We live in an age where people are feeling insecure about the future. This is really understandable, as a lot of things have been happening which really make you wonder how much longer things can go on as they are. Whether it be Wars in the Middle East, terrorism, tsunamis, the threat of bird avian flu wiping out a quarter of the world's population, or the possible collapse of the American economy - there are many things that could bother people and cause fear.

Many people ask: "Is there hope for my future?" For this reason, the psychic hotlines are doing a roaring trade around the world, as people part with hard earned cash to hear someone at the other end giving them a word about their future - and whether romance or good fortune are on the cards or not. There remains an insatiable hunger in the minds of people today to know what the future holds - especially in terms of their own destiny and happiness.

Christians have been saying for many years that "Jesus is coming soon". We definitely have that sense that things will not continue as they are forever, but that major shakeups are likely to occur soon, in such a way as to affect everybody on the planet.

Some Christians have written books on the end times, proposing dates for various events like "the Rapture" to take place. People look at prophecies in the Book of Daniel and try to construct an interpretation that gives an idea as to when Jesus might return to earth. Efforts like this have given birth to movements as diverse as the Seventh Day Adventists, and the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Jesus Christ was asked by his disciples when the destruction of the temple was to be, and what would be the Sign of His Coming and of the End of the Age (Matthew 24:3). For the disciples, the temple was so central to their conception of God's purposes that they assumed that the destruction of the temple would happen roughly at the end of the age. We know the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by General Titus and the Roman Armies. Not one stone was left upon another, as Romans sought to recover the melted gold after they burned the temple. This fulfilled the words of Jesus literally, who said in Matthew 24:2, "Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down." But Jesus also answered the question about when He would return, and the End of the Age, in this passage of Matthew 24. Let us examine how Jesus' answer might match with what we see happening in recent times.

In Matthew 24:4,5 Jesus said, "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ', and will deceive many.”

This is the way the verses read in most Bibles. Now, there have actually been very few people who have come and said that they are Jesus Christ or even that they are the Messiah. Sai Baba in India is willing to say it, if it will help him gain followers, and a few others have tried it, with limited success. I have read that some of the Roman Catholic popes and priests claim to be Jesus Christ, but I do not know if these claims represent what the Roman Catholic church really teaches. In general, I think its easy for a disciple of Jesus Christ to avoid the deception of some other man claiming to be Jesus Christ.

But its quite possible though that we've been adding punctuation to this verse in the wrong way, so as to give the wrong meaning to it. In the Common Greek in which the New Testament was written, there is no punctuation like we have in English. Perhaps then there is a greater need for us to take heed that no one deceives us. What if we read the verse like this:

“Many will come in my name saying I am the Christ, and will deceive many.” ? It could well be that Jesus is here predicting the rise of false teachers in the church, as well as the appearance of cults – including the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons who have already deceived many millions. These people acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, they come in His name, but they deceive MANY. Not just a few.

A lot of preachers have come in the name of Jesus, and they acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ – but they are still deceivers. It doesn't make sense to come in the name of Jesus (which means coming as the representative of Jesus acting in His place) and also claiming also to BE the Jesus your represent. For these reasons I believe that Jesus is actually saying, “Many will come in my name acknowledging that I am the Christ, but they will deceive many”. I cannot fully prove it is to be read this way, but this interpretation has certainly been fulfilled. There have been many who have come in the name of Jesus with some truth and some deception, who have deceived many. There are not so many who have come claiming to be Jesus or a reincarnation of Jesus. And those who have, have deceived relatively few compared to those deceived by cult leaders and apostate Christian leaders from mainline or even pentecostal backgrounds.

If my interpretation is correct, then we can expect false doctrine in the professing church of Jesus Christ to be very common. It is one of the eternal perils of the Last Days. Believing false doctrine CAN in many cases rob you of your eternal destiny. It does so because it causes you to accept a religious substitute for a true relationship of love and trust with Jesus.

“And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. For nation will rise against nation,and kingdom against kingdom” (Matthew 24:6, 7a). We have certainly had many horrible wars in these times. Apart from the First and Second World Wars, there have been many conflicts and they have been going on ever since Christ left the earth. There are relatively unreported wars going on in Asia and Africa even today. At the time of writing, we hear rumours that the United States will make war with Iran, as they have done with Iraq. There are rumours that China may be planning a war with the United States. The capacity that mankind has now developed for destruction through modern warfare is unparalleled in the history of humankind. So we see that Jesus was certainly right about this one also.

“And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.” (vs 7)

A large percentage of the world's population goes to bed hungry every night. In parts of Africa especially, there is drought, famine and starvation. God has given the earth abundant provision, but companies and nations have found they can sometimes make greater profits by destroying part of the harvest rather than selling it all at a lower price. This food might have been given away to nations in crisis, but it doesn't happen because of the evil of man. In addition to this, sometimes God permits a drought so that people turn to Him for the healing of the nation. In Australia recently (June, 2005) there was a national day of prayer for rain in the churches, after a long season of drought, and God responded by sending an unprecedented amount of rain this month. In any case, Jesus predicted famines, and he was right.

Despite advances in medical science, the threat of pestilence looms over the world. Diseases like AIDS are rampant in Africa, and scientists are worried about the emergence of “superbugs” resistant to all kinds of antibiotics. In addition to this threat, there is the strong possibility that some bird flu virus might mutate in such a way as to spreadable between humans. This could cause an unprecedented pandemic around the world. There is no way to protect the population from this, should it break out. Only the mercy of God would be able to save many. There was an outbreak of influenza in 1918 which killed millions. Such a pandemic is expected to occur again. Jesus predicted that such things would be in various places in the time preceding His coming.

Earthquakes have been increasing in frequency since 1900. The recent tsunami in December 2004 killed hundreds of thousands and left millions homeless. The Bible predicts that this will continue – Luke 21:25, 26 – that the waves will roar and bring much destruction – and men's hearts will fail them for fear of those things which are coming on the earth. This has yet to happen to the full extent, in my view. But all the indications from recent history of seismological readings show that it

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