From the Gospel of Matthew    27 

    An actual visible  sign of the Son of man  will be seen in the sky. I think 

it will be an image of the Virgin Mary. She is the sign of Jesus, the Son of 

man, because it was through Mary that Jesus became a man, a member of 

the human race, and a part of creation. Also, in the book of Revelation, a 

sign is described as  a woman clothed with the sun  (Rev 12:1), which is the 

Virgin Mary. 

      `Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these 

things take place.'   (Mt 24:34). 

    When Jesus says this generation, He does not mean the people who were 

living at that period of time. Generation, in this context, means lineage, the 

lineage of humanity. In other words, the human race will not pass away 

until all these things have happened. Jesus says this because, during the time 

of terror and destruction which He was describing, some people will wonder 

if it is the end of the world. 

    I tell you, the world will not end for many hundreds of years. Even after 

the sufferings of the book of Revelation, which many people associate with 

the end of the world, the world will not end. After that time, which people 

call  Apocalypse,  there will be a time called the Millennium, a time of well 

over a thousand years of Christian peace, holiness, and prosperity. 

      `But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, 

nor the Son, but the Father only.'   (Mt 24:36). 

    When will the end of Heaven and earth occur? Jesus says that the exact 

day and hour is not known by anyone, not even by Jesus. How could Jesus 

not know? Jesus, in His human mind did not know, but Jesus in His Divine 

mind does know. 

    At the end of the world, Heaven and earth will pass away and be replaced 

by a new Heaven and a new earth (Rev 20:11; 21:1). Then Jesus will judge 

the living and the dead (Rev 20:12 15). This Judgment Day will occur 

sometime after the Millennium. 

    The previous descriptions of various times of suffering do not mark the 

end of the world, so it can be known when these sufferings will occur. The 

great sufferings described in the book of Revelation (Rev 11 19) are referred 

to as  the end  because they mark the end of one era and the beginning of 

another. That time is not the end of the world. 

    I will try to sum up the order of events and the years when they will take 

place. First, there is the period of time called The Forty Years (A.D. 2000 to 

2039/2040). The first  decade or so (2000 to 2010) of the Forty Years will 

include some sufferings and some special blessings from God. The second 

decade (2011  to 2020) will include a terrible war (which actually begins in 

2010), followed by famines and earthquakes (Mt 24:5 8),  and many other