When will the world end? This is the age old question. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about the end times.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat. The earth also and the works that are in it will be burned up.
2 Peter 3:10
God Knows not People
When will the world end? According to the Bible, the world won’t end as people imagine. And, since God created the world, His words matter. He knows the end from the beginning. People didn’t make the world, and they won’t be its demise.
People think that humans and their actions will destroy the world through climate change or a nuclear holocaust, etc. And our careless activities can damage the world, but they won’t end it.
God’s Promise
After God sent Noah’s flood to destroy the pre-flood world, He made a promise, and God can never lie:
“The Lord said in His heart, “I will never again … destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease (Genesis 8:21-22).”
1007 Years
God will abolish the current heavens and earth (they’re hopelessly contaminated by sin) by fire. But the world’s end is at least one thousand and seven years from now. The Bible predicts that before God destroys and recreates them, two promised times must come:
One–The Tribulation
After Jesus raptures the Church by taking believers to heaven, God will pour out His wrath against “earth dwellers” for seven years. This same period is known by various names:
- The tribulation,
- The seventieth week of Daniel (a “week” being a period of seven, in this case, years),
- The time of Jacob’s (Israel’s) trouble
- The time of testing, et al.
Two–Jesus’ Millennial Reign
Jesus will return to earth at the end of the seven years and establish His reign over all the nations for one thousand years. This time is known as the Millennium. God promised King David, ten centuries before Jesus was born, that one of David’s descendant would sit on David’s throne and rule the world forever:
“Your house and dominion will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be established by the Lord forever (2 Samuel 7:16).”
“They (believers) shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years (Revelation 20:6).”
God Destroys the Current Heavens and Earth
When Jesus’ thousand-year reign is over, His reign over the earth won’t end. But before it continues, God destroys the current heavens and earth.
God Creates the New Heavens and Earth
The vision in Revelation tells us that God creates a new heaven and earth:
“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth.” For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away (Revelation 21:1).”
Jesus Reigns for Eternity
Then, after God creates a new heavens and earth, Jesus’ reign continues for eternity.
The World Clock
Sources outside of the Bible cite their growing list of concerns. The world clock is a measure some alarmists set to estimate how close they think we are to the end of the world. They usually set it for a minute or two before midnight to suggest that the end could come at any time. But they leave God out of the picture.
The Bible predicts troubled times, even unprecedented woes on earth before the world ends:
“Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale? Alas! for that day is great, so that no one is like it (Jeremiah 30:6-7).”
When will the World End?
But human actions won’t end the world; it won’t end until God acts. And because of God’s promises, that end won’t come for at least 1007 years. First, there’s a seven-year time of unprecedented troubles when over half of the world’s population will die (Revelation 6:8; 9:18). These seven years are followed by Jesus’ thousand-year reign of peace and righteousness. Both must happen before God destroys the present heavens and earth and then re-creates a new heaven and earth.
We invite you to be put your faith in God. Find out more about how much God loves you by watching the Great News for You Video on this page.
For more about end times, read this article about the Great Tribulation
