What does the Bible tell us about the end of time?

Answer 1

Mark chapter 13 provides the clearest description of the end of time and the Second Coming. Jesus told his listeners that they would see the great buildings of Jerusalem destroyed, and the abomination of desolation. His listeners would see the sun and moon cease to shine and the stars fall to earth. This would be followed by the Son of man coming in clouds of glory. Jesus said that this would take place during their own generation.

Mark 9:1 foreshadows the fuller account in chapter 13, saying that some of those who stand here will not taste death until they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. While the destruction of Jerusalem's great buildings and abomination of desolation certainly occurred, as did the civil war that saw family members slaughter each other, the world did not end, but at the time of writing (about 70 CE) it certainly seemed as if the end was nigh.

Others believe the Book of Revelation contains prophecies of the end of the world and the return of Jesus, even though some of the early Church leaders thought that book unworthy of inclusion in the New Testament. Origen disputed the book's value, and, in the fourth century, Eusebius only agreed to its inclusion "if thought proper."