How is the world going to end? Hollywood productions provide us a plethora of possibilities. Invaders from space. enormous robots. Environmental calamity. nuclear conflict. and numerous additional nightmares. How will the world actually end, though?
Jesus will come back and judge everybody
One thing we are certain of is that [Jesus will return] and judge everyone, rewarding those who believe Him with eternal life and punishing those who do not (Matthew 25:31-46). But a very challenging time will come for the planet before that. This period is called a “great tribulation” by the Bible (Matthew 24:21). This “great tribulation,” what is it? How will it be like? When will it arrive?
A period of suffering
Jesus said that the great tribulation will be a period of suffering greater than any time in past world history (Matthew 24:21). There will be intense persecution of Christians (Matthew 24:21) and some people will falsely claim to be Jesus Christ or a prophet. But Jesus said to be wary of these phony Saviors and miracle workers (Matthew 7:22-23; 24:23-24). Jesus said, “So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:26-28). In other words, when Jesus comes again, He won’t do it secretly. In the same way that it is obvious to everybody when lightning flashes in the sky, Jesus’ return will be abundantly obvious to the whole world and no one will have to wonder if it is really Him.
Are we in the time of the great tribulation now?
But before Jesus comes there will be a “great tribulation.” Are we in the time of the great tribulation now? Throughout history, Christians in many generations felt sure that the world was so awful that surely Jesus would come back in their lifetime. But just because there are wars, plagues, and suffering, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the end is near. Jesus’s disciples asked Him when the end would come, and He told them “you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains” (Matthew 24:6-8).
No exact dates
Given the suffering in the world today, is it possible that the great tribulation has begun? Maybe. But maybe not. Jesus said that before the great tribulation there would be an “abomination of desolation” that would defile God’s holy place (Matthew 24:15-16). This prediction, along with his other warnings about this event described in Matthew 24, seem to describe the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple in the year AD 70. With that in mind, it may be that the period of the great tribulation started with the destruction of the temple in AD 70 and continues until Jesus returns, with an intensified period of suffering and persecution immediately before He returns. The Bible does not give a precise timeline for the great tribulation and it seems that God did not want to give exact dates (Matthew 24:36).
But that doesn’t affect what Christians are supposed to do, regardless of whether we are formally in the midst of “the great tribulation.” According to Matthew 24:14, Jesus desires that we share the good news of the kingdom “within the whole world as a testimony to all nations” and that we live obediently as followers of Christ, prepared for His eventual return (Matthew 24:44).
