end all these things

1 - Signs of the End? - Readers' Questions Answered It has been a busy September answering readers' questions. The news of ISIS (Islamic State) and Ebola and not to mention Ukraine and Gaza worries many of my readers. It makes for scary, disturbing news. But does it mean the end is nigh? Is this what the end looks like? As usual, I'm here to reassure you from the Bible why all this is just bad news and not bad signs. Q. Ebola - "Is this the 'pestilence' spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24:7?" A. Jesus did speak of pestilence coming at the end. However, we can be sure it has nothing to do with the current Ebola outbreak or any other isolated plague like that. Here's why: The pestilence Jesus predicted is directly tied to concurrent "famines" and "earthquakes" in "every place" (Mt 24:7 Hebrew). When you study it out, it matches a parallel prophecy of global cataclysm predicted in Revelation 6 - 8 to be caused by the undiscovered rogue dwarf planet named Wormwood. The global catastrophe results in the earthquakes, famines, and plagues everywhere. Thus, Ebola is not a fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy anymore than the 1912 Spanish Flu pandemic or black death of the Middle Ages were. Read on to understand the real global "sign of the end" Jesus and Revelation described... Q. ISIS - "Are they going to take over America or the World or produce the Antichrist?" A. Experts agree that ISIS (or as Obama mysteriously calls it, ISIL) is not an existential threat to the US. It's also not found in Bible prophecy. It may be scary to hear what they are doing and how they are advancing in Iraq and Syria, but we must put it in perspective. This is happening in Islamic countries where they can recruit as they go. They are conquering the destabilized swaths of Islamic land. This is not a formula that is going to work the same in non-Islamic countries as they must leave people behind to run the sharia law government they install. They may pull off some successful terror acts like al-Qaeda did and we will want to pray against that. However, it's not like they are going to take over the non-Muslim world and we can take comfort in that. Read on to find out where ISIS and their end is in Bible prophecy and why the Antichrist won't be ISIS or even Muslim ... Q. Ukraine, Gaza...."Is WWIII Next?" A. As tricky to understand as Matthew 24 is, Jesus' words are very clear about at least one thing. On the topic of "wars and rumors of wars," he said "these things must come, but see that you not be troubled for the end is not yet" (Mt 24:6). Yet, what do so many Christians do when they see wars crop up like this in the news? They get troubled. They wonder if these wars are a sign of the end. If they will lead to WWIII? But they are not. Wars have been with us since Jesus left and will continue until he comes to reign. There is nothing unique about wars. They cannot serve as an end time sign, just as Jesus said. Take Jesus' advice and "see that you are not troubled." WWIII is actually also tied to the global catastrophe mentioned above. It won't happen until conditions are right as provided by the catastrophe. (View my book's timeline to see where WWIII falls on the Revelation Roadmap.)