Understanding the Times
Lesson Overview
Understanding the Times: Dr. Andy Woods on the Prophetic Signs of the End Days
This standalone message, which Dr. Woods titles “What Time Is It?”, walks through seven signs that he believes show the seven-year tribulation is approaching and the rapture is near. Use this overview to review the key points after watching the full video.
The Theme: Understanding the Times
Dr. Woods builds the message on 1 Chronicles 12:32, which describes the men of Issachar as those “who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do.” His point is that knowing what to do flows from understanding the times. He argues much of the church today does not know “what time it is,” but Scripture gives believers prophetic insight. Quoting the late John Walvoord, he emphasizes the word confluence, a convergence of many end-times signs appearing at once, and says that when many signs converge rather than just one, believers know they are living on borrowed time.
Sign One: The Temple
Daniel 9:27 says the Antichrist will desecrate the Jewish temple at the midpoint of the tribulation, which requires a temple to exist. After 2,000 years without one, there is now active discussion in Israel about building the third temple. Dr. Woods cites the Temple Institute, efforts to identify a qualifying red heifer (Numbers 19) whose ashes would consecrate the temple, and carbon-dating of ancient timbers that Israel connects to the original temple site. He uses the image of a clock: talk of Israel is the hour hand, talk of Jerusalem is the minute hand, and talk of rebuilding the temple is the second hand.
Sign Two: The Alignment of the Nations
Ezekiel 38 and 39 predict a future invasion of Israel led by Rosh (Russia), Persia (Iran), and others including Cush and Put, which Dr. Woods identifies as modern nations now positioned as the prophecy describes. He notes Ezekiel 38:4 pictures the invaders coming with horses, and points to news reports of Russia using horses, donkeys, and camels in Ukraine as evidence the literal reading is credible. He recounts that Persia, once Israel’s benefactor under Cyrus (predicted in Isaiah 44 and 45), turned hostile after the 1979 revolution replaced the Shah with the Ayatollah, and stresses his criticism is of the regime, not the Iranian people.
Where Is America?
Dr. Woods raises the question of why the United States is absent from Ezekiel 38 and 39, even though it is Israel’s longtime ally. He offers the sad possibility that America has been so influenced by Islam that it loses its pro-Israel stance, pointing to the growth of Muslim communities in various American cities and to Europe as a warning of a post-Christian future.
Sign Three: Anti-Semitism
Zechariah 14:2 says all nations will be gathered against Jerusalem, and Revelation 12 pictures Satan persecuting Israel (the woman clothed with the sun, from Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37). Dr. Woods argues hatred of the Jewish people is rising worldwide, citing reports from Britain, Norway, and American college campuses, and criticizes the slogan “from the river to the sea” as a call to eliminate Israel. He notes he sees anti-Semitism arising from both the political left and right.
Sign Four: Globalism
Daniel 7:23 describes a final world government that “will devour the whole earth.” Dr. Woods sees movement toward one-world government in modern institutions, and focuses on the International Criminal Court, which he views as a possible legal arm of a coming world system because (in his reading) it claims broad jurisdiction and lacks the procedural protections found in American law. He connects this to Daniel 7:25, where the Antichrist changes times and law and wears down the saints.
Sign Five: Technology
Revelation 13:16-18 describes the mark of the beast, without which no one can buy or sell. Dr. Woods notes the Greek preposition means the mark is on the skin, requiring a level of technology that older commentators could not imagine but that now exists. He points to wearable and projection technology, the move toward a cashless and fully digital economy, and social credit systems (as in China) as infrastructure that could enable such a system.
Sign Six: Babylon
Dr. Woods reads Babylon literally: Revelation 17:18 calls it a city, and the name is used about 300 times in Scripture for the region of modern Iraq between the Euphrates and the Tigris. He argues a coming world order needs a home, and points to a multibillion-dollar Iraqi canal and logistics project (the Faw project) running through the Babylon region as a sign of its rise as an economic power in the last days.
Sign Seven: Persecution
Revelation 17:6 pictures the end-times religious system as “drunk with the blood of the saints.” Dr. Woods argues persecution is intensifying, citing European cases of people prosecuted for their speech or Christian convictions, and the reported mass killing of Christians in Nigeria. He connects the rise of a European-centered Antichrist empire to the iron-and-clay feet of the statue in Daniel 2.
The Good News and the Response
Dr. Woods closes on hope: Titus 2:13 calls the rapture “the blessed hope,” and he quotes Adrian Rogers that “the world is growing gloriously dark” against the bright promise of Christ’s soon return. He stresses believers need not fear these signs, since they point to God’s plan. He presents the gospel as a one-step response of belief (John 5:24), explaining that “believe” means trust in the finished work of Christ (His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension) alone, not human effort, and shares his own conversion at age 16.
Key Terms
Confluence: the converging of many prophetic signs at the same time, which Dr. Woods says signals the nearness of the end.
Red heifer: the spotless animal of Numbers 19 whose ashes would be used to purify and consecrate a rebuilt temple.
Mark of the beast: the mark of Revelation 13, required to buy or sell, which Dr. Woods notes is placed “on” the skin.
Rapture: the catching away of the church to be with Christ, which Dr. Woods holds occurs before the tribulation and God’s wrath.
The blessed hope: the New Testament term (Titus 2:13) for the believer’s expectation of Christ’s return.
Verses to Know
1 Chronicles 12:32, understanding the times. Daniel 9:27, the Antichrist desecrating the temple. Ezekiel 38 and 39, the alignment of the nations against Israel. Zechariah 14:2, all nations gathered against Jerusalem. Daniel 7:23 and 7:25, world government and the Antichrist. Revelation 13:16-18, the mark of the beast. Titus 2:13, the blessed hope. John 5:24, salvation by belief.
Takeaway
Many prophetic signs are converging at once, which Dr. Woods argues means the tribulation is near and the rapture nearer still, so believers should live for eternity, without fear, resting in Christ’s finished work.