Are we really living in the end times?

Personally, I think if you read Matthew 24 and see the list of the birthpains (which are basically signs before the end- not related to that which will happen during the Great Tribulation) so many of them are happening in the world today that it does give me pause. If you think about it this way: that each day we are closer to the last day, then it seems to me we are living in the end times.

Here’s how it would work (roughly) if 1/3 died each year, if we start with 6 billion people.

Next year there would be 4 billion. In 2 years there would be 2.6 billion. In 3 years there would be ~1.8 billion. In 4 years there would be 1.2 billion. In 5 years there would be 800 million. …then 660 million …~ 400 million …~2.6 million…~1.8 million…~1.2 million…~800 thousand

In 11 years, there would be less than 1 million people on the entire earth if 1/3 died each year.

When Jesus left the Earth He promised to return and from that time until this people have looked for His coming.

I’m not one to believe that there are actual signs that we can see as much as knowing the current cultural environment and comparing it to what I believe the tribulation will be like.

For those into science - Pollution, Ozone layer, chemical warfare, ice caps melting, human genetics, disease etc. I googled it

Thanks for the clarification. I do not think we are in the “end times.” I have confidence that science will continue to find ways to improve our quality of life and our environmental conditions. I think we can find ways to feed the world’s population and cure disease. War is a very present threat but I am hopeful that we can learn to find better ways to deal with our problems as science ascends and religious/tribal warfare decreases.

Scientists think the Sun is about 5 billion years old and is at the mid point in its life. In a few billion years the Sun will become a red giant and will swell to the point where it engulfs mercury, venus, and earth. That would obviously be the end of the line for life on earth. If our descendents are still around than hopefully they will have escaped to a younger star system by then, watching the Sun’s death throws from a safe distance..

As far as near term catastrophies I don’t see any that I expect to wipe out all of the human race. Polution and global warming could make large portions of the earth uninhabital but as long as we can survive someplace we will go on as a species. We are the only species in the world that can use technology to ensure our survival in adverse conditions.

the world does not come to an end if you read revelations, it talks of a new earth, but it doesn’t say anywhere where it ends. it will be changed but not different. according to the word, nothing else needs to happen until the abomination of desolation happens. believers will leave before the calamity starts and then there will be 3 years of peace, then midway the anticrist will rise up and cause a world war against Israel and then He will come back battle with the beast and set up His kingdom. that to me doesn’t speak of the world ending. reality we cannot sustain life the way we are going. pollution and the richer becoming richer is not exactly conducive to progress from a natural stand point. We are slowly working our way into an end of the way we know it but not the end of the world.

No. The “end times” will only occur if the universe/time is finite. If it is going to expand infinitely then there will be no end times.

If you mean “end times” for the earth and mankind, then the answer is still No unless:

1. The earth is hit by a meteor which wipes out all intelligent life before man has expanded out into the universe, or

2. Five billion years come to pass in which man has failed to evolve out to the stars whilst the earth is absorbed by the dying expansion of the Sun.

If you mean the “end times” for Spirits of man, then I think the answer is still No. The “end times” would apply to the individual Spirit and might apply when that Spirit chose to reunite into the Oneness of God. But, that would encompass the Spirit becoming One with God in a permanence outside of time which excludes “end times”.    

I choose

I chose to be born, – to live or die, Even the sex, that would be I; I chose the race, from which to appear, Also my wealth, my health and my fear.

I chose my trials and stumbling blocks, And the legs I would use, in all of those walks; I chose my sadness, my joy and my love, I chose to serve and not be above.

I chose this life – with all of its dues, And with each dawn, again I choose; The experiences for me that wait ahead, To be alive, or be claimed dead.

And of the future lives I’ve yet, It is my choice that I begat; All the things, however pleasin’, That shall befall me in those seasons.

From my chosen path I stray, Yet my God any’er turns away; For I have learned – and understand, That where God is – is where I am!

There’s only 6 billion people on earth; I’m pretty sure it’s not possible for a third of them to die each year without us noticing.

But, hang on, how does the birth rate affect that? Wow, I wish I could do maths…

Thank you, arachnid. So it would take major disaster, not the normal misery. Sorry that I can’t do numbers…

Well, if a third of the population was dying each year, few people would live past, say, 10. So no, even with the birth rate it’s not realistic.

yes in the bible many things were stated like a war between israel and someone else will happen and it is happening but no need to freak

Well, what are the figures for people dying every year? It seems possible to me (not to approve the headline, rather to question its relevance) that this many people probably die of starvation, war and lack of medical care every year anyway. But I’m bad at numbers, so what does anyone else think?

I’m not sure but, my dad is a paster and he always tells me are so I guess I’ve always thouht that myself!! so what do you think?

Could you please clarify for those of us who are “into science”? What do they say will happen? I missed it…

shreck, when 2 billion people DON’T die in 2008, will you realize that the end-times predictions are nonsense, or will you just reset the clock to a later date, as the prophets of doom have been doing for thousands of years?

What that rag is doing is the same approach used by people who claim the Qu’ran predicts world events or that Nostradamus did; read the news and see if there’s anything it sort of sounds like in the Bible. You could use this same approach with Tom Sawyer to point out its amazing prophetic power.

We are not in the end times, but there are way too many humans for earth to support with a modern lifestyle. I think the problem will correct itself, in that resource prices will rise and the cost of having children will become more apparent.

Population growth in the west is already negative, which is a good thing in regards to the long term for humanity, but it’s not going to be fun for those of us who had hoped to retire with help from programs like SS.

Global warming has the potential to cause a lot of suffering, but the earth will recover. As CO2 increases and the temperature rises, plants will thrive and take carbon back out of the atmosphere until things stabilize again.

I can talk forever about the little bit I know about what I call the ‘endtimes’ … … there is a christian magazine called Endtime magazine and one of it’s latest issues is calld “2 Billion Will Die In 2008” or something like that … the title is oviously an attention grabber but the material is the direct word of God matched against recient events. …

                  ... IF YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT FINDING OUT ABOUT THE 'ENDTIMES' CHECK OUT THIS LINK ...          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OodIvsGwvc4   watch all the parts if you need more convincing

Predictions of “end times” are just like people claiming Nostradamus’ prophecies have been fulfilled by certain events: If you take any sufficiently vauge prediction, you will be able to find a set of events that appear to match it.

“If you think about it this way: that each day we are closer to the last day, then it seems to me we are living in the end times.”

…in that case, we have been living in “the end times” ever since that prediction was made.