Are we in the end times?

  To some, this may be a very controversial topic, but in light of everything happening in the world today, I believe we may very well be in the last days. According to bible prophecy, everything is in place for the rapture of the church and with the exception of the temple in Israel being built, the return of Christ will be soon to follow. Lets see what the bible and other literature have to say about it. Then make a conclusion.

  The best place to start is with the old testament prophet, Daniel. Many remember the story, Daniel and the lions den. This was the prophet Daniel. He lived some 600 years before Christ. God showed Daniel in dreams and visions many things that would come to pass. For example: The fall and reclaiming of Jerusalem, the birth and death of Jesus and of course in chapters 7-12 in The Book of Daniel, he foretold the end times. The book is remarkably accurate. Up to this point in time, everything he foretold has come to pass exactly when and as he saw it. He describes the end time events and the revived roman empire, which is the EU or the European Union. This is the platform that will bring rise to the Antichrist. Jesus Himself spoke to the apostles and revealed to them the conditions on earth leading up to His return. He said it would be a time of increasing troubles and turmoil. He warned that during this time mankind would have the capacity to annihilate human life from the face of the earth". "It will be a time of great distress, such as there has never been before since the beginning of the world, and will never be again. Matthew 24:21-22 "If that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive; but for the sake of God's chosen it will be cut short". On the worlds stage today, there are stockpiled, enough nuclear weapons to annihilate every single living being on the planet! To make it even more terrifying, this includes rogue nations. Because the book of Daniel is hard to interpret, you can literally find 100's of web sites that have interpreted it verse by verse for you. Here are just a couple...

http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/daniel.html

http://othello.alma.edu/~07tmhopk/bookofdaniel.html

  Next I will take some Scriptures pertaining to the end times and follow up each one with statistics I have found through research.

  Mathew 24:6-7 "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. … For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." War is a part of human history, though nothing matches the destructive power it has unleashed on our planet during the 20th century. According to the International Red Cross over 100 million people have been killed in wars during this period. Prior to 1914, war up to this point had never been global. However, in both World War I and II, that all changed. In WW II only 12 small nations on earth were not militarily or technically involved. During that period 93 million people served in the armed forces of both sides. Of those, a staggering 25 million died and civilian casualties were unprecedented: In the Soviet Union alone, over 20 million civilians died as a result of the war. Military conflicts in the 20th century have reached an unprecedented level. One leading journalist characterized such conflicts as “total war on a total population for total stakes” and for good reason. Since World War II, which was supposed to be "the war to end all wars," there have been over 150 major wars (conflicts resulting in over 1,000 deaths a year), as well as hundreds of smaller conflicts. The death toll in armed conflicts since the end of World War II is more than 23,000,000 people

  1 Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” In the world today there is a significant rise in curiosity about spirit-ism, psychic phenomena, and even demonology and witchcraft. The Manchester (England) Guardian Weekly reported in the late 1990's that there were an estimated 60,000 witches in England. Today that number has grown to 80,000. This growth has been called a "renaissance in witchcraft". Furthermore, there are now schools in witchcraft that teach "psychic self-defense" as well as the history of witchcraft. “Paganism is also becoming prominent in the United States. There are approximately 2 million Americans who adhere to some form of the occult. Additionally, the Bible and prayer were officially banned from U.S. public schools in 1962, many of these same institutions offer their pupils accredited courses in witchcraft and other pagan practices. Furthermore, the demonic religion of Satanism has dramatically increased among teenagers. According to Rick Hatfield, director of BryLinHospital’s adult and adolescent inpatient chemical dependency treatment facility near Buffalo, New York, "Satanism is one of the greatest and most prevalent threats facing kids today." Hatfield, who has worked in drug treatment programs throughout the United States, said during the last six years he has seen a dramatic increase in the number of adolescents lured into Satanism.

  Mathew 24:7 There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. When speaking of the last days, Jesus warned that famine would be terrible to mankind and that the effects would cause untold suffering. The WHO (World Health Organization) estimates that about 4 million people a year die of starvation, or about 30 people every minute. According to World Bank vice president Ismail Serageldin. It is estimated that one third of the world is well-fed, one third is under-fed, and one third is starving. More than 800 million people are chronically undernourished. Furthermore, water shortages in parts of the world in the next 25 years will pose the single greatest threat to food production and human health. 1.3 billion people worldwide have no access to clean water....... Earthquakes seem like a common occurrence today, that hasn’t always been the case. According to the WORLD ALMANAC there were only 21 earthquakes of major strength between the years 1000 and 1800. Between 1800 and 1900 there were 18 major earthquakes. In the next 50 years, between 1900 and 1950, there were 33 major quakes, almost as many as the number in the preceding 850 years! However, between 1950 and 1991 there were 93 major earthquakes, almost triple the number of the previous half century, which claimed the lives of 1.3 million people around the world. This dramatic increase of severe quakes has led many scientists to predict that we are entering a new period of great seismic disturbances. Additionally, the devastation of high magnitude earthquakes is potentially much greater than in times past because of the high concentration of populations. According to Roger Bilham, Ph.D. and professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, "Fatality counts exceeding one million are not an unreasonable projection given that 50 percent of an urban population can be lost in a single earthquake." While major earthquakes "have generally spared the world’s urban centers in recent decades, this trend will not persist indefinitely.”

  Luke17:28-30 "As it was in the days of Lot … even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed" In the United States alone, pornography is a multi billion dollar industry. It's all over the Internet and cable or satellite systems. Movies and magazines promoting every perversion imaginable number in the thousands. The real tragedy is that sex is gaining respectability. Today it is marketed as a healthy recreation when done in moderation. We now have “gentlemen’s clubs” and “soft porn. Jesus warned that the last days would resemble those that were lived out in the days of Lot. He was identifying the basest of sexual sins. Homosexuality is not only growing in acceptance around the world, it is actually being promoted. The practice of homosexuality is also known as sodomy (after the ancient city, Sodom,) where all the men from every part of the city, both young and old attempted to have sex with the male angels who were visiting the home of Lot, the nephew of Abraham. That night the city was destroyed (Genesis 19:4-5). Tragically, our society’s view on sodomy is becoming more like that which prevailed in Sodom during the days of Lot.

  One more, Mathew 24:14 "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the End come" Never before in human history has the fulfillment of this prophecy been possible. Advancements in technology has opened doors that were once unavailable to God’s servants. Christianity has touched virtually every country in the world. Over 50 million Bibles are distributed every year, as well as nearly 80 million New Testaments. The entire Bible or parts thereof are now available to about 98 percent of the world’s population. Now it is possible to preach the Gospel in all the world to all nations. If not directly by God’s true servants, it is certainly being preached in part via modern mediums of radio, television, and telecommunications. Currently there are over 3 billion books with Christian themes being printed every year by more than 1,500 presses and publishers. Additionally, over 3,000 radio and television stations carry messages pertaining to the Bible. This is a conclusive prophecy by Jesus that shows that we are now living in the time of the end!

  Lets finish with two non biblical references. The first is the prophet Nostradamus, his predictions resemble that of Daniel and The book of revelations. He predicted the end would come on December 21, 2012.

  Then we have the Mayans predictions. The Mayan calendar and the Aztec calendar are the only ones that are the best documented and completely understood. The Mayan calendars are known all over the world for their doomsday prophecy indicating the end of the world in the year 2012. The year 2012 has caught the imagination of millions of people these days. The reason being that it seems to coincide with the doomsday predictions of many prophets. Hence, the date given by the Mayan Calendar seems to be eerily authentic.
The Mayan calendar is divided precisely into seven ages, which a man will go through. The fourth age ended in August 1987, and the Mayan calendar will end on Sunday, December 23, 2012. The end of the Mayan calendar will bring along with it a catastrophe, which will affect the whole world, wiping out mankind, except for a few people.

  Now that we have some evidence, does all this mean we are headed for Armageddon? I think the answer to that is...yes! I believe we are at the doorstep of what the bible refers to as the tribulation. I don't think we can argue with the book of Revelation or the biblical prophets such as John and Daniel nor in this case, the other non biblical prophets like Nostradamus and the Mayans. There is simply too much evidence proving it is coming. God will pour out His judgement on every nation on earth. How could He not. He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for committing less atrocities than we do now. Satin will run rampant and unless Christ Himself returns, not one person would remain alive. Are we living in the last days? If you answer “no” to the question, then Jesus Christ is a liar and the Bible cannot be trusted. Furthermore, God himself would be regarded as a fake. It is true that every generation thought that they were the last, but no preceding generation has ever matched Jesus' warning with such precision. Every biblical pronouncement regarding the end of man’s rule on this planet coincides perfectly with the world we live in. We may not know the day or the hour of the Messiah’s return to this world, but we can know the season. And make no mistake about it, we are in that season.