Signs of the Times
Jesus revealed a great many things about the “end of the age”—and why we must be vigilant.
Following what could only be described by His disciples as a shocking declaration that the Temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed, the Lord Jesus Christ sat down on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple Mount and explained what will happen in the last days. With His words of destruction and desolation still ringing in their ears, His disciples asked, “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Mt. 24:3).
Their question focused on Jerusalem, Israel, and the Second Coming. It had nothing to do with the church, which is nowhere in view in Matthew 24—25. It was yet to be born (Acts 2), and the disciples had no comprehension of it. They were Jewish, and their concern was for their people and how Jesus would restore His Kingdom to Israel (1:6).
So, Jesus began explaining God’s future program for Israel and the world as it will unfold in the closing days of this sin-cursed age. The events He shared relate to the final seven years that immediately precede His glorious return to establish on Earth His thousand-year reign, called the Millennial Kingdom. These seven years are known as the 70th week of Daniel (Dan. 9:24–27), the time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jer. 30:7), and the Tribulation (Mt. 24:15–21).
Jesus revealed a series of signs He called “the beginning of birth pangs” (v. 8, NASB1995). Just as a woman’s pain in childbirth increases until she delivers, these signs will escalate until the birth of the Millennial Age. They are God’s indicators that confirm His end-times events are under way.
False Christs and Deception
Matthew 24:4–5, 11, 24
Jesus began with a solemn warning: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ [Messiah],’ and will deceive many” (vv. 4–5). He further cautioned, “Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (v. 11) and “false christs [messiahs] and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (v. 24). This sign will occur during the first half of Daniel’s 70th week, when the Antichrist (also called the Beast) arises as a peacemaker and confirms a covenant with Israel (Dan. 9:27).
During the first half of the Tribulation, a multitude of deceivers will emerge, performing great signs and wonders and giving the appearance that they represent God. This sign marks the beginning of the end. Having rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah at His First Coming, the elect, the Jewish people, may be particularly vulnerable to believing deceivers. The Lord warns that two-thirds of Israel will perish during the Tribulation (Zech. 13:8).
Everyone who rejects the truth of Christ, Jews and Gentiles, will be given over to the lie, setting them up to worship the Beast. This deception, the first birth pang, is the ultimate lie that stands at the center of the Tribulation.
Wars, Rumors of Wars, and Natural Disasters
Matthew 24:6–8
The second sign Jesus gave concerns hearing of “wars and rumors of wars” (v. 6): “Nation will rise against nation,” He said, “and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places” (v. 7).
Yet He counseled His disciples not to worry because the end cannot come until these things occur: “But that is not yet the end. But all these are merely the beginning of birth pangs” (vv. 6, 8, NASB1995).
The first half of the seven-year Tribulation will be marked by massive international conflict (cf. 2 Chr. 15:6; Isa. 19:2). The second half will see the earth plunged into total war under the tyranny of the Antichrist.
Famines and earthquakes will ravage the planet. Death will be everywhere and consume “a fourth of the earth” (Rev. 6:8). Much like the early plagues God sent to Egypt in Moses’ day, people will desire their torment to come to an end (vv. 15–17); but it will only be the beginning.
The events will awaken Israel and the nations to the reality that this age is closing and the King of kings is returning. While these judgments fall on a Christ-rejecting world, they are also preparing a remnant in Israel for national repentance and salvation at Messiah’s return (Zech. 12:10; Rom. 11:26).
Persecution of Israel
Matthew 24:9–14
The third sign Jesus gave is most concerning because He warned of vicious persecution of Israel and the believing remnant: “Because of My name” (v. 9, NASB1995), every nation will hate Israel. As man’s love grows cold, false prophets will exploit the chaos. It will be a time of horrendous betrayal and lawlessness.
Yet, amid such evil and darkness, the gospel of the Kingdom—the call to repent because the King is coming to reign—will be proclaimed around the world. God will use 144,000 Jewish evangelists “of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (Rev. 7:4) and two witnesses (11:1–14) to lead His final missionary effort. Even in great wrath, God demonstrates great mercy. As persecution sifts Israel, the remnant that “endures to the end shall be saved” (Mt. 24:13).
The Abomination of Desolation
Matthew 24:15–22
Then Jesus gave a fourth and pivotal sign to His disciples:
Therefore when you see the “abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place . . . then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be (vv. 15–16, 21).
This ominous warning points back to Daniel 9:27 and 12:11, when the Antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel, enters a rebuilt Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, declares that he is God, and demands that everyone worship him (2 Th. 2:3–4). He will end the Temple sacrifices and erect an image of himself—the “abomination of desolation”—that will stand “in the holy place” (Mt. 24:15).
These events mark the beginning of the final three and a half years of unparalleled horror that Jesus called the Great Tribulation. This time will be so catastrophic for Israel that Jesus directed those who value their lives to flee immediately into the wilderness. Though the Antichrist’s army will be in hot pursuit, God will supernaturally protect those who flee as He protected Israel from Pharaoh (Rev. 12:6, 14; cf. Ex. 14).
The abomination is Satan’s ultimate attempt to dethrone God and rule the earth from Jerusalem, the very place where God has chosen to put His name. The abomination of desolation is an unmistakable sign that the final days of this age have arrived, and the world will know that the end-times prophecies of Daniel and Jesus are being fulfilled literally.
Cosmic Signs and the Coming of the Son of Man
Matthew 24:29–31
The fifth sign, cosmic disturbances, will come at the end of the Tribulation: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (v. 29). These are literal upheavals of the created order and are God’s judgments (cf. Rev. 6:12–14; 8:12). Creation itself, which has been longing for this day (Rom. 8:19–22), convulses as the Creator approaches.
Then comes the final sign:
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Mt. 24:30–31).
As Christ returns, every eye will see Him. The tribes of the earth will mourn, and Israel will finally realize that He, the One they pierced, is the Messiah (Zech 12:10; Rev. 1:7). This gathering of the elect is not the Rapture of the church (see “Israel or the Church?“) but, rather, the rescue of the Jewish people from Satan and the regathering of Israel into the promised Kingdom (Isa. 11:12; Mt. 24:31; Rom. 11:26–27).
It is breathtaking to realize the darkening of the heavens will declare that the Light of the world has returned! Christ’s return announces Satan’s defeat, and His earthly presence fulfills every Old Testament promise of a coming King who will reign from King David’s throne. The birth pangs will bring forth the long-awaited King of kings: the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world.
Vigilance, Deception, and the Sovereignty of God
Jesus told us about the end-times birth pangs not to frighten us but to comfort us with the certainty that God’s plan of redemption will end the curse of sin and restore His Kingdom to Earth. Scripture calls us as believers in Jesus to be vigilant as we wait not for the Tribulation but for the any-moment Rapture of the church. We can live with confidence that the King is indeed coming.
As we watch God setting the stage for the end, we are called to support Israel and the Jewish people and proclaim the gospel of Christ while the door remains open. Jesus said the deception at the end will be worldwide, as multitudes of deceivers flood the planet. The world that rejected Jesus will be given over to Satan’s lies (2 Th. 2:11). What better reason to place our faith in Jesus Christ today?
The signs Jesus gave to His disciples magnify God’s sovereignty. Everything, even the birth pangs, is under His sovereign control. We can rest assured knowing that all that has been, all that is, and all that ever will be occurs according to God’s wise plan.
