Five Signs of the Times
Lesson Overview
Five Signs of the Times with Dr. Ed Hindson
This standalone message identifies five developments that Dr. Hindson believes are like flashing warning lights on the horizon of history, signaling that the return of Christ is near. Use this overview to review the key points after watching the full video.
Two Extremes to Avoid
Hindson begins by warning against two opposite errors. The first is running ahead of God by setting dates. He points to the Mayan calendar predictions and the 2011 billboard campaign, noting that Jesus said no one knows the day or the hour, and that every failed prediction discredits legitimate Bible prophecy. The second error is blinding ourselves to the obvious and claiming nothing is happening at all. His balance is to live “with an eye on the sky and your feet on the earth,” ready at any moment while still doing the work God has given us.
Discerning the Signs
In Matthew 16, religious leaders demand a miraculous sign. Jesus answers that they can read the weather in a red sky but cannot discern the signs of the times, and He offers only the sign of the prophet Jonah, pointing to His resurrection after three days. Hindson’s point is that if the resurrection does not convince someone, no other miracle will.
In Luke 21:25-28, Jesus describes signs in the heavens and distress among the nations before His return. Hindson notes this passage describes the second coming rather than the rapture, but the instruction still applies: when these things begin to happen, look up, because redemption is drawing near. He borrows John Walvoord’s illustration that seeing Christmas decorations in October tells you Christmas is coming, and that Thanksgiving, which comes first, is nearer still. In the same way, signs of the second coming mean the rapture is closer.
Sign One: The Rebirth of the State of Israel
All end-times prophecy assumes Israel is back in the land, yet for nearly 1,900 years there was no Israel on the map. Hindson recounts the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 and the later revolt around AD 132, after which Rome renamed the land Palestine (from the Philistines, Israel’s ancient enemies) and renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina, deliberately trying to erase Jewish memory.
Because no nation existed for so long, theologians in the Middle Ages began assuming God was finished with Israel, which gave rise to the idea that the church had become the new Israel and that the promised blessings should be spiritualized. Hindson warns against the danger of interpreting the future through the eyes of the present, noting that a Baptist pastor published a book in 1946 arguing Israel would never be a nation again, only for it to happen two years later.
He cites Isaiah 66:8, which asks whether a nation can be born in a day, and points to May 14, 1948. He adds that Amos foretold a second return, never again to be uprooted. Answering the objection that Israel is back in unbelief, he notes Ezekiel describes a return in two stages, physical first and then spiritual, and points to the growth of Messianic Jewish believers from a handful at the start of the twentieth century to an estimated twenty to thirty thousand today, with more than a hundred Messianic congregations in Israel.
Sign Two: Rumors of War in the Middle East
Hindson argues real peace in the Middle East will not come through diplomacy, though believers should pray and work for peace without being blind to reality. He attributes the persistent hostility to what he considers a false religion opposed to everything Israel stands for.
He observes that the geography of every final end-times war is the Middle East, whether Gog and Magog or Armageddon. He cites Zechariah 12, where God makes Jerusalem “a cup of trembling” and “a burdensome stone” for all nations, a prophecy Zechariah gave long before Rome’s invasion and which Hindson says looks past that to a final future attack. His summary: Israel is back in the land, and tension surrounds her, so the stage is being set.
Sign Three: The Rise of Apostasy
Hindson traces the story of theological liberalism. As the twentieth century began, liberal churches held the buildings, money, and people, and Christian Century magazine predicted the century would belong to a watered-down Christianity. Instead, liberal denominations shrank and their liberal theology led to liberal ethics, while Bible-believing evangelical churches grew and founded new schools.
Now, he argues, the attack has turned toward evangelical churches themselves. He cites Rob Bell’s book Love Wins, which suggests God’s love will eventually save everyone, and criticizes a prominent preacher who urged the church to discard the Old Testament, pointing out that the New Testament rests entirely on it and that Jesus said the law, prophets, and psalms all speak of Him. He also rejects the reduction of hell to a mere garbage-dump metaphor, noting Jesus was quoting Isaiah. He ties this to 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where the Greek word apostasia means to affirm something and then stand away from it.
Sign Four: A Global Economy
Revelation 13 says the false prophet will cause everyone to receive a mark in the right hand or forehead, without which no one can buy or sell. Hindson notes the Greek word charagma means something like a tattoo, and that the passage specifies a name, a number, and a mark, with the number adding up to 666.
He cautions against the guessing game, dismissing popular candidates and insisting believers should not be trying to identify the Antichrist at all: “I’m not looking for the Antichrist, I’m looking for Jesus Christ.” His prophetic point is simply that such a system requires a global economy to exist, and one already does.
Sign Five: Weapons of Mass Destruction
Hindson notes that weapons capable of destroying civilization have already been invented, with more than twenty thousand on the planet, and that it may only be a matter of time before someone uses them. He acknowledges the Bible does not use the language of nuclear war, since ancient writers had no such category, but points to the trumpet judgments of Revelation, where vegetation burns, oceans and rivers are polluted, and vast numbers die, effects he says sound like what such weapons could produce.
The Closing Quiz and Appeal
Hindson closes with his own quick review. Is Israel back in the land? Yes. Are there rumors of war in the Middle East? Yes. Is apostasy rising even in good churches? Yes. Does a global economy exist? Yes. Have weapons of mass destruction been invented? Yes. The lights are flashing.
He ends with a personal appeal, stressing that assurance of salvation should not be “I hope so” or “I’m doing my best,” because our best can never match what God did in sending His Son. His final line captures the purpose of the whole message: Bible prophecy is not written to scare us, but to prepare us.
Key Terms
Signs of the times: the phrase Jesus used in Matthew 16 for developments that should be discerned as pointing to God’s plan.
Sign of Jonah: Jesus’ reference to His own resurrection after three days as the decisive sign.
Replacement theology: the idea that the church has become the new Israel and inherits her promises spiritually.
Apostasia: the Greek word behind “falling away,” meaning to affirm something and then stand away from it.
Charagma: the Greek word for the mark of the beast, indicating something like a tattoo or engraved mark.
Verses to Know
Matthew 16:1-4, discerning the signs of the times and the sign of Jonah. Luke 21:25-28, signs preceding Christ’s return, “look up, your redemption draws near.” Isaiah 66:8, a nation born in one day. Zechariah 12:2-3, Jerusalem a cup of trembling and a burdensome stone. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, the falling away. Revelation 13:16-18, the mark, the name, and the number.
Takeaway
Without setting dates or ignoring the obvious, five developments (Israel restored, Middle East conflict, rising apostasy, a global economy, and weapons of mass destruction) show the stage is set, and Bible prophecy is given not to frighten believers but to prepare them to meet the Lord.