When Will the End Come?

2012 was a year of dramatic predictions that failed!  On December 21, expectations based on the Mayan calendar that the world would end were dashed when that prediction failed. One source stated,  “Apparently, doomsday theorists have been prepping for a fiery comet hitting the earth, ice storms destroying our power grids and other heinous catastrophes in vain” (emphasis ours) (ABC Action News, December 21, 2012).

California preacher Harold Camping apologized for his failed predictions of Christ’s return and the destruction of the world on May 21 and October 21, 2011.  He announced, “We have learned the very painful lesson that all of creation is in God’s hands and He will end time in His time, not ours... We humbly recognize that God may not tell His people the date when Christ will return” (Christian Post, March 6, 2012). 

Many today are attracted by dramatic speculations, but our biblically illiterate societies overlook plain words of Scripture.  The Bible clearly states that God has a plan that He is working out and that God alone declares “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:8-11).  Jesus told His disciples to “watch and pray” and be ready for His return.  However, He warned, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32).

The Bible is very clear that human beings cannot predict the date of the end of the age, though we can watch for signs that Jesus said will occur just before His return.  For more information on that vital subject, see our booklet Fourteen Signs Announcing Christ’s Return.