[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World whiteboard.]
Are We in the End-Times?
People have cried wolf about the end of the world for hundreds of years. But false alarms don’t mean it will never happen. In fact, the Bible gives specific and objective signs describing the end of the world that would be evident to anyone who’s heard them and can look at the world around them.
And they were described thousands of years before they happened.
Sign 1: The Transportation Revolution (Daniel 12:4)
Now, we’re talking about seven specific signs that have begun showing themselves in the last 80 years, starting with the transportation explosion.
Bible prophecy revealed over 2,500 years ago that in the end-time, people would be rushing around the world faster than ever before.
God told the prophet Daniel:
Keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there... (New Living Translation, Daniel 12:4).
Now we’re going to stop here in the middle of the verse, because it gets into the next sign we’ll discuss in this video. But for now, we’ll focus in on how “many will rush here and there.”
Other translations say:
- “Many will roam about” (HCSB)
- They “shall run to and fro” (English Standard Version)
- And they will “be running back and forth" (NRS)
Think about it—has there ever been a period in history where billions of people could travel practically anywhere in the world within hours?
Global transportation has exploded in the last several decades.
In the US alone, the Federal Aviation Administration handles 45,000 flights EVERY DAY—with 2.9 million passengers flying in and out of US airports daily.
For thousands of years, people relied on horseback, walking, or primitive ships. But today, billions constantly rush around in cars, trucks, buses, airplanes, bullet trains, railway systems, and ships.
And we’re beginning to see space tourism with all-civilian crews aboard recreational space flights.
The unprecedented speed and frequency of global travel shows that this prophecy in Daniel fits the time in which we are now living, a time unlike any other.
Sign 2: “Knowledge Shall Increase” (Daniel 12:4)
The fact that many running to and fro was a notable enough characteristic of the end-time for this verse to call it out is interesting enough, but now let’s pick up where we left off and consider our next sign: the knowledge explosion.
Getting back to Daniel 12:4, it says:
Many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase (NLT, Daniel 12:4).
In the 1970s, our world moved from the Industrial Revolution into the “Information Age” or the “Digital Age,” and the amount of knowledge, or information, has exploded exponentially since then
In 1982, the “Knowledge Doubling Curve" was developed. It estimated that before 1900, human knowledge doubled every 100 years. But by the end of World War II, that rate had increased and knowledge was doubling approximately every 25 years.
IBM then predicted that by 2020, human knowledge would double every 12 hours (though these estimates vary widely from 12 hours to 12 months).
Regardless, with quantum computing and artificial intelligence exploding on the scene in the last couple of years, the increase of knowledge will grow beyond what we could ever have imagined.
By 2025, the global volume of data [was] projected to rise… to 181 zettabytes…. To put it in perspective, a zettabyte equals 1 sextillion bytes (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes), or the equivalent of storing 250 billion DVDs… [with] approximately 90% of the world’s data [having] been generated within the past two years (“How much data is in the world?”, Rivery.io, 2024).
Sign 3: POSSIBILITY of Omnicide (Matthew 24:22)
But with all this incredible knowledge, mankind has not been able to find world peace, which brings us to our next sign called out by Scripture: the threat of total human annihilation.
When Jesus was asked by His disciples, “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:1), His answer included a description of end-time events and the conditions of the last days.
When explaining what would happen before He returns, He gave a revealing detail that could be easily be overlooked. He said “there will be great tribulation... And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved” (Matthew 24:21-22).
In other words, in the last days, humanity would have within its grasp the power to bring such destruction and devastation that not a single human being would survive if God didn’t intervene to stop it.
This was not possible—and nearly unimaginable—until the invention of the atomic bomb in 1945.
Now, only 80 years later, there are approximately 12,100 nuclear warheads worldwide.
And a single modern nuclear warhead could lay an entire city waste, potentially killing millions, and the combined arsenal has the capacity to destroy human civilization many times over.
The exploration of antimatter weapons, the engineering of pathogens, the pursuit of AI-controlled autonomous weapons, and the use of laser systems all now contribute to an even deadlier and more destructive age in which mankind can easily wipe himself off the face of the earth.
We are without doubt living at a time when Jesus’ subtle detail, “no flesh would be saved,” has become a real possibility. But this is not the only subtle detail in Scripture that paints a picture of the last days.
Sign 4: Real-Time Communication (Revelation 11)
Our fourth sign of the advent of mass communication could easily be overlooked without a careful read of one passage in Revelation 11, where John describes a vision of two witnesses who will prophesy at the end of the age. When they’ve finished declaring God's warning message to the world, they will be killed—and it says:
Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city [that is, Jerusalem).... Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another... (Revelation 11:8–10).
But how could the entire world see an event happening in one city?
For thousands of years that wasn’t possible. It wasn’t even really practical 40 years ago.
In fact, in 1990, only 0.25% of the world's population had a cellphone and 0.05% were using the Internet.
Now, less than four decades later, worldwide 78 percent of the population aged ten and over own a mobile phone and 67 percent use the internet.
It was only with the development of information and communication technologies such as satellites, computers, cell phones, and the Internet, that the world could simultaneously watch live events almost instantly.
Sign 5: Global Banking and eCommerce (Revelation 13)
And it was only after mass communication was developed that our next sign from Scripture, of globalized banking and control of commerce, could even be possible.
Revelation 13:17 warned of a time when:
No one may buy or sell except one who has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
At the end of the age, a global power bloc will control much of the world’s commerce. While we don’t see this happening yet, societal trends align with this prophecy. We are now seeing a rapid shift towards a cashless, digitally controlled economy, potentially setting the stage for the scenario described in Revelation.
The decline of cash is happening around the world. Consumers now rely more heavily on credit and debit cards, digital wallets, mobile payment apps, and prepaid cards for their transactions.
Digital wallets are the most popular and the fastest-growing payment method globally... In 2023, they accounted for 50% of global e-commerce [spend] and 30% of [global] point-of-sale spend (“Worldpay Global Payments Report 2024: Digital Wallet Maturity Ushers in a Golden Age of Payments,” Worldpay.Globalpaymentsreport.com/en).
In Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Norway, over 90% of point-of-sale (POS) transactions are now cashless and cash is so uncommon that many businesses no longer accept it (“Are we living in a cashless society?”, Stripe.com).
And most people are now choosing online banking over traditional methods.
According to American Bankers Association (ABA) research... 55% of bank customers now use apps on phones or other mobile devices… while 22% [use] laptops or PCs (“The Cashless Economy: Open Banking and Remote Payments in 2025,” ecommercetimes.com).
That’s approximately 77% using online banking.
Ecommerce is steadily growing as well.
Global retail ecommerce sales are projected to grow by 39% over the coming years, surpassing $8 trillion by 2027.
Considering these trends in recent years alone, it’s not difficult to see how a future geopolitical superpower could control a centralized, global online banking system and online marketplaces having control over who can buy and sell.
Sign 6: Scoffers and Mockers (2 Peter 3:3)
Now, just like travelling, knowledge growth, and mass communication are not evil, neither is online banking and ecommerce. However, the last two points have directly to do with the objective increase of evil in the world, with sign number six being scoffers and mockers, which is actually tied deeply into the seventh sign, which we’ll get to shortly.
But what do we mean by scoffers and mockers?
Peter was inspired to write:
Scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:3–4).
Today public figures, celebrities, and the media proudly mock Christianity. High-profile comedians and talk show hosts frequently ridicule biblical teachings on morality, and sin, and salvation. From halftime shows to music videos to Superbowl commercials, there is no shortage of disrespect towards God.
Just think back to the 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony. That abominable depiction of the Passover serves as a prominent example of how religious mockery has entered mainstream events on the world stage.
Even more recently, the host of 2025 Golden Globes Awards in Beverly Hills, drew plenty of laughs mocking God as she joked that none of the evening’s winners thanked Him for their successes.
And that paled in comparison to one performance of the 2023 Grammy Awards when the hit song “Unholy,” was sung by two trans performers dressed in devil's horns and occult aesthetics promoting satanic symbolism.
The ongoing rise of satanic themes in mainstream music, such as performances featuring pentagrams, devil costumes, and overtly anti-Christian lyrics, has become noticeably popular.
And the use of God’s name in vain has skyrocketed in entertainment.
A 2020 study by Parents Television Council “found that the frequency of profane language on prime-time television had significantly increased compared to previous decades. Many movies and TV shows casually use the names of God and Jesus Christ as expletives.”
And on top of all of this, social media platforms are filled with memes and posts openly ridiculing Christian beliefs, from making fun of prayer to distorting biblical teachings.
We’re living in a time when many openly mock and scoff at God, the Bible, and its teachings. So many today publicly disrespect Christianity and laugh at the very idea that Jesus Christ will return to earth with power to stop such blasphemy and idolatry.
Sign 7: Immorality as in the Days of Noah (Luke 16:26)
But as we mentioned, this is because of the seventh sign, and that is an increasingly debased and immoral society.
Going back to Matthew 24, when Jesus was describing the state of the world at the end of the age, He said:
Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12).
The world will become a very cold and dark place spiritually before the end of the age.
Consider the world we live in, while we read the Apostle Paul’s words about the end-time. He said:
In the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away (2 Timothy 3:1–5)!
Now, there are two overarching categories of wickedness at the end of the age based on Jesus’ warnings.
- The first is widespread corruption and violence.
Jesus said:
As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be (Matthew 24:37).
When we read about the days of Noah in Genesis we find that:
The wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5).
We’re told:
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence (Genesis 6:11).
People were brutal, cruel, and bloodthirsty. They were dishonest, shady, and crooked. It was an evil time, so God brought sudden judgment to cleanse the earth. This is similar to God's end-time judgment on the world before Jesus returns, so we could expect the conditions at the end of the age to be similar to those in the time of Noah.
Now let’s consider a few relatively recent reports on how much violence is in our world. Euronews reported:
Political violence increased by 25% globally in 2024 compared to 2023, with one in eight people exposed to conflict.
According to the Global Terrorism Database, 651 attacks were recorded in 1970. But in 2020, there were over 8,400 attacks (Global Terrorism Index).
In the U.S. mass shootings were almost nonexistent 50 years ago. Now we are seeing an average of over 600 mass shootings per year since 2020.
Reports from the United Nations reveal 1 in 3 women and girls experience physical or sexual violence during their lifetime.
And child trafficking, “one of the worst forms of violence against children. …generates 39 billion USD… annually at the expense of millions of innocents.”
Which ties into the second major category of wickedness that Jesus said would be prevalent at the end of the age, and that is:
- Rampant sexual immorality
Jesus compared His Second Coming to the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. He said:
On the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17:29–30).
Because of Sodom and Gomorrah’s grossly immoral and perverse behavior, God essentially wiped them off the face of the earth. What God did then will be similar to His end-time judgment on the world because of its rebellious and sinful behavior (2 Peter 2:6, Jude 7).
The story of Lot leaving Sodom is found in Genesis chapter 19. We won't go through the details, but it is pretty well known that the gross immorality spoken of pertains to twisted sexual desires of a homosexual nature.
We see the same trend in the world today.
One of the biggest social issues of our modern age is the debate over LGBTQ+ and transgender rights. The gay and trans movements have swept the globe in only the past few decades.
- In the year 2000, not a single country in the world had legalized same-sex marriage (“Same Sex Marriage Around the World”, Pew Research Center). The first country to do so was the Netherlands in 2001. Now, only 24 years later, 38 countries recognize same-sex marriage.
- A 2023 survey found that approximately 3% of respondents worldwide identified as another gender outside the traditional male-female binary (Statista.com). That’s around 240 million people!
- Abominable programs like Drag Queen Story Hour did not exist a few decades ago but are now promoted and praised.
- In the U.S., the percentage of adults identifying as LGBTQIA+ has more than doubled in about a decade (from 3.5% in 2012 to 7.6% in 2023) (“Americans’ Self-Identification as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Something Other than Heterosexual, 2012–2023”, Gallup Poll).
This increase is particularly pronounced among younger generations.
Even besides the gay and trans movements, sexual immorality permeates society.
Besides this, even more can be said about the normalization of pre-marital sex, the staggering number of sexually transmitted infections each year, the high rates of divorce due to infidelity, and the ever-present nature of sexually explicit content in films, television shows, commercials, ads, magazines and more.
We’re living in a world that accepts and glorifies immoral sexual behavior of all forms.
And ultimately, humanity is not becoming increasingly moral and peaceful. Instead, the opposite is true.
The wickedness of man [is] great in the earth... [and it’s] filled with violence (Genesis 6:5–6).
Thankfully, Scripture provides these seven signs, among others, so that those with eyes to see and ears to hear, can be aware of where we are in Bible prophecy.
Jesus’ return will come as a thief in the night to those who ignore these signs, but as the Apostle Paul said, we do not need to be “in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:4).
And if you’re interested in a timeline of end-time events based on Scripture, watch this next video. You’ll be glad you did.
