What are the end times?

The end times are what Daniel calls the “time of the end” in Daniel 12:4.  Here is Daniel 12:4 from the New Living Translation: “But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”

Daniel is instructed to keep the prophecy a secret until the time of the end.  We would ask this next question: what is it the end of? The answer is that “the time of the end” refers to the end of this current age. 

God has made a plan for redeeming all of mankind from sin and death (1 Timothy 2:3-6).  Since Pentecost, God has been selecting a little flock or a bride for his son from this imperfect world (Ephesians 1:7-11).  After the completion of this little flock, a new age will come. That new age starts with Christ’s kingdom. Revelation 21:1 says there will be “a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away.” The end of the first heaven and the first earth is symbolic. It means that the current imperfect political, social, economic, and religious organization of the world will come to an end. In its place will be Christ’s kingdom established in Heaven and on Earth.

When will this happen? Daniel 12:4 gives us two important clues. The verse says the prophecy will not be revealed “until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.” First, we believe the prophecy indicates that the time of the end will be a time when man is rushing here and there. Doesn’t that describe the last 100 to 200 years? Before the 1800s man’s fastest way to travel was by horse or by boat, and most people did not travel far from home. Since the mid to late 1800s, we have seen the speed of travel increase greatly. Mankind went from the horse to putting a man on the moon.This increase in speed and ability to travel matches the description of rushing here and there from Daniel 12:4.  

Second, Daniel mentions there will be an increase of knowledge. During much of human history, knowledge increased, but over the last 100 to 200 years, the increase in knowledge has been very fast. Now, experts estimate that the amount of information in the world will double every 12 months. Knowledge is certainly increasing.

Because we see an increase in knowledge and man traveling faster and further than ever before, we believe Daniel 12:4 shows we are now in the end times. When Christ’s bride (the little flock) is complete, then this age will end, and Christ’s kingdom will begin.