The Bible says that in the last days many scoffers will say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (II Peter 3:4). We have seen occurrences of some very significant events that convince that these are the last days.
First of all, the nation of Israel was reborn in 1948. That nation completed a generation of 40 years in 1988. Second, the Jews now control all of Jerusalem and have since 1967. Third, we have the ability, with nuclear weapons, to obliterate all life, or to kill, as Revelation puts it, at least one third of all people in a single war (see Revelation 9:18).
Another thing that we have today is an incredible explosion of knowledge (see Daniel 12:4). Our knowledge doubles every six years. We have unlocked the atom and the secrets of the gene. We have come close to the heart of life itself, and in the process we have grown callous toward our fellow men and toward the Creator of life.
We are expanding our knowledge in many areas, which could benefit all people by making their lives healthier and easier. But this same knowledge has dreadful potential for misuse. Those who work in the field of genetic engineering, for instance, are not too far from being able to clone human beings by taking parts out of embryos in order to create some kind of master race. Other scientists are working to create computers that appear to reason like men. These could open up vistas of great blessing, but they could also bring about horrors if placed in the hands of the wrong people. Add to this the ability of computers to monitor the behavior of populations and to control all of the world’s money. These developments are fulfilling biblical prophecies. This tells us that we are getting very close to the time when God is going to say that the human race has gone far enough.