Five signs that we are in the End Times

If you’ve been following along up to now, you’ve probably noticed that I keep mentioning the End Times. As we saw last time, the concept of End Times has been pretty elastic throughout New Testament times. The people of Jesus’s day thought the End of the Age was imminent. The people who lived at the time of the Black Death in the Fourteenth Century thought it was imminent. The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries saw many sects and cults predicting the date of the Second Coming, only to be disappointed. Given all that, why do I feel so strongly that we are approaching the end so rapidly now?

Don’t imagine I have my own date in mind. I go with what Jesus said about it:

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mt 24:36)

Nevertheless, I also go with what Jesus said about reading the Signs of the Times:

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.” (Mt 24:32-33)

So here are five signs that we are very close to the End of the Age.

Number 1. In an early post I talked about the symbol of the Creation of the World in six days, with the seventh as a day of rest. Each Day represents 1000 years, and the day of rest is neatly confirmed by the 1000-year era of peace described in the Book of Revelation (Rv 20:1-3). Numerous authors have calculated the age of the earth from Biblical sources, correlated with known historical events. These typically put us at 6000 years into the programme. If this line of thinking has any merit, we must be close to the end of the 6000 years – in other words, on the cusp of Jesus’s Second Coming which immediately precedes the 1000-year reign of peace.

Number 2. In a more recent post we talked about the Statue in Daniel Chapter 2. We are living in the time of the feet of the statue, and Jesus the Rock is hurtling towards us!

Number 3. There are many signs that a One-World Government is being formed, and I discussed this earlier. There is also the testimony of Ronald Bernard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09BUifUK-Jg

Number 4. Last time, I discussed Jesus’s Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids. If the Church is in this state, it must be a sign that the End of the Age is near. In future posts we will examine further evidence along these lines.

So above I am simply recapping previous articles. Now for something new.

Number 5. I am indebted to the website http://www.bibleprobe.com/last10popes.htm for the following brief account of the Life of St Malachy.

Saint Malachy was a 12th century Irish monk, who, while on a visit to Rome had a vision of all the popes who would ever reign.  Malachy “saw” – and committed to paper – a series of Latin phrases describing the popes to come. He catalogued each one with an epigrammatic verse, such as ‘the tears of the sun’.  Malachy made the prophecy in 1139.  Reportedly it was entrusted to Pope Innocent II in 1140.  But for some reason it was “lost” in the Vatican for 400 years, only to be “discovered” in 1595 A.D. On his last trek to the Holy See in Rome in 1148, Malachy accurately predicted the place and time of his own death: Clairvaux, France, on All Souls Day, November 2, of that same year.

The Malachy Prophecies were first published in 1595, by a Benedictine monk and historian named Arnold de Wyon, who found them 5 years earlier in the Vatican archives. Arnold recorded them in his book, entitled ‘Lignum Vitæ’.

Malachy’s Prophecy of the Popes has been widely derided in the mainstream media, but a moment’s reflection suggests that it deserves serious attention. There is a complete listing of all the phrases, together with the pope they appear to describe, on Wikipedia (i.e., mainstream media, so beware of bias) at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy_of_the_Popes.

The fact is that a connection has been found between each phrase and the pope it purportedly describes, and certainly the latter descriptions seem entirely plausible. Benedict XVI’s motto is The Glory of the Olive, and this is explained through his assumed name of Benedict, the Benedictine Order and a branch thereof, the Olivetans. But to my mind there is a much more compelling explanation: Jesus’s betrayal on the Mount of Olives. As we will see later, there is ample evidence that Benedict XVI was betrayed and forced to resign.

But the point that seems to be lost on most people is that irrespective of how well the phrases fit the popes, the list runs out straight after the Glory of the Olive with Peter the Roman:

In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End.

Like two meshing gear wheels, the prophecy of each pope and the corresponding reality of that pope’s reign have advanced in lockstep down the centuries to this point. If Malachy’s Prophecy of the Popes is a medieval forgery as many would like to claim, what are the chances that the list runs out right about now?

Still convinced we’re not close to the End of the Age?