(Matt. 24:7-8; Lk. 21:11).

 

These signs have continued to be fulfilled.  And not only that, the intensity and frequency of their occurrence have also continued to increase with each passing day/year. There is general down-turn in the world economy with the attendant increase in poverty and starvation level.

 

Every year, the percentage of people that die out of starvation all over the world keeps increasing.

 

The level of pestilence (any fatal infectious disease that spreads through large number of people) all over the world today had been equalled in the past.  Time after time, some terrible epidemic will break out across nations.  We heard of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that not-long ago claimed many lives in the far east, particularly China.  The menace of birds-flu is not yet history. Perhaps, the most deadly of all is the Human Immune-Deficiency Virus (HIV) and its attendant Acquired Immune- Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which is currently ravaging lives particularly in Africa.  Many believe that this is not only a curse due to sin but also a sign of the last days (cp. Deut. 28:20-22, 35; Matt. 24:7-8).

 

The manner, magnitude and frequency of earthquakes today is such that no Bible believer can afford to be insensitive to.  The Tsunami that swept many Asian countries in Dec. 2004 and the hurricanes (Rita & Katrina) of the united states, almost at the same time, are still fresh in our memories.  In the recent past, there was another devastating earthquake in Indonesia.