Three End-Time Signs from Daniel
The prophet Daniel had been listening intently to the angel Gabriel pronouncing a series of mind-blowing messages. God had revealed the rise and fall of great empires, eventually leading to a global empire led by the Antichrist.
Daniel was obviously quite perplexed by what he was hearing. To his dismay, the angel indicated that Daniel could never truly understand these prophecies because too many events needed to happen first before they could be fulfilled and, therefore, properly understood.
Fortunately, Gabriel added that there would be three major signs that would mark the “time of the end,” in which the finale in this series of events would culminate. “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the time of the end; many will go to and fro, and knowledge will increase” (Daniel 12:4). He added that only those living in the end times and who were “wise” (meaning spiritually discerning) would at last understand these prophecies.
Sign 1 – Increase in Knowledge
Unless you’re a toddler playing with your mother’s Android, you have lived long enough to realize that the way we obtain information has changed a lot—a whole lot—over the last few decades. Let’s not even talk decades, but in years.
For thousands of years of human history, life remained pretty much the same. Sure, every 300 years or so, the world eked out an innovation that revolutionized the world. But, for the most part, limitations in travel left most inventions cordoned off to a tiny corner of the world.
Were you surprised to learn from your history classes that the most world-changing advances were made just in the last 150 years or so? And, as we got closer to our day and age, human knowledge has been experiencing exponential growth as one breakthrough builds upon another at an increasingly faster and faster pace.
The exponential growth in computer technology has increased our knowledge to stupendous levels. The ability to easily store and access data means we can continue to learn like we’ve never learned before in human history.
Today’s exponential increase in knowledge points to the fact that we are living in the prophesied end times and that Jesus Christ is coming soon.
Sign 2 – Increase in Transportation
Notice in that same prophecy the angel told Daniel that, besides a great increase in knowledge, “many will go to and fro” (Daniel 12:4). This tremendous increase in travel would also occur in the same context, that being the end times. God was revealing that once people began to go to and fro, both farther and faster, those final years before Christ returned to set up His Millennial Kingdom were finally upon us.
Stop and think how people traveled just a single century ago. Most roads weren’t even paved yet, and were traveled along by horse-drawn wagons. People rarely, if ever, left their hometowns.
Since the early part of the twentieth century, mankind has gone on to invent airplanes and jets, and we’ve even left Earth’s atmosphere in rockets and space shuttles. It used to take months for people to travel overseas by boat, but now we travel that same distance abroad in mere hours. In today’s world, people are always on the move, just as the angel prophesied to Daniel.
Today’s exponential increase in travel points to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon.
Sign 3 – Increase in Understanding Prophecy
Jesus explained to His disciples, “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Matthew 13:17).
Today, the various end times signs related to nature, society, world politics, technology, Israel, and the spiritual signs are coming at us at such a fantastic rate that Bible prophecy teachers have begun to call the phenomenon “The Convergence.” So many end times signs converging all at once have greatly enhanced our understanding of end times Bible prophecy, just as Gabriel foretold.
Today’s exponential increase in the understanding of God’s prophetic Word points to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon.
Recognize the Times
These three major signs, along with the hundreds more provided in the Bible, are being fulfilled in our day, revealing the fact that the Lord could indeed return at any moment. Therefore, we need to understand the times in which we are living, serve God, and embrace the fact that God loves the world so much that He gave His one and only Son and that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).