Do you think the world is going to end soon?

Could this question have come from a student who is hoping the end of the world is coming before his/her final exams (just joking)? In fact, our Lord Jesus made it quite clear that anyone who says they know or have calculated when the world is going end is lying – no one knows. But the Bible does give us lots of clues on how to recognise that the end of the world is near. You can find these clues in passages such as Matthew ch.24; Matthew 13:36-43; 2 Thessalonians 1:7 to 2:17 and many parts of the Book of Revelation.

A survey of these passages shows that many of the signs of the end have either happened or are continuing to happen. This includes things like earthquakes and famines, the love of people growing cold, false prophets etc. however, there are a number of things that have not yet happened. For example, no Antichrist has yet declared himself, or done wonders to deceive people, or set up his image in the temple of God in Jerusalem (the abomination of desolation). Many of the ancient fathers have also interpreted the Bible passages as indicating that the Temple of Jerusalem must be rebuilt before the world ends. It was destroyed in 70AD as Jesus had prophesied and there now stands a mosque in its place that would have to be removed before the temple could be rebuilt. Once rebuilt, it is believed, the Jews would try offering sacrifices to God once more. Realising that God no longer accepts these sacrifices, many of the Jews would turn to Christ and convert – the great conversion suggested by St Paul in Romans 11:25-27.

Of course, it is clear that none of this has happened yet. Yet every day that passes brings us one day closer to the end. How close are we? Some say that the world is becoming so “anti-God� that the end couldn’t be that far away. Others believe that there is still a lot of good left in people and the devil has much more preparation ahead of him before an Antichrist would be accepted by people. I suppose you must form your own opinion.

If you are deeply interested in these matters, there is a most interesting book by Fr Athanasius Iskander of Canada that brings together the teachings of the ancient fathers about the end of the world. It makes scary reading! You can contact Fr Athanasius by e-mail at

Having said all this, I will finish with two important warnings. Firstly, many of the exact details about the events before the end of the world are not known to us, we can only guess what many Bible passages mean, especially those like Revelation. So we should be prepared for the end at any time, just in case we’ve misread something. And secondly, the timing of the end of the world is not really as important as being ready for it! The end means judgement – something we will all have to face sooner or later. The end of the world for me will practically be when I die, for after that I have no chance to repent or change. We need to give a lot of thought to how we are living our lives and work towards making every day count, for you never know if it will be your last…

This Q&A was found on Archangel Michael & St Bishoy Coptic Orthodox Church : http://www.stbishoy.org.au/modules/smartfaq/faq.php?faqid=17