Implosion by Joel C. Rosenberg

1956, to the Cultural Revolution in China from 1966 to 1976, to the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, to the pro-democracy revolutions that brought down the Warsaw Pact countries and the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s, to the multiple Palestinian uprisings, to the 2011 revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Libya that led to the downfall of each of those Arab countries’ tyrannical yet long-serving dictators. The list goes on and on, including revolutions in Cuba, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Bosnia, Rwanda, Liberia, and beyond. These trends are all consistent with Bible prophecy.
    Earthquakes
    Jesus said in the last days there would be “earthquakes” and “great earthquakes” (Matthew 24:7; Luke 21:11). Can anyone reasonably deny that this has been happening in the past century or so?
    The top five most intense earthquakes in all of recorded history have occurred since 1900, each 9.0 or higher on the Richter scale. [111] Three of the top five deadliest earthquakes in human history have occurred since 1900. [112] The 2011 earthquake in Haiti “only” registered 7.0 on the Richter scale, and thus isn’t in the top five, or the top ten, or even the top hundred most intense earthquakes in history in terms of magnitude. It actually ranks number 352. [113] Yet it was the deadliest earthquake in nearly five hundred years and the second-deadliest earthquake in all of recorded history. [114]
    Given increasing urbanization around the globe, an earthquake doesn’t necessarily have to be a 9.0 magnitude or higher to cause apocalyptic levels of death and destruction. The 2005 earthquake in northern Pakistan, for example, measured “only” 7.6, yet tragically 86,000 people died, and some 4 million people were left homeless. Likewise, the 2008 earthquake in eastern China measured “only” 7.9 but killed more than 87,000 people and displaced more than 5 million people. [115] Again, such trends are consistent with Bible prophecy.
    The Remarkable Advance of the Gospel
    The good news, Jesus said, was that in the last days, “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). In other words, Jesus’ return won’t occur until every man, woman, and child in every nation on the planet has had the opportunity to hear the salvation message of Jesus Christ and has had the opportunity to either receive Christ or reject him. Church congregations, denominations, parachurch ministries, and missionaries around the globe have worked hard over the past several centuries to accomplish this task of giving everyone the opportunity to hear the gospel. With the advent of radio, broadcast television, satellite television, the Internet, and new developments in transportation and translation technology, the most dramatic advancements in the history of the gospel have been made over the past century. Some pastors and missions experts say we still have a ways to go to reach everyone on the planet. Others, however, believe we may actually be there already.
    Consider, for example, the reach and impact of just two ministries: the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the JESUS film project. Two Time magazine reporters published a book in 2007 noting that “Billy Graham is believed to have spoken face-to-face with more people in more places than anyone in history, having preached the gospel to 210 million people in 185 countries in 417 crusades over the course of more than half a century. Not even Billy Sunday or Dwight L. Moody or any of the great evangelists going back to Saint Paul had spread their message so far; it was Billy Graham alone, inserted into history at just the right moment, who became the unrivaled global ambassador for Christ.” [116]
    At the same time, the JESUS film—produced in 1979 by Warner Brothers and Campus Crusade for Christ—has been translated into more than five hundred languages and dialects. It has been shown