“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Daniel 12:4
This verse in the Bible specifically speaks of the ‘Time of the End,’ and the signs that herald its arrival. In the Big Picture, the ‘Time of the End’ would be at the latter end of the ‘Last Days,’ just before the Return of the Lord. AKA ‘The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.’
Believe it or not, the ‘Last Days’ began just after Jesus died on the cross, for Paul said 2000 years ago in Hebrews 1:1-2,
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; “
If the ‘Last Days’ began 2000 years ago then how do we know when it’s the ‘Time of the End’? One of the Signs is that men would be running ‘too and fro’, along with a marked increase in knowledge. To ‘RUN’ means to move fast and you have to admit we are now moving very fast on the earth.
I would like to point out, that from the dawn of time until the mid 1800’s, the fastest man could ever travel at was the speed of a horse which is about 48ks/33mph.
After the invention of the Steam Engine, the Automobile, and Airplanes, man quickly surpassed 33mph and can now travel at 5 times the speed of sound in the fastest jet aircraft, and this is all in the space of the last 150 years. This sign was reserved for the ‘Time of the End.’
In space man can move a lot faster. In 1969 the manned Apollo 11 space craft returned to earth at a staggering 39,897 kph / 24,790mph. These truly are signs that we are now at the ‘Time of the End.’
I want to look at this other sign of an ‘Increase of Knowledge,’ especially Spiritual Knowledge. In the days in which we live, knowledge is increasing at an alarming pace. The average university student today knows more now than the wisest men of old like Socrates, because of this increase in knowledge.
In 1982, the inventor R. Buckminster Fuller estimated that up until 1900, human knowledge doubled approximately every century, but by 1945 it was doubling every 25 years. And by 1982, it was doubling every 12-13 months. Experts now estimate that knowledge is doubling every 12 hours.
I would like to also point out that even though we may have an increase in knowledge today, there certainly isn’t an increase in wisdom when you consider all the stupid things men are doing.
I would like to point out that not only is secular knowledge increasing, but spiritual knowledge is also increasing.
This has a lot to do with an abundance of bible translations and teachings like never before. In the 1800s the main bible version used was the KJV, but now we have over 2000 versions of the bible available. A lot of the modern versions make it easier for people to understand what is being said, as the ‘verilys’ and ‘forsooths’ may have been acceptable in the 1800s but only confuse people today.
On top of all this we now have the internet, which allows us easy access to so much biblical information in just a few seconds. We are even able to stream sermons and watch live church services from all over the world, even on your mobile phone.
When I was a bible student in the 1980’s I would have to carry around with me concordances, bible dictionaries, chain references and Greek and Hebrew dictionaries, which were very cumbersome.
Praise the Lord, I have everything now on my mobile phone and it has revolutionized my study of the bible and my understanding of scripture.
My mobile phone has 16GB ram and 512GB internal storage which is 4 million times more Ram than the computer that landed man on the moon. My phone’s internal storage is 16 million times bigger the Apollo’s hard drive. Amazing that this all fits into the palm of my hand. Indeed knowledge has increased.
We now have an excellent opportunity to increase our spiritual knowledge. The Devil also knows this and is trying everything in his power to hinder us from taking the opportunity.
With all the secular knowledge available to us today we can spend hours feeding on things that do very little to feed the soul and end up spending little time in prayer, bible reading and meditating on the word.
“Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:7
Another symptom of the Last Days especially as knowledge increases, is that we will be filling our heads with information but it’s not the right sort. We can be ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. The Bible is our source of truth and the truth will set you free. Let’s seize the day and spend more time studying scripture for it will be life to you and health to all your flesh.
“My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.” Proverbs 4:19-22
May God help us to wake up and redeem the time for the days are evil. Make the most of all the material available for us today to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are a generation that has been given so much, and more will be required of us.
The trouble is we are born into this age and don’t notice how late the hour really is. The signs that I have mentioned here have only been with us for the last 175 years which is a mere ‘blip’ in the big scheme of things.
We are closer to the Lord’s Return than we think, so lets fill our lamps with oil and not be like the Unwise Virgins who left it too late.
Bride get yourself ready.
