If we are going to talk about end-times, we should first understand that there are two different ways people approach this topic. In Matthew 24:6-8, Jesus says to some of His disciples  And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must occur; but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. What Jesus is saying here is that these potentially troubling events do not signify the end, but are leading up to the end, or, end- times. Many people, when talking about the end-times are, in reality, referring to these beginning of sorrows as indicators that we are approaching the end, and that the end-times therefore are not far off. Others focus on the actual end-times; the final seven years of mankind's history as we know it. The idea that we are approaching the end-times has been around for many decades, with each generation declaring wars and rumours of wars and famines and pestilences and earthquakes being worse than they've ever been. In more recent times, the Internet has made these views more readily available to us all, with some channels devoting their content solely to this subject. Despite the availability of numerous regular postings, it is only a minority of Christians that view them. In my experience, the majority of Christians rarely hear about, or discuss the end-times, in or out of church. There is plenty to see on YouTube, posted by organisations that specialise in the subject, and who seem capable of producing numerous videos, I would suggest, far more than world events justify. They talk of us being in the end-times, sometimes claiming 100% proof that this is the case. There is never 100% proof. They only provide subjective views about world and Middle East events that might suggest, in their view, that the end-times really are upon us. If you consider that the end-times are the final seven years of earth's history which culminate in Christ's second coming, rather than including events leading up to those seven years, then there is zero proof that we are in those times; just supposition. If, however, you are of the view that Christ will gather his saints prior to this seven year period (the doctrine referred to as the 'pre-trib Rapture', and the seven years often referred to as the tribulation period), then, as this event will be unannounced and instantaneous, there will be no indication of when this will be and, consequently, zero evidence it is about to happen. For those of a different persuasion concerning the Rapture, they are reliant on the evolving world events for any indication that the end-times are on the horizon. If, like me, you have spent time viewing some of the many hours of videos available, it doesn't take too long before it becomes apparent we aren't really being provided with any surprises, things we don't expect to hear, and certainly nothing that has been attention-grabbing beyond 'click bait'. For me, this changed in the summer of 2024 when it was suggested that the upcoming United Nations conference in September, titled 'Summit Of the Future', and its 'Pact For the Future' to be adopted by the member states, could possibly signal we will be entering the end-times; those final seven years. Given the situation following the October 7th 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the now volatile situation in the Middle East (the time of writing being April 2025), I feel the time is right, if not overdue, to start to understand end-times in order that we will know what to expect, as it will affect all of us with possibly very hard times ahead. Not many of us would want to dive into a detailed study of the book of Revelation specifically, or eschatology in general, although some examination of scripture may well be useful. At this stage, looking for sign-posts, indicators of where we are in the end- times timeline, would suffice as a starter. This will require us to look at scripture, but it isn't heavy stuff and will give us a feel for what, in the broadest of terms, lies ahead. This is the subject of the first article linked to below.