End-times prophecy.

The signs of Christ's return, and where each stands today. Each sign is read in its biblical setting, with the full research assessment alongside.

Messianic prophecyEnd-times prophecyTemple watch
Signs of his return8of 13 signs seen today
The gospel preached to all nations before the end · Underway Israel regathered to the land · Underway Jerusalem "trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" · Underway Falling away / apostasy · Underway Wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilence ("the beginning of sorrows") · Ongoing False messiahs and prophets · Ongoing "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" · Ongoing Persecution: "hated of all nations for my name's sake" · Ongoing Temple and "abomination of desolation"; a Third Temple · Awaiting Mark of the beast: no buying or selling without the mark · Awaiting The return of Christ itself, visible and global · Awaiting Gog and Magog coalition against Israel · Awaiting The two witnesses · Awaiting
Matt 24:14; Mark 13:10

The gospel preached to all nations before the end

By Joshua Project's count, 56% of the world's people groups are reached with the gospel, and the work continues.

Underway
Matt 24:6-8; Luke 21:10-11

Wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilence ("the beginning of sorrows")

Wars, famines and earthquakes continue, as Jesus said: "the end is not yet" (Matt 24:6).

Ongoing
Matt 24:5, 11, 24

False messiahs and prophets

False messiahs and prophets have appeared in every century, as Jesus warned.

Ongoing
Ezek 36-37; Isa 11:11-12 (OT; see the other question)

Israel regathered to the land

Jewish people have returned to the land in large numbers, and the State of Israel was founded in 1948.

Underway
Luke 21:24

Jerusalem "trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled"

Israel has controlled Jerusalem since 1967.

Underway
Dan 9:27; 11:31; Matt 24:15; 2 Thess 2:4

Temple and "abomination of desolation"; a Third Temple

Groups in Jerusalem are preparing for a Third Temple.

Awaiting
Dan 12:4

"Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased"

Knowledge and travel have grown greatly in the modern age.

Ongoing
2 Thess 2:3; 1 Tim 4:1; 2 Tim 3:1-5

Falling away / apostasy

Church affiliation and practice have declined across much of the West, while the church holds steady or grows in the global South.

Underway
Rev 13:16-17

Mark of the beast: no buying or selling without the mark

Watched for.

Awaiting
Matt 24:27, 30; Acts 1:11; Rev 1:7

The return of Christ itself, visible and global

Christ's return, visible to all.

Awaiting
Ezek 38-39

Gog and Magog coalition against Israel

A coalition of nations against Israel in the last days.

Awaiting
Rev 11:3-12

The two witnesses

Two witnesses who prophesy in Jerusalem before the end.

Awaiting
Matt 24:9; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-17

Persecution: "hated of all nations for my name's sake"

Christians face harassment in more countries than any other religious group, as Jesus warned his disciples.

Ongoing
← All signs

The gospel preached to all nations before the end

NowUnderwayResearch statusTrend checked

King James Version
The passage
Matt 24:14

14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Read the surrounding verses

11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

Mark 13:10

10And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

Read the surrounding verses

7And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.

8For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

9But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

10And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

11But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

12Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.

13And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

The Christian case

Jesus gave one sign that his followers would carry out themselves: "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (; also ). Christians read "all nations" as every people on earth, and they see the task advancing in their own lifetime as never before. Some part of Scripture is now available to more than 99% of the world's population. By Joshua Project's count, more than half of the world's people groups (about 56%) are now reached with the gospel. For a message that began with a handful of disciples in Galilee, that reach is, for many believers, itself a striking sign that Jesus' words are being carried to completion, and an invitation to take part in finishing the work.

What the research found

On the futurist reading, that every people group must have heard the gospel, the sign is not yet met. Christian mission researchers estimate that about 28% of the world, roughly 2.3 billion people, is unevangelized, a share that has stayed flat since 2000 and is projected to stay flat to 2050. Joshua Project counts 3.64 billion people (44%) in 7,163 unreached groups, and in 59 of 238 countries most people belong to such groups. About 544 languages still have no Bible translation started.

Explore the counterarguments

Two objections are made. First, the modern campaigns aim at this very verse (Vision 2025, "finishing the task"), so if the goal is reached it will be because Christians worked to reach it, and a fulfilment brought about by the people who read the prophecy cannot count as independent evidence that it was foretold. Second, preterist interpreters read "all nations" as the Roman world of the first century. Paul already speaks of the gospel "which was preached to every creature which is under heaven" (; compare and 10:18), so on their reading the sign was fulfilled before 70 CE. The measures also differ widely: "some Scripture available", "evangelized" and "reached" give very different pictures.

See the map, country by country

Dates set by interpreters.

“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man” (Mark 13:32). 9 dates set; 0 came to pass.

400800120018001850190019502000 Today c. 378 Ambrose of Milan"That Gog is the Goth ... over whom victory in days to come is promised", with Ezekiel's burial of Gog applied to the Goths c. 482 Apollinarius of LaodiceaThe 62 weeks run from the 49th year after Christ's birth, then "Jerusalem and the Temple shall be rebuilt", Elijah comes, then Antichrist (Archer's note: about 482 CE) 1844 William MillerChrist returns about 1843-44 (22 Oct 1844) 1914 Watch Tower1914 (end of the Gentile times: "from that time forward Jerusalem shall no longer be trodden down of the Gentiles"), then 1925, then 1975 1915 H. Grattan GuinnessThe times of the Gentiles close in an era from 1915 to 1934. 1917 is "perhaps the most momentous" year; he asks whether it will see "the extinction of Gentile supremacy on earth, and the restoration of Judah's throne in the person of Christ?" c. 1988 Hal LindseyReturn within a generation (40 years) of 1948, implying about 1988 1988 Edgar WhisenantRapture in Sept 1988 2011 Harold CampingRapture 21 May 2011; end 21 Oct 2011 2015 Blood moonsMajor event linked to the 2014-15 tetrad

Select a date to see the prediction and who made it. The scale changes at 1800.

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