Issued: 06/24/25

“When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is approaching.”

Luke 21:28

PLEASE NOTE:  Because Bible versions sometimes differ from each other in crucial ways, the version quoted here will be the one that best clarifies the point being made.  For a quick comparison between versions, please go to: www.biblehub.com.

   All bracketed material may be authorial comments, attempts at proper syntax, or minimal rewordings of Scripture for the sake of clarity and continuity.  These emendations will not be italicized.

   The “/” will be used to signify “and/or.”  The symbol “↔” is used to connect verses corroborating each other and so establishing doctrinal truths (Matthew 18:16↔2Corinthians 13:1).

   In differentiating between Yahweh Son [Jesus] and Yahweh Father [the Most High God], lower case letters have been used when discussing the former; upper case letters are reserved for the Only Sovereign Deity.  Since Jesus was at pains to differentiate himself from Father, we have followed his lead here.

   The term neo-Christians will be used to differentiate between false Christians and Jesus’ true followers.

Connect Your Dots

   Jesus as well as Paul warned against getting mired in public controversies that in one way or another undermined and discredited the Gospel (Matthew 5:37; 2Timothy 2:16; Titus 3:9).  Neither of them was in the habit of denouncing individuals by name but as generic groups, whether they be rulers (John 14:30↔Luke 4:5-6), religious leaders (Matthew 23:2-34; Acts 20:29-30; 1Timothy 1:5-7), wealthy people (Luke 6:24-26; 1Timothy 6:17), or unbelievers at large (John 15:18-24, 16:2; Galatians 4:29; Philippians 3:2↔Matthew 7:6; Titus 1:15-16).  Naturally, the Apostles followed suit:  James 5:1-6; 2Peter 2:1-3,12-15,17-19; 1John 3:18-19; Jude 1:4,10-16↔1Peter 2:8.

      Likewise we are not interested in finger-pointing culprits or belaboring findings experts/pundits in their respective fields present in the media; lots of whom warn us about worse things to come.  In a sense we may regard them as today’s ‘prophets’ distinct from yet on message with Biblical ones—a rather obvious comparison when matching their observations with Scripture’s.

   What follows are lists of selected Scriptures—in their Biblical order—that are happening today and are representative of the falling away from the Christian faith Paul warned would precede Jesus’ second coming at end times; to wit

  2Thessalonians 2:2-3: “Let no one in any way deceive you, for [the Day of the Lord; i.e., Jesus’ return] will not come unless the apostasy comes first.”

   Connect your dots.

Human-related:

Leviticus 19:34: “You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself.”

Deuteronomy 31:29: “For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days; because you will do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.”

Psalms 10:3-7: “For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire and the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD.  The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him.  All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’ His ways prosper at all times; [God’s] judgments are…out of his sight; as for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.  He says to himself, ‘I will not be moved’…His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.”

Psalms 12:8: “The wicked walk on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.”

Psalms 92:7: “When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever.”

Proverbs 4:16: “Evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day. They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble.”

Proverbs 10:23: “It is as sport to a fool to do wickedness.”

Proverbs 11:14: “Without wise leadership, a nation falls.”

Proverbs 11:29: “Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind.”

Proverbs 15:27: “Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household.”

Proverbs 17:15: “Exonerating the wicked and condemning the righteous are both detestable to the LORD.”

Proverbs 22:16: “Whoever oppresses the poor to enrich himself and whoever gives gifts to the wealthy will yield only loss.”

Proverbs 29:2: “When the wicked rule, the people groan.”

Proverbs 29:12: “When a ruler is listening to lies, all of his officials tend to become wicked.”

Ecclesiastes 4:1: “Look at the tears of the oppressed—there is no one to comfort them.  Power is on the side of their oppressors; so they have no comforters.”

Ecclesiastes 10:12-13:“Fools are consumed by their own lips. The beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness.”

Isaiah 1:23: “Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.”

Isaiah 5:8: “Woe toyou who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land.”

Isaiah 5:20-23, 29:15: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter…who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight…whose deeds are done in a dark place, and they say, ‘Who sees us?’ or ‘Who knows us?’”

Isaiah 32:5-8: “A fool…plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink.  The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.”

Isaiah 66:5: “Your countrymen, who hate you and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name, say, ‘May the LORD be glorified, then we will witness your joy.’ But they will be put to shame” [↔Leviticus 19:33-34, 27:19; Deuteronomy 10:19; Matthew 7:22-23; 1John 2:19].

Jeremiah 5:28: “They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless that they might prosper, nor have they defended the rights of the needy.”

Jeremiah 22:3: “Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows.”

Jeremiah 23:20: “The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it clearly.”

Micah 2:1: “Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds!  When the morning comes, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.”

Micah 6:12: “Your rich people exploit the poor, and all of you are liars.”

Micah 7:3: “The prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.”

Zephaniah 3:3-4: “Her princes are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, leaving nothing for the morning. Her prophets are reckless, faithless men.  Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.”

Matthew 7:22-23: “On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name’…And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Matthew 24:12:“Evil will spread and cause many people to stop loving others.”

Matthew 24:38-29,44: “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man…You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected” [↔Luke 17:26-30; 1Thessalonians 5:2-3]

Mark 3:25: “If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand.”

Luke 18:8: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

John 16:2: “The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.”

1Timothy 4:1: “The [Holy] Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”

2Timothy 3:1-5: “In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

2Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

Titus 3:10-11: “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.”

James 5:3,6: “Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be used as evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasures in these last days… You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.”

Nature-related:

Point to keep in mind:  Father assumes responsibility for whatever befalls humanity because He allows it to happen.

Leviticus 18:25-28: “Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out. You must obey all My decrees and regulations…This applies both to native-born Israelites [i.e., Jews] and to the foreigners [i.e., Christians] living among you…So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now.”

 Luke 21:10-11: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines.”

Revelation 6:3-8:  Wars:  “To [the angel] who sat on it…was granted to take peace from the earth so that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him…

Famine:  “[The angel] who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.  And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures [↔Ezekiel 1:4-28] saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine’…

Death, Satan personified:  “Hades was following with him [↔Hebrews 2:14; Revelation 9:11]. Authority was given to them [↔Luke 4:5-6; John 14:30; Ephesians 2:2; 1John 5:19] over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth [animals (shadow) as well as evil men (substance)].”¹

Revelation 11:18: “The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come. The time has come…for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

Revelation 16:8-9: “The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.”

Revelation 16:18-21: “There was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.  The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell… And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found [↔Psalms 18:15; Jeremiah 10:10; Haggai 2:6↔Hebrews 12:26].  And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe” [↔Job 38:22-23].

Personal suggestion, not doctrine:

   Keep abreast of wars now being fought for territorial gains and wars to be fought over dwindling food supplies and water resources; in 2027 global average temperature is expected to exceed 1.5ºC, triggering irreversible climate changes leading to dire consequences on land and sea—especially the imminent collapse of the Gulf Stream set to play havoc with weather in Europe.

   Keep abreast of regularly occurring earthquakes even in places where they are rare; dangers posed by catastrophic, potential ones endangering human lives/property; volcanic eruptions aggravating greenhouse effects; and environmental contamination/extinction of animal/plant habitats.  These are not happening in a vacuum:  They conform to Father’s agenda [↔Psalms 110:1; Jeremiah 51:58↔Revelation 19:15,18, 20:7-9; Hebrews 10:27; 2Peter 3:7,13); and will continue to occur incrementally if not exponentially [↔Ezekiel 7:25-26; Luke 21:26].

   Keep abreast of heightened solar storms knocking off low-orbit communication satellites and ‘frying’ electric grids vital to human activities; as well as accelerating rising sea levels which in turn will lead to peoples migrating inland and fighting over available space.  Keep abreast of increasing heat aiding the proliferation of pathogens, diseases, and invasive species; loss of forests crucial to replenishing atmospheric oxygen; desertification; droughts decimating crops; and heat waves in regions unprepared for them.

Personal opinion, not doctrine:

   The war to watch for concerns the fall of Jerusalem:

Luke 21:20: “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.”

This does not refer to that city’s fall to Babylon (587-586 BC) nor to Rome (70 CE), but to Jerusalem’s fall at end times prior to the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:14-21).

   As Matthew indicates, two ‘signs of end times’ must take place before this defining event:

1)  Accomplishing the worldwide preaching of the Gospel (Matthew 24:14); and

2)  the resurgence of the “abomination of desolation” in the holy place [i.e., Daniel’s “horn/king”↔Daniel 7:8, 20-21, 8:23-25] within the body of Christ, the conceptual, universal, human-bricked Church wherein dwells Father (Colossians 2:9; Ephesians 1:22-23, 2:19-22; Hebrews 3:6; 1Peter 2:5).²

   Number 1 is a done deal; and Number 2 is already in place but will gain prominence on the world stage following the fulfillment of 1Thessalonians 5:3:

“While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”

Some sort of global upheaval paving the way for the fulfillment of Revelation 13:14-17? 

   As in the Bible, the fall of Jerusalem marks the demise of the Jewish nation; and however confidently Israelis nowadays view their victories, Scripture shows that their trust and reliance on powers that be will not shield them from Father’s judgments but in fact invite them [↔Isaiah 30:1-7,15-16; Jeremiah 17:5].  While it can be conjectured that the ‘armies’ waging war on Jerusalem will be Arabs avenging brutalities perpetrated against their brothers far and wide, if we read Matthew 24:19 between the lines, Israelis collectively are slated to suffer for the harms their nation has inflicted and Father will not come to their aid.  Which will be true not only of them, but those who abetted and were complicit in their bloodshed:

Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Technology-related:

   Science and technology being two ‘cards’ in Satan’s Royal Flush [refer to essay All About Satan, Part VI(c)], Scripture must somehow give us an inkling of their role in things to come; hence,

Revelation 13:11,13,16-17: “Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon ³… And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people…It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell.”

   The “fire from heaven” in Revelation 11:13 is not the supernatural kind that obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-25↔2Peter 2:6; Jude 1:7), or consumed Elijah’s offerings (1Kings 18:38) or destroyed the sheep and servants of Job’s children (Job 1:16), or the one Father will deploy against all unrighteous at Armageddon (Revelation 20:9).  This particular “fire” suggests orbiting weaponry that can ‘nuke’ selected targets on the ground, be them dissident groups/nations opposing the imperialistic agendas of two Western superpowers. ⁴

   Revelation 13:16-17 suggests computer technology controlling the spending power of non-compliers, or in today’s political code, those who are not ‘mission-aligned’.  We have seen inklings of this in news regarding meddling with Treasury payment systems and harvesting personal data from Social Security recipients—stashed somewhere for future mischief?

   Is Scripture’s prediction about ‘marks’ on hands and foreheads in some way suggestive of evolving technologies like brain-computer interfaces or electronic tattoos [skin nanosensors] making humans easier to track and dominate?  Satan exploits the human fascination and voracity for electronic gadgetry.  Time will tell; nonetheless, implementing such technologies will make it possible to ‘mark’ peoples, rendering them powerless, vulnerable and suitable to be manipulated and preyed upon.

   Add to these the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence [AI] to distort reality, so that in a very real sense what was once defined as ‘truth’ will be whatever manipulators wish it to be.  Like all ploys Satanic—meaning anything portrayed as ‘beneficial for mankind’ will exact its pound of flesh, AI has its destructive side:  AI data centers use up to 9 liters of water to evaporate each kWh of energy produced.  In a world where water is not being replenished commensurate to its consumption, it is estimated that AI will gobble up 6.6 billion m³ of fresh water by 2027 in a world that has not enough for its populations.  Tech giants have vowed to mitigate their environmental impact, but as with all endeavors where profits define policies, do not hold your breath:  Water security and healthy ecosystems will be written off as collateral damage.

Divine-related:

   Even after the night when no one can work (John 9:4), when evil will be triumphant and Satan will have his field day, Father has promised a dawn of renewal when things that once were the norm will be no more and forever forgotten (Isaiah 43:25; Revelation 21:1,4-5).  The challenge is to survive that night by remaining focused on the only light available to us (2Peter 1:19) while Father’s plan reaches fruition:

2 Peter 3:7–13: “The present…earth [is] being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly [i.e., Armageddon↔Revelation 20:7-10]…[In that] day [Father’s vengeance↔Hebrews 10:27,30-31]…the elements will melt away in the flames [to be replaced by] new earth…filled with His righteousness.” ⁵

   While this sounds very inspiring, the harsh reality is that between now and then, hell on earth will no longer be a figurative expression but a literal one.  And Jesus prepared us for this:

John 16:33: “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.”

John 17:15: “Father, I’m not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one”—[i.e., no ‘Rapture’:  We are here for the long haul↔1Thessalonians 4:15; Revelation 7:1-3].

Luke 21:19,36: “By your patient endurance, you will gain your souls…Pray that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man.”

   In other words, while salvation is possible, it is not a done deal; and unless we grin and bear whatever befalls us, eternal life is not yet in our bag (Matthew 16:25, 19:29; Luke 17:33; Hebrews 6:12, 10:36; 2Timothy 2:12).

   May Father have mercy on us all!

¹ Refer to Animal Symbolism in Part II / Spiritual Considerations in Essay “To Eat or Not to Eat: Never the Question.”

² Readers: Connect your own dots:

   Ezekiel 28:2-15↔2Thessalonians 2:4 / Matthew 24:15 / Revelation 2:13↔Revelation 18:2 / Revelation 13:3-7, 14-18, 17:3-6, 9-18, 18:2,13,20.

³ Horns symbolizing nations [↔Daniel 7:24, 8:20-22] empowered by Satan, Scripture’s dragon (Ezekiel 29:3; Revelation 12:4,17, 13:2, 20:2) and world-sovereign (Luke 4:5-6; 1John 5:19).

⁴ Based on the symbolism of “two horns” representing the Medo-Persian empire [↔Daniel 8:20]—like Alexander with respect to the Greek empire (Daniel 8:21)—in the person of their respective, most notable leaders [Cyrus II and Darius the Great].  Also consider the fact that Scripture never deals with Far Eastern nations; only Middle Eastern ones interacting with Israel in the Old Testament; and with European ones in the New involved in ‘Christianizing’ Western nations  [↔Acts 16:6-10; Romans 15:22-24].

⁵ In this Scripture Peter is conflating two events:  The Day of the Lord, Jesus’ second coming preceded by the vanishing of the cosmos (Matthew 24:29) and Father’s vengeance one thousand years after Judgment Day—i.e., the Millennium of Rest in Heaven between the first resurrection and death of all the unrighteous and their second resurrection and death prior to Armageddon (Revelation 20:4,7-10).

   The sequence of events is as follows:

   a) The cosmos vanishes: Jesus’ sign, the rainbow, appears on a dark sky heralding his return on a cloud (Genesis 9:12-13; Matthew 24:30; Revelation 10:1↔Ezekiel 1:26-28; Revelation 1:13,15).

   b)  Resurrection of the righteous: A trumpet is sounded; all the righteous since Abel come alive; and along with the righteous then living, are collectively transformed into immortal flesh, whereupon they are gathered up by Jesus’ angels (1Corinthians 15:51-53; 1Thessalonians 4:13-17).

   c) First resurrection of the unrighteous: All the unrighteous since Cain come alive to face Judgment Day along with the unrighteous then living (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; Revelation 20:5-6).

   d) Judgment Day: (Matthew 19:28, 25:31-46↔Ezekiel 34:17,20,23-24; Daniel 7:9-10; John 5:22; Acts 17:31; Romans 14:11; 1Corinthians 6:3 / 2Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:11-15↔Amos 9:2-3).

   Following Judgment, all the unrighteous die and their corpses are left to rot upon the earth, providing the ‘bed of maggots’ upon which Satan will be chained for one thousand years (Isaiah 14:11; Jeremiah 25:33). 

   e) Millennium of Rest: The righteous are taken to Heaven and reign with Jesus for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4).  It is from there that they are able to look down upon Satan’s imprisonment and ponder about his fate (Isaiah 14:16-17).

    The Millennium of Rest is the equivalent of Genesis’ Seventh Day Sabbath, when Father “rested from all the work of creating that He had done” (Genesis 2:3); which Paul understood to be shadow to the substance of Revelation’s Millennium [↔Hebrews 4:3-4].  For the Genesis’ Sabbath did not mark the end of Father’s involvement in worldly affairs [↔John 5:17], which takes place in Revelation 16:17:  “Out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’”

   f) Second resurrection of the unrighteous: “The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete” (Revelation 20:5).

   g) Armageddon:  Satan’s final battle against Father with an army of all his angelic and re-resurrected unrighteous minions, whereupon Father’s fire incinerates them for eternity (Psalms 68:2; Proverbs 5:11-14; Isaiah 13:8; Jeremiah 51:58; Revelation 20:7-10).  Armageddon has been discussed at length in Part V of our essay Roadmap to the End of Days.

   h) The Kingdom of God:  A new cosmos is created (Isaiah 30:26, 65:17, 66:22; 2Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1); a new earth emerges once the old earth melts away in Armageddon’s aftermath (Psalms 46:6, 104:32; Amos 9:5; Micah 1:4; Nahum 1:5; Zephaniah 1:2-3).