Yippie! 2026 Is Here!

A new year has dawned. Some people are looking forward to 2026 with anticipation, others with dread, and still others see it as just another day passing on the calendar.

I wish I could tell you what is going to happen this year. Who will win the Super Bowl and the World Series? How will the mid-term elections turn out, and will the Ukrainian/Russian war end? Ask any question, about any topic, and how it will pan out this year, the best anyone can do is an educated guess. Even educated guesses can be different. Take the mid-term elections, for example. Some experts predict that the Democrats will retake the House and Senate, while others say the Republican advantage in each chamber will grow. We will have to wait until the day after the election to see which educated guess was correct.

When it comes to Biblical prophecies, it is not that we don’t know what will happen, but that we don’t know when things will happen.

Christians have been looking forward to the rapture (when all the saved who have died since the resurrection of Christ and the saved alive at the time of the rapture are removed from this earth). But we have no idea when it will happen. Jesus told us that only the Heavenly Father knows the timing of the rapture (Mark 13:32). Every year, I pray that this will be the year. 2026 is no different.

God did give us signs to look for, events that tell us the rapture is getting closer. These signs occur all the time and have persisted for thousands of years, so how can we tell if they are signs or just the normal way of things? The Bible compares the signs to a woman in “travail.” This is a direct reference to a woman in labor. As time goes on, the pain will become more frequent and more intense.

We can safely say that the signs of Jesus’ coming again will increase in frequency and intensity. That statement is not a prediction or a prophecy; it is an assurance that what has already been happening will continue.

The Bible is scattered with signs of the second coming. A brief mention here, a hint there, a list of things over here. Most of the signs are recorded in the New Testament, but the Old Testament is not without signs of Jesus’ second coming.

The biggest of all the signs, the rebirth of Israel, occurred in 1948 and appears to be when the labor pains started. The rebirth of Israel is mentioned in several Old Testament books, including Deuteronomy, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, among others.

The most famous list of signs is given by Jesus in Matthew 24:4-8, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

When it comes to false Christs, it says, “many shall come in my name”; therefore, this would include those who teach a false brand of Christianity. A Christianity that does not hold up to the Biblical standard. This is also referenced in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. There it is called “a falling away.” A Christianity based on people’s feelings instead of the Word of God is spreading like wildfire. Just as labor pains increase in intensity and frequency, so too do false Christs.

Another list, this one not mentioned nearly as much, is found in 2 Timothy. This list, instead of speaking of events, looks at the condition of people’s hearts. 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

As the generations pass, it does not take much to see that the conditions of 2 Timothy are, like the rest of the signs, increasing just like labor pains do.

One last sign I would like to mention today is the sign of Noah. Jesus said, As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:37; Luke 17:26). So, what were the days of Noah like from God’s perspective? Genesis 6:5, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Christian, we should never be surprised when things get worse. In Matthew 24:6 quoted above, Jesus said, That these things must come to pass.” If we truly believe the rapture is coming soon, we should understand that the labor pains discussed here and more will only increase in intensity and frequency. In other words, things will get worse.

Some of you may be thinking, “Well, Preacher, that’s not very optimistic.” Sorry, but it is the most optimistic a person can get. Because, at the end of the tunnel, there is the light of the world. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”