World events will not enable anyone to predict when the world will end, according to the scriptures in God’s Word, the Bible!

How do we know this for sure? Let’s take a look at what the scriptures say.

Matthew 24:4,5—“Jesus answered: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am the Messiah,” and will deceive many'” (NIV)

Mark 13:5,6—“Jesus said to them: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many'” (NIV)

Luke 21:8 —“He replied: ‘Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will in my name, claiming ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them” (NIV)

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3—“About times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (NIV)

2 Thessalonians 2:1,2—“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us–whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter–asserting that the day of the Lord has already come” (NIV)

Many deceivers are foretold to come, saying the time is near, or even has already come. This is exactly what has happened through history right up until now, and the scriptures warned Christians in advance to not be deceived by such false prophecies. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, claim that Jesus invisibly “came” in the year 1914. Assertions such as this violate the very scriptures that its proponents claim to go by.

Matthew 24:6-14; Mark 13:7-8; Luke 21:9-12 – Upheavals, wars, fights and troubles, false prophets are all predicted, but this doesn’t mean the end. The gospel is also predicted to be preached to the entire earth.

Matthew 24:36-39—“About that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. as it was in the days of the Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered into the ark; and they knew nothing until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” (NIV)

Like the global flood – the end will come suddenly, catching people off guard.

Matthew 24:40-44—“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep on the watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you least expect him” (NIV)

This is a highly selective process, but it is also unexpected, coming extremely swiftly and suddenly. Thus accurate predictions of the end by anyone, including Christians, are absolutely impossible!

Matthew 24:45-51—“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds doing so when he returns.  Truly I tell you , he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does expect him and at an hour that he is not aware of. He will cut him pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (NIV)

Thus, the seemingly delayed return of Jesus Christ, comes unexpectedly to all, including genuine Christians. What does Jesus want us to do? He wants each Christian to be a “faithful and wise servant”, giving out spiritual food. Notice, however, in Jesus’ parable above, that it is the ‘wicked servant’, not the “faithful servant and wise servant”, who thinks he knows about the timing of Jesus’ return. The “faithful and wise servant” keeps on doing the master’s work without any thought of the timing. The ‘wicked servant’, who thought he was the one who knew about Jesus’ timing and “beat his fellow servants, perhaps by criticizing and condemning them, is the one who is caught off guard, and “beat his fellow servants”. Due to his improper actions, the “master”, Jesus, punishes him eternally.

Matthew 25:1-13 – The end comes when it is least expected “at midnight,” very suddenly (vs. 6), parallels the trumpet blast in Matthew 24:31.  The foolish virgins are not adequately prepared – not on constant vigilance.

Matthew 25:14-30 – The man on the long journey parallels Jesus’ lengthy delay that will precede his second coming. In verse 19, he returns after a long time.