What Is the Sign of “the Last Days,” or “End Times”?

The Bible’s answer

The Bible describes events and conditions that would mark “the conclusion of the [current] system of things,” or “the end of the world.” (Matthew 24:3; King James Version) The Bible calls this time period “the last days” and the “time of the end,” or “end times.” (2 Timothy 3:1; Daniel 8:​19; Easy-to-Read Version) The following are some outstanding features of last-days, or end-times, prophecies:

War on a large scale.​—Matthew 24:7;Revelation 6:4.

Famine.​—Matthew 24:7; Revelation 6:​5, 6.

Great earthquakes.​—Luke 21:11.

Pestilences, or epidemics of “terrible diseases.”​—Luke 21:11, Contemporary English Version.

Increase of crime.​—Matthew 24:12.

Ruining of the earth by mankind.​—Revelation 11:18.

Deterioration of people’s attitudes, as shown by many who are “unthankful, disloyal, . . . not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride.”​—2 Timothy 3:​1-4.

Breakdown of the family, with people who have “no natural affection” and children who are “disobedient to parents.”​—2 Timothy 3:​2, 3.

Love of God growing cold in most people.​—Matthew 24:12.

Noteworthy displays of religious hypocrisy.​—2 Timothy 3:5.

Increased understanding of Bible prophecies, including those related to the last days.​—Daniel 12:4.

Global preaching of the good news of the Kingdom.​—Matthew 24:14.

Widespread apathy and even ridicule toward the evidence of the approaching end.​—Matthew 24:37-​39; 2 Peter 3:​3, 4.

The simultaneous fulfillment of all these prophecies, not just a few or even most of them.​—Matthew 24:33.

Are we living in “the last days”?

Yes. World conditions as well as Bible chronology indicate that the last days began in 1914. At that time, God’s Kingdom began ruling in heaven, and one of its first actions was to expel Satan the Devil and the demons from heaven and restrict their activity to the earth. (Revelation 12:​7-​12) Satan’s influence on mankind can be seen in many of the bad attitudes and actions that make the last days “critical times hard to deal with.”​—2 Timothy 3:1.