AS EVENTS UNFOLD IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM AD, is our planet on the threshold of a brave New World Order, with peace and plenty for all, or are we tottering on the brink of unparalleled chaos and disaster?—Or both?

This book provides answers that will prepare you for what’s ahead.

Biblical prophets foretold many things that concern today’s world. Within the pages of this book we will examine specific predictions and prophecies—two to three thousand years old—which accurately depict conditions and events that have taken place, or are soon to take place—quite possibly during our lifetime.

Among the prophecies we will be looking at are ancient predictions describing our modern rapid transportation systems, today’s unprecedented increase in world travel, as well as the contemporary explosion in knowledge of all kinds. Other technological advances, such as electronic banking, as well as a soon-to-be-implemented global financial system, were likewise predicted with uncanny accuracy.

The effects of climate change and outbreaks of lethal epidemics were also foretold.

Awareness of the predictions covered in this book will give you a new perspective on the radical transformation the world is currently undergoing, as well as prepare you for the cataclysmic changes to come.

The Big Question

Throughout the ages a number of great religious teachers and seers have received special insight into the future. A discourse that is regarded by many as the most profound and detailed of its kind was given 2,000 years ago on a hillside just outside the ancient city of Jerusalem. There, a small band of truth-seekers gathered around their teacher, a carpenter-turned-preacher, known as Jesus of Nazareth. The question they asked Him prompted a response that spanned the centuries and then zeroed in on the days in which we are now living:

“As He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’”

Matthew 24:3

What His followers were asking Him about is often referred to as the “Second Coming,” the dramatic return of Christ prior to His takeover of the world and the establishing of the kingdom of God on Earth. The term “the end of the age” is used here not to signify the end of the planet, but the end of the unjust and inhumane reign of man.

Jesus answered their question by not just pointing out one sign that would indicate when “the end” would be near, but He gave many specific indicators to be on the lookout for. Outstanding predictions by a number of other biblical writers help fill in the picture. It is these prophesied “signs” that we will now focus on.

The Even Bigger Answers

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. … For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

Jesus, Matthew 24:6–8

“Sorrows” is the English translation of the Greek word wdi/nwn [transliterated as odin] that appears in the original text of Matthew’s Gospel. This word more commonly means birth pangs, the painful muscle contractions that a pregnant woman experiences during labor and subsequent childbirth.

The world has experienced these birth pangs of wars, famines, plagues, and earthquakes for millennia. The apostle Paul noted: “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Romans 8:22). But labor only goes on for a limited amount of time.

The birth of the “baby,” which in this case is Jesus’ return and the end of this age, is not going to wait forever. Let’s examine how these birth pangs have progressed in recent years.