t set a date for the “beginning of sorrows”. He implies that the things that will be happening will make that period clear. I propose to you that the past 120 years fit the description that He gave. The parallel passage to Matthew 24 is Luke 21. Here these words of Jesus are added. Along with wars, pestilences, famines and earthquakes “…there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven…There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring,men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
If we are living in the beginning of sorrows, eventually we can expect to see terrifying things happening in the skies. These will have devastating effects on earth’s environment. Jesus warns that during these days His followers will be delivered to tribulation and death and ultimately all nations would hate them. In 2017 it was estimated that 900,000 Christians had been murdered for their faith during the previous ten years and the murders have continued around the world.
In places such as North Korea it is impossible to know how many have died for their faith, but according to those who have escaped there have been many thousands. Open Doors, an organization that tracks such numbers, estimates that EVERY MONTH 345 Christians are killed – often in public and without regard to gender or age; 219 Christians are abducted and imprisoned indefinitely without trial; 180 women and girls are raped, sexually assaulted or forced into marriage; and 106 churches are demolished. EVERY MONTH!
Jesus warned, “And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another…and because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” The hate between groups around the world is growing with frightening intensity. The United States is being torn to pieces by hate. Churches and families are torn apart. Lawlessness means the exponential growth of anarchy as people lose all faith in established governments and become laws unto themselves. And all of it leads to violence. In 2020 the U. S. saw the biggest increase in murders since recordkeeping began in 1960. And the numbers continue to grow.
But there is yet another prediction that Jesus made: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Over these 2000 years, the Good News of God’s Love through His Son, Jesus Christ, has been preached in all nations. The 19th and 20th centuries saw a great movement toward the completion of that mission. His words do not mean that every single person will have heard the message, but that at some point every nation and ethnic group will have received the Good News.
There is a last prophecy that I would call to your attention. Strong words that predict the restoration of Israel as a nation are found throughout the Old Testament. Listen to this stunning prediction: “Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day, or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God. “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her.” (Isaiah 66:8-10)
In 1948, the Jewish Nation of Israel was born in a day.
Never in history has anything happened like this, a people dispersed across the world maintain their unique character and come together to re-establish a nation that hasn’t existed for almost 2000 years. And it occurred after a time of unprecedented agony, horror, and death in WWII. Truly fitting that it would happen during the “beginning of sorrows” that has been sweeping the world. According to the Bible, in the days ahead, terrible persecution will fall again on the Jewish people in Israel. It will precede the coming of their Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus), the One who was rejected, but who is the Chief Cornerstone of a new age.
So where does this leave us? With a world in ever-growing agony and that agony breaks the heart of God. Many parents know the heartbreak that comes when their children destroy themselves. In spite of a parent’s broken heart, that beloved child is free to make awful choices. And so it is with all of humanity. In spite of the Great Love of God who calls Himself our Father we have been given freedom to do evil and destroy ourselves. There can be no freedom without such a possible choice. How do we know our Heavenly Father loves us? He sent His Son to suffer with us, to carry our sorrows and pay the price for all of our evil by giving His life for you and me. But we are free to choose whether we want that love or not.
If you are controlled by the delusion called the Normalcy Bias, the blindness that says everything will be fine in spite of all the dark evidence, then you will disregard what I’ve said as nothing more than fantasy. If that’s what you believe, I have a most serious warning for you. Jesus, the King is going to return in power to this world and every person who has ever lived will stand before Him to be judged. Those who heard the truth about God’s love and rejected it will answer for that choice. For those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, His return represents the ultimate hope and joy that far transcends all the sorrows of this world.
For those who have given their lives to Jesus, we should understand that God is at war with great Powers of Darkness and that war is growing. Manifestations of supernatural evil will be more and more frequent. Millions will fall under its control. If you are a follower of Jesus you’d better know how to discern truth from lies because a great Delusion is coming and almost everyone will believe it, including millions who claim to be Christians. For a very long time, the patterns of that ultimate delusion have been appearing everywhere. So the only question is, are you awake or asleep?
Footnotes
- Spanish Flu (1918) – Estimated 50 million deaths
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 1918 Pandemic (H1N1 virus).https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html(cdc.gov in Bing) - Cholera Pandemic of 1911 – Estimated 800,000 deaths
Wikipedia. 1899–1923 Cholera Pandemic.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1899%E2%80%931923_cholera_pandemic(en.wikipedia.org in Bing) - Asian Flu (1956–1958) – Estimated 1–4 million deaths
Wikipedia. 1957–1958 Influenza Pandemic (Asian Flu).https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957%E2%80%931958_influenza_pandemic(en.wikipedia.org in Bing) - Annual Influenza Deaths – 250,000 to 500,000 per year
World Health Organization (WHO). The burden of Influenza.https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/the-burden-of-influenza(who.int in Bing) - HIV/AIDS Death Toll – 36 million since 1981
MPH Online. Outbreak: 10 of the Worst Pandemics in History.https://www.mphonline.org/worst-pandemics-in-history/(mphonline.org in Bing) - COVID‑19 Death Estimate – ~7 million by June 2022
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). COVID‑19 Results Briefing (Global), June 9, 2022.
https://covid19.healthdata.org - Smallpox Death Toll – 500 million in the last 100 years before eradication
Our World in Data. Smallpox.
https://ourworldindata.org/smallpox
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