If you've heard a little about what Christianity teaches about the future, and have been paying attention to what's going on in the world over the last little while, you might be asking questions like:

• Are we approaching the end of the world?
• Are we currently in the Tribulation?
• What even is the Tribulation?
• What are the signs of the end-times?
• Does everything that's happening now mean that Jesus coming back soon?

If so, then congratulations: these are exactly the sorts of questions that I'd hope people today would be asking. Asking these questions shows you recognize that something isn't right in the world, and indicates you have the courage to ask tough questions, even if the topic of the end-times makes you nervous, anxious, or even downright terrified.

I hope this blog post is able to answer some of these questions, and also will also reassure you that as of the date of writing, we are not in the Tribulation. However, we are certainly in the end times, and yes, this does mean that Jesus is coming back soon.

If you have believed in Jesus as your Savior, then you can rightly feel excited and have peace, and know that soon you'll get to experience the Rapture. On the other hand, if you haven't yet believed in Jesus, then I'd truly encourage you to take him up on his offer of free eternal life before you miss out and have to face the upcoming Tribulation.

What is the Tribulation?

So first of all, what do I mean by the term "the Tribulation"? Generally, the Tribulation is a term used by Christians who hold to a pre-Millennial perspective on the end-times to describe the last seven years before Jesus' second coming, based on the use of the word in Mark 13:19, Mark 13:24, Matthew 24:21, and Revelation 7:14. In Biblical Greek the word "tribulation" (thlipsis) means "to be squeezed or put in a narrow place." It is very similar to other Greek words that mean trouble, affliction, distress, and persecution.1

The Tribulation includes all the events that occur from Revelation chapters 4 to 19, ending with the return of Jesus with his heavenly armies of saints and angels to destroy the armies of the Antichrist and False Prophet (Revelation 19:11-21).

We know the Tribulation lasts for seven years thanks to the Old Testament prophet Daniel. In Daniel chapter 9, he was given a message by the angel Gabriel which outlined a timeline for God's purposes for the Jewish people.

Gabriel said "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy" (Daniel 9:24, KJV).

I agree with Bible prophecy commentators who say that this overview takes us right up to the point in history when Jesus will finally be recognized by the Jewish people as their Messiah and Jesus sets up his millennial kingdom. (The Millennium is the thousand year period of time after Jesus' second coming when Jesus will personally rule the world along with his saints, and things will be much better than they have been for most of human history. I talk about it a little in this post here).

In Daniel's prophecy, the term "week" is used as a way of saying a period of seven years. So this prophecy given to Daniel is an outline for a period of about 490 years. However, these 490 years are split into two main divisions:

• 7 weeks plus 62 weeks, which makes 69 'weeks' (483 years). This period began with the command to rebuild Jerusalem (444 BC, see Nehemiah 2:1) and lasted until the Messiah came (Daniel 9:25). After this, the Messiah was "cut off, but not for himself" and "the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary" (Daniel 9:26). This part of the prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified in 33 AD.2 Later, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple in 70 AD.
• 1 more 'week' (7 years). This period begins with the confirmation of a covenant between the people of Israel and "many" (Daniel 9:27), likely thanks to the negotiations of the Antichrist. This event is the official starting point of the Tribulation.3

Technically, though, we have to remember that the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar, which means it has only 360 days per year. So actually, the Tribulation will be 2520 days long.

The Tribulation itself is also divided into two periods. About halfway through the Tribulation the Antichrist will break the covenant with Israel and will declare himself to be God in the rebuilt Jewish temple, according to Daniel 9:27, Daniel 12:11, Matthew 24:15-16, Mark 13:14, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, and Revelation 13:5.4

How will we know when the Tribulation is getting close? There are some general signs we can look for, but we can also look into the conditions that we'll see during the Tribulation itself. Using these criteria, we can recognize that the Tribulation is approaching. However, by examining several clear signs of what occurs in the Tribulation, we'll be able to know for sure whether we are in it or not.

Signs of the Approaching End Times

There are some general signs of the approaching end-times which have actually been around for thousands of years. Ever since the early church began spreading across the Roman Empire slightly under two-thousand years ago, Christians can technically count ourselves as being in the "last days" (Acts 2:15-18, Hebrews 1:1-2).

There are some signs that the Bible says will characterize the end-times. These have always been present since the early church, but as we get closer to the start of the Tribulation, we'll see these signs increasing. Jesus compares these signs to "birth pains" (Matthew 24:8), which will get stronger and more frequent as we approach the end times. These signs will all reach their peak and ultimate fulfillment during the Tribulation itself.

Increasing Doubt About Jesus's Soon Return

Ironically, one of the signs to look for is when people (especially Christians) deny that we are approaching the Tribulation or deny that Jesus is coming back soon.

Peter warns us that scoffers will say things like, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation" (2 Peter 3:4).

I've seen this attitude expressed by Christians who say things like:

No, there's no way Jesus is coming back soon. Look, the early church thought he was coming back in their lifetimes. Every generation of Christians since then also thought they were living in the end times. But history just keeps going on, and so no matter how much we think we see the signs of the end times coming, we just have to keep enduring no matter how hard it gets. After all, Jesus didn't save the early church from Roman persecution, or save the Protestants from Catholic persecution, so we'd better hunker down and toughen up to prepare to face what's coming.

In my experience, people with this attitude often deny that there will be a Rapture. Some even seem to downright hate the teaching of the Rapture, and accuse those who teach it of being false prophets who are leading people astray, because they aren't teaching people to prepare to survive the Tribulation.

But as I've argued elsewhere, there are at least five good reasons that prove the Rapture must occur before the Tribulation. A major one is that the Rapture is meant to be an encouraging doctrine (1 Thessalonians 4:18). The scoffers destroy this encouragement by denying that Jesus could come to catch up the Church to heaven at any time.

So if you're a Christian who believes in the Rapture, don't let these sorts of skeptics and scoffers get to you. Don't let them take away the heavenly reward of an eternal crown that you can earn just by continually looking forward to Jesus' return at the Rapture (2 Timothy 4:8, Revelation 3:11).

Increasing Sinfulness

There are a couple different lists of sins and sinful attitudes that the Bible warns people will show more of as we get closer to the Tribulation:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them (Romans 1:29-32).

It's easy to skip over these long lists, but if you go one-by-one and think about our society, you'll probably see all of these signs are present in one way or another. If you think back to how things used to be even a decade or two ago, you'll probably agree that these things are getting worse:

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived (2 Timothy 3:12-13).

Jesus says that when he comes at the Rapture, the world will be like it was in the times of Noah and Lot. While in some ways the world was going on like normal (Matthew 24:37-39, Luke 17:26-29), the Bible also gives these two times as instances when societal evil and sinfulness had reached a level that brought on God's destruction.

In Lot's case, there weren't even ten righteous people left in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:32), and the people seem to have been consumed with inappropriate sexual lust and violence (Genesis 19:4-11). Peter says that Lot suffered because he was "greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard)" (2 Peter 2:7-8).

All sin can be described as lawlessness (1 John 3:4, Matthew 7:23). Jesus warns that in the end times "And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12). When times get tough, people start looking out for themselves and their families at the expense of others. As a mild example, just consider the sort of things that happen in stores on Black Friday sales. And that's not even when these people's own lives and the lives of their families are at risk!

In Noah's case, "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5), such that only Noah and his family were spared.

During the Tribulation we're told that even though God sends terrible disasters on the world to try to wake people up and get them to turn to Him, people won't repent. What won't they repent of? Things like worshiping idols and demons, murder (especially of Christians), sorcery, sexual immorality, theft, and deception (Revelation 9:20, 18:23).

Antichrists and False Prophets

The first sign that Jesus gives in his final speech to his disciples about the end-times is about being careful to not be deceived by false Christs and false prophets:

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?' And Jesus answered them, 'See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray' (Matthew 24:3-4).

Some people will claim that they are Jesus, or that Jesus has returned already:

And then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect (Mark 13:21-22, see also Mark 13:5-6, Matthew 24:23-27, 1 John 2:18).

Alternatively, more people will deny that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 2:22). This is also expected, because Paul warns:

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared"* (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

Jesus' prophecy will be ultimately fulfilled by the appearance of the final Antichrist/the Beast and False Prophet, who both work for the Dragon (a.k.a Satan) (Revelation 13:1-8, 13:11-18).

I believe the Antichrist will attempt to impersonate Jesus, and so together, these three (Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet) form a sort of false imitation of the Trinity (God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit). Together, this false trinity will deceive the world:

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12).

So as seen here and in the last section, lawlessness/sinfulness and deception seem to go together. Both will peak during the Tribulation when the world is under the rule of the Antichrist.

Increasing Wars and Natural Disasters

Jesus's second sign of the approaching end involves wars and natural disasters:

And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines (Mark 13:7-8, see also Matthew 24:6-7).

All these wars and disasters will get far worse in the Tribulation. The second, third, and fourth Seal judgments in Revelation 6:3-8 follow Jesus' outline quite well.

There will be a worldwide outbreak of war, followed by something which raises the prices of food significantly, and then death due to all these things: war, famine, and pestilence. We're told that over a quarter of the earth's population at that time will die (Revelation 6:8).

There are also several major earthquakes predicted in Revelation 6:12-14, 8:5, 11:13, 11:19, and culminating with the worst earthquake the world has ever seen in Revelation 16:18-19.

Increasing Divisions Between People and Persecution of Christians

Division between people and persecution of those who believe in Jesus began during Jesus' first coming. He said,

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household (Matthew 10:34-36).

Jesus gave several different warnings about division and persecution being a sign of the end times:

• "And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death" (Mark 13:12).
• "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another" (Matthew 24:9-10).
• "But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them" (Mark 13:9).

These things certainly happened to the Apostles, 11 out of 12 of whom were killed for their faith (John was just tortured and exiled several times). This persecution also happened to the early church Christians, and still happens today in places around the world.

Throughout church history, families have been divided between those who chose to believe in Jesus and those who didn't. Unfortunately, this division has happened even among Christians who have turned against family or friends who became part of different Christian movements, whether Protestants, Catholics, Anabaptists, etc. who were persecuted and killed at different points in time.

Ultimately we'll probably see these prophecies fulfilled in the Tribulation when people will likely turn each other in for not worshiping the Antichrist or taking the Mark of the Beast.

Worldwide Evangelism

Jesus said, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14).

This is the completion of the Great Commission given to the church:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).

The Joshua Project tracks unreached people groups.5 According to their downloadable .pdf report, in 2021, there are still approximately 2.18 billion people on the planet who haven't heard the gospel.6

However, this worldwide evangelism won't be finished by the Church. It will be finished in the Tribulation by the Tribulation saints, two witnesses (Revelation 11:3), and even an angel/messenger who flies around the world preaching the gospel (Revelation 14:6).

Economic Distortions

Finally, one minor sign of the end is economic distortions and drastic wealth imbalances.

James says that in the last days, the world's rich people will hoard wealth and will commit injustices against the working poor, such as by not paying their workers their fair wages, and even by murdering righteous people. Yet these rich people's wealth will be corroded (inflated?) away (James 5:1-6).

In the Tribulation, some loss of wealth might happen during the Third Seal judgment, where either famine, economic collapse, or runaway inflation will mean people can buy "A quart of wheat for a denarius [a day's wage],and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!" (Revelation 6:6).

However, as hinted at in the above verse, it seems the rich will still be able to afford luxuries like oil and wine. Also, in the Tribulation there will still be buying and selling, at least for those who take the Mark of the Beast (Revelation 13:16-17).

Some people will even make a lot of money as a result of the end-times entity called "Babylon," which seems to have both religious and economic components and may be tied to a specific city (Revelation chapter 17). We're told "the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her [Babylon's] luxurious living" (Revelation 18:3). Then all the merchants of the world will mourn when Babylon is finally destroyed and no one will be able to buy their luxury goods (Revelation 18).

Indisputable Signs of the Tribulation

There are a few key signs that can confirm beyond a doubt whether we're in the Tribulation or not. If we don't see all these signs, then we're definitely NOT in the Tribulation. If you see or have seen them all, then you definitely ARE in the Tribulation:

The Rapture

As I've argued elsewhere, the Rapture must happen before the Tribulation, for a number of theological and Biblical reasons.

At the Rapture, everyone who died after having believed in Jesus for eternal life will be resurrected, and all true Christians around the world will be instantly changed from mortal to immortal and caught up to heaven to be with Jesus forever (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18).

So if millions of people around the world have suddenly disappeared, and there's a lot of empty graves in cemetaries, that will be the evidence of the Rapture having happened.

One thing I haven't talked about much is the issue of children and the Rapture. Will all kids under the age of accountability also be Raptured? It's hard to say for sure. We do know that Jesus has a special love for children (Matthew 18:1-6), but God also allowed many children to suffer the destruction that came on their sinful societies that rejected God in the Old Testament, too. I've looked at this conundrum of why a good and loving God might allow children to suffer and die here.

However, I'm convinced that God's loving character means he won't leave behind any kids who are under the age of accountability who have a Christian parent, and this could potentially be argued from 1 Corinthians 7:14. Maybe if God is extra merciful, all the world's kids will be Raptured too, but it's not certain.

Also, it's not clear in the Bible how long it will be between the Rapture happening and the Tribulation officially starting. Some argue that the Tribulation begins immediately after the Rapture, where others say there could be months or even years between the Tribulation and the Rapture.

Personally, I think the chaos that follows the Rapture will be the final catalyst that allows for the appearance of the Antichrist and the formation of a worldwide government led by ten 'kings', as will be discussed next.

The Ten Kings

The Bible prophesies in several places about the emergence of a worldwide government controlled by ten leaders (Daniel 2:40-43, 7:7-9, 7:19-27, Revelation 17:12) who will give their power to the Antichrist (Revelation 17:13). In these Bible passages, the government led by these ten 'kings' is described as being partly strong and partly weak, but also being terrible, trampling the whole world, and having iron teeth.

There's a lot of speculation among Bible prophecy scholars about what this prophecy means.

Will the world be divided up into ten regions like a European Union, a North American Union, an African Union, and so forth, each led by one top person? Or is it referring to a shrunken European Union with only ten countries which dominates the post-Rapture politics of the world? Will it be the recently-mentioned group of ten most powerful democratic countries who will act like a new G7?7 Will it be "multilateralism with teeth," as was said recently by UN Secretary Antonio Guterrez?8

I don't know. All I'm willing to say is that I think, if these ten king-like rulers don't appear before the Rapture, they'll appear quite quickly after the Rapture.

Mystery Babylon Religious System

During the Tribulation, there will be a major worldwide religious system that matches the characteristics of "Mystery Babylon" in Revelation 17. This is a very difficult and confusing passage of Scripture, but I believe it will make perfect sense to those who are alive in the Tribulation.

Yet there are at least a few hints that we can make sense of now.

Initially, the false religion is portrayed as a prostitute (a Biblical symbol for idolatry) who sits on the Beast/the Antichrist (Revelation 17:1-5). It will persecute/kill the Tribulation Saints (Revelation 17:6) and may have killed Christians in the past, if it comes out of a religion that is already on earth today. The religion is also associated with a city with seven hills/mountains that dominates the world (Revelation 17:9, 17:18). The religion is also associated with the colors of scarlet and purple and is very rich (Revelation 17:4).

These traits lead some to speculate that Mystery Babylon is the corrupted remnants of Catholicism that will be left behind on earth after the Rapture. Or perhaps some coalition between Catholicism and Islam or other religions.

Thus, it is interesting how much effort is being put forth in the last few years by Pope Francis to reconcile Catholicism and Islam and Judaism. These efforts are culminating in the creation of the Abrahamic Family House being built in the UAE, which will be a complex with a church, a mosque, and a synagogue, as well as an educational center.9

Yet at some point, this false religion will be destroyed by the Antichrist/the Beast and the ten kings (Revelation 17:15-17). Perhaps this will correspond with the half-way point of the Tribulation when the Antichrist declares himself to be God in the rebuilt Jewish temple and stops their sacrifices (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11, Matthew 24:15-16, Mark 13:14).

Thus, at some point before the Antichrist can do this, Israel must rebuild their temple. Preparations are already quite far along, and there is an organization called The Temple Institute who is working toward this goal.10 I suspect that Israel will be able to rebuild the temple quite quickly when the time is right, perhaps, after the covenant between Israel and the "many" is signed by the Antichrist (Daniel 9:27).

The Two Witnesses

At some point in the Tribulation, two powerful prophets called the two witnesses will show up. They will prophesy for 1260 days (Revelation 11:3), or about half the length of the Tribulation.

These two prophets will be famous worldwide. Why?

• they can destroy anyone who wants to harm them by shooting out fire from their mouths (Revelation 11:5).
• they can stop the rain from falling and inflict plagues on the world (Revelation 11:6).

After the 1260 days are up, they will be killed by the Antichrist (Revelation 11:7). Their bodies will lie in the street of Jerusalem for three and a half days, where people from all around the world will see them (Revelation 11:8-9).

It seems perhaps their deaths and dead bodies will be worldwide breaking news, maybe even with live footage of them lying dead for three and a half days. People around the world will be so happy the witnesses are dead that they will celebrate and give gifts to each other, as if it were Christmas (Revelation 11:10).

But after the three and a half days, the two witnesses will be resurrected and taken up to heaven, while an earthquake destroys part of the city of Jerusalem (Revelation 11:11-13).

It's not completely clear at what point the two witnesses appear during the Tribulation. Many Bible prophecy commentators I've read argue that they will be killed halfway through the Tribulation at the same time when the Antichrist declares himself to be God in Israel's rebuilt temple. But it's not totally clear here in Revelation, so I'm not willing to say for sure.

Either way, if two people show up who match the above traits, then you definitely know you're in the Tribulation.

Other Signs

There are a few other interesting signs of the approaching Tribulation.

One of them is that the world needs to have the technology to control all buying and selling so that no one without the Mark of the Beast can buy or sell (Revelation 13:16-17).

This seems to be a worldwide system, and thus, I suspect there will be more to it than just a tattoo that everyone has to show before they're allowed to buy or sell. Otherwise shop owners could just ignore it in order to make more money by selling their goods illegally to people without the Mark.

I've heard tons of speculation that the Mark of the Beast might be based on a one-world digital currency, block-chain crypto-currency technology, central bank digital currencies, social credit scores, worldwide ESG ratings, vaccine passports, or some sort of global digital identification system. But again, it's hard to say for sure. All we need is some system that is so pervasive and controlling that no one can buy or sell without taking the Mark of the Beast.

Yet somehow, some people will survive the Tribulation without it, or else there would be no one left to repopulate the world during Jesus' millennial kingdom (Revelation 20), since anyone who takes the Mark of the Beast will face eternal consequences (Revelation 14:9-11) including being thrown into the lake of fire along with the Antichrist and False Prophet (Revelation 19:20).

Another interesting technological aspect of life in the Tribulation is that somehow, the False Prophet will be "allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain" (Revelation 13:15).

With all the innovation going on these days with robotics and artificial intelligence, or CGI and virtual reality, who knows what combination of technology will be used to pull this off. But however it works, God says it will happen.

Conclusion

So hopefully after reading this post, you've gotten a fairly good idea of what life will be like during the Tribulation. You should also know what signs to watch out for that show how close we are getting to the Tribulation, and how to know if the Tribulation has begun or not.

If you're worried by what you're seeing, the good news is that if the Rapture hasn't yet happened, there's still time for you to believe in Jesus as your Savior. Then you will "be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21:36, KJV).

Or, in the event that the Rapture has occurred, it's still not too late for you to believe in Jesus and be guaranteed that you'll have eternal life. You may face martyrdom for your faith and for not worshipping the image of the Antichrist or taking the Mark of the Beast, but if that happens, don't worry: you'll be resurrected and will rule with Jesus for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4).

Regardless of where we are on God's prophetic timeline, we can know that everything God has said will come true one day. I also believe that even if we can't figure out all the details ahead of time, when the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation start being fulfilled, it will be very clear to the people who are on earth at the time.

But what's really exciting is that Jesus said "Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:28).

If you're interested in following current events as they may relate to the approaching end-times, I'd recommend sources such as:

• Pastor JD Farag (jdfarag.org). He offers weekly Bible Prophecy Updates. On his site, under the category of "Prophecy Vids" you can watch past updates or download .pdf transcripts to read. I appreciate his approach and think that he is quite on-target and demonstrates a good Christian attitude that is encouraging, even if at times his sources are slightly questionable.
• Pastor Tom Hughes (hopeforourtimes.com) has many videos where he discusses current events as they relate to Bible prophecy. Yet at times, the views presented by Hughes and his guests are rather pessimistic and negative, so if you are anxious or easily stressed, I would not recommend this site.
• the authors at Rapture Ready (https://www.raptureready.com). Some authors here are better than others, in my opinion, but the weekly "Nearing Midnight" and "Israel Watch" columns are well-done.

A few other good books on the end-times are listed on my Recommended Resources page.

However, as always, you should pray for discernment regarding what you read and are told by others, including by myself. No one has everything figured out 100% (1 Corinthians 13:12) especially on difficult issues like Bible prophecy, and so you should always pray for help from the Holy Spirit and investigate whether what you're told lines up with Scripture, as the Berean Christians did (Acts 17:11).

Let's remember that no matter how close it seems we might be to the Tribulation, or how intimidating current events might be, the Rapture could happen anytime. Let's hold on to our hope of eternal life through faith in Christ, and share our hope with others who might also be wondering what's going on and where the world is headed.

Footnotes:

• 1. William D. Mounce, Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, Zondervan: 2006), 743-745.
• 2. Rick Larson, "Daniel's Prophecy", BethlehemStar.net. Also see John F. Walvoord, Daniel, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, ed. Charles H. Dyer and Philip E. Rawley (Chicago, Moody: 2012), 274-284.
• 3. John F. Walvoord, Daniel, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, ed. Charles H. Dyer and Philip E. Rawley (Chicago, Moody: 2012), 284-290.
• 4. John F. Walvoord, Daniel, The John Walvoord Prophecy Commentaries, ed. Charles H. Dyer and Philip E. Rawley (Chicago, Moody: 2012), 288-290.
• 5. Joshua Project, joshuaproject.net
• 6. Clicking the following link will allow you to view Joshua Project's .pdf titled "Status of World Evangelization 2022", joshuaproject.net
• 7. James Rogers, "Time for the D10 to replace the G7?", The Strategist, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, June 16, 2020.
• 8. Edith M. Lederer, "UN chief: World is at 'pivotal moment' and must avert crises", AP News, September 11, 2021.
• 9. "About the Abrahamic Family House", Abrahamic Family House.
• 10. The Temple Institute, TempleInstitute.org