Five Signs of the End Time
Mark 13:1 as he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!"
2 "Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Yahshua. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
3 As Yahshua was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Kefa (Peter), Ya’akov (James), Yochanan ( John) and Andrew asked him privately,
4 "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?"
5 Yahshua said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you.
6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many.
7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
9 "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.
11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
12 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
13 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14 "When you see 'the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong--let the reader understand--then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (This refers to the time when Antiochus IV (“Epiphanes”) conquered Jerusalem in 167 BC and erected an altar to Zeus in the Temple. This is a type referred to in Daniel and will be repeated by the anti-christ in the end of this age.
15 Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out.
16 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak.
17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
18 Pray that this will not take place in winter,
19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now--and never to be equaled again.
20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.
21 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ !' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it.
22 For false Messiah’s and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect--if that were possible.
23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
24 "But in those days, following that distress, "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'
26 "At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
28 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.
29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.
30 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
32 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
33 Be on guard! Be alert ! You do not know when that time will come.
Eschatology or the study of Prophecy is of great interest to most people, and most would welcome the opportunity to look into the future. However, none of us can know for certain what tomorrow brings. Yet, HaShem, who knows the end from the beginning
has revealed in His Word important information about what is to come. Mark 13 is one of those biblical passages that speak with detail about this world’s future.
In verses 3-4 of Mark 13 we see the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple as the jumping off point for Yahshua to teach about a series of events leading to His second coming. Ten signs are given by Him which indicate when we are getting close to the Messiah’s return.
#1 The first sign is False Prophets and Messiahs
Yahshua said in verses 5-6 “See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name, saying I am He! and will mislead many” So the first thing to watch out for is false religious leaders. Spiritual deception has been with us since the Garden of Eden, but here we are warned that spiritual deception will reach its zenith in the Acharit HaYamim-The Last Days.
There have been seventy or more false Messiah’s in Israel’s long history and for the first time in a long time, a false Messiah is again affecting the Jewish world. Rabbi Menachem Schnershon, the deceased former Lubvitcher Chassidic Jewish leader who died several years ago is being touted by some of the sect as the Messiah. They await His resurrection or as some believe his resurrection has already been accomplished, and they proclaim that he indeed is Israel’s Messiah and we are to pray to him. ONE SMALL PROBLEM AS I POINTED OUT in an Orthodox synagogue some time ago, he was not born in Bethlehem and therefore does not fulfill one of the key prophecies of the Messiah. Outside of the Jewish world, there are many false messiahs who claim to be Elohim’s messengers, or even HaShem Himself. Turn on your TV and listen carefully to what many of the preachers say, subtlety advising their audiences of their special messianic relationship with the Father, and not so subtle messengers are the New Agers, like Shirley McClain. We must be careful that the Messiah we follow is the Messiah of the Bible, the One to whom the Apostles gave witness. The word Messiah means "Anointed One." Some of the many examples of false messiahs in our generation are: Father Divine, Charles Manson, Maharaja Ji, Jim Jones (People's Temple), Sun Myung Moon (Unification Church), Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Transcendental Meditation), The Dalai Lama- Tibet (1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner), Lord Maitreya New Age Avitars, and David Koresh (Branch Davidians).
Most of us would not be deceived by these people, but thousands of people obviously have been led astray by them. They can be so convincing at times that the Scriptures warn even believers not to follow them (See Matthew 24:24 above). If you are a born-from above believer you will not be deceived. However, many people have been confused by them. One interesting example of this phenomenon in our times is a 1982 newspaper ad for Lord Maitreya. It proclaimed,” The Christ Is Now Here." He was supposed to be living in semi-anonymity in London somewhere. He never did reveal himself. It cost people a huge amount of money to run these full-page ads. Most people read it and say, "Just another messiah."
Another way to understand, “Many will come in My name, saying, I am He” is by observing the so called “Christian cults.” they come in the name of Yahshua claiming to be followers of Yahshua, but they do no teach what Yahshua taught. These false teachers may teach from the Bible, and claim to have Yahshua’s endorsement, but what they teach denies that claim. We need to be very careful that we learn from spiritual leaders who faithfully and accurately teach HaShem’s Word.
Yet, another way to understand, “many will come in My name, saying “I am He!” is the belief that man must bring forth the ‘god” within. We are being encouraged to say, “I am He-I am Messiah, I am god.” These people are saying that our problem is that we just do not realize that we are god! We are living in an age of deification of man.
Sign # 2: found in Mark 13:7-8 is an Increase in Wars
Yahshua said: “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened, those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom.” After the Soviet Union disintegrated and it had to in order for Ezekiel 38 to be literally fulfilled we had the feeling that we were in for a time of peace. Unfortunately, in this post-cold war period, the world is still engaged in some forty wars being fought worldwide, and we can expect to see more armed conflicts in the days ahead. Right now, there is approximately one trillion dollars being spent on armaments each year.
In verse 8, we see the Greek word ethnos translated as nations that is distinct from political kingdoms or entities, which is basileiai in Greek. This word should better be translated as “ethnic groups.” Recent decades has seen a rise in both ethnic strife and awareness such as Bosnia, Somalia, Ireland, several African countries, and the Albanians in the former Yugoslavia. The former Soviet Union is also rife with ethnic disturbances.
Sign #3 in an increase in Earthquakes and Famines
Yahshua says in Mark 13:8 that there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines. In Matthew 24, it says in divers places. This is a somewhat obsolete word in modern English but it suggests multiple manifestations of an event in several places at about the same time. We are to view earthquakes as a sign of His imminent return. In the past 50 years alone, there has been a demonstrable increase in earthquakes. The Philadelphia Inquirer published a chart reflecting earthquakes of 6.0 or better on the Richter starting from 1950 at 10-year increments up until the start of 1990 and at the time of publication, the full count was not yet in for the 90’s. In the 50’s there were (9) earthquakes worldwide; 60’s (13) worldwide; 70’s (51) worldwide; 80’s (86) worldwide and the 90’s (100 +), worldwide. In an earlier graph from the 1858 British Association for the Advancement of Science, it demonstrates a decidedly clear acceleration in seismic energy from the 10th through the 19th century. From the 10th century until the 18th century there is a total of only 800 earthquakes reported, but from the 18th century unto the 19th century there is an increase of over 2,000 earthquakes in that century alone.
Yahshua told us there would also be famines. Look at your TV. There are famines worldwide. There are almost two billion people of the world’s 6 billion who are on the verge of starvation or are critically malnourished. To make matters worse the Third World’s population is expected to grow by several billion people in the next few decades. They will need 75 percent more food than they are currently producing. With a world of six billion and growing, the likelihood of even more severe famine only increases. Famine is usually the result of changes in weather patterns or of war. Both of these are characteristic of our times. For most of our generation, there have been great numbers of deaths, especially of the young because of famine. At times, this problem reaches staggering proportions: 40,000 babies starve to death every day. (Time, 1/2/89, p. 66)
In the same vain I have to mention plagues. There have always been plagues, but they do seem to be increasing in our times. Cancer is an ever-growing threat; AIDS is a new disease of the most sobering proportions. So far, there is no cure for this plague. Alzheimer's is a new, incurable ailment of the elderly. We are constantly hearing of serious outbreaks of such diseases as the Ebola Virus, which can destroy whole towns. Terrifying reports have surfaced of a rare flesh-eating Strep disease, which disfigures or even kills its victims in a matter of hours. Resistant strains of "conquered diseases", such as tuberculosis are now appearing. Some people are even wondering if some of these problems are the result of genetic engineering. At this point you may ask, “Haven’t we always had earthquakes and famines, and plagues? Haven’t there always been wars, false prophets and messiahs?” For twenty centuries, men have anticipated that Yahshua’s return would take place in their day. Nearly every generation has thought that Yahshua was returning in their time, because of the signs they thought they saw in the events of their day. However, Yahshua gave us the key to understand these signs when he compared them to a woman in labor. In Mark 13:8 he explained that these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.
A woman’s labor increases in two ways. In intensity and in frequency. The labor pains become more intense and contractions come closer an closer together until the very end, when the pain is the most agonizing, and the contractions almost continuous, one right after the other, and then the child is born. This is a prophecy of the increase and intensity of the frequency of the signs as I have outlined here. We also read in Mark 13:starting at verse 28 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” The fig tree is a metaphor for Israel and in 1948 Israel again became an independent nation and since that date the intensity and frequency of these signs have increased like the birth-pains of a woman approaching the time of her delivery, exactly as the Messiah foretold. As we get closer to His return, expect these prophecies to come into clearer focus.
The Rabbi’s are also familiar with the term “birth pangs,” and in rabbinic Judaism it is taught that in the generation of the Messiah’s coming, impudence will increase, esteem will be perverted-meaning people won’t esteem each other; the vine will yield its fruit, yet wine will be expensive, because everyone will get drunk, become careless and lazy, so that there wil be scarcity; and the kingdom (Hashem’s kingdom) will be converted to heresy, and no one will rebuke them. (Sanhedrin 97a) It is interesting to note that this is believed to refer to Rome being converted to gentile christianity as forecast by Rabbi Nehemia in 150 AD under Constantine the Great in 313. Rabbi Yitzchak said, “The son of David will not come to set up His Kingdom until the whole world is converted to the beliefs of the heretics.”
Signs #4 & 5 are about persecution and the Advancement of the Good News
Mark 13: 9-13 "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.
11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the ruach HaKodesh ( Holy Spirit.)
12 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
13 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Yahshua predicted that this period of time will be so difficult that only genuine believers will endure to the end. Persecution will be of such intensity that it will constitute a threat to faith. Some will be put to death. Others will be betrayed by family members. There will be many who turn back under the pressures and tensions of those days.
In this century there has been an unprecedented rise in persecutions of believers, especially in Moslem and communist countries. Much of western civilization is becoming hostile to followers of Yahshua. In spite of this, the genuine children of HaShem will hold out to the very end, by testifying about Him and by not loving their life in this world. At the same time, that hostility increases the Good News, which will be preached to all nations. This has not happened in 2000 years of history. In 1800, the Bible had been translated into a mere 71 languages with another 1000 languages in progress, but we are now within sight of finally translating the Bible into all known languages. Up until now, Believers were mainly limited to Europe, the US, and the Middle East.
Today there are true believers in the body of Messianic Judaism all over the world. Those that trust in the faithfulness of Yahshua and guard HaShem’s commandments The Messianic Jewish movement continues to pick up momentum among Elohim’s chosen people. May it be so!