Have you ever wondered during the past few months if the seven-year tribulation has already begun? I know that it hasn’t yet started because Scripture says that we will be with the Lord before the antichrist establishes a covenant with Israel that starts the clock ticking for this time of God’s wrath (Dan. 9:27; 2 Thess. 2:3-8).
Although the tribulation has not yet started, we see the beginning of conditions we know will be much worse during this seven-year period. I believe this is God’s way of getting the attention of the world before His judgments begin. He’s also assuring us that His appearing is imminent and we will soon be with Him in heaven and the place He is now preparing for us.
I have picked ten signs that tell us the tribulation is rapidly approaching.
- Famine
Revelation 6:8 tells us under the fourth seal, the rider on the pale horse is “given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence . . ..” Deadly famines will occur during the tribulation; they will be a factor in wiping out one-fourth of the world’s population during the seal judgments described in Revelation 6.
According to a story published on the National Geographic website on May 12, 2020, swarms of gigantic locusts are swarming parts of East Africa bringing with them great famine. The National Geographic story also stated, “Some 13 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, and Eritrea already suffer from ‘severe food insecurity’ . . . meaning they may go without eating for an entire day or have run out of food altogether.”
The National Geographic story also noted that swarms of locusts can destroy up to “300 million pounds of crops” in a day. Can you imagine the disaster this can bring to already impoverished nations? These swarms of devastating locusts have also invaded India according to recent reports.
- Inflation
Revelation 6:6 reveals that a time of great inflation lies ahead for the world during the tribulation such that a “quart of wheat” will sell for a day’s wages.
Do we see the potential for this in our world? Absolutely! Venezuela stands as an example of devastating inflation caused by government debt and printing of money.
The enormous debt in the United States alone along with its printing of money during the past decade has already pushed the economy to the edge of disaster. That, along with exceedingly high unemployment of over forty million, has moved America ever so close to a complete collapse.
Any more shocks will push it over the edge to great economic catastrophe and mind-boggling inflation and bring the same to the world.
- Violence
Revelation 9:21 tells us this this about people during the tribulation: “nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” Just as in the days of Noah, violence will fill the earth during the tribulation.
The antichrist will cause the killing of a large number of saints during this time. Revelation 7:9-14 pictures a large multitude of martyrs that have come out of the “great tribulation.” These are no doubt the same ones John refers to in 6:9 who were killed “for the word of God and witness they have borne.” We already see this violence against Christians in our world and the seeds of it in the United States.
Can there be any doubt regarding the deadly intentions of the left in America who advocate abortion up to and after birth, who put patients sick with COVID-19 in nursing homes, and who send police to stop worship services? Someday the rage and hatred of the left in the US will erupt into violent persecution against those who hold fast to the Word of God, if not before the rapture then surely after it.
- The Increase of Anti-Semitism
We also know that the second half of the tribulation will be a time of deadly violence against the Jewish people (Matt. 24:15-20). We see the seeds of much anti-Semitism at work in our world.
New York City, home to 1.8 million Jews, saw a record number of anti-Semitic attacks in 2019. France and Germany are rapidly becoming unsafe places for the Jewish people to lie.
We also see antisemitism rampant at the United Nations. During the first couple months of the 2019-2020 session of the UN, it adopted 18 anti-Israel resolutions compared with just 7 concerning other nations.
- The New World Order
Scripture tells us that a world government will dominate the entire earth during the tribulation, over which the antichrist will seize control (Dan. 7:24-26; Rev. 13:1-10). Today, we see this coming one-world government forming before our eyes.
The UN now has a web page titled “Let’s Take Our Planet Back” at https://unnwo.org/. An easy way to remember the link is to think “United Nations New World Order.” This website represents a more blatant revelation of the UN’s desire to create a New World Order, although it has always been quite visible under its stated Agenda 2030 goals of establishing a Marxist world order by 2030.
The website puts a positive spin on the seventeen goals of Agenda 2030, which in reality reflect a Marxist/fascist world government in total control of the lives of people in every nation.
- Surrendering of Rights
Since the onset of COVID-19, the willingness of people in the United States to surrender their rights and freedoms has astounded me. Many blindly follow unconstitutional restrictions without protest or any resistance whatsoever.
This has been a successful test-run for the globalists. The elite have learned that with a world crisis and control of the media, many people will unwittingly submit to whatever the government tells them with little or no resistance as long as it’s for the “common good.”
When the tribulation arrives on planet Earth, great fear and panic will also lead to a surrendering of rights and freedoms that will enable the globalists to finalize their plans for a New World Order.
- The Mark of the Beast
I do not believe that Bill Gates is the antichrist, nor do I think that his vaccine and its accompanying tattoo is the mark of the beast that we find described in Revelation 13:16-18. However, I do believe these things are also preparing the world for the control that the antichrist will exert over the world during the tribulation.
The idea that the government can require a vaccine along with proof of it in order to leave one’s home and participate in society would have been thought tyrannical just a decade ago. But now, after the fear generated in the media over COVID-19, multitudes now accept such an idea and see no problem with it.
In addition to this, we now have the technology for the antichrist to implement such a program worldwide. Revelation 13:16-18 is not here yet, but it’s springing to life before our eyes.
- Middle East Tension
While the world remains distracted by COVID-19, tensions keep escalating in the Middle East. Israel has inflicted heavy damage on Iranian military installations in Syria in recent weeks. And, Iran continues to promise the world that it will soon wipe Israel off the map.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s pledge to annex portions of the West Bank on July 1 is also increasing tensions in the region. The Palestinians and their allies say they will never accept the adding of land in Judea and Samaria to Israel and will most likely react violently to such an annexation.
The Gog-Magog War described in Ezekiel 38-39 seems closer than ever. The nations remain aligned precisely as we read in 38:1-13. It’s also interesting that Israeli Rabbis believe the war of Ezekiel 38-39 could begin at any moment.
- Apostasy
In both 1 and 2 Timothy, Paul warns of great apostasy in the church during the last days. This day has arrived. The widespread acceptance by so many churches of what the Bible labels as sin is just the tip of the iceberg.
Just as the apostle predicted in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, people today flock to false teachers in great numbers. In some cases, these so-called pastors have become multi-millionaires as a result of their perversion of the Gospel.
It’s far more popular for preachers today to regard vast sections of scriptural prophecy as allegory and proclaim a false, unbiblical hope to their congregations, one that denies the imminent return of Jesus.
The heretical teaching that the church will triumph through the tribulation and bring in the millennial kingdom itself has attracted millions of Christians during the past few decades. It’s by far the fastest growing view of the end-times in churches today and yet another indicator of the great apostasy that exists in our time.
- Lawlessness
I added this point after reading the accounts of the rioting in Minneapolis that has spread to many other cities. Is this not a prime example of the lawlessness that Jesus said would appear during the tribulation? In Matthew 24:12, Jesus said this about the signs of the end of the age, “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.”
Paul refers to the antichrist as the “the man of lawlessness” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Right now we see the spirit of the antichrist visibly at work throughout the United States.
As I look at these ten indicators of the rapidly approaching tribulation, I am amazed that the true church remains earthbound.
I expect the rapture to happen at any moment. If the tribulation that begins months or perhaps longer after Jesus’ appearing seems so very near, how much closer must we be to our blessed hope?
The economies of the world may recover from the brink of disaster, and the push for a New World Order may decrease. However, at the moment, this seems highly unlikely given the tremendous debt of many nations and the staggering high unemployment. Forbes online magazine recently stated that as many as 42% of the jobs lost in America may be gone for good. Could the growing lawlessness and riots push the US and world closer to economic collapse? It’s entirely possible.
The history of the twentieth century tells us that the aftermath of great economic distress, war, or both provides fertile soil for the emergence of socialist/fascist dictators. I believe the antichrist will arise from the ashes of the coming worldwide chaos to seize control of the coming New World Order.
Given the condition of our world at the moment, it will not take much to plunge the world into a great economic disaster or trigger the Gog-Magog War. The resulting chaos will provide the perfect opportunity for Satan to place his man in charge of the world order, which he will do.
The good news is that we will be with Jesus before the devil unveils “the man of lawlessness” to the world.
Take heart; Jesus is coming soon!
Maranatha!
Jonathan Brentner
Website: Our Journey Home
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E-mail: Jonathanbrentner@yahoo.com