Bible description of the end of the world. What is written in the bible about the end times, the second coming of Christ and the end of the world

What does the Bible say about the end of the world?

1. Nothing about the end of the world, but about Armageddon, yes.
2. Mal. 4:1 For, behold, the day will come, burning like an oven; then all the arrogant and wicked will be like straw, and the coming day will burn them up, says the Lord of Hosts, so that it will not leave them root or branch.
   Soph. 1:14 The great day of the Lord is near; it is near; then the bravest will cry out bitterly!
   15This day of wrath is this day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of desolation and destruction, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and darkness,
   16 a day of trumpets and swearing against fortified cities and high towers.
   17 And I will constrain the people, and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord, and their blood will be scattered like dust, and their flesh like dung.
   18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them in the day of the wrath of the Lord, and the whole earth will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy;
3. I don't have a bible, but a Religion((()))Tunnel!
4. Seven trumpets, after each trumpet a bowl - something terrible will happen.
5. "And suddenly, after the sorrow of those days, the sun will grow dark, and the moon will not give its light..."
   Matthew 24:29
6. The Bible speaks of the end of darkness. God is light and there is no darkness in nm. And He appointed a day on which He will righteously judge the earth (the inhabitants of the earth for especially dull ones)
7. That no one except God can know when and how it will happen.
8. Only Jews will be saved
9. Yes, pretty much the same
10. Nothing but Armageddon.
11. there is a lot written, open read
12. End of the world.
    We know this from the Bible.
    3. When He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him in private and asked: Tell us, when will this be? and what is the sign of your coming and the end of the age?
    (St. Matthew 24:3)

    29. And suddenly, after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken
    (St. Matthew 24:29)

    When it will be?
    12. And because of the increase of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold;
    13. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
    14. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.
    (St. Matthew 24:12-14)

    It has not yet been preached everywhere.

    15. So, when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, whoever reads let him understand,
    16. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains
    (St. Matthew 24:15,16)

    There is no abomination of desolation yet.

    20. In his place, a certain one will arise who will send a tax collector to pass through the kingdom of glory; but he, too, will perish after a few days, and not from indignation and not in battle.
    21. And the despicable one will rise in his place, and they will not give him royal honors, but he will come without noise and take possession of the kingdom by flattery.
    (Daniel 11:20,21)
    31. And a part of the army will be set up for them, which will defile the sanctuary of power, and stop the daily sacrifice, and set up the abomination of desolation.
    (Daniel 11:31)

    11. From the time of the cessation of the daily sacrifice and the setting up of the abomination of desolation, one thousand two hundred and ninety days will pass.
    12. Blessed is he who waits and reaches one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
    (Daniel 12:11,12)

    So everything will happen after the gospel has been preached throughout the world. It's not too far. A little bit. But no one knows for sure.

13. “But no one knows about that day and hour, not even the angels in heaven, but only My Father alone” (Mt 24:36)
14. only God knows about that day and hour. and about how it will pass, you can learn by starting to study the bible.
15. The end of the world will come when: This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14) Many theologians agree that this verse is extremely important. It is important because the activity it speaks of will cover the whole world, that is, all peoples, the entire planet. It is also important because it indicates what true Christians should be doing in the last days - preaching. Through this sermon, people will hear about the extremely significant event that Jesus called the end. The prophecy in this verse is being fulfilled in our day. It affects everyone because the good news contains both an invitation and a warning. It gives us a choice: accept God's Kingdom or reject it.
16. End of evil.
17. Mark 13:32
    About that day, or the hour, no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
    John 15:15
    for the slave does not know what his gaspadin is doing
18. Only criminals will be destroyed. The righteous will dwell on the earth, and the blameless will dwell on it; but the wicked will be cut off from the earth, and the treacherous will be uprooted from it (Proverbs 2:21-22)

    And the Earth will never be destroyed. "The earth is set on a firm foundation; it will not shake forever and ever" Ecclesiastes 1:4

Modern humanity constantly lives in tense expectation of the Apocalypse. Every year there are more and more new dates of the end of the world. Psychics from different corners planets are regularly ejected new version date of this tragic event.

No religion speaks of the beginning of the end of the world, it is about new life gained. Based on this, it is customary to accept the end of the world as the end of earthly existence. The Bible says about the end of the world, that it is this event that will be judged when pure souls go to a new life, and sinners go to hell.

Ancient Sayings of the Patriarchs

Everything that has an end has a beginning. It's hard to argue with this. This is logical and true and causes a lot of discussion, especially near the end of the world.

In the Old and New Testaments there is information about the harbingers of the end of the world. According to the traditions of the Holy Scriptures, man was born without the need for death. It is believed that before there was no bodily shell, which means that the soul does not need to go out. Angels were the first to be created. They did not have a body shell. The very first Light Bearer angel was very strong. He wanted to be equal to God, to have his own way. He opposed himself to God. And then the Lord brought the Light of the Bearer out of his environment and he became a fallen angel, like all those who followed him. There are opinions that according to the Bible, the end of the world is associated precisely with the end of the Light Bearer.

According to biblical writing, the fallen angel told Adam and Eve to eat the fruit in the Garden of Eden in order to discover the knowledge of what God knows. And then people learned what good and evil are. They themselves began to decide what deeds they would do.

In order to protect souls from the will of others, God enclosed them in bodies. Throughout life, people did only those deeds that they wanted to do: good or bad. After death, their souls go either to heaven or hell - it depends on how the earthly life was lived. This was the beginning of life on earth. This is told in the scriptures.

The Bible also speaks of the end of the world. This event is described in the New Testament and in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 24.

Gospel of Matthew and John the Theologian about the end of the world

According to the Bible, the signs of the end of the world will begin with war. In the revelation of John, the first sign is symbolized by a rider on a red horse who takes peace from the earth. This is also mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus tells his disciples about how nation will rise against nation, and kingdom will go against kingdom.

The next harbinger of the end of the world will be a black horse, bringing hunger and pestilence to the earth. In the Gospel of Matthew, this sign immediately follows the wars. After epidemics that will take place throughout the earth, some people will die. All who remain will be weakened in spirit. They will "be tempted and betray each other." At this point, faith in Christianity will be lost, false prophets will appear.

In the revelation of John, after famine and death, an angel comes into the world and crowns the day of wrath. It is marked by a great earthquake, a blood moon, a solar eclipse. After that comes silence, which will not last long, because after it the true apocalypse will begin.

Signs of the end of the world, according to the Bible from John the Theologian, are distinguished in several stages. First, grass and trees will start to burn. Then volcanic eruptions occur, and then a “big star” enters the ocean and begins to poison the water. These events are followed by a series of eclipses. Then locusts come out of the bowels of the earth and begin to torment the unfaithful people for five days. At the end of all the torments, the Kingdom of the Lord will open before the people left on earth.

According to the Bible, the signs of the end of the world do not give an understanding of the exact date of the beginning of this event, but only describe it in a blurry form.

Doomsday Riders

The Horsemen of the Apocalypse are the symbols described in Revelation. According to the Holy Scriptures, horsemen are the stages of history that people, the church, must go through in its development. This is a prophecy about the seven seals that hold the book together. It is believed that after the removal of the seventh, the last seal, the end of the world will come. At this moment, all conflicts between good and evil will be settled, Jesus will return to the people, the hour of the terrible judgment will come.

In books, riders are described on different horses. It is believed that a rider with a bow on a white horse is a symbol of purity and victory over paganism. With the advent of the white horseman, the first seal will be broken. In the first century, the church forced people to accept Christianity, and it is this time that is considered the period of opposition to lies and deceit.

The red horse will appear at the time when the second seal is broken. Christians under the yoke of death remained faithful to Christ and his teaching, which passed through the centuries and remained unchanged. The main task of Satan was to do everything possible to change the Christian doctrine. He tried to do it with the hands of the Roman Empire, and then other methods followed.

The red horse symbolizes disputes between God's children. Its color is compared to blood, therefore given period attributed to the time when Christians were hunted.

As you know, in the old days, the church tried to convert everyone to their faith, regardless of their original faith and nation. As a result, the Lessons of Scripture lost their purity, and the prophecy of the red horse came true: people began to kill each other.

The third seal is removed by a black horse. The third horseman of the apocalypse has the measure in his hand. The black horse is a symbol of decline. During this period, the enemies achieved their goal, faith in the Savior, worship of God sunk into obscurity.

At the opening of the fourth seal, a pale horse appeared. John in his writing speaks of the appearance of the fourth horseman, whose name is Death. Hell followed him: he was given the power to kill all life on earth. It is believed that the pale horse is a symbol of the decline of the church. The teachings of Jesus were distorted, and those who did not want to follow the new, changed doctrines were executed. This was the period of the Inquisition. The Church gained political power by assuming God's authority: she could declare a person infallible or speak of the sinfulness of a person.

The Four Horsemen is a period of development of the church, a change in faith in the teachings of Christ. Many people could not stand the persecution and were killed.

end of the world bible

What does the Bible say about the end of the world and when will this event occur? There is no exact date in Scripture, as well as the very statement that the “end of the world” will occur. In the Bible, this is called "the coming of the Lord Jesus." It is believed that the end of the existence of our world will occur when the Savior comes to Earth again to destroy all evil.

Thus, the end of the world will happen, but what will happen before the end of the world according to the Bible? According to the Holy Scriptures, the second coming of Christ is considered the end of the world. This day is called Judgment Day. This event is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, in the epistle to the Thessalonians, in the book of Revelation and other books.

Once upon a time, more than two thousand years ago, Christ was born on Earth. He came into the world to save us. Because of his love for people, the Savior died, because he accepted all their sins so that they could be forgiven.

In those ancient times, Jesus came to Earth as a savior, so that through faith in him, in his teachings, people could be forgiven for their sins. The second time Christ will come in great glory and power to bring Judgment upon all people. He will condemn those who rejected him, and deliver from the torment of those who sincerely believed in him.

Nobody knows the exact date of this event. It is not in the Bible, so any predictions regarding this are considered fiction. However, there are a number of signs by which we can learn about this day.

One of the key moments in the Bible is the coming of the Antichrist. At this time there will be a rebellion against God. It is during the reign of the servant of Satan that the second coming of Christ will take place. He will destroy the Antichrist and condemn all who follow him. Those who truly believed in Jesus will have the opportunity to live forever in the Kingdom of Heaven. No matter when exactly this event occurs, everyone will stand before God. After death, God's judgment awaits every soul.

In Orthodoxy, the Bible does not tell much about the end of the world. All available information in different scriptures are similar in meaning. The books contain the Day of Judgment, the harbingers of the end of the world, the Antichrist and the second coming of Christ. In order not to be condemned on the day of the Last Judgment, it is necessary to repent of your sins, sincerely believe in the Son of the Lord.

Signs of the end of the world

How is the end of the world described in the Bible? Christ told his disciples about this event. They asked him when the end of the ages would come and what events would precede this. To which the Savior replied that in those distant times there would be many wars, rumors about wars. Peoples and countries will fight each other, famine will come, people will start dying, there will be earthquakes.

All these events are considered signs of the end of the world according to the Bible. The scripture also says that persecution, vile desolation will begin, lawlessness will be everywhere, people will stop loving each other. Against the background of these events, the gospel will be preached in all corners of the world. On the day of judgment, no need to return for material values, try to hide. False prophets will appear who will show various miracles and seek to seduce people. The true Christ will come like lightning. His manifestation will be seen from all directions of the world. These days, the light of the sun and moon will dim, natural disasters will begin. It is then that a sign will be revealed: people will experience both joy and sadness at the same time. Angels will gather the elect from all over the world. Only the Creator knows the date of this event. She is not known to anyone - neither to the Angels, nor to people.

Here are a few quotes about the end of the world of the Bible: “... and this coming will be sudden, as the flood suddenly occurred in the time of Noah ...”, “... on the eve of the global flood, people ate, married, drank, had fun, not thinking about the terrible event ...”, “... on the eve of the Day of Judgment, it will happen the same way as during the flood: people will have fun, enjoy life ... ".

During the second coming, some of the women and men will be taken to another world. And this will happen when no one dared to think. Every person must be prepared spiritually for the end of the world.

When will Judgment Day come?

So when will the world end according to the Bible, in what year? There is no answer to this question, although many prophets supposedly give a variety of dates. People, believing in them, begin to prepare for the most terrible events. Although the Bible states that there is not a single word about the date of the terrible event, except that it will happen unexpectedly.

Other prophecies

All famous prophets they talk about the appearance of the Antichrist into the world and about the second coming of Christ. On the Day of Judgment, good will triumph over evil. It is believed that for all the prophets about the approach of the end of the world, according to the Bible and other scriptures, they speak different, but having similar features, signs.

Amos

It is believed that Amos spoke with the voice of the Lord when he told the prophecies of the end of the world. About this day he says that "...I will pass among you...". Amos is addressing those who hope that the Day of Judgment will be the historical end of all life. He says that judgment will be carried out on all people, regardless of their morality.

Hosea

Hosea has doomsday prophecies. He, like Amos, speaks of a terrible day that will happen at the end of time. Hosea claims that the end of the world will be a sign of the victory of good over the forces of evil. Even death itself will be conquered.

Zechariah

The prophet Zechariah considers the end of the world as captivity and the possibility of returning from it. In his book, he talks about the day when people will turn to God and he will become their salvation.

Malachi

Five hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Malachi foretold his coming. He spoke about the message of Elijah, which will announce the coming of the end times. This prophecy was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist, whom the Angel of the Lord calls "a prophet in the spirit of Elijah."

Gospel

When Jesus Comes, Prophecies Begin to Be Fulfilled Old Testament. According to him, Christ told his disciples that there would be a judgment on the whole world, which all the prophets awaited with trepidation. Everything that was said to the disciples on the Mount of Olives was called the apocalypse of the weathermen. Since this information was recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke.

The Gospel of John complements several events that precede the Day of Judgment. He says that the judgment has already begun and it will continue until the last day. According to the Gospel of John, the end of the world is associated with the resurrection of the dead. People of all nations will be judged by how they act towards other people. The main criterion is the good done to people. It determines the eternal destiny of people.

Acts

In the Gospel of Luke, in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, information is given about the question posed to Christ by his disciples. They asked at the moment of his Ascension whether the end of the world was happening now, to which the Savior replied that the prophecies about the end of the world were not being fulfilled at that moment. It is not given to his disciples to know when and how exactly the apocalypse will take place.

Message

The disciples of Christ in their writings often speak of the end of the world. In all books, Judgment Day for believers will be both the end and the beginning.

The apostles speak of the end of the world as the coming of Christ in glory, the Day of the Lord. In the apostolic church, this name is used to call the first day of the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord. The coming of the Savior will entail the resurrection of the dead, the beginning of a new life.

In the epistles of the apostle they say that after the Resurrection of Christ all the dates will be fulfilled and darkness will come. This time will be long, and to shorten it, you need to believe in God.

The Apostle Paul added signs of the approaching end of the world. He says that in the last times God's enemy will appear in the world, who will try to lead people. Paul also believed that the last people to turn to God would be those who were chosen by Christ, who would show that the number of believers had become complete.

Peter confirms Paul's words by speaking of the end of the world as a universal catastrophe. He believes that God gives people the opportunity to believe, to convert to the faith.

What will happen after?

And what will happen after the end of the world according to the Bible and what will the world be like? Revelation says that after the apocalypse there will be nothing of what we are accustomed to. After the confrontation between good and evil, new earth and a new sky. There are prophets who said that before the sky was purple and the leaves on the trees were not green, but after the flood the world changed. Maybe the day of judgment will be another change in which the sky will turn red, for example, and the leaves on the trees will turn blue.

All people who have found the true faith will begin to live in the Kingdom of the Lord, and all those who renounce the true faith will experience severe suffering and torment. These people are doomed to suffer until the end of their days in darkness, in a world where there is no sun, no moon, no light.

Predictions in other religions

Information about the end of the world is in scriptures other religions. In Buddhist records there is information about significant changes in the Earth. This is what will precede the beginning of the apocalypse. This religion says that the Higher forces that created the Earth will also destroy it. According to predictions, humanity will face trials three times that will become a real threat to the survival of people as a species. These periods are called kalpas. Each of them has its own characteristics.

The first kalpa is characterized by creation, during which one tries to understand the world and learn the laws of its development.

The second kalpa is the flowering of humanity. During this period, great discoveries will be made, amazing things will happen.

The third kalpa is decay. The lower worlds will begin to disintegrate, the world will collapse, and then unfold again, but without all life. During the period of disintegration, only the Gods and the higher worlds will be able to withstand.

Before the end of the world, according to Buddhist prediction, the earth will burn with fire. It will arise due to the appearance of seven suns in the sky, which will cause the destruction of all life: the waters will be dried up, the continents will be burned. After the departure of the seven suns, strong winds will begin that will destroy all the creations of people. Then the rains will begin, turning the planet into a large body of water. A new life will be born in the waters, it will be the beginning of a new civilization.

The words of Jesus Christ about the end of the world, which He spoke to the disciples on the Mount of Olives, received the name "Apocalypse of the weather forecasters", because they are almost equally recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Matthew gives them a little more detail.

The end of the world described in the Gospel will be marked by the second coming of Christ - like lightning from the edge of heaven to the edge, it will be revealed to all people. But before that time, many disasters await humanity.

Christ tells the disciples that although the time of the end of the world is fixed, no one but Heavenly Father knows about that day and hour. Judgment will be a surprise for which one cannot prepare in advance. As a thief sneaks up in the night, the last day of the world will approach people. Therefore, Christ commands the disciples to watch and always be ready for the end. (There is full compliance with the Koran - it will be so sudden that you will not have time to eat a piece of bread, make a bargain, a deal or drink milked camel milk).

For biblical authors, the existence of the beginning of the world naturally implies the existence of an end, since time is a fundamentally different way of being than eternity, and cannot be unlimited. The Gospel, as well as the Hadiths of the Koran, gives us an exhaustive list of signs of the coming of the Day of Judgment.

“But know this, that in the last days extraordinarily difficult times will come. People will be self-loving, money-loving, presumptuous, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unfaithful, devoid of kindred feelings, intractable, slanderers, lacking self-control, hardened, not loving virtue, traitors, wayward, proud, loving pleasures, but not loving God. "

Opening the Gospel of Luke 21:11, we read: "There will be great earthquakes in places, and famines and plagues, and terrible phenomena, and great signs from heaven."

Today, probably no one doubts the truth of these words. Thanks to the media, we see more and more natural disasters and cataclysms. Recently, an extraordinary increase in natural disasters has been noted. Statistics note that in the twentieth century alone, much more earthquakes occurred on our planet than in all the previous 6000 years of its history, and their strength also increased. The planet is in a fever more and more often. More than 3,000 major earthquakes are recorded annually.

Let's look at Thessalonians 5:3: "For when they say, 'Peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them."

This is a paradoxical moment in history. During incessant wars and the accumulation of armaments, people will talk about peace. It is the talk of peace during the war that will be the sign of the last generation. All human plans are transient. The ink on the peace treaty has not yet dried, and new military preparations are already beginning. One diplomat who worked for the UN described the unsuccessful attempts of people to establish world peace in this way: "We tried our best, but we did not succeed."

In Luke 21:26 we read: “People will die of fear and expectation of disasters that are coming to the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.”

Fear, despair and uncertainty are the constant companions of man. Stress, the heavy burden of modernity, is pressing ever harder. People are starting to get tired of this kind of life. Many, leaving suicide notes, throw themselves off bridges, thereby taking their own lives. Every year, 25,000 people voluntarily die, and 200,000 people try to commit suicide. This number is growing exponentially

Matthew 24:6-8: “You will also hear about wars and war rumors. Look, do not be horrified; for all this must be. But this is not the end yet: for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, plagues and earthquakes in places; yet it is the beginning of disease.” Third World War on the threshold. Hunger from climate change on Earth is becoming a major topic at all kinds of summits, such as the G-20. A worldwide pandemic caused by genetic diseases, viruses, prions, or antibiotic-resistant bacteria is an absolute reality today. From what only diseases people do not die today! Millions of people are suffering from cancer today! There are almost a hundred varieties of it. This terrible disease is spreading like an epidemic. Medicine is powerless to eradicate this deadly disease. We're dying from increased radioactivity environment from contamination of water bodies and air.

The final book of the Bible, or the Apocalypse, is dedicated specifically to the fate of the world and the Church. Revelation sums up everything that has been said about this in the biblical tradition. The Apostle John resorts in it to images borrowed from Old Testament prophecies, thereby emphasizing the continuity of Old Testament and New Testament revelation. The book of Revelation ends with a prophecy that God's victory over sin will crown the uphill struggle.

People have been talking about the end of the world for hundreds of years. This topic will always be exciting and acute for humanity, because we are talking about the cessation of the existence of all life on Earth, and the Earth itself as well. This thought makes human hearts tremble, because even if everything is bad around and hard on the soul, a person still wants to LIVE!!! Life is the greatest value for a person.
Today, when the media make it possible to keep abreast of all events, when information is immediately spread around the world, talk about the end of the world is especially common, and the words of not always competent people immediately become public. So for more than a year there has been a hype around 2012. Predictions related to this year are different today. But practically nothing is heard about what the Bible says about the end of the world - the Book of Books, because the very idea of ​​the “end of the world” is taken from it. To explore this question, let's start not from the end, but from the very beginning.

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Why did God create the universe and our planet? To put a person in there. The Bible states that God created people for eternal life, but they sinned, so sin and death entered the world. But God did not reject humanity, He revealed His plan to us, showed us what is good in the eyes of God and what is evil, revealed that after death every person will appear on the court, where he will receive a reward for his deeds. All this was known to people who lived in antiquity. Such statements we see recorded in various Books of the Old Testament.
It is difficult for people who do not know God to understand His purpose. Did God create everything in order to destroy it later? People associate themselves and their lives with the planet Earth, and nothing more. But God's plan for mankind is grandiose. God points out that the Earth, despite all its splendor, cannot be compared with His Kingdom, the new Heaven and the new Earth, which He has prepared for all people who have turned to Him. This world is in evil, because the prince of this world, Satan, reigns in it. Sin, injustice, grief and many other evils destroy the Earth, deprive a person of the fullness of happiness. The Bible says that we are here on earth as strangers and strangers, that here we choose our future, that the soul of every person longs for Heavenly Life, to which God calls us! And, in fact, the “end of the world” comes for every person with the end of his life on Earth.
Yet the Bible says that there will come a time when everything on earth will come to an end and the New Life will begin. Let's take a closer look at this topic.
The Books of the New Testament say more about the end of the world, because Christ Himself came to Earth, as it is written, by the end of the ages: “He once, at the end of the ages, appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”(Heb. 9:26).
Christ revealed to His disciples the future of mankind, and in this connection gave them some instructions.
Jesus said: "Heaven and earth will pass away (pass away), but my words will not pass away"(Matthew 24:35). "Behold, I am with you all the days to the end of the age"(Matthew 28:20). From these words it is clear that the Lord spoke about the end of the existence of the earth and the sky. But Jesus did not reveal to mankind the day on which the end of the world would come, but gave us the signs of this end, warning us in advance that this day would come unexpectedly. “But no one knows about that day and hour, not even the angels in heaven, but only My Father alone”(Matthew 24:36). “Watch therefore, for you do not know at what hour your Lord will come. But you know that if the owner of the house had known what watch the thief would come in, he would have been awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore be ready also, for at an hour you think not, the Son of Man will come” (Matt. 24:43-44).
“When He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him in private and asked: Tell us, when will this be? and what is the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). So, let's see what Jesus said to his disciples about the signs of the end of the age:

The first thing Jesus said was about the appearance of false Christs: “Jesus answered and said to them, Beware lest anyone deceive you, for many will come under my name and say, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5). “Then if anyone says to you, Behold, Christ is here, or there, believe it not. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I told you beforehand. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; ‘behold, He is in the secret rooms’, don’t believe; For as lightning comes from the east and is visible even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:23-27).

Christ said of wars and rumors of war: “You will also hear about wars and war rumors. Look, do not be horrified, for all this must be, but this is not the end yet: for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matt. 24:6-7).

Famine and earthquakes: “And there will be famines, plagues and earthquakes in places; yet this is the beginning of diseases (the beginning of the end of the Earth) ”(Matthew 24:7b-8).
Persecution of Christians:“Then they will hand you over to torture and kill you; and you will be hated by all nations because of my name” (Matthew 24:9).
The appearance of false prophets, the cooling of faith in people: “... And then many will be offended, and they will betray each other, and they will hate each other; and many false prophets will arise and deceive many” (Matthew 24:10-11).

The multiplication of lawlessness and the cooling of love: “And because of the increase of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold; whoever endures to the end shall be saved.”(Matthew 24:12-13).

The Good News will be preached throughout the earth: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

Great tribulations and cataclysms, the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: The Revelation of John the Theologian describes the great tribulations that will befall the Earth and those who live on it. These are: 7 seals - (Rev. 5-6 ch.); 7 pipes - (Rev. 8-9 ch.); 7 bowls - (Rev. 15-16 ch.) . “And suddenly, after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken; then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven; and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory...” (Matthew 24:29-31).

The apostles also gave signs of the approaching end of the world.
Peter warns us about the appearance before the end of the world of "impudent scoffers":
“Know first of all that in the last days there will come scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers began to die, from the beginning of creation, everything remains the same. Those who think so do not know that in the beginning, by the word of God, the heavens and the earth were composed of water and water: therefore, the world of that time perished, having been drowned by water. But the present heavens and earth, which are contained by the same Word, are stored up for fire for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Pet. 3:3-7).
Who are they "brazen scoundrels" according to the apostle Peter? These are people who do not believe in the end of the world. Why don't they believe in him? Because they do not believe in the beginning either: they do not believe that God gave everything a beginning, that the Lord God created the universe, the earth and everything that fills it. Therefore, they do not believe that God has appointed an end to everything. You see what an interesting regularity exists in human reasoning: disbelief in the beginning gives rise to disbelief in the end.

Paul writes to Timothy about the last days: “Know that in the last days there will be hard times. For people will be self-loving, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, impious, unfriendly, implacable, slanderers, intemperate, cruel, not loving goodness, traitors, insolent, pompous, lovers of pleasure more than God-loving, having a form of piety, but denying its power. Turn away from such” (2 Tim. 3:1-5).

Paul warns Timothy - a young minister - about the progressive degradation of morality and morality in society before the very end of the world. This degradation is now visible as never before. One has only to look at what is shown on TV today and compare it with what was shown 20 years ago.

Paul's letter to the Thessalonians says that in those days "peace and security" will be proclaimed:
“There is no need to write to you about times and dates, brethren, for you yourselves know for certain that the day of the Lord will come like a thief (thief) in the night. For when they say, 'Peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them, as childbirth comes upon a woman with child, and they will not escape" (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).

Theologians suggest that after a time of wars and terror, peace will suddenly be restored on earth, which will be established by the Antichrist, who reigned at the head of the world government. And just at the moment when world peace will be proclaimed, then the great tribulation will suddenly begin, because God will judge the inhabitants of the earth. At this time, people will seek their own death, but, as the Scripture says, it will flee from them. (Rev. 9:6).
Of course, this begs the question: is it possible to somehow avoid the end of the world? The end of the world is inevitable. The end of the world cannot be prevented. Lord "...appointed a day on which he will rightly judge the universe"(Acts 17:31). And the word of God is unshakable. What He promised He will do: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away(will not change)” (Matthew 24:35). So the end of the world is coming. And when the time comes “... the day of the Lord will come, like a thief(thief) at night, and then the heavens will pass away with a noise, the elements, having flared up, will be destroyed, the earth and all the works on it will burn.(2 Pet. 3:10).

“Well, how will it be possible to prepare for the end of the world?”- you ask? All these signs of the approaching end should be an occasion for people to pay attention to their lives and be reconciled to God.

Not so long ago, a public opinion poll was conducted. Various people were asked: "What will you do if the end of the world begins?" Most answered that they would drink, walk, have fun. In general, enjoy the last days of life. And no one said that he would think about his life, repent of his sins, try at least in the last days to change and live them differently. Scripture says that "...everyone who calls on the name of God will be saved"(Rom. 10:13). Sometimes a person says: “I am so bad, nothing can be changed, what will happen ...” And this is followed by neither faith nor prayer, and the person perishes for the future. And if he says: “I am useless. Lord save me! You can save me!" God will definitely come to meet this person.
If you have already made peace with God, then you have nothing to fear. Scripture tells us that before hard times come, God promises to take His Church from the Earth: “...Watch therefore at all times and pray that you may be able to avoid all these future disasters and stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36). “To serve the living and true God, and to wait from heaven for his Son, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath” (1 Thessalonians 1:9,10). “... The Lord Himself, with an announcement, with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first; then we, the survivors, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. So comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). “…Because God has not determined us to be angry, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ”(1 Thessalonians 5:9).
The great tribulation judgments are at hand. God informs us of these judgments before they begin. What for? So that we can avoid them. God wants no one to experience the judgments of great tribulation and eternal hell. He wants everyone to turn to Jesus Christ and find the joy of salvation in Heaven, but he gives this choice to every person.

The Gospel reading of the third preparatory week for Great Lent tells us about the end of the world in which we currently live, and about the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's think together: will there ever be an end of the world, or rather, the end of our planet?

To this question modern science gives an affirmative answer. But for the first time, the concept of the inevitability of the end of the world was born not in the offices of scientists, but in ancient religions, whose priests often combined religious service with the service of science. From the depths of time, voices are heard warning humanity about the possible tragic end of our planet. One way or another, but the problem of the end of the world, which came to us as a religious idea, has become in our time a scientific concept that has not yet been refuted by anyone.

It is difficult to say what the natural causes of the end of the world will be and what its natural form will be. Will it be a catastrophe associated with a terrible atomic war, when excessive use the latest achievements rocket and nuclear technology will lead to some perturbations of a cosmic nature. Will it be a catastrophe caused by the collision of our Earth with some cosmic body or another planet. Will it finally be the gradual destruction of life forms familiar to us for one reason or another, for example, due to the cooling of the Earth as a result of atmospheric changes. This is unknown. It is impossible to foresee all the options for the end of the world, but the fact that the end is inevitable is obvious.

However, this is the rational or scientific aspect of the problem, which deals mainly with its physical side. Religion, in particular Christianity, asks this question in a slightly different way. And she has every right to do so, because this problem itself came, we repeat, from religion and to a large extent preceded scientific substantiation.

The problem of eschatology, that is, the doctrine of the future destinies of the world and mankind, occupies a significant place in the doctrine of the Orthodox Church. Plans for the future were drawn by God until the end of time. And if science today speaks of the inevitability of the end of our planet, then Christianity, in particular Orthodox Church, confirming this, at the same time testifies not only to the physical end of the world, but also to the two comings of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead and the beginning of the Kingdom of glory and eternal life.

The Church testifies to us not about the meaningless end of the physical world, but about its great end, which is the beginning of a new being. And if science, in which there is no place for God, speaks of the end of the world as the end of events in the sense of absolute destruction, then the Church tells us about it quite differently. According to the teachings of the Church, the end of the world will not consist in destruction and annihilation (although visible physical phenomena can occur in the form of destruction), but in its complete change and renewal.

What are the signs of the approaching end of the world, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Last Judgment?

There are several of these signs. One of them, as the gospel testifies, is that the gospel itself will be spread and preached throughout the world ( Matthew 24:14). Not a single place on the globe, inhabited by people, will not bypass the gospel message. The entire human race must hear the word of God, taste that heavenly spiritual bread that the Savior gave to the world. And it is up to a person to accept or not to accept this gospel, for a person remains absolutely free, and the Lord does not allow violence against him.

The second sign is that the forces of evil will be extremely active in the world, lawlessness will multiply, love will cool in people ( Matthew 24:12). Extremely aggravated and will begin to actively manifest all negative sides human nature, faith will fade Luke 18:8). Christianity will become a subject of hatred for many.

The next sign is that terrible wars will take place on the eve of the end of the world ( Matthew 24:6), in which humanity may not survive at all. Terrible earthquakes will take place all over the earth, there will be famine, epidemics will appear ( Matthew 24:7).

One more should be mentioned feature. It will consist in the fact that the spiritual level of the majority of people will decrease extremely. They will become attached to the earthly and refuse any spiritual development (Matthew 24:37-39; Gen.6:1-8).

And then, says the Gospel of Christ, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and people will see Christ walking on the clouds of heaven in great power and glory. According to the Fathers of the Church, the sign of the Second Coming will be the sign of the cross. People who at that time will still live on earth will instantly change ( 1 Corinthians 15:51-52), the whole world will change ( 2 Peter 3:13), and at the same time general resurrection the dead, moreover, they will be resurrected in a transformed form and will be special, such that, according to the word ap. Paul, we can't even imagine now. The bodies of the righteous will be spiritual, incorruptible and immortal. They will be free from all the infirmities that our bodies are prone to. They will not have earthly bodily needs and to some extent will become like spirits ( Matthew 22:30). In the same transformed form, the bodies of sinners will rise. But, having acquired incorruption, sinners will simultaneously carry within themselves their terrible spiritual state.

It is difficult to imagine what is said. All of this is beyond our normal understanding. But one thing is clear - with the Second Coming, the last and Last Judgment will come on earth, which will restore the justice that has been violated by mankind and restore the whole world. It will be a general judgment - a judgment on all, without exception, people. It will be a solemn and open judgment, strict and terrible, carried out in accordance with all the righteousness of God, the last and final judgment, directed to eternity. This will be the judgment of eternal justice, which people have forgotten and despised for thousands of years. There is no other way to restore this trampled justice and there cannot be.

Joyful and eternal life awaits the righteous after judgment ( Matthew 13:43), and eternal torment is prepared for the evil ones ( Matthew 25:41-42). But it is not necessary to understand this primitively. Thus St. John Chrysostom sees the torment of sinners in the fact that they will be deprived of the glory of the Kingdom of God. Deprivation of the blessings of the Kingdom of God is God-forsakenness, which is stronger than the torments of hell. Spiritual regret for the lost will be the worst. And we know well from our own experience how much more severe are the spiritual and spiritual wounds of physical illnesses, and how destructively they act on our body.

Will the torment of sinners ever end? There are different personal opinions on this. But, according to the Gospel and Christian doctrine, they are called eternal ( Matthew 25:46), as a natural result of what a person has done spiritually during his earthly life.

With the end of this world and its transformation into a new one better world the eternal kingdom of God will open - the kingdom of glory. Then the Kingdom of grace, by which we call the existence of the Church on earth, will end. The earthly church will enter this Kingdom of glory and merge with it forever.

Therefore, let the Just and Merciful Judge not deprive us of this Kingdom of eternal glory and infinite bliss. Amen.

His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir