Crisis

Who will be impacted by the great crisis that will shake the earth at the end of the age? 

According to the Bible, all the inhabitants of the earth will feel the impact of the shakings that are appointed to come upon the earth at the end of the age (see, e.g., Is. 24; Lk. 21:35), although not all will not be impacted by them in the same way or to the same degree. Many people will be caught off guard by the events of the last days; they will have no idea what is happening and will be terrified at the events that are unfolding on the earth (see, e.g., Mt. 24:38-39; Lk. 21:26). Some people will join fully in the great and final rebellion against God; these will experience the full brunt of God’s judgment and wrath (see, e.g., Rev. 6:15-17, 14:6-12, 16:1-21). The nation of Israel, upon which God will pour out the covenant curses (see Lev. 26; Dt. 28) one final and climactic time prior to being rescued by Jesus at his return (see, e.g., Zech. 12; Is. 59:12; Rm. 11:26-27), will go through a particularly difficult time as Gentile armies attack Jerusalem and take many of its inhabitants into captivity (see, e.g., Jer. 30:4-7; Zech. 14). As for Jesus’ followers, they, too, will face great tests of faith and will suffer many afflictions in those days. Some will be put to death for their allegiance to Jesus (see, e.g., Rev. 6:9-11, 12:11, 17:6), while others will be called to endure patiently through imprisonment and captivity (Rev. 13:10). Some will be called to trust God for protection and guidance in dramatic ways as they flee various situations (Lk. 17:30-35), while others will serve as Jesus’ hands and feet to the Jewish people in their time of trouble and greatest need (see, e.g., Mt. 25:31-46; Rev. 12:6). All of Jesus’ people will need to trust God in radical ways for their daily bread (see, e.g., Rev. 13:16-17, 14:9-12).

What is the “end of the age,” and what will happen when it arrives?

The “end of the age,” according to the Bible, is the period of history just prior to the return of Jesus. It marks the beginning of the transition from the “present evil age,” (Gal. 1:4) in which we currently live, to the glorious “age to come” (see, e.g., Mk. 10:30), when all things will be made new (Mt. 19:28; Rev. 21:5). In the Bible the end of the age is compared to a woman in labor (Mt. 24:8). Just as the contractions of a woman in labor increase in intensity and grow closer together until the baby is finally born, so, too, at the end of the age, the “birth pains” being experienced by the earth—earthquakes, famines, wars, cosmic disturbances, etc.—will become more and more fierce, with shortening intervals between them, until Jesus returns and the age to come is finally “born.” At the end of the age, the earth will “reel like a drunkard,” will “sway like a hut in the wind,” and will be “split asunder” and “thoroughly shaken” (Is. 24:19-20, NIV). The nations “will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea,” and people “will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken” (Lk. 21:25-26, NIV). At one point, a Satanically-empowered world leader—referred to in the Bible variously as the “man of lawlessness” (2 Th. 2:3), the “little horn” (Dan. 7:8), and the “Anti-Christ/Messiah” (1 Jn. 2:18)—will appear on the scene and demand loyalty and worship from the inhabitants of the earth (2 Th. 2; Rev. 13). This will mark the beginning of the “hard labor,” which will last for 3.5 years (Dan. 7:25, 12:7; Rev. 12:6, 12:14, 13:5). After this time, Jesus will return to the earth in power and glory and deliver his followers and raise them to life (1 Th. 4), come to the rescue of Israel and Jerusalem (Zech. 14), and bring the Anti-Christ to nothing “by the splendor of his coming” (1 Th. 2:8, NIV).

When will the crisis take place?

When Jesus discussed the end of the age with his disciples, he did not tell them exactly when he would be coming back to the earth, but instead discoursed on some of the events and phenomena—“signs”—for which his people are to watch and by which they will know that the end of the age is upon them. Although we do not know exactly when Jesus will appear, we do know from the Scriptures that the same generation that sees the earth go into “labor” will also see the baby’s “birth” (see Mt. 24:30-35; Lk. 21:29-33). We also know that when the “man of lawlessness” (2 Th. 2:3) appears, this will mark the beginning of the “hard labor,” which will last for 3.5 years (Dan. 7:25, 12:7; Rev. 12:6, 12:14, 13:5). At the end of this time Jesus will return “on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Mt. 24:30). 

Irrespective of how close a generation actually may or may not be to the end of the age and the Second Coming, the church is mandated by God to herald the Day of the Lord and the coming of our King with great urgency and boldness (see, e.g., Dt. 32:34-43; Jb. 19:25; Is. 2:12; Jer. 31:38-40; Ezek. 37:11-14; Dan. 12:1-9; Jl. 2:1-2; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:14-16; Hag. 2:6-7; Zech. 14:3-4; Mt. 3:1-12; Lk. 10:8-12; Rom. 13:11-12; 1 Cor. 7:29-31; Heb. 11:22;1 Pt. 4:7; Jm. 5:8; 1 Jn. 2:18; Jud. 14-15). Every disciple of Messiah Jesus is called by God to pray, proclaim the gospel, and live as if the intense events of the last days—which will culminate in the Second Coming—could begin unfolding tomorrow (see, e.g., 1 Cor. 7:29-31; 1 Pt. 4:7).

Where will the crisis at the end of the age take place?

In accord with what was stated above, there is no region of the world that will not be touched in some way and to some degree by the shakings of the end of the age (see, e.g., Is. 24; Lk. 21:35). However, even though the end-time crisis can be conceived as a worldwide phenomenon on some level, in end-times-related matters the Scriptures focus their attention primarily on the nation of Israel and the regions and peoples surrounding it (see, e.g., Zech. 12-14; Mal. 4). The Anti-Christ empire will most likely be a Middle Eastern empire ¹ , and Jerusalem is where the ruler of that empire, the “Anti-Christ” or “man of lawlessness”, will “proclaim himself to be God” (2 Th. 2:4, NIV) and demand worship (Rev. 13). The Anti-Christ and his armies will launch a fierce and brutal assault against Israel and Jerusalem, but will be overthrown by Jesus when he returns (see, e.g., Zech. 12-14; Rev. 19).

¹ Joel Richardson, Mideast Beast: The Scriptural Case for an Islamic Antichrist (Washington, D.C. : New York: WND Books ; distributed by Midpoint Trade Books, 2012).

Why is God going to send great shakings and judgments at the end of the age?

According to the Bible, God is going to shake the earth at the end of the age because the earth’s inhabitants are guilty of violating certain divinely-instituted covenant requirements (see “The ‘How’ of the Covenants”). After the Flood, God told Noah and his descendants that they must not do the kinds of evil things that had resulted in an outpouring of his wrath in the Flood event. Ancient Jewish teachers and interpreters concluded from their close study of Genesis 6-9 that there are seven laws that are applicable “to all people, in all places: do not murder do not commit adultery, do not commit idolatry, do not curse God’s name, do not steal, do not eat meat (or blood) from a living animal, and establish a court of law.” ² God issued these commands in context to the “everlasting covenant” (Gen. 9:16) that he made with Noah, Noah’s descendants (i.e., with the entire human race, since all post-Flood human beings trace their descent to Noah), and all living creatures (see Gen. 9). When God later entered into covenant with the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai (see “Covenants”), he entrusted even greater and more specific wisdom and understanding concerning his will and righteous ways to them than he had to post-Flood humanity in general, enhancing, amplifying, extending, adding to, applying, and expounding upon his previous instruction (see Exodus-Deuteronomy). God’s holy character, righteous ways, and supreme authority are assumed in, and made known through, his covenants, and therefore to violate or disregard them is tantamount to rejecting and rebelling against God himself. In Isaiah 24, God cites humanity’s violation of the “everlasting covenant” (Is. 24:5) as his reason for heaping calamity on the world at the end of the age. Both the land of Israel and the regions of the earth inhabited by Noah’s non-Jewish descendants are defiled by bloodshed, and therefore must be cleansed through judgment (see, e.g., Is 1:15, 1:21, 4:4, Is. 24:5; cf. Gen. 9:4-6; Num. 35:33; Rom. 1:26-32). All humanity is guilty of violating the everlasting covenant, and therefore the whole world is going to be shaken as God unleashes his covenant curse (see “The ‘How’ of the Covenants”) on the earth (see Is. 24:6). However, because Israel was entrusted with greater responsibility and understanding concerning God’s ways (Ex. 19:1-6), her experience of the shakings will be even more intense as God unleashes the curses of her own particular covenant with him (see Lev. 26; Dt. 28; cf. Jer. 30:4-7; Mal. 4). In the words of Luke 12:48, “Everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required” (NRSV). Consequently, “there will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile” (Rom. 2:9, NLT).

As serious and worthy of punishment as covenant violation is in God’s eyes, however, his desire is to show mercy to his creation (see, e.g., Rom. 2:4; 2 Pt. 3:9) and to renew human beings into his image (see, e.g., Col. 3:10). This brings us to some of his other reasons for sending the coming shakings. Although both Jew and Gentile, according to the Bible, deserve to be eternally pummeled by God’s covenant curses (see, e.g., Mt. 25:41), through the Messiah’s death God has made a way for those curses to be removed (see, e.g., Gal. 3:13; Col. 2:13-14). When people repent of their sins (i.e., of their covenant violations) and place their faith in the gospel (see “The ‘How’ of the Church” above), God forgives them and therefore does not pour out on them the wrath that he otherwise would. When people go through difficulties, they sometimes become more responsive to God. “Not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pt. 3:9), God will use the end-times shakings to “rattle” people back to their senses and draw them to repentance and faith in the gospel (see, e.g., Rev. 11:13), in which case he will remove his wrath from them and number them among his people. Not all, however, will respond as he desires (see Rev. 9:20-21). As for those who already know him upon entering the last days, God will use the trials they will face during that time to purify them, test their loyalty, refine their faith, and prepare them for Jesus’ Second Coming (see Rom. 5:3; Eph. 5:25-27; Jm. 1:2-4; 1 Pt. 1:17; Rev. 19:6-9).

² NIV First-Century Study Bible, 15.

How will we know when the earth has entered the last days and the return of Jesus is near?

Although Jesus did not give his disciples an exact timeline as to when he would return to the earth, he did outline some of the events and phenomena that would signal the nearness of his return. When his disciples observed these various “signs” unfolding and beginning to take place, they were to take heart and watch expectantly, knowing that their “salvation” and the “Kingdom of God” were in fact “near” (Lk. 21:28, 31, NLT). The signs that make up the “beginning of birth pains” (Mt. 24:8; see the “The ‘What’ of the Crisis”) include conflicts between kingdoms and nations, earthquakes, famines, and pestilences (Mt. 24:7-8; Lk. 21:10-11). The closer the earth gets to Jesus’ return, the more these phenomena will increase in frequency and intensity. At one point the earth will move into “hard labor” when a Satanically-empowered world leader referred to in the Bible as “the man of lawlessness” (2 Th. 2:3), or the “Anti-Christ” (1 Jn. 2:18), declares himself to be God in the (to-be-rebuilt) temple in Jerusalem (2 Th. 2) and demands worship and loyalty from the world’s inhabitants (see Rev. 13). This event, along with other accompanying signs in the heavens (such as the rising of a blackened sun and a blood-red moon; see Is. 13:10; Jl. 2:30-31; Mt. 24:29; Rev. 6:12-13), will mark the beginning of the last 3.5 years before Jesus returns (Dan. 7:25, 12:7; Rev. 12:6, 12:14, 13:5).

One other important biblical, end-of-the-age “signpost” worth mentioning here is that of the nation of Israel. There are a significant number of clearly yet-to-be-fulfilled biblical prophecies (see, e.g., Jl. 2-3; Ezek. 37-38; Zech. 12-14; Mal. 3-4; 2 Th. 2) that presuppose the following conditions for their fulfillment: 1) a substantial number of Jewish people living in the actual land of Israel who have not yet acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah; 2) Jews controlling and living in the actual historical city of Jerusalem; 3) the city of Jerusalem being the focus of controversy and the center of world and regional attention; 4) the existence of a functioning Jewish temple in the city of Jerusalem. When the stage of history looks like this, we know that the end the of the age truly is upon us and that Jesus is coming soon.