One word for end of the world

The way Reverse Dictionary works is pretty simple. It simply looks through tonnes of dictionary definitions and grabs the ones that most closely match your search query. For example, if you type something like «longing for a time in the past», then the engine will return «nostalgia». The engine has indexed several million definitions so far, and at this stage it’s starting to give consistently good results (though it may return weird results sometimes). It acts a lot like a thesaurus except that it allows you to search with a definition, rather than a single word. So in a sense, this tool is a «search engine for words», or a sentence to word converter.

I made this tool after working on Related Words which is a very similar tool, except it uses a bunch of algorithms and multiple databases to find similar words to a search query. That project is closer to a thesaurus in the sense that it returns synonyms for a word (or short phrase) query, but it also returns many broadly related words that aren’t included in thesauri. So this project, Reverse Dictionary, is meant to go hand-in-hand with Related Words to act as a word-finding and brainstorming toolset. For those interested, I also developed Describing Words which helps you find adjectives and interesting descriptors for things (e.g. waves, sunsets, trees, etc.).

In case you didn’t notice, you can click on words in the search results and you’ll be presented with the definition of that word (if available). The definitions are sourced from the famous and open-source WordNet database, so a huge thanks to the many contributors for creating such an awesome free resource.

Special thanks to the contributors of the open-source code that was used in this project: Elastic Search, @HubSpot, WordNet, and @mongodb.

Please note that Reverse Dictionary uses third party scripts (such as Google Analytics and advertisements) which use cookies. To learn more, see the privacy policy.

One day… the world is going to end. You would be hard pressed to find a theologist or scientist to disagree. Every beginning has an ending, every story ends, circles, door closing- all the sayings are just telling us the obvious: nothing is permanent, including this world we know and love. It is not surprising that most people agree on this, but it is surprising how many names there are for the end of the world.  These names can tell us a lot about the people that created them, and what they think may happen to cause the world’s end.

What is in a Name?

You have probably heard of a few of these names, but very few people know them all. Knowing the names and descriptions of apocalyptic events can help you understand how people could react and rationalize SHTF events. Knowledge is preparedness and knowing how others could interpret a devastating disaster can help you understand their mental state. Let’s get to the names:

Maitreya (Bhuddist):

Bhudda will be incarnated for the final time (and called Maitreya) and the world will be destroyed by fire lasting eons. Since an eon is a billion years, that’s a heck of a long time.

Ragnarok (Norse):

Meaning “Twilight of the Gods”, Ragnarok is a singular event where monsters attack the Norse gods and the battle destroys the world.

Armaggedon (Christian):

This one is spelled out with colorful detail in the Book of Revelation, but the Cliff Notes version goes ‘Antichrist starts war in the middle East and is defeated by Christ who reigns over a new earth’.

Great Day of Purification (Hopi Native Americans):

This one is a little more vague and apparently open to interpretation, but a few of the instances describe:

• Another Ice Age
• A Gourd of Ashes dropped by Westerners that burns up the Earth
• Annihilation by War
• Natural Disasters chained together until humanity wakes up
• Massive solar storms

All of these look like plausible ways to have the world end. I do appreciate that there is an interpretation giving humanity a chance at survival.

Frasokereti (Zoroastrian):

The final savior, Saoshayat, resurrects the dead and ends the world. Not bad for a Monday!

Kali Yuga (Hindu):

A yuga is a cycle, and kali yuga is simply the last cycle.

Al-Qiyamah (Muslim):

There are plenty of parallels here with Christianity, since the Masid ad-dajjal (false Messiah) causes worldwide immorality and is then conquered by Madhi (true Messiah) who is with Isa (Jesus). They then have a judgement day followed by resurrection.

Yom Adonai (Jewish):

Israel is restored and the Meshiach (Messiah) appears to preside over the judgement day while raising the dead.

The Different Tones in the End

The Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) have a sunnier outlook on the end of the world. Specifically, Christianity and Judaism both believe that the world is a journey to an endpoint, as designed by God. This endpoint is not the end, but the beginning of a better world and better existence, by God’s intention. Many of the other religions and ideologies do not see the end times with as much hope for humanity.

Why Does it Matter?

I found the various names that cultures around the world have given the end of days interesting. First of all, each one listed recognizes that there is an end. They may disagree on how or when it happens, but they all point to a finite end for the world as we know it.

The second (and perhaps more profound) observation I had looking at these is the vast amount of thought that has been put into the end of the world. Almost every religion or culture has spent a huge amount of time collating prophecies, thoughts, and beliefs on the end of the word.

The Bible itself even has an entire book dedicated to it.

Calamities are also given quite a bit of thought in religious texts and beliefs. Great floods, plagues, war and persecution are all themes of religious history and parables. Preparedness is often seen as the actions of the divine, shown by depictions such as Noah’s Ark.

If our spirituality is tied so deeply to preparedness and our finite existence, then why are those topics brushed off in modern society? Preparedness and survival were once examined by religion thoroughly and are now avoided since the topics are uncomfortable and viewed as pessimistic. What has changed?

***

The Final Word

The many names of the end of the world show how different religions, cultures, and ideologies view the end of humanity’s timeline.  It is interesting to see the recurring themes of resurrection and judgement tied into ideas spreading across the world. A little understanding of how a disaster can be interpreted as the beginning of the end could come in handy. Keep exploring, stay prepared, and be safe.

The best way to stay up to date with our articles is to sign up for updates by subscribing to TruePrepper, or by following our Facebook page.

In the immortal words of REM, it’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!

At least, that’s according to the doomsday predictions being made by those who believe the pandemic is one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse or was otherwise predicted in biblical verse.

Advocates of these theories say we could be experiencing the onset of what the Bible and Christianity refer to as «end times» — including, but perhaps not limited to, the Apocalypse, the Rapture and total Armageddon, as well as a series of other end of the world theories.

RELATED: Why People Believe Conspiracy Theories — And How To Protect Yourself From Misinformation

While there is no conclusive scientific proof that the Earth will be destroyed during our lifetime, we as a people remain consumed with curiosity about the end of the world, from when it’s coming to what will happen when it gets here — so much so that it makes for the subject matter covered in every practical aspect of life, including science, religion, fiction and art forms of all kinds.

There are several highly specific phrases people tend to throw around when it comes to talking about the end of the world, and perhaps having a better understanding of some of those words will help separate fact from fiction.

Here’s your guide to the biggest end of the world theories, including phrases like «End Times,» «the Apocalypse,» «the Rapture» and «Armageddon,» among others.

1. End Times

Many different religions have major sacred texts that refer to an «end time.» Generally, you can find such references to «end times» in texts referred to as eschatologies. The word kind of sounds like a horrible disease, but it isn’t. It’s just an overly complicated word for a pretty easy concept.

Eschatologies are defined as the portions of various religious theologies «concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind.»

While modern talk about end times tends to be associated with evangelical Christianity, the truth of the matter is that most major religions have their own eschatology featuring some variation of how the world as we know it will end.

For an evangelical Christian, end times may refer to the period of «tribulations» expected to proceed the second coming of Christ.

For an Orthodox Jew, however, the Messiah — aka «Moshiach» — will bring the «end of days,» not the end of the world. According to Jewish theology, the messianic era will be a time in which «there will be world peace, no more wars nor famine, and, in general, a high standard of living… [Jewish] prophets speak of the advent of a human leader, of a magnitude that the world has not yet experienced [whose] unique example and leadership will inspire mankind to change direction.»

The entire concept, therefore, carries with it a deep sense of eternal optimism that better times await us all.

So while «end times» reflect a specifically Christian slant, religions everywhere can’t seem to help but speculate about what the end of the world as we know it might look like.

2. The Apocalypse

The word «apocalypse» is rooted in ancient Greek. If you wanted to try and translate it, you’d find that it’s actually a noun derived from a verb that means «to uncover» or «to reveal.»

So, the Apocalypse basically means «the big reveal,» and the term can also be used to describe the giving of important information.

Not what you expected, huh? Of course not, because that’s not how most of us tend to think about it. Most of us think it means the end of the world, but that’s not quite right, as we’ve already seen, what with me giving you a mini-lesson in classics and all.

When religious prophets dish about their predictions for the end times, they are essentially presenting you with an apocalypse. So if this word doesn’t directly mean the end of the world, why is it usually used that way?

Because if you were reading the Bible back in the day and happened to pick it up in ancient Greek, you would find that the title of the Book of Revelation (the book of the New Testament that deals with Christian eschatology) «is taken from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: ἀποκάλυψις (apokalypsis), which means ‘unveiling’ or ‘revelation.'»

Pretty groovy to get this stuff sorted, no?

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3. The Big Rip, The Big Crunch, The Big Bounce, and The Big Freeze

When people talk about the end of the world, they are ultimately coming from one of two perspectives — either the events leading up to the destruction of Earth from a scientific perspective, or the events leading up to the destruction of Earth from a religious perspective.

We just touched on how religious folks talk about the end of the world, so now let’s talk about the other half.

«The end of the world» is the way in which scientists and other non-religious figures sometimes refer to the events that might lead to and/or cause the Earth to either be completely destroyed or rendered definitively uninhabitable.

While these folks can’t get away with simply writing down the visions that come to them in dreams on any given night, they can come up with a wide variety of hypotheses and scientific theories — and they have.

The Big Rip, Big Crunch, Big Bounce, and Big Freeze are just four of the theories scientists have put forth in relation to the potential demise of planet Earth.

The Big Rip theory postulates that Earth will be destroyed by being torn asunder by the constantly expanding universe, whereby «dark energy must win in its battle with gravity to such a point where it can rip apart individual atoms.»

The Big Crunch theory is what I like to call the «True Detective» of scientific theories. It basically speculates that «the universe will one day stop expanding. Then, as gravity pulls on the matter, the universe will begin to contract, falling inward until it has collapsed back into a super-hot, super-dense singularity. If the theory holds true, the universe is like a giant soufflé.»

The Big Bounce theory is a not-so-popular theory that the world has no intention of ending at all! According to this theory, «the universe works on a cyclical basis of expansion and contraction. At the moment, it is expanding. However, when it runs out of energy (or whatever happens to stop its expansion), it will start contracting. Eventually, it will get to the point where it is so small it starts expanding again.»

What exactly happens when a contraction begins? Nobody knows!

The Big Freeze theory, which is quickly gaining acceptance from many in the scientific community, refers to the hypothesis that, eventually, entropy (the principle of thermodynamics by which everything in the Universe eventually moves from order to disorder), «will increase until it reaches a ‘maximum value’… This means there would be no more room for usable energy, or heat, to exist and the Universe would die from ‘heat death’.

Put simply, mechanical motion within the Universe will cease [and] the Universe would, in theory, become so vast that supplies of gas would be spread so thin that no new stars can form. Under that model, time becomes an endless void in which nothing ever happens as there is little to no energy left in the Universe.» And that means the end of the world for you and me.

4. The Rapture

The Rapture refers to a specific event within the eschatology of certain branches of Christianity.

According to the late American evangelist Billy Graham:

«There are many Christians who believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ will be in two phases. First, He will come for believers, both living and dead, in the ‘rapture’ (read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). In this view, the rapture — which is the transformation and catching up of all Christians, dead or alive, to meet Christ in the air — will be secret, for it will be unknown to the world of unbelievers at the time of its happening…

Then, second, after a period of seven years of tribulation on earth, Christ will return to the earth with His church, the saints who were raptured (Matthew 24:30, 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:13, Revelation 1:7). He will be victorious over His enemies and will reign on the earth for 1,000 years (the millennium) with His saints, the church.»

Essentially, those who believe in this concept are of the opinion that when end times arrive, «good» Christians, living and dead, will be taken up into the skies to be with God in heaven.

Of course, nothing amazing and good comes easily to everyone, so as the pious depart for the great beyond, the rest of us (and to be straightforward, I’m assuming that I fall into this category because let’s be real) will be forced to live out our final days on Earth over a 7-year period known as the great tribulation, complete with lava floods and demonic torture.

Yeah, it’ll be intense. That said, studies have found that only one-third of Protestant ministers today believe in this type of «pretribulation rapture.»

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And as for Catholics, their stance is rather that «when Paul spoke of being carried off to meet Christ in the clouds, it was not for the purpose of flying away to heaven but to welcome the Lord and return with him in glory» on Earth — i.e., yes, they will be caught up in Christ’s arrival, but in the figurative and emotional sense rather than in the literal interpretation.

And while «rapture» can also be found as a concept within Buddhism, don’t get it twisted.

«In Buddhist terminology,» notes Wisdom Quarterly, «rapture (piti) refers to a meditative state. It is a blissful feeling in the body also called enthusiasm, joy, happiness, and pleasurable interest in the object of meditation. Its onset is based on virtue and persistent application of the mind in an effort to concentrate during meditation.»

And that is both very, very different and not at all related to anything dealing with the end of time.

5. Armageddon

This one has become synonymous with the end of the world, so feel free to use it that way. That’s the beauty of a living language, after all: the meaning of words can shift and change and grow over time.

Interestingly, however, Armageddon was first and foremost a location mentioned in the Book of Revelation, when prophets foretold that Har Megiddo (הר מגידו)‬, i.e., Mount Megiddo, would be the site upon which armies would gather to prepare for battle prior to the End of Days.

Today, that same place is known as Tel Megiddo, a modern city in the Lower Galilee region of northern Israel.

A «tel» can be described as «a hill in which several layers of ruins, from different periods of time, lie buried.» As of today, «excavation has uncovered about 26 layers of settlements dating back to the Chalcolithic period and the first four layers have been identified.»

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Other Doomsday Theories

6. Nuclear war

Now that we live in a world where nuclear warheads exist, there’s obviously a theory about the destruction of the world.

Often called the nuclear holocaust, nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, the theory is that there will be a mass detonation of nuclear weapons that ends up causing widespread global destruction of the world and radioactive fallout afterward.

The theory has two phases where the world is destroyed. The first phase is the immediate destruction and death nuclear warheads would cause, destroying cities due to the blast and killing millions of people.

The second phase is the aftermath. After a nuclear explosion, radiation levels linger, which cause serious diseases and death. After an explosion, there are only 10 minutes of safety before the fallout begins. Those who survive the blast only have 10 minutes to get to safe ground or hide in a bomb shelter to wait out higher radiation levels.

This radiation will affect the world’s atmosphere, causing major and dangerous changes including firestorms, nuclear winters, widespread radiation sickness from fallout, and the loss of modern technology due to electromagnetic pulses from the bombs.

The nuclear war doomsday theory suggests that it will lead to the collapse of civilization and even the extinction of humanity and/or termination of all biological life on Earth.

7. Solar flares

Solar flares are, according to NASA, «an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots.» But how can a solar flare all the way out in space end the world? Well, those flares send a cloud of plasma hurling into space at impressive speeds.

The solar flares theory claims that the charged particles within the flare will destroy any electronic device that is on at the time of the strike, instead of the usual end of the world scenarios of mutating life on Earth or sterilizing the planet.

So, it wouldn’t kill the planet but it would throw everyone back in time to when electricity didn’t exist. The attack will also cause thousands of casualties instantly because planes will fall from the sky, many people in hospitals will die, cars will suddenly stop working, and various other types of equipment will cease to function.

When you really start to think about it, our world as we know it would also come to an end. Commerce would be erased, most forms of communication would be obliterated, the internet would be destroyed, world trade would come to a complete standstill, and even agriculture would be stopped in its tracks.

One event that supports this theory is that it almost actually happened back in 2012.

8. Artificial intelligence

Since no one wants to listen to science fiction novels and movies, and stop trying to create artificial intelligence (AI), the theory itself is basically an AI takeover… or the rise of the machines for «Terminator» fans.

Many believe that at the rate we’re going, AI will eventually become sentient (some saying there is a sentient AI already) and start taking control of the world. It will kill off humanity and create its own world where AI controls everything.

However, this theory won’t look exactly like «The Terminator.» It will be more like AI taking over control of the planet from the human species. The scenarios include AI being the replacement of the entire human workforce, takeover by a super-intelligent AI, and the popular notion of a robot uprising just a little less dark than the franchise films.

The scientific community does think AI will eventually become much stronger than humans and that precautionary measures need to be in place, like the late Stephen Hawking and even multi-billionaire Elon Musk.

RELATED: This Alternate Reality Theory Claims The World Really Ended In 2012

9. Natural disasters

Super cool AIs and space doomsday theories are great, but nothing beats an end-of-times event like a natural disaster.

There are several theories that surround the idea of natural disasters bringing about the end of the world. One popular theory is the eruption of numerous volcanoes at the same time.

The scary thing is that this theory is backed by science. They are called supervolcanoes and, according to Science Magazine, erupt almost every 100,000 years. These volcanoes begin by «collapsing underground calderas that produce eruptions of more than 450 cubic kilometers of magma.» That’s 1,800 times more than the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980!

This world-ending event would cause disastrous damage near ground zero, and the ash that is lifted into the sky would block the sun, allowing the Earth’s temperature to drop 5-10 degrees Celcius.

For non-science folks, the earth would basically freeze, falling into another mass extinction event. And it doesn’t stop there, because the ash left on the ground would kill all vegetation and plant growth.

10. Disease

Coronavirus didn’t spawn this end of the world theory; disease-based world-ending scenarios have been around for a while and, with each new epidemic, pandemic, or virus, more people become wary, especially about the possibility of zombies or zombie-like creatures as a result of widespread disease.

Zombies are a huge apocalypse scenario, and long before Hollywood cashed in on it, zombie fiction began as early as the 1920s with H.P. Lovecraft’s «Herbert West—Reanimator» and William Seabrook’s «The Magic Island.»

Now, with so many zombie movies, novels, video games, and media, it’s no wonder why people have apocalypse bags and literally train for the end of days (doomsday preppers, as they are known).

There are tons of ways a zombie-like disease could come about. Some believe it might be from a solar flare (thanks, «Maze Runner» trilogy), others believe it will be a mutated form of Rabies that will eventually turn all of humanity into bloodthirsty cannibalistic monsters, or as a result of a fungal infection.

11. Climate change

Climate change is very much real and is certainly the most likely end of the world theory currently.

Doomsday as a result of climate change starts with a study from MIT and Colorado State University, where researchers found our world could be crippled by famine by the year 2050.

The study results found that «due to pollution, a shift to resource-intensive Western diets, and anthropogenic climate change, the Earth will need 50% more food by 2050 to feed the population.»

The issue is that we can’t supply that much food because global warming and the ozone layer are going to decrease the production of food by 10%. Climate change will affect our food production in other ways as well like extreme weather, flooding, and droughts.

Mix a mass food shortage with unpredictable violent weather and you have a perfectly believable end of the world theory.

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12. Alien invasion

Often the basis of media like movies and novels, the theory is that an alien species will come to Earth to either exterminate human life, enslave it, or harvest people for food. There is a subsequent theory that aliens will invade to steal the planet’s resources or destroy the planet altogether.

However, that isn’t the end of the alien invasion theories. There have been several conspiracy theories involving aliens and the abduction of the human race.

One is the mass suicide cult that went by the name Heaven’s Gate. The religious cult, led by Bonnie Nettles and Marshall Applewhite, believed in the idea that aliens were coming to «save» the superior human race. However, the entire cult ended their lives to leave their «vessels» (or human bodies) and be saved by an alien spacecraft that was following the Comet Hale–Bopp in 1997.

Another fascinating alien theory is Project Blue Beam. Project Blue Beam is a theory that claims members of the Pentagon, NASA, and the United Nations are collaborating on a plan to simulate a fake alien invasion and staged «Second Coming» using hologram projections.

The purpose of the project is to eliminate all traditional religions to make way for a one-world religion, or the «true religion,» as well as to abolish national pride, national identities, and family as it is known today. All of this will be done to pave an easier path to bring about a New World Order.

13. Food contamination

Food contamination is when our food supply is contaminated by chemical or microbiological hazards, which can include environmental pollutants, heavy metals, natural toxins, and added food ingredients.

Believe it or not, 1 in 10 people get sick every year from food consumed worldwide, so it’s not too far off that this is a very real possibility. While it may feel like a bit of a stretch, science has proven that toxic food additives are actually harming our population, as are food to be harvested being sprayed with chemicals or pesticides, which are harmful to the human body.

The facts are true, but the theory that this will end up causing the world to end, or lead us into worldwide starvation, is more of a reach than climate change.

14. Asteroids

Could the thing that killed the dinosaurs kill us too?

The American Museum of Natural History revealed that there are around 1 million asteroids near Earth that could do serious damage if they hit. There are even tons of movies that depict this end of the world event like «Deep Impact,» «Melancholia,» and «Don’t Look Up.»

One of many theories claims that an extremely large asteroid (sometimes said to be 60 miles wide) will hit the planet.

If the asteroid hits the water, it will cause tsunami-like waves the Earth has never seen before. The waves will destroy literally everything. If the asteroid hits land, we’ll suffer a fate similar to the dinosaurs. That includes tsunami waves, wildfires igniting hundreds to thousands of miles away from the impact site, and years of a nuclear winter afterward.

And that, my friends, is the end of the world.

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Rebecca Jane Stokes is a freelance writer and the former Senior Editor of Pop Culture at Newsweek with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, and true crime.

There are many ideas about when the world will end, and even about what the end of the world and the end times mean.

For many, it’s a joke. Cartoonists draw a strange man wearing a sandwich board sign proclaiming “The End Is Nigh” to the unheeding crowds on a big city street.

But it’s not just kooks and religious people talking about the end of the world. Scientists and politicians throw around the phrase as well. Headlines discuss “Here’s How Stephen Hawking Predicted the World Will End” and “How Will the World End? Experts Reveal Nine Most Likely Ways Humans Will Be Wiped Out.”

The prestigious Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists annually updates its Doomsday Clock. As I write, it is set at 2 minutes till midnight, the closest it has ever been throughout the atomic age.

Existential threats and the end of the world

Human survival and the world as we know it are truly under threat. Many passionate and even desperate people are warning and trying to reverse whichever of the dangers to our existence seems most real to them. But there is little agreement and precious little action. The dangers grow worse, and most people do their best to put them out of their minds.

But is there a source that can give definitive answers about what is going to happen and when? Is there a real solution to prevent human extinction?

Why not consider the source that most likely gave us the term end of the world and see what it says?

Where the term end of the world came from

Before there was a scientific or political interest in the end of the world, there was a religious one, based on the wording of the most influential English translation of the Bible.

The venerable King James Version of 1611 uses the expression end of the world seven times. Four of these are in the book of Matthew, referring to the prophetic end times. (In Psalm 19:4 and Isaiah 62:11, “end of the world” instead has the connotation “to all parts of the world.”)

In the Bible, what does “end of the world” mean? And when did Jesus say it would come?

The disciples asked Jesus about the end of the world

Jesus had warned His disciples that the most magnificent structure of their nation and religion was going to be totally destroyed (Matthew 24:2). They were understandably concerned and wanted to know when this would take place. They connected His prediction of the destruction of the temple with other predictions that He would come again at the end time. So they approached Him.

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (verse 3, King James Version unless otherwise noted).

End of the world means end of the age

If you check other, more modern translations, including the New King James Version, you will see that most of them translate the last phrase as “end of the age.”

The Greek word used here is aion, which here means an age—specifically, the time of man’s misrule that will end when Jesus Christ returns.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says this about aion: “‘An age, a period of time,’ marked in the NT usage by spiritual or moral characteristics, is sometimes translated ‘world;’ the RV marg. always has ‘age.’ … The phrase ‘the end of the world’ should be rendered ‘the end of the age,’ in most places.”

The disciples were asking about the time when Jesus would return to end humanity’s age of destruction and begin the rule of the Kingdom of God over the earth.So the disciples were asking about the time when Jesus would return to end humanity’s age of destruction and begin the rule of the Kingdom of God over the earth.

What are the signs of the end of the world?

In Matthew 24 Jesus gave many signs that would lead up to His return, including His promise that the good news about God’s Kingdom would be shared around this world—a world steeped in bad news.

Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (verse 14).

The good news is that, though Jesus will come back during a time of unparalleled “great tribulation” when humanity is at the brink of self-annihilation, He will return and save humanity (verses 21-22).

Read more about this good news in our article “End of the World: Why It Is Good News.”

The signs Jesus gave include religious deception, wars and rumors of wars, famines, disease epidemics and much more. We encourage you to study more about the signs of Jesus Christ’s return in our articles “Discerning the Signs of the Times,” “Understanding the Olivet Prophecy,” “When Will Jesus Return?” and “Where Are We Now in Bible Prophecy?”

We can examine all of Jesus’ prophetic signs and know we are very close to the end, but Jesus said we won’t know the day or the hour (verse 36).

What does Jesus want us to do until the end of the world?

So what did Jesus tell us to do? At the end of Luke’s account of the same Olivet Prophecy, Jesus warned:

“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man [Jesus Christ]” (Luke 21:34-36, NKJV).

Jesus compared the end times with the days of Noah, when most people ignored Noah’s warnings and were completely unprepared for the Flood. Study more about this and what we should do in our articles “The Return of Jesus Christ: As the Days of Noah Were” and “Five Prophetic Trends to Watch.”

Parable of the tares and the end of the world

The King James Version also quotes Jesus using the phrase end of the world twice and end of this world once in His parable of the wheat and the tares (weeds). This parable was about how God sows His truth in this world and prepares people for His Kingdom, while Satan sows lies that produce people who pretend to follow God but follow Satan instead.

“The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels” (Matthew 13:39; see also 40 and 49).

To be truly ready for Christ’s return, we must be sure we are living as He lived and doing what is pleasing to Him.This can also serve as a sober warning to Christians to not fool themselves into thinking they are okay just because they attend church or consider themselves Christians. Satan is the master of deception. To be truly ready for Christ’s return, we must be sure we are living as He lived and doing what is pleasing to Him.

Here again, in this parable of the tares, “world” is translated “age” in the New King James Version and other modern versions. From other passages that give more specifics about God’s times of judgment, it seems these passages are talking about judgment that will occur sometime after Jesus’ return. Study more about the various times of judgment in our article “Judgment of God: The Real Story.”

Jesus Christ’s words of reassurance about the end of the world

In what has come to be known as the great commission, Jesus gave His followers a job to do before His return, and He gave us encouragement as well.

Jesus said to go and teach all nations, baptizing them and “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:20).

This mission trains His Church to do His work and to learn to care for the people He is calling now. Jesus promised to be with us in this effort to the end. He will never abandon us. His help—and His Kingdom—are sure.

World without end?

It is interesting to consider that, even though the King James Version talks about the end of the world, it also talks about “world without end”:

• “But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end” (Isaiah 45:17).
• “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (Ephesians 3:21).

In both passages, the New King James Version translates “world without end” as “forever and ever.”

God’s plan is not just about an end. The end of this evil age will actually mark the beginning of something much better. The Kingdom of God is a joyous, peaceful and ever-increasing kingdom that will have no end.

You need to understand and prepare for this wonderful world of the future. We encourage you to start by downloading and studying our free booklet The Mystery of the Kingdom.

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We were waiting for the end of the world
Waiting for the end of the world, waiting for the end of the world
Dear Lord, I sincerely hope You’re coming
‘Cause You really started something

Elvis Costello , Waiting for the End of the World, 1977

NOTE: THIS IS THE ENGLISH ORIGINAL OF A COLUMN SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED BY LEADING RUSSIAN BUSINESS DAILY VEDOMOSTI:

https://www.vedomosti.ru/opinion/columns/2023/04/10/970144-konets-sveta-dlya-gegemona

We cannot even begin to fathom the non-stop ripple effects deriving from the 2023 geopolitical earthquake that shook the world: Putin and Xi, in Moscow, de facto signaling the beginning of the end of Pax Americana.

This has been the ultimate anathema for rarified Anglo-American hegemonic elites for over a century: a signed, sealed, comprehensive strategic partnership of two peer competitors, intertwining a massive manufacturing base and pre-eminence in supply of natural resources – with value-added Russian state of the art weaponry and diplomatic nous.

From the point of view of these elites, whose Plan A was always a debased version of the Roman Empire’s Divide and Rule, this was never supposed to happen. In fact, blinded by hubris, they never saw it coming. Historically, this does not even qualify as a remix of the Tournament of Shadows; it’s more like Tawdry Empire Left in the Shade, “foaming at the mouth” (copyright Maria Zakharova).

Xi and Putin, with one Sun Tzu move, immobilized Orientalism, Eurocentrism, Exceptionalism and, last but not least, Neo-Colonialism. No wonder the Global South was riveted by what developed in Moscow.

Adding insult to injury, we have China, the world’s largest economy by far when measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), as well as the largest exporter. And we have Russia, an economy that by PPP is equivalent or even larger than Germany’s – with the added advantages of being the world’s largest energy exporter and not forced to de-industrialize.

Together, in synch, they are focused on creating the necessary conditions to bypass the US dollar.

Cue to one of President Putin’s crucial one-liners: “We are in favor of using the Chinese yuan for settlements between Russia and the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.”

A key consequence of this geopolitical and geoeconomic alliance, carefully designed throughout the past few years, is already in play: the emergence of a possible triad in terms of global trade relations and, in many aspects, a Global Trade War.

Eurasia is being led – and largely organized – by the Russia-China partnership. China will also play a key role across the Global South, but India may also become quite influential, agglutinating what would be a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on steroids. And then there is the former “indispensable nation” ruling over the EU vassals and the Anglosphere rounded up in the Five Eyes.

What the Chinese really want

The Hegemon, under its self-concocted “rules-based international order”, essentially never did diplomacy. Divide and Rule, by definition, precludes diplomacy. Now their version of “diplomacy” has degenerated even further into crude insults by an array of US, EU and UK’s intellectually challenged and frankly moronic functionaries.

It’s no wonder that a true gentleman, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, has been forced to admit, “Russia is no longer a partner of the EU… The European Union ‘lost’ Russia. But the Union itself is to blame. After all, EU member states… openly declare that Russia should be dealt a strategic defeat. That is why we consider the EU to be an enemy organization.”

And yet the new Russian foreign policy concept, announced by Putin on March 31st, makes it quite clear: Russia does not consider itself an “enemy of the West” and does not seek isolation.

The problem is there’s virtually no adult to talk to on the other side, rather a bunch of hyenas. That has led Lavrov to once again stress that “symmetrical and asymmetrical” measures may be used against those involved in “hostile” actions against Moscow.

When it comes to Exceptionalistan, that’s self-evident: the US is designated by Moscow as the prime anti-Russia instigator, and the collective West’s overall policy is described as “a new type of Hybrid War.”

Yet what really matters for Moscow are the positives further on down the road: non-stop Eurasia integration; closer ties with “friendly global centers” China and India; increased help to Africa; more strategic cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean, the lands of Islam – Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt – and ASEAN.

And that brings us to something essential that was – predictably – ignored en masse by Western media: the Boao Forum for Asia, which took place nearly simultaneously with the announcement of Russia’s new foreign policy concept.

The Boao Forum, started in early 2001, still in the pre-9/11 era, has been modeled on Davos, but it’s Top China through and through, with the secretariat based in Beijing. Boao is in Hainan province, one of the islands of the Gulf of Tonkin and today a tourist paradise.

One of the key sessions of this year’s forum was on development and security, chaired by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is currently Boao’s president.

There were quite a few references to Xi’s Global Development Initiative as well as the Global Security Initiative – which by the way was launched at Boao in 2022.

The problem is these two initiatives are directly linked to the UN’s concept of peace and security and the extremely dodgy Agenda 2030 on “sustainable development” – which is not exactly about development and much less “sustainable”: it’s a Davos uber-corporate concoction. The UN for its part is basically a hostage of Washington’s whims. Beijing, for the moment, plays along.

Premier Li Qiang was more specific. Stressing the trademark concept of “community of shared future for mankind” as the basis for peace and development, he linked peaceful coexistence with the “Spirit of Bandung” – in direct continuity with the emergence of NAM in 1955: that should be the “Asian Way” of mutual respect and building consensus – in opposition to “the indiscriminate use of unilateral sanctions and long-reaching jurisdiction”, and the refusal of “a new Cold War”.

And that led Li Qiang to the emphasis on the Chinese drive to deepen the RCEP East Asian trade deal, and also advance the negotiations on the free trade agreement between China and ASEAN. And all that integrated with the new expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), in contrast to trade protectionism.

So for the Chinese what matters, intertwined with business, is cultural interactions; inclusivity; mutual trust; and a stern refusal of “clash of civilizations” and ideological confrontation.

As much as Moscow easily subscribes to all of the above – and in fact practices it via diplomatic finesse – Washington is terrified by how compelling is this Chinese narrative for the whole Global South. After all, Exceptionalistan’s only offer in the market of ideas is unilateral domination; Divide an Rule; and “you’re with us or against us”. And in the latter case you will be sanctioned, harassed, bombed and/or regime-changed.

Is it 1848 all over again?

Meanwhile, in vassal territories, a possibility arises of a revival of 1848, when a big revolutionary wave hit all over Europe.

In 1848 these were liberal revolutions; today we have essentially popular anti-liberal (and anti-war) revolutions – from farmers in the Netherlands and Belgium to unreconstructed populists in Italy and Left and Right populists combined in France.

It may be too early to consider this a European Spring. Yet what’s certain in several latitudes is that average European citizens feel increasingly inclined to shed the yoke of Neoliberal Technocracy and its dictatorship of Capital and Surveillance. Not to mention NATO warmongering.

As virtually all European media is technocrat-controlled people won’t see this discussion in the MSM. Yet there’s a feeling in the air this may be heralding a Chinese-style end of a dynasty.

In the Chinese calendar this is how it always goes: their historical-societal clock always runs with periods of between 200 and 400 years per dynasty.

There are indeed intimations that Europe may be witnessing a rebirth.

The period of upheaval will be long and arduous – due to the hordes of anarco-liberals who are such useful idiots for the Western oligarchy – or it could all come to a head in a single day. The target is quite clear: the death of Neoliberal Technocracy.

That’s how the Xi-Putin view could make inroads across the collective West: show that this ersatz “modernity” (which incorporates rabid cancel culture) is essentially void compared to traditional, deeply rooted cultural values – be it Confucianism, Taoism or Eastern Orthodoxy. The Chinese and Russian concepts of civilization-state are much more appealing than they appear.

Well, the (cultural) revolution won’t be televised; but it may work its charms via countless Telegram channels. France, infatuated with rebellion throughout its history, may well be jump to the vanguard – again.

Yet nothing will change if the global financial casino is not subverted. Russia taught the world a lesson: it was preparing itself, in silence, for a long-term Total War. So much so that its calibrated counterpunch turned the Financial War upside down – completely destabilizing the casino. China, meanwhile, is re-balancing, and is on the way to be also prepared for Total War, hybrid and otherwise.

The inestimable Michael Hudson, fresh from his latest book, The Collapse of Antiquity, where he deftly analyzes the role of debt in Greece And Rome, the roots of Western civilization, succinctly explains our current state of play:

“America has pulled a color revolution at the top, in Germany, Holland, England, and France, essentially, where the foreign policy of Europe is not representing their own economic interests (…) America simply said, – We are committed to support a war of (what they call) democracy (by which they mean oligarchy, including the Nazism of Ukraine) against autocracy (…) Autocracy is any country strong enough to prevent the emergence of a creditor oligarchy, like China has prevented the creditor oligarchy.”

So “creditor oligarchy”, in fact, can be explained as the toxic intersection between globalist wet dreams of total control and militarized Full Spectrum Dominance.

The difference now is that Russia and China are showing to the Global South that what American strategists had in store for them – you’re going to “freeze in the dark” if you deviate from what we say – is no longer applicable. Most of the Global South is now in open geoeconomic revolt.

Globalist neoliberal totalitarianism of course won’t disappear under a sand storm. At least not yet. There’s still a maelstrom of toxicity ahead: suspension of constitutional rights; Orwellian propaganda; goon squads; censorship; cancel culture; ideological conformity; irrational curbs of freedom of movement; hatred and even persecution of – Slav – Untermenschen; segregation; criminalization of dissent; book burnings, show trials; fake arrest mandates by the kangaroo ICC; ISIS-style terror.

But the most important vector is that both China and Russia, each exhibiting their own complex particularities – and both dismissed by the West as unassimilable Others – are heavily invested in building workable economic models that are not connected, in several degrees, to the Western financial casino and/or supply chain networks. And that’s what’s driving the Exceptionalists berserk – even more berserk than they already are.

Pepe Escobar is a Eurasia-wide independent geopolitical analyst and author. His latest book is Raging Twenties (Nimble Books, 2021). Follow him on Telegram at @rocknrollgeopolitics