Did Jesus Predict the End of the World?

Posted on May 07, 2024 Topic : Men's Christian Living, Prophecy, Women's Christian Living
Posted by : Jeff Kinley

Almost everyone agrees that we are in an era of global crisis. Just consider where we are for a moment. We are living in an age saturated with wars, injustice, human trafficking, out-of-control spending, irrecoverable debt, economic meltdowns, rampant immorality, the continual mass slaughter of innocent babies, and the death knell of reason and truth. It seems that we have grown accustomed to a global undercurrent of fear that lingers among us like a low-grade fever.

How long before the bottom drops out and we plunge irreversibly into a bottomless pit of chaos and despair? Are we today literally seeing the “handwriting on the wall”? What will prove to be the tipping point—the final straw that breaks and sends us plummeting into the abyss? And most importantly, how are we to cope in the midst of this multifaceted pandora’s box of threatening calamities?

Yes, Earth is a planet in peril, and we are walking on the textbook definition of thin ice.

But does any of this really matter to us? Does it really impact our daily lives and families? Should we care...that much? Why even talk about the end of the world—a morbid, dark, depressing, seemingly unnecessary, and mostly irrelevant prospect? Why discuss such a distasteful and disturbing topic when we are already occupied with surviving perpetual pandemics, fearing wars, fighting inflation, and trying to forage for some personal meaning in the midst of an already-messed-up age? Why add to our anxiety by obsessing over future doomsday scenarios? Isn’t that counterproductive?

The answer, of course, is yes.

However, at the same time, neither can any thinking person afford to simply dismiss or ignore the subject altogether, and here’s a major reason why:

Jesus Christ spoke about the end times, and in great detail.

For that reason alone, we cannot merely pass off the “last days” as some faith-based fantasy or Christian conspiracy theory.

For those who claim Christ as Savior (and for everyone else as well), this is simply not an option. The crises that currently seem oceans away in distance and time may reach our shores (and lives) much sooner than we anticipate. Rather than fading into our memory like last-year’s Super Bowl winner, the end times is a topic that, according to the Bible, simply isn’t going away. On an almost daily basis, we are confronted by global developments in government, morality, religion, and geopolitics that constantly remind us we are well down the path to prophetic fulfillment as described in Scripture.

Everyone acknowledges that life here on earth will end at some point in the future. But according to Jesus of Nazareth, it won’t be due to some rogue meteor, global warming, or an international thermonuclear meltdown. Just a few days prior to his crucifixion, Christ gathered with a small group of his disciples on the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem. There, he laid out God’s prophetic plan for the end of days (Matthew chapters 24-25).

And if he is right about earth’s last days, wouldn’t it be smart to know just how it will play out before it happens?

Fortunately, the rest of Scripture also harmonizes with Jesus’ definitive narrative for the end of the world. In fact, it is repeatedly addressed, described, and prophesied in meticulous detail and in multiple places.

So to bring it a bit closer to home, wouldn’t you like to know whether the apocalyptic events described in the Bible could occur in your lifetime? If the present global shifts and trajectory of current world events signify that we may be very near to the close of history as portrayed in the Bible, wouldn’t you want to know? What if there was credible evidence to suggest that the beginning of the end was not centuries removed from us, but in reality, knocking at our front door?

Sounds a lot more relevant now, doesn’t it?

However, instead of sensational speculation and wild, reckless predictions concerning future days of destruction, prudence dictates that we go straight to the source and see for ourselves.

We need to tackle the topic by considering the words of the One who claimed to be truth incarnate (John 14:6). We need to consult him who alone prophesies history in advance.

Though this Jesus is not accessible by email, text, or zoom call, he is available, and he is able to speak directly to us through his written word, faithfully and accurately recorded in the Gospels. It is there on a hillside just outside Jerusalem where we are permitted to eavesdrop on a most interesting encounter between the Lord and his disciples. In a single sitting, the carpenter-rabbi-prophet reveals to them, and to us, the unparalleled prophetic narrative divinely destined to unfold in the last days. Apart from his gospel-saving message, it may prove to be the most valuable critical intel you’ve ever received. Compliments of Jesus of Nazareth.