A List of Thirty-five Signs Altogether
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-five major signs in five categories, all thirty-five 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.
Prosperity of the church
1. The gospel has reached the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).
2. Christianity has become the leading world religion (Matt. 13:31-32).
3. There has been a second period of rapid expansion in the church throughout the world, and the expansion has ceased (James 5:7-9).
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).
Rebirth of Israel and other ancient nations
6. Many Jews have returned to Palestine (Isa. 11:11).
7. A Jewish state has been established (Zech. 12:5-6).
8. The Jews have regained possession of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24).
9. Egypt and Syria have reemerged as autonomous states (Dan. 11:40).
Globalization
10. The amount of travel both regional and global has exploded (Dan. 12:4).
11. Especially in the realms of science and history, knowledge has greatly increased (Dan. 12:4).
12. Since the founding of the United Nations, there now exists a world government (Rev. 13:7).
13. For some years after the founding of the United Nations, the world was divided into two opposing political blocs (Dan. 2:41).
14. Almost all of the world's nations now belong to one of nine regional associations (Dan. 2:42).
15. More children today than ever before have mixed parentage (Dan. 2:43).
16. A homogenized global culture is supplanting traditional cultures with a regional base (Dan. 2:43).
17. Interethnic and interreligious conflict persists and, in many places, is intensifying (Dan. 2:43).
18. The pope has emerged as a strong advocate of powerful world government (Rev. 13:1-12).
19. 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).
20. The people of the world are connected by global telecommunications (Matt. 24:15-21; Rev. 11:3-12).
Apostasy in the church
21. Throughout Christendom, faith in the Bible has been replaced by the modern world view, combining skepticism and uniformitarian evolutionism (2 Pet. 3:3-6).
22. Corruption has infiltrated the whole church, causing a nearly universal departure from orthodoxy to heterodoxy and from holiness to worldliness (Matt. 13:33).
23. In both the modernist and tongues-speaking movements, many false Christs have emerged and deceived many (Matt. 24:5).
24. Within the churches, people of godly character are becoming rare (2 Tim. 3:1-5).
25. A few retain a pure religion (Rev. 3:7-13).
26. Western society has been secularized (Rom. 1:28-32).
27. People in general throughout the world are ignorant of the Bible and of impending judgment (Matt.24:39).
28. Watchfulness for Christ's return has sharply declined (Matt. 24: 44).
Corruption in society
29. Modern society is obsessed with eating and drinking (Matt. 24:38).
30. Drunkenness and drug abuse are on the rise (Luke 21:34).
31. Modern society is obsessed with pursuit of sexually intimate relationships (Matt. 24:38).
32. Violence of all kinds has risen to unprecedented levels during recent history (Matt. 24:37; Gen.6:11).
33. In the last fifty years, there has been unprecedented news coverage of war and unprecedented fear of war (Matt. 24:6).
34. The practice of homosexuality has become commonplace and socially acceptable (Luke 17:28-29; Rom. 1:26-27).
35. Interest in the occult has exploded (Matt. 24:37; Gen. 6:4-5).
Two historical periods
We saw in earlier lessons that many signs appeared to the church during the early centuries. And in this lesson we have seen that since 1800, signs have appeared again, and that they have become especially numerous in just the last fifty years. It is curious that signs are missing from history between about A.D. 400 and A.D. 1800. So, in these long middle centuries there are no prophecies fulfilled and no signs of the times, whereas at the beginning of the church history there was a cluster of signs, and again in our time there has been a cluster of signs.
Why? Because the early centuries and the latter centuries have been the two times of great expansion for the church. In its infancy the church spread like wildfire despite fierce opposition by the Roman government. Countless believers were martyred, yet the church thrived. The modern era has been the period of extraordinary missionary enterprise, taking the gospel to all nations. For the first time in history, the church has carried out Jesus' command to spread the gospel to the uttermost part of the earth.
Signs have been abundant during these times of expansion because the Lord knew that a sense of His imminent return stimulates the church to greater zeal and activity. The consciousness that Christ is coming soon is a great motivator to get busy in the Lord's work. The tremendous growth in the early centuries and again in the last two centuries was in part a response to signs of the times.