This has been related to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha and omega. In Revelation, Jesus refers to himself as the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, from which it is concluded that His signature was on these eclipses. The fourth eclipse was over the sea, the Pacific Ocean. We can deduce from Revelation that the sea (or waters) can represent the nations: Rev 17:1  And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials came and talked with me, saying to me, Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot sitting on many waters ,   Rev 17:15  And he says to me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues, On 3rd October, it was announced that there would be an alliance to address the need for a two-state solution. Then on the 30th October, this alliance was strengthened with a group of over ninety countries represented. (See https://youtu.be/LksHprBC2DQ I include this clip because, if this alliance is successful, it would be a pivotal event for both world history and as an end-times indicator.) The suggestion here is that these four eclipses are a warning from God not to go down the two-state solution route, as this goes against His plan for Israel as promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob , that they would possess the whole of the land, forever and in peace. A warning, clearly being ignored. There is one other subject that needs to be addressed …….

The Rapture

The rapture of the church is the event in which all believers in Christ will be caught up (raptured) to meet the Lord in the air before His righteous judgment is poured out on the earth during the great tribulation, the second half of the tribulation period. Believers who have died will be resurrected first, followed by those still living. The word rapture cannot be found in the Bible. The event is described in 1Thessalonians 4:13-18 where Paul is comforting those who were concerned that their departed brethren ( those who sleep ) will not be included in what we call the rapture. Specifically verses 16 and 17: 16 Because the Lord Himself shall come down from Heaven with a commanding shout of an archangel's voice, and with God's trumpet. And the dead in Christ will rise again first. 17 Then we who remain alive will be caught up together ( raptured ) with them in the clouds to a meeting with the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. In verse 17, the words ‘caught up’ are translated from the Greek harpazo , which in the Latin Vulgate is translated rapturus , from which we get our English word rapture. There are different views held by knowledgeable and sincere Bible teachers on when the Rapture will take place. Perhaps the two most vocal are ‘pre-trib’ and ‘pre-wrath’. Pre-trib is short for pre-tribulation, which says the rapture will occur before the seven year tribulation period; Pre-wrath says the rapture will occur during the tribulation period, but before God’s wrath is poured out on the nations. If you were to study the doctrine of the Rapture, whatever conclusion you came to could not be guaranteed to be the correct one. If it could, there wouldn’t be a debate. If ‘week 70’ really has started, then the pre-trib version of the rapture is incorrect. Of course, pre-trib supporters will say ‘week 70’ hasn’t started because there hasn’t been a rapture event. Only time can answer this one.

Where to go from here

If you search the Internet for end-times related files, you will find many hours of videos and files to look through that will probably do more to confuse than help. Had you started this exercise a few years ago, then you may have stood a chance of getting to grips with eschatology and Revelation. Right now there isn’t time. Yes, you can browse, learn, study if you want, but there are priorities that must precede any curiosity or eagerness to do so. First , because it’s easy to do, be aware of signposts that might confirm the 70 th week has started. Second , make sure you are a true Christian: strong in your faith, open about it, and living your life according to Christ’s teachings. It’s easy for any of us to have fallen short along the way. To help with this there are two files on this site, both directly accessible from the navigation bar: ‘Is Simply Believing Enough’ and ‘Sermon on the Mount’. Third , be prepared for the worse. If we are still here when the Antichrist takes over, life will become incredibility difficult for Christians. We will be given the choice of siding with Satan or God; taking the ‘mark of the beast’ or not. If you take the mark and side with Satan, there will be no turning back. More on this another time.

Signposts

I suggest there is a likely sequence of events that can be determined which can act as signposts confirming, or otherwise, that we are in the final seven years. Agreement with the many Agreement specifically with Israel enforced A two-state solution adopted Agreement for the third temple to be built The Antichrist shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease, and on a corner of the altar desolating abominations If the start of the 70 th week was Autumn 2024, then this will be Spring 2028. The further down this list we go, the more urgent the need to prepare for the severe persecution we will face. If the signposts don’t materialise, the end-times will still happen one day, so please treat this as a wake-up call.

Finally

Please share this page with anyone you feel able to. The URL is easybible.net/end-times.html

Introduction

The idea that the end-times are upon us has been around for decades, often encouraged by the words from Matthew 24:6-8, usually focusing on wars and earthquakes: 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. In reality, most people don’t seem to give end-times any serious consideration. However, these end-times might be much closer than we think, yet few churches make any mention of it. The purpose of this brief article is to consider the suggestion that we have entered the end-times, the origin of that suggestion, some concerns and signs to look for.

The origin

(Don’t worry about the publication names mentioned, this is just intended to show the process. A more detailed account, with links to publications, can be read here .) In the Autumn of 2024, did the United Nations, by implementing the ‘Pact For the Future’, unknowingly signal the beginning of the final seven years of mankind’s history (the end-times) in which God will judge this evil World? This ‘Pact for the Future’ is based on the ‘2030 Agenda’ originally conceived in 2013, when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA - the U.N. member states) set up a 30-member Open Working Group to develop a proposal on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2015, work began on the resultant ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. However, in 2022, because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the member states, in the UN75 Declaration, looked to the U.N. to take a leading role in responding to future global challenges. In 2021, the Secretary-General responded to this call with a document titled ‘Our Common Agenda’. This lengthy and detailed document was an ambitious plan effectively promoting globalisation, and seemingly laying a foundation for world governance. Two documents were later published, both of which emphasised global governance: • 2022 - ‘Five Urgent Needs for Global Governance: UN Secretary-General Sets Priorities for 2022’. • 2023 - A policy paper titled ‘Strengthening the International Response to Complex Global Shocks — An Emergency Platform.’ This policy paper made it clear that it “would allow the convening role of the United Nations to be maximized in the face of crises with global reach” In the Autumn of 2024, the U.N. held a summit entitled ‘The Summit of the Future’, one outcome of which was an action-driven ‘Pact for the Future’, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Two points from all this: 1 - The obvious - the United Nations is a global organisation; 2 - There is now an agreement with the World’s nations to act together on the way forward for the good of all. This is politics. So what has it to do with end-times?

The Biblical Connection

This endorsement by the UNGA Heads of State could be a major event that some Christians consider to be, in essence, ‘a covenant with many’. We see this phrase in Daniel 9:27. And he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease, and on a corner of the altar desolating abominations [MKJV]. This is Daniel’s seventy-weeks prophecy, given to Daniel by the angel Gabriel and recorded in Daniel 9:24-27 . Verse 27 is referring to a seven year period, often called the tribulation period, during which a world ruler will be established and a covenant with many agreed. This covenant will be reneged on half way through this seven year period, followed by a persecution of God’s people and the pouring out of God’s wrath on mankind. Is it valid to connect a covenant with many in verse 27 with a world-wide organisation making an agreement with most of the World’s leaders, the many, and claim this signifies the beginning of the end-times?

Concerns about ‘the many’

The second half of this verse, he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease, and on a corner of the altar desolating abominations can only apply to the Jews and their temple, implying the covenant with the many must have been with Israel. As Israel is only one nation amongst the many of the General Assembly, this is looking like a weak connection. It may not surprise you to know there is some discussion around the meaning of with many. For example: • Some suggest the covenant with Israel may be part of the main covenant, or even a follow-up covenant, enforced later. • There are Hebrew scholars who claim the interpretation in our Bibles is incorrect and say why the correct translation wasn’t adopted. This doesn’t help.

Support that October is a valid 70th week start time

Following the creation week, God declared the seventh day a day of rest. Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath, and Sunday the beginning of the week. About a year after the Israelites had left Egypt and were camped in the Sinai Desert, and after the tabernacle had been constructed, God gave them their laws by which they were to live. One of these was a law that required they should work the land for six years, then rest it on the seventh year [Leviticus 25]. This, then, was based on the agricultural year which begins on 1st Trishi. In October 2024 this was 3rd October.

Support that 2024 is the year the 70th week starts

Is 2024 the start year of a seven year cycle The start year is important because the laws concerning the Sabbath and Jubilee years are, briefly: The Sabbath year is every seventh year when the land is to be rested from farming; the Jubilee year is every fiftieth year when all land is returned to its owner and all Israelite slaves freed. (The Jubilee year overlaps the Sabbath year to maintain the seven times seven years cycle). If we know the Jubilee years, then we will know the start years of the cycle. Unfortunately, there is disagreement over these dates. This isn’t surprising as the Israelite’s agricultural activities were interrupted by the Diaspora. The disagreement is when the cycles should be started from. This means that those who say that 2024 is the start date might be wrong. Solar total eclipses Interestingly, what does give support to 2024 being the correct year is a group of four total solar eclipses. We first need to remind ourselves of what God said in Genesis 1:14 Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to divide between the day and the night. And let them be for signs , and for seasons, and for days and years. Of course, we all remember that it was a star that guided the magi to Jesus. The amazing coincidence is that on the day after each of these solar eclipses, the U.S. Secretary of State met with Prince Muhammad Ben Salman to discuss a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. The dates of these solar eclipses were 21st August 2017, 14th October 2023, 8th April 2024 and 2nd October 2024. Also, on the first three of these solar eclipses, it has been shown that using all three eclipses we can overlay the eclipse paths over the U.S.A. with the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet: Aleph ( ) and Tau ( ).