The Signs He Told Us to Watch For

When the disciples asked Jesus "what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3), He gave them an answer. A specific, detailed answer. He did not say "you will not know." He said "watch."

This is important. Teachers who traffic in fear add to what Jesus said. Teachers who traffic in comfort subtract from it. The Issachar household does neither. We read what He actually said and we watch for what He actually described.

Here is what Jesus said to watch for. Not what a podcast says. Not what an intelligence briefing says. What the text says.

False messiahs and false prophets performing great signs. "Many will come in my name, claiming 'I am the Messiah,' and will deceive many" (Matthew 24:5). "False messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect" (Matthew 24:24). The signs are real. The signs work. The deception is not amateur. It is powered by something genuine. The test is not whether the sign is impressive. The test is whether the one performing it confesses Jesus Christ come in the flesh (1 John 4:1-3).

Wars, famines, earthquakes. "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains" (Matthew 24:6-8). Birth pains. Not the end itself. The beginning. They intensify. They get closer together. But they are not the baby. They are the signal that the baby is coming.

Persecution of believers. "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me" (Matthew 24:9). He did not say "you will be raptured before anything bad happens." He said "you will be handed over." The earliest church understood this. They expected to suffer. The courage to suffer comes from knowing who is on the throne, not from expecting to escape.

The love of many will grow cold. "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:12-13). This is not about the world growing cold. The world was already cold. This is about believers. People who once loved the Father and the Son finding that love exhausted by the wickedness around them. Endurance is the marker. Not excitement. Not spiritual experiences. Endurance.

The gospel preached to all nations. "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). The end does not come until the testimony reaches every nation. The mission is not finished. There is still work to do. This is not a sign of doom. It is a sign that the Father is patient and His rescue operation is still in progress.

The apostasia. Paul adds a specific marker in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. "That day will not come unless the apostasia comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed." The apostasia. The active, deliberate departure from the faith. Not a slow drift. A revolt. The Greek word carries the weight of a formal defection. This is not people gradually losing interest in church. This is people who knew the truth choosing to abandon it.

Knowledge increased. Daniel 12:4. "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." The simplest and most directly observable prophecy. The doubling rate of human knowledge has accelerated from centuries to years to months. Technology that would have been unimaginable a generation ago is now in your pocket.

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.Matthew 24:36

Now here is what Jesus did NOT say.

He did not give a date. "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Matthew 24:36). Any teacher who gives you a date has contradicted the Son of God to His face.

He did not say to figure out the identity of the antichrist. He said to watch for the pattern: false signs, persecution, apostasy, love growing cold. The pattern is the signal. The specific players are the Father's business.

He did not say to stockpile weapons, buy night vision, or build a bunker. He said to be faithful. He said to be found working. He said "who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?" (Matthew 24:45). The faithful servant is not the one with the best survival gear. The faithful servant is the one still feeding the household when the master arrives.

He did not say to transform the culture before He returns. He did not say the world would be getting better. He said the love of most would grow cold. He said false messiahs would deceive many. He said the birth pains would intensify. The apostolic expectation is endurance in a worsening world, not victory in an improving one.

Any teacher who tells you the church is winning the culture war and the Kingdom is expanding through human effort has contradicted the Son's description of the last days. The signs Jesus described are signs of intensifying darkness — not signs of the church's progressive triumph. The light shines in the darkness. It does not gradually replace it. The replacement comes when the Father sends His Son to return.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days... evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.2 Timothy 3:1, 3:13