What did Jesus say about the days before His return?

In Matthew 24, Jesus warned His disciples about deception, false messiahs, wars, famines, earthquakes, persecution, betrayal, false prophets and increasing lawlessness. He also spoke of endurance, the proclamation of the Gospel, the abomination of desolation, great tribulation and His coming in glory.

The Signs of the Times section explores these subjects individually, with a dedicated page for each major theme.

Each study brings together the relevant biblical passages, Old and New Testament cross-references, original-language word studies and historical or interpretive context. The aim is to help readers understand what Jesus said, how the passages connect with the wider prophetic record, and how different events are understood within a consistent prophetic framework.

The site presents a Pre-Tribulation Rapture interpretation of the end-times sequence while distinguishing that framework from the explicit wording of individual passages.

Rather than relying on headlines, speculation or sensational predictions, we encourage readers to examine the Scriptures, consider the context and test every claim against the biblical text.

​Explore the Signs of the Times

THE PEOPLE AND HISTORY BEHIND THE NEW TESTAMENT

Eyewitnesses, authors and the world in which they lived.

The New Testament emerged within a real historical world of Roman government, Jewish religious life, Greek language and culture, and communities spread throughout the Mediterranean.

Understanding that world helps readers investigate the setting of Jesus’ ministry, the lives of the apostles, the growth of the early Church and the historical context of the New Testament writings.

This section explores the traditional authorship and historical setting of the New Testament books, the people and places mentioned in them, and what can responsibly be said about eyewitness testimony and the transmission of early Christian accounts.

It also considers non-Christian writers whose works provide useful historical context, including:

• Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, whose writings discuss Jewish history and the Roman world.
• Tacitus, the Roman historian who refers to Christus and Christians in his account of Nero’s reign.
• Pliny the Younger, whose correspondence with Emperor Trajan describes the treatment and practices of Christians in the early second century.
• Suetonius, whose writings contain references relevant to the Roman setting and early Christian history.

These sources do not all address the same questions, and they do not independently confirm every New Testament event. Their value lies in what their surviving writings can tell us about particular people, places, beliefs and historical circumstances.

We distinguish traditional attribution from scholarly debate, contemporary evidence from later testimony, and historical conclusions from theological claims.

​Discover the people behind the New Testament View non-Christian writers of the 1st Century