Dear Roger and Brie,
It seems like the world is falling apart. I’m scared. My friends and I talk about what is happening to the global economy and I just get more scared. My house is worth less now than when I bought it. I feel stuck. I couldn’t sell it now even if I wanted to. The overwhelming changes in our nation, the upheaval of governments in the Middle East, faltering economies…What do you think is going to happen? Is this the end? Is the Book of Revelation being fulfilled now? Will things ever return to normal?
I know I am asking a lot of questions and you don’t have to answer them all but I would appreciate it if you’d share some thoughts on the current crises.
Thank you,
A Concerned Christian
Dear Concerned Christian,
This is Brie. I talked to my dad about the End Times constantly. He had a deep love for Revelation and the mysteries that God has given us to ponder. After the recent election, my head has been spinning with all of the changes in our nation. I won’t take a political stance–that’s not a role I will ever choose to fulfill. But I do feel very called to study what the Bible says about current events. I was doing some research in Dad’s (Roger’s) materials and found this “Ask Roger.” He wrote it back in 2016, but it’s just remarkable to see how much is relevant to where we are today. I hope you find it helpful–especially the practical actions to handle the world we live in. May God bless you with great wisdom and courage!
Roger:
Before I give you my thoughts, I am going to post a short few paragraphs from Paul Benware, from his book, Understanding End Times Prophecy:
“Matthew 24:5-8 gives us some important clues so we can discern the approach of the end times, “For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” An increase in false messiahs, an increase in warfare, and increases in famines, plagues, and natural disasters—these are signs of the end times. In this passage, though, we are given a warning: we are not to be deceived, because these events are only the beginning of birth pains; the end is still to come.
Some interpreters point to every earthquake, every political upheaval, and every war with Israel as a sure sign that the end times are rapidly approaching. While the events may signal the approach of the last days, they are not necessarily indicators that the end times have arrived. The apostle Paul warned that the last days would bring a marked increase in false teaching. “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). The last days are described as “perilous times” because of the increasingly evil character of man and people who actively “resist the truth” (2 Timothy 3:1-9; see also 2 Thessalonians 2:3).
Other possible signs would include a rebuilding of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, increased hostility towards Israel, and advances toward a one-world government. The most prominent sign of the end times, however, is the nation of Israel. In 1948, Israel was recognized as a sovereign state, essentially for the first time since A.D. 70. God promised Abraham that his posterity would have Canaan as “an everlasting possession” (Genesis 17:8), and Ezekiel prophesied a physical and spiritual resuscitation of Israel (Ezekiel chapter 37). Having Israel as a nation in its own land is important in light of end times prophecy because of Israel’s prominence in eschatology (Daniel 10:14; 11:41; Revelation 11:8).
With these signs in mind, we can be wise and discerning in regard to the expectation of the end times. We should not, however, interpret any of these singular events as a clear indication of the soon arrival of the end times. God has given us enough information that we can be prepared, and that is what we are called to be.”
(Roger, with several current events updates from Brie) Now for my own thoughts as well:
I never feel “hopeful” that things will ever return to normal. What is “normal” in this sinful world? Of course, I tend to be more of a pessimist than an optimist so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I am praying that circumstances will improve; but, our world’s economic crisis and political upheaval have been mounting for a long time and there may not be enough that anyone can do to stop it this time. I hesitate to begin guessing what the outcome of all this might be. I am no expert—there are thousands of economists, politicians, presidents, world leaders, and media pundits who can answer your questions better than I—maybe. Frankly, all of them have such different ideas that I don’t trust any of them. We will just have to wait and see.
No society or culture lasts forever. All eventually collapse—without exception.
Collapse by Jared Diamond (Penguin Books; New York, New York; 2006) details five factors which lead to the collapse of societies. Only one factor is needed to destroy any particular society. Our United States—and many other nations—are currently experiencing all five. Let me share his five factors to give us a little perspective on the current crises. Diamond’s studies of collapsed cultures include: the Easter Islands, Henderson and Henderson Islands; the Anaszis of Arizona; the Mayans of Central America, the Vikings of Iceland; and the Norse of Greenland.
The first collapse factor is environmental damage. These are damages that people inadvertently inflict on their environment. The people of Easter Island eventually cut down all of their trees. When the trees were gone the people were gone—most died of exposure and hunger. The lack of trees meant rampant erosion which carried away all the topsoil and agriculture was dramatically diminished. In our world today, insecticides, manufacturing waste products, overfishing, deforesting, the reduction in wet lands—just to mention a few—are beginning to have catastrophic results ranging from food crises in some areas to an increasing number of birth defects in others.
The second collapse factor is climate change. The earth’s climate is not static. No matter what the media would have you believe, it never has been. Present-day Iran and Iraq once flowed with milk and honey. Crops, gardens and game proliferated in the days when that climate received much more rainfall than it does today. After all, that area was once called the “Fertile Crescent”. But, the climate changed and those areas are now bare deserts. The sun gets hotter and cooler over time. The wobbling of the earth’s axis results in Ice Ages like the one 14,000 years ago that carved out the Great Lakes and covered Europe all the way to Spain. Ice Ages occur on the average every 11,000 years. We are due for another. Today, refrigerator fluorocarbons and fossil fuels are bringing with them colossal environmental damage. The resulting global greenhouse is increasing temperatures which cannot be reversed. I see a day, far in the future, when our greenhouse will rival Venus’ greenhouse which has a surface temperature of 850 degrees Fahrenheit.
The third collapse factor is hostile neighbors. Many societies can hold off the enemy for only so long. As collapse factors come into play, a society is often weakened to the point that they fall to the enemy. The Roman Empire lasted for centuries; but, eventually it succumbed to continued attacks by the barbarian hordes. Today, many hostile enemies of the USA are in the Middle East. Dictators, crazed terrorists, and Islamic extremists are dedicated to our destruction. At times they hold us hostage with their oil. At others, they deliberately attack our allies–consider the October 7 attack against Israel. We feel it is our responsibility to being peace and democracy to the region, so we spend billions of dollars on our military to fight and police in the Middle East. Military expenditures are sucking our economy dry–perhaps our government is now in a position to change that, and perhaps not. By the way, the rancorous relationships we now have with Mexico and Canada may soon create hostile neighbors on our southern and northern borders.
The fourth collapse factor is decreased support by friendly neighbors. Every society has friends with whom they trade for the products they need. In return, they trade their own surpluses to furnish the products that their friend nations need. Sometimes enemies are friends—like the oil we trade for with our cash to the oil-rich Middle East. By the way, Middle Eastern oil reserves are projected to last only until 2040 at which point the Middle Eastern nations may well become irrelevant on the world political scene. Of course, their oil demise will have adverse affects for us. Another example of decreased support is our “friend” China who has been sucking us dry economically. Our trade deficit with them is enormous. We buy lots of their stuff; they buy very little of ours. Right now, our president is seeking to create tariffs to mitigate the deficit, but what happens with those changes remains to be seen. It is clear that these tariffs will not win friends, though they may help the U.S. economically in the long run.
The fifth collapse factor is how a society responds to the other four factors. Most societies respond poorly leading to the dreaded collapse. However, some, like the Icelanders who denuded their forests, eroded away their farmlands and overgrazed their animals have turned their impending collapse around. By mutual planning and cooperation, they are recovering their lost natural resources. I often feel that no one knows what to do to stave off these factors in our society, much less how to fix them. For example, in one area, we are now in a vicious circle that to fix our economy, we need people to spend lavishly when they are trying to hoard every cent—thus leading us further down the road to collapse.
What does this mean for all of us? I don’t know. Of course, no one knows, except our Creator. I am sure He is grieving for His world today just as He grieved in Genesis six over the sinfulness of mankind. I can think of many possible scenarios. Let me mention just a few.
First, deep economic misery will likely be our future until the country stabilizes both domestically and internationally. This will probably take 10 to 15 years. Second, inflation may continue to make our money increasingly worthless. We have several tools to help control inflation, but our government may and may not bring them to bear. Third, on the other hand, runaway deflation might occur resulting in our assets become increasingly worthless. Deflation will have unbelievable negative consequences. We have no tools to control deflation.
Watch which nations handle the various collapse factors well over the next several years. China is becoming the world power most predicted—but too much purchasing of our debt and too many political problems stymie a unified response to their issues (although in its favor, China has made South America its own for the taking with its multiple trade agreements there). India has surprised us all. From my perspective they may well be preparing best for the future world. The are responding to the current leveling of all nations as second and third world nations move up the scale and first world nations move down the scale of influence and stability. India, for example has a goal of educating all of its people while the US is becoming less and less literate every day. This places them in an enviable position for the future.
My favorite scenario is for the Second Coming of Christ. I am ready for the Rapture!
What are some of the spiritual implications for today? I can think of several.
First of all, practice good biblical economics. God has not left us in the dark about the Biblical principles that He recommends. First, we give our tithes and offerings of 10%+ to the Kingdom (usually through our local church). Second, we pay taxes to the government. Third, we make more money than we spend. Fourth, we stay out of debt for depreciating items. Finally, we lay aside about 10% to 20% of our income for future needs (like for a refrigerator or car or college for the children or retirement).
Second of all, pray for mercy for our nation and world. In 2 Chronicles 7:13-14, God revealed that He is behind the disasters overcoming the nation of Israel. He also revealed His plan for overcoming the disasters: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Third of all, watch the signs unveiled in the Book of Revelation and pray for the return of Jesus to establish His kingdom on earth. These signs include—among many others—an increasing global temperature; the destruction of seafood in the oceans; an attempt at a worldwide government to deal with the crises of the End Times; a double invasion of “Rosh from the North” (Russia?) and a horde of “200 million soldiers” from the East into the Middle East; Palestine, Israel, and Lebanon; and finally, a nuclear holocaust in Israel. By the way, God has promised a crown for all of us who “love and look forward to the second coming of Christ.”
Finally of all, make a difference in the world. People are more ready to look to Christ and the gospel than ever. The internet has covered the world so that all can hear the Gospel. Even in the most primitive areas, we are seeing miracles and revival. CRU, (Originally named Campus Crusade for Christ), reported that across Africa, Christian women are trained to carry projectors, generators, fuel, and the “Jesus Films” as they walk all over their country in order to evangelize. According to Tom Terry from the Jesus Film Project, Campus Crusade (CRU) recorded 767 million views of the Jesus Film in 2023 and 208 million television broadcasts around the world in 2024. Times of crisis like persecution, tsunamis, disease and financial loss mean times of opportunity to advance the Kingdom!
Well, Concerned Christian, everyone is wondering about this subject so I am glad you asked your question. Please feel free to search Preach It, Teach It for more details and information about the End Times.
Love,
Roger (and Brie)