The signs continue being revealed to us in our day. After God revealed to Daniel the very end events that would hit the world, He made this statement –
Sign 16: Knowledge would increase
“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” – Dan. 12:4
Just as it was promised to Daniel, knowledge has indeed been increased. More books are published every year than can be read in a lifetime. In the USA alone $25.7 billion dollars are spent on books. That does not include the $1.3 billion spent on audio books or the $191 million spent on E-books each year.
People certainly “run to-and-fro” today. Travel that used to take months, even years, is now done in mere hours. The airplane has done wonders for travel: “The air traffic to and from Europe has peaked at 4.29 million passengers, representing a 100.3 per cent increase compared to April 2021, the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) has revealed.
The Book of Daniel was “shut up” for many years but now its message is beginning to be understood. For example, he prophesied to the day the time of Messiah’s appearance and rejection by Israel. For this reason, many Rabbis in Israel forsook the Book of Daniel but now his message is once again being heard.
But the knowledge spoken about here is most likely meant to be knowledge of the Scriptures and that is certainly the case. With all the modern-day tools of interpretation and language translations, availability of the printed Word in almost every language, man is without excuse for not knowing what God has said in His Word. Such online programs as the Blue Letter Bible offer translations from many different Bibles as well from the Greek and Hebrew of the original languages. People today have no excuse for not knowing the Word of God!
Sign 17: There would be hypocrites within the Church
“but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up? ’But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” – Matthew 13:25-30
The word ‘hypocrite’ means ‘one who acts’, in other words, they pretend to be someone they are not. For example, Hollywood is full of hypocrites (actors). What is sad is when the Church is filled with hypocrites! They are Christians on Sunday but, live like the devil the rest of the week. I’m not talking about the fact that we all sin as long as we repent and resolve to stop doing it. I’m talking about those who use Christianity as a life insurance policy and have no intention of changing their sinful lifestyles! There have always been some of these in the Church, but now they are often in the majority. Jesus predicted they would be there.
The problem is when they are in a majority, they rob the Church of being the salt and light society needs to remain following God! They cannot be light for they have no light themselves and they cannot be salt because they are not following Christ. So the Church is not the ‘restrainer’ against the world’s evil it was intended to be.
Sign 18: There would be an increase of religious cults/false teachers
Jesus said, “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” and “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:11, 24).
There are more than I can write about here but, an example would be Wayne Bent, (aka: Michael Travesser) who is the founder of The Lord Our Righteousness Church, and claims that during an experience in his living room in March 2000, God told him, “You are Messiah.” Bent has since asserted, “I am the embodiment of God. I am divinity and humanity combined.”
Then there is the Hispanic embodiment of Jesus in Florida shown in the following video –
Then there are more than 70 U.S. churches who celebrated Christlam last year. They say Allah and Yahweh are the same God and combine Islam and Christianity in their services.
Sign 19: The future would seem fearful to many The rise of heart attacks today is evident and one of the main causes is identified as stress; from uncertainty, finances, threat of wars, etc.
Men’s heart failing for fear, and looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. – Luke 21:26)
The news today is filled with warnings about coming food shortages and the rise in gasoline prices is beginning to increase fear about the ability to get to work or jobs being canceled because businesses are being forced to close due to rising costs. These fears will lead many to surrender their God-given freedoms for an answer. The weight of inflation is being felt by all but the super rich, such as those meeting in Davos which do not care about the ‘lower classes’!
Sign 20: Humanity would become materialistic As a result, spiritual truths are seldom referred to and even less often practiced. Big cities seem to be more affected than rural areas where riots and mob actions occur over many causes. It has become more and more common for people in government or colleges to sell their information to foreigners for money. As Paul said, they have become –
“traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,” – 2 Tim. 3:4
Today, most people are controlled by advertisement. All the holidays have become just one big chance to advertise. Stores will begin their advertising up to two months before the holiday but, little is said about the reason for the holiday. Remember most advertising is done to make you dissatisfied with what you already have or don’t have and want. Most advertising is designed to make you a puppet jumping to their tune!
I will finish the last six signs in the next article. I hope you continue.
Prophecy for Today 