Episode 55 continues the series on the “end times.” This podcast examines present troubling conditions in our world in an attempt to answer the question, “How close are we to the end times?”

 

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36. The Time of the End–Part 3 (Ep. 55)

How Close Are We to the End Times?

July 2025

The time of the end. Throughout the Bible we find many references to a time of tribulation which the prophet Daniel described as “the time of the end” (Dan 11:40). There are many other names by which the Bible signifies and describes this time. These include “the latter days,” “the latter years,” “the day of the Lord,” “the day of God,” “the great day of God the almighty,” and “the day of wrath.” The many references to the end times by a variety of prophets throughout both the Old and the New Testaments tend to provide a high degree of certainty that this is a time that will surely come to pass. The dire nature and significance of this time was succinctly characterized by Daniel as “a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time” (Dan 12:1).

How close are we to the end times? If we believe these end times prophecies the question naturally arises, When will this be? How close are we to the events depicted by these prophecies?

Two important facts we know. In seeking to answer this question we may begin by noting two important facts that are relevant to this time. First, after a rebellion in 70 AD the Roman empire under Titus destroyed the Jewish nation and dispersed the Jews to foreignr lands. Thus, Israel ceased to exist as a separate nation. Since the end times prophecies are centered on Jerusalem and Israel this meant that for over 2000 years it was impossible for these prophecies to be fulfilled. However, all this changed in May 1948 when the nation of Israel came back into being. Since that time the fulfillment of the end times prophecies has become possible. The second thing we know is that the end times have yet to appear. It is clear that the many fearsome events of “the time of the end” have not yet come to pass. They loom somewhere in our future. But when will this be? Here we are in the dark.

What can we learn from present times? Perhaps the best way to approach this question is to understand the present times. Does the present condition of our world point to a settled and peaceful future or to an uncertain and threatening future? Peaceful and settled times point to a peaceful future while threatening times point to the possibility that we may be approaching the time of the end.

Two indicators that suggest the end times may be near at hand. A clear eyed and honest view of our present world does indicate that times are becoming ripe for the tyranny, conflict, war, and destruction that occur at the time of the end. Two of these indicators are the materialism and unsettledness of today’s world.

Materialism and mechanism. Presently we are living in the closing chapters of a materialistic age. This materialistic and mechanistic viewpoint was advanced by nineteenth century atheistic scientists and philosophers such as Darwin, Freud, and Marx. The spectacular advances of the physical science have fostered a deterministic outlook that leaves no room for free will and spiritual values. Their materialistic attitude that the only reality is the physical world still dominates the minds of unthinking men and women of modern times. Many live their lives exclusively on a physical plane and are motivated by purely materialistic ideas and values. This unbalanced viewpoint ignores or denies the reality of both mind and spirit. It engenders a self-centered and self-serving attitude that is bereft of unifying values such as love, service, forgiveness, peace, tolerance, and altruism. This materialistic philosophy leads to animosity, disintegration, conflict, and war.

The mistake of an exclusive materialism. But this belief that physical energy is the only reality is merely a passing phase in human philosophy. It is true that God created the material world, and it is governed by deterministic laws. However, He also created a higher world of spiritual ideas, ideals, and values. In this transcendent world of mind and spirit we have the free will to make moral and spiritual choices and to govern our lives. This world of mind and spirit is above the world of energy-matter and can dominate and direct it. This spiritual world constantly injects spontaneity into the mechanism of the physical world. It is the function of wisdom to co-ordinate and harmonize and the findings of these two diverse realities in our life experience.

Unsettled world. This materialistic viewpoint fosters a great unsettledness in today’s (2025) world. On the international plane there are presently numerous actual and potential conflicts between nations that threaten world peace. A few of these include Russia vs Ukraine, Britain, France, Germany, the Baltic states, and other nations of the European Union vs Russia, Israel versus Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, the United States vs Russia, Iran, and the Houthis, North Korea vs South Korea, India vs Pakistan and China, and China vs Taiwan. The European Union itself faces growing dissent from various member states such as Hungary and Slovakia and is seriously threatened with dissolution.

Within nation-states. Within nations and national groupings there are also many conflicting forces that threaten division. In the US there is much animosity and division between various groupings such as rural vs urban, religious vs secular, and seekers of individual freedom vs advocates of government regulation and control. In European countries there is great internal division between the established leadership and various populist fronts. This is true in major countries such as Britain, France, and Germany and in smaller countries such as the Netherlands and Rumania.

Individual plane. On the individual plane there is also great unsettledness. We live in a time when individuals must endure the constant economic upheavals, moral cross currents, and sociologic riptides of an ever-changing world. Many have become humanely dislocated. They are anxious, restless, fearful, uncertain, and unsettled. And all of this unsettledness on the international, national, and individual planes provides fertile ground for the antichrist conqueror, whose rise to power initiates the end times.

Summary. In summary, Israel ceased to exist in 70 AD and came back into being in 1948. During this time the fulfillment of the end times prophecies was impossible. However, since that date the actuality of the events of the time of the end has become possible and lurks somewhere in our future. When this will be we do not know. What we can know is the present condition of our world. We may ask, do present conditions point to a peaceful future or do they suggest that the world is headed for troublous times? Two present day phenomena, materialism and international unsettledness, suggest the latter. They indicate the world is becoming ripe for the wars and destruction of the end times. And these are only two of the negative and threatening conditions of our present-day world. There are other more serious conditions. They will be discussed in the next podcast.

 

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