The First Reason
   Daniel 12:4b prophesied knowledge shall in-crease in the end times. He said, “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Think in terms of what has happened in the last 100 years.
   In an article called “The Rapidly Changing Workplace” from his 1982 book, Critical Path, and found on the website modernworkplacelearning.com, futurist and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller estimated that up until 1900, human knowledge doubled approximately every century. By 1945 it was doubling every 25 years, and by 1982 it was doubling every 12-13 months. IBM (International Business Machines), builder of the Watson Supercomputer that played in the quiz show “Jeopardy,” estimated before the end of the year 2020, human knowledge will be “doubling every 12 hours.” But now even more sophisticated supercomputers and systems are in the works for 2021.
   This has a lot of implications, but the main one is the ability to keep track of everyone. The commerce of buying and selling is of particular interest to us because we know prophetically, there is going to be some sort of system in place to prevent everyone from shopping unless they have this mark and worship the Beast.
   And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and [he provides] that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, [either] the name of the beast or the number of his name, Revelation 13:16–17. New American Standard Bible used throughout, unless otherwise noted.
   The technology and means to accomplish this are already available. This system will be headed by the Man of Sin – currently, unknown – and will engulf the whole world.
   Technology allows for what is called chipping, which is common for pets, and some people are getting nanochips implanted into their hands so they can, for example, open doors with electronic sensors. It’s not much of a leap to start having credit information and other matters of privacy stored in such a manner.
   But with knowledge doubling every 12 hours – if that is indeed the case –we need to be vigilant, lest we become prey to the subtlety and cunning of this Beast system. It is written,
   He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints (the chosen) of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. But the court will sit [for judgment], and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of [all] the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom [will be] an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him, Daniel 7:25–27.
   So, while we know more difficult times are coming, we are told the end from the beginning and the hope we have is assured if we don’t faint.

The Second Reason
   Video technology allows the whole world to watch anything in real time.
   And their dead bodies [will lie] in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Master was put to the torture stake. Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations [will] look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb, Rev.11:8–9.
   Revelation 11 speaks of “two witnesses” lying dead three and a half days in the streets of Jerusalem, with none stepping forward to bury them. A full video coverage of the event in real time, and seen around the world by “peoples and tribes and tongues and nations” (Rev. 11:9).
   There are endless possibilities currently with 3D, virtual reality, etc. In the midst of all these technological capabilities, the question is begged, “Will Yahshua find faith on the earth when he returns?” (Luke 18:8). Not from many, evidently. They’re too busy with technology to even care.

The Third Reason
   Acts 3:21 tells of a “restoration of all things,” before Messiah returns.
   But the things which Elohim announced before-hand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Messiah would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of Yahweh and that He may send Yahshua, the Messiah appointed for you, Whom heaven must receive until [the] period of restoration of all things about which Elohim spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient times, Acts 3:18–21.
   The suffering of the Messiah has already oc-curred, thus fulfilling prophecy. But the Apostle Peter’s words (written by Luke) affirms there are things that will yet occur before Yahshua’s second coming. It is a restoration of all things, the covenant of promise made first with Abraham, that through his seed, all the nations of the earth should be blessed (Gen. 22:18).
   For many centuries, especially from the 4th century on, the decline in the Truth of Yahweh’s Word and the rise of apostate doctrines and heresies propagated by Christianity have increased exponentially.
   Since the 1930’s, however, two of the most important, among many Scriptural Truths, have been restored: The Sign and Seal – the 3rd and 4th Commandments, not only the true weekly Sabbath, but also the 7 annual Sabbaths and the Sacred Names of the Father and the Son.

The Fourth Reason
   In Matthew 24:32–33, we read, Now learn the parable (or, learn the lesson) from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, [right] at the door.
   “When you see all these things” – deception, famines, earthquakes, persecution for His Name’s sake, the Evangel preached around the world, false prophets, false messiahs.
   What’s left? The heavens being shaken and the sun, moon and stars not showing their light (excluding blood moons of recent years, which occur every 800 years or so). Luke 21 provides a parallel account of great terrors and great signs occurring in heaven, and on the earth.
   So, while we consider we are experiencing the beginning of sorrows – wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilence (Matt. 24:6–7; Luke 22:9–11) – more is yet to come. The great Day of Yahweh, a Day of Darkness and Gloom as Joel 2:2 describes it. The Archangel Michael says in Daniel 12:1 a time of trouble, such has never been. Jeremiah 30:7 calls it a time of trouble for Jacob, but that he’ll be saved out of it. And finally, Yahshua calls it Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:21).

The Fifth Reason
   For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short, Matthew 24:21–22.
   Besides everything else falling apart, add nuclear weaponry.
   According to energy.gov website: “The world’s first nuclear explosion occurred on July 16th, 1945, when a plutonium implosion device was tested at a site located 210 miles south of Los Alamos” New Mexico. The code name for the test was called “Trinity,” of all things.
   It is believed there are between ten thousand to fifteen thousand nuclear warheads today – down from more than sixty thousand during the 1980’s. Most are owned by the US and Russia, with Russia possessing a few hundred more than the United States.
   Many believe with what nuclear warheads remain, if all were launched, it would be enough to cause a nuclear “winter.” It basically would end all life through a cascading domino effect of radiation poisoning, effecting economic and social collapse, with famine, disease and death as its outcome.
   It’s been termed the “Nuclear Holocaust.” But, again, everything else is simultaneously falling apart, making the prospect of a nuclear war appear less worrisome.

The Sixth Reason
   May 14th, 1948: Israel is recognized by the United Nations as a sovereign state, and Judah begins its return to the land. Small numbers, compared to what was promised Abraham more than three millennia ago. Nevertheless, prophecies foretold by Isaiah and Ezekiel appear to be in process to an end, in which, they will be completely fulfilled.
      • “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?” says Yahweh. “Or shall I who gives delivery shut [the womb]?” says your Elohim. “Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her,” Isaiah 66:8–10.
      • Say to them, “Thus says Yahweh Elohim, ‘Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their Elohim,’” Ezekiel 37:21–23.
   Indeed, even with the trouble that Jerusalem has seen, many rejoice with her. Israel is acknowledged once again in the world.
   Nevertheless, a more complete restoration is yet to come, since they are not all cleansed. Tel Aviv, for example, is a center for unspeakable sin. Even in Jerusalem, Gay Pride Parades have been allowed. No wonder they are referred to by the Messiah as mystically, or symbolically, Sodom and Egypt (Rev. 11:8).
May 14th, 1948, also set-in place the narrative of Ezekiel 38 which speaks of Gog of the land of Magog which may be Russia or perhaps, Turkey or even Syria, coming down into, and laying siege against Jerusalem.
   Moreover, the Man of Sin needs Israel’s temple (which could be a tabernacle) set in place, so that he can fulfill his own Scriptural destiny.
   Levitical priests and the Sanhedrin are ready, along with the altar and other furnishings for the temple.
   But years before, dating to October 13, 1881, the Hebrew language which had not been spoken as a mother tongue since the second century CE, enjoyed a revival when Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and his friends agreed to speak Hebrew exclusively in their conversations. Even the shekel as a monetary unit was restored as the medium of currency.
   And, since 1948, the inhospitable desert of Israel has become like a blossom in the land. The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) says, in Isaiah 35:1, The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.
   Prophecies like this will ultimately be fulfilled in the Kingdom, but we see a glimpse of the beauty and the hope of the Kingdom when we look at what has already occurred these last 70 years.
      • I will open rivers on the bare heights and springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land fountains of water. I will put the cedar in the wilderness, the acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree; I will place the juniper in the desert together with the box tree and the cypress, Isaiah 41:18–19.
      • The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyonewho passes by. They will say, “This desolateland has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified [and] inhabited.” Then the nations that are left round about you willknow that I, Yahweh, have rebuilt the ruinedplaces [and] planted that which was desolate; I, Yahweh, have spoken and will do it, Ezekiel 36:34–36.
   Prophecies such as these have been concluded and the trees mentioned are now all situated in Israel, whereas some were never thought to have been there before. Furthermore, in Ezekiel, we see prophecy of the wilderness being cultivated rather than desert, dust, and sand. Innovations such as drip irrigation have helped.
   While this is impressive, again, what now con-stitutes the geography of Israel is not all the Israel that has been promised, both in land and people. But that will change in the Kingdom when all the land promised to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac will be like a garden of Eden.
   In all of this, with major prophecies becoming fulfilled, Israel restored is a monumental, identifying sign that we are in the end times.
   Yet, despite such phenomenal progress, Israel is hated by all those around them. But it will get worse just before Yahshua’s return.
   Zechariah 12:3 says, It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.

The Seventh Reason
   Six thousand years have passed from creation to this present time, 2400 years from Adam to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. From the latter, the Scriptural Record counts three and a half more millennia of years of the history of Yahweh’s people through Egyptian exile, the wilderness sojournings. We also count the periods of the Judges and then the Kings, subsequent exiles in Assyria and Babylon, and restoration to the land under Imperial Rome to the time of Yahshua in the 1st century C.E. Since then, 2000 years awaiting the prophesied millennial reign of Yahshua.
   Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ He promised? Ever since our ancestors (fathers) died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by Elohim’s Word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water [physical evidence]. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the unrighteous. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: with Yahweh a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day, 2 Peter 3:3–8 NIV.
   While some interpret 2 Peter 3:8, “with Yahweh one day is as a 1000 years, and a 1000 years as one day,” and propose that creation week may have actually been 7000 years, we understand the word day as a literal 24-hour day. In the Genesis 1 narrative, each successive period of time is marked. “and there was evening and there was morning” (Gen.1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31, 2:1). Creation, in such a short time is not impossible for Yahweh, but our minds have a hard time wrapping around how powerful and capable Yahweh actually is. His abilities are really beyond our comprehension at this time.
   Six days we work, but the seventh day is a rest. It’s easy to see how man has exercised six thousand fruitless years of rule on this earth. Nevertheless, Yahweh has allowed man’s “dominion” to go on. We can learn from the futility of this time and anticipate the Sabbath day, when people will come into the Kingdom learning of Yahweh’s Word and have that peace the world has not seen during the preceding 6000 years.
   However, we are seeing scoffers today. You hear it in songs, we see it in the actions of people, some leaving the faith. We ourselves could be discouraged if we don’t recognize the hope of a future in the Kingdom and beyond.
   But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, [men] who forbid marriage [and advocate] abstaining from foods which Elohim has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth, 1 Timothy 4:1–3.
   Celibacy, the abstention from marriage, brings to mind the vows priestly candidates in the Catholic Church take and the inability of some to exercise power over their own will (1 Cor. 7:37). Unable to bring their bodies into subjection (1 Cor. 9:27) – thus, the sex abuse scandals that have rocked that apostate institution these past decades.
   Abstaining from certain foods declared clean and are sanctified first by the Word, and then prayer. Simple, but Satan twists it to mean one can eat everything today. In times past, there were self-made and self-abasement types of religions mentioned in Colossians 2:32 and are essentially worthless man-made and even demonically-influenced ideas contrary to Yahweh’s will, clearly laid out in His word (see Leviticus chapter 11 and Deuteronomy chapter 14).
   Satan’s efforts to keep people in sin is not diminishing. He, in fact, may be trying even harder now.

The Eighth Reason
   In Yahshua’s own words, recorded in Luke 17:26–30, And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
   Today, people are still getting married and partying, but other things are going on as well.
   Then Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Yahweh was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart, Gen. 6:5–6.
   The evil we are seeing today makes us grieve in our hearts. It is a reflection of Yahweh’s Spirit within us.
   Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence. Elohim looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth, Genesis 6:11–12.
   Any violence or corrupt ways in the world today? Is it getting better? Or, is it getting worse?
   What nation is there like ours even which can claim over the past 50 years, 60 million murders? That is violence of the worst kind – murder of those who cannot defend themselves. Life is at conception, plain and simple.
   What about Sodom and Gomorrah, in the days of Lot? It is noted, “Wicked exceedingly and sinners against Yahweh” (Gen. 13:13). What are we seeing today?
   Many, likened to Sodom and Gomorrah, are demanding recognition and acceptance by the world. It is a movement. But there is something also noteworthy about people in general today, which is likened to as in the days of Lot.
   “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw [it]. Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half of your sins, for you have multiplied your abominations more than they. Thus you have made your sisters appear righteous by all your abominations which you have committed, Ezekiel 16:49–51.
   Besides homosexual and other aberrant sexual practices (e.g., bestiality), and efforts to force acceptance of their ways upon others as they did with Lot’s angelic guests, they were also evidently wealthy enough to help the poor and needy, but refused to do so. That, specifically, appeared to be a weightier matter as described by Yahweh. (See also Matt. 23:23).
   Considering the times we live in, “Who in the world is obeying Yahweh?” In other words, “Who in the world is NOT sinning against Yahweh?” Very few, sorry to say.
   What should we do? Yahshua our Savior and soon coming King tells us:
   So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of Elohim is near. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man, Luke 21:31–36.
   Good advice, especially seeing what has happened in the last 100 years. And what we have seen in these last 100 years are reasons enough for us to believe we are in the last days.