30 SIGNS ALREADY FULFILLED

By Odon Bulamba (summary only -by Benedicte Bahjejian)

Besides the many signs that appeared to the church in antiquity, many more have emerged in the last two centuries, especially in the last fifty years. God has furnished these signs of the times to alert us that the Lord is at hand. He stands at the door, waiting to enter this world again. His return cannot be far off.

What exactly are these signs? There have been thirty major signs in five categories, all thirty resting upon Biblical prophecy. But besides these we could state other signs that rest on reason and logic. For example, the resources essential to sustain human civilization are being rapidly depleted.

1) Progress of the Truth
1. There has been a second period of rapid expansion in the church throughout the world, and the expansion has ceased (James 5:7-9).
2. The gospel has reached the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).
3. Christianity has become the leading world religion (Matt. 13:31-32).
4. Since 1800, believers have had a sense that the end is near (Heb. 10:25; Rev. 3:3).
5. The understanding of Biblical prophecy, including the writings of Daniel, has increased (Dan. 12:4).

2) Apostasy in the Church
6. Throughout Christendom, faith in the Bible has been replaced by the modern world view, combining skepticism and uniformitarian evolutionism (2 Pet. 3:3-6).
7. Corruption has infiltrated the whole church, causing a nearly universal departure from orthodoxy to heterodoxy and from holiness to worldliness (Matt. 13:33).
8. In both the modernist and tongues-speaking movements, many false Christs have emerged and deceived many (Matt. 24:5).
9. Within the churches, people of godly character are becoming rare (2 Tim. 3:1-5).
10. A few retain a pure religion (Rev. 3:7-13).
11. Western society has been secularized (Rom. 1:28-32).
12. People in general throughout the world are ignorant of the Bible and of impending judgment (Matt.24:39).
13. Watchfulness for Christ's return has sharply declined (Matt. 24: 44).

3) Corruption in Society
14. Modern society is obsessed with eating and drinking (Matt. 24:38).
15. Modern society is obsessed with marriage and giving in marriage (Matt. 24:38).
16. Violence of all kinds has risen to unprecedented levels during recent history (Matt. 24:37; Gen.6:11).
17. In the last fifty years, there has been unprecedented news coverage of war and unprecedented fear of war (Matt. 24:6).
18. The practice of homosexuality has become commonplace and socially acceptable (Luke17:28-29; Rom. 1:26-27).
19. Interest in the occult has exploded (Matt. 24:37; Gen. 6:4-5).

4) Globalization
20. Since the founding of the United Nations, there now exists a world government (Rev. 13:7).
21. For some years after the founding of the United Nations, the world was divided into two opposing political blocs (Dan. 2:41).
22. Almost all of the world's nations now belong to one of nine regional associations (Dan. 2:42).
23. More children today than ever before have mixed parentage (Dan. 2:43).
24. A homogenized global culture is supplanting traditional cultures with a regional base (Dan. 2:43).
25. Interethnic and interreligious conflict persists and, in many places, is intensifying (Dan. 2:43).
26. The world has acquired a heightened vulnerability to famines, pestilences, and earthquakes—the kind of disasters that will strike at the beginning of the Tribulation (Matt. 24:7).
5) Reemergence of Israel and Other Ancient Nations
27. Many Jews have returned to Palestine (Isa. 11:11).

28. A Jewish state has been established (Zech. 12:5-6).

29. The Jews have regained possession of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24).

30. Egypt and Syria have reemerged as autonomous states (Dan. 11:40).