The apocalypse is big business. Just this year, movies centered around cataclysms made over half a billion dollars at the box office and a boatload more on streaming services. There was “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “A Quiet Place: Day One,” “Arcadian,” “Lazareth,” and on the list goes.

Yet apocalypse talk is not relegated to the world of fiction. World events are hurtling toward disaster. Unlike entertainment, however, we cannot turn them off.

In May 2023, Russia said that Western weapons support for Ukraine made a “nuclear apocalypse” more likely. In December of that year, Al Jazeera published the article “Is the World Capable of Stopping a Climate Apocalypse?” It quoted United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as warning that humanity has “opened the gates of hell.” This August, a former Israeli minister penned an opinion piece titled “Gaza and the Apocalypse.”

Talk of the end of the world is becoming all too common. It dominated conversations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Israel-Hamas war is threatening to spark World War III. And the Doomsday Clock is at 90 seconds to midnight.

A Study Finds article added another existential worry: “The exponential growth of artificial intelligence over the past year has sparked discussions about whether the era of human domination of our planet is drawing to a close. The most dire predictions claim that the machines will take over within five to 10 years.”

The article, which explored the popularity of the term “apocalypse,” included a study that “collected all articles mentioning the words ‘apocalypse’ or ‘apocalyptic’ from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post between Jan. 1, 1980, and Dec. 31, 2023. After filtering out articles centered on religion and entertainment, there were 9,380 articles that mentioned one or more of four prominent apocalyptic concerns: nuclear war, disease, climate change, and AI.”

A Pew Research Center study found that 39 percent of adults in the United States think “we are living in the end times.”

For Christians, this assertion stems from the events detailed in Revelation. Indeed, the last book of the Bible is filled with horror-inducing imagery. There is the battle of Armageddon involving all the armies of Earth (16:16) and a beast with seven heads and 10 horns (13:1). There are also the seven trumpet plagues that include fiery hailstones (8:7), a star called Wormwood falling from the sky and poisoning a third of freshwater (vs. 11), and a massive supernatural army sweeping the Earth and causing mass death (9:3-11).

The global calamity detailed in Revelation is colloquially called “the apocalypse.”

Yet there is a problem with our modern usage of the word apocalypse. It is not what the original Greek term meant.

Read Revelation 1:1: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass…”

The word “revelation” here is translated from apokalypsis, from which comes apocalypse. The Outline of Biblical Usage defines it this way: “laying bare, making naked, a disclosure of truth, instruction, concerning things before unknown.”

Realize what this means. The word apocalypse does not necessarily mean doom and gloom, although God is certainly revealing globe-changing events in Revelation.

In books, film and TV, apocalypses are depicted as world-changing events. Afterward, life is never the same. The same should be true of God disclosing His truth.

The Bible reveals that humanity is heading toward apocalypse—but it will look nothing like the world thinks.

Why Record It?

“The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” is one of the most famous prophecies in God’s Word. Found in Revelation 6:1-8, these harbingers of doom perfectly summarize what most think of when they hear the term Bible prophecy.

The first horse, white, goes “forth conquering, and to conquer” (vs. 2). Then comes a red horse, whose rider has “a great sword” and is able to cause world war (vs. 3). The third rider is on a black horse of famine (vs. 4) and the fourth a pale horse whose rider is named “Death” (vs. 8).

Verse 8 continues and explains the havoc these horsemen cause on the Earth: “And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

Let that sink in. One-quarter of humanity dead.

What is God saying here? Why would this occur? And when?

Such “apocalyptic” storylines capture the imagination and pique our curiosity. In addition to the cataclysmic events of Revelation are the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and many other biblical writings. When put together, they give you a rough picture of future events. To understand more, read Revelation Explained at Last!

Yet prophetic puzzles are a funny thing. As the apostle Paul said, we see prophecy “through a glass, darkly” (I Cor. 13:12). Try as we might, we can never completely understand every future event outlined in the Bible.

If we cannot fully know, why would God commit one-third of the Bible to prophecy?

One reason is to get our attention—and the events outlined in His Word certainly do that!—so that He can reveal deeper truths we can apply in our lives today.

Revisit the description of the red horse, this time in its full context: “And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword” (Rev. 6:4).

The red horse takes peace from the Earth. Realize the implication here. To take peace, there has to first be world peace. This is not a picture of today. This means the four horsemen must ride at a time after world peace is here.

These four horsemen of death and destruction capture our attention, and then God slips in a reference to His awesome plan for all of humanity, which includes how world peace will come.

What Else God Is Revealing

Analyzing future events laid out in the Bible is thrilling. But what should they mean to you as an individual? Here we can learn a lot from the examples of Old Testament prophets. God used them to record what would occur in the future—and that exercise caused them to take a look at themselves and humanity as a whole.

The book of Isaiah declares the future punishment of all nations in graphic detail. Chapter 24 describes the culmination of God’s righteous wrath: “Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants thereof” (vs. 1).

After years of global peace that clearly demonstrate God’s “goodness,” those who will not listen will experience His “severity” (Rom. 11:22), similar to a parent chastising children.

These events reveal God’s awesome power. And this was not lost on Isaiah. He declared: “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, He takes up the isles as a very little thing” (40:15).

God uses Bible prophecy to reveal crucial truths about humankind. We can so often get caught up in the here and now in this age. World events can be distressing, yet we should remember things from God’s perspective: The nations are just as a drop in a bucket compared to Him and His Plan.

Jeremiah is another example. In chapter 10, God used the prophet to describe the sinful conditions of the nation of Israel—and their impending punishment: “For thus says the Lord, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them…” (vs. 18).

What was Jeremiah’s response to all of this? Introspection. He was able to see humanity’s failings in crystal clarity.

In verse 23, the prophet declared: “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his steps.”

Humanity, left to its own devices, cannot govern itself. This should also be obvious to us today, which is why events seem to be pushing us ever closer to global catastrophe.

Yet Jeremiah did not just point the finger at others when learning what God had in store—he also turned inward. He admitted that he, too, cannot direct his steps. He said: “O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing” (vs. 24).

When God reveals future events to us, He also wants us to think about ourselves. His Word reveals much more than just the size of hailstones that will fall (Rev. 16:21) or when the moon will turn blood-red (6:12). It contains specific knowledge He is revealing to you.

Spiritual vs. Physical

How God reveals spiritual knowledge can be found in I Corinthians 2. It states: “As it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him” (vs. 9).

God must be involved for us to understand spiritual knowledge.

Verses 10-11 continue: “But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.”

Without God, we can only know “the things of man.” With Him, we can know the “things of God.”

We must be humble enough to know that we cannot figure things out by ourselves: “But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (vs. 14).

Jesus explained this process in Matthew 11. He said: “I thank You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed [apokalypsis] them unto babes”—those who have humble, teachable attitudes—“Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him” (vs. 25-27).

“Reveal” here is apokalypto, which carries a similar meaning to apokalypsis. God will “apocalypse” spiritual things to those who respond to His calling.

Individual Apocalypses

Paul defined his conversion as an apocalypse in Galatians 1:12: “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation [apokalypsis] of Jesus Christ.”

In verses 13-17, Paul describes how he had persecuted and killed Christians, going by the name Saul, before God called him. This scenario is detailed in the book of Acts.

Chapter 9 begins: “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem” (vs. 1-2).

Verses 3-5 show the life-changing moment in Paul’s life: “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecute you Me? And he said, Who are You, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you persecute: it is hard for you to kick against the pricks.”

Notice Paul’s attitude in this scenario: “And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will You have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told you what you must do” (vs. 6).

Of course, God does not strike everyone to the ground and talk to get their attention. But the effect is no less dramatic. When God opens a person’s mind to spiritual knowledge, it is nothing short of apocalyptic—if they respond, their lives will never be the same.

Yet that response requires action.

God of Secrets

Reread Revelation 1:1 and notice to whom it is written: “The Revelation [apokalypsis] of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass…”

Through the book of Revelation, God is revealing what will come to pass. God wants people to know what is coming. Yet He only reveals it to specific people: His servants—those who do what God says.

God’s way of life must also be revealed to us. If God did not “apocalypse” these things for us, we would never figure them out.

Notice Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

God is a God of secrets. Yet He does not want to withhold them but rather give them to those who follow His ways. He longs to reveal them to His servants.

A Great Mystery

Bible prophecy should spur us to action, especially the greatest prophecy in the Book: the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

In Romans 16, Paul said the gospel and preaching of Jesus Christ involve “the revelation [apokalypsis] of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began” (vs. 25).

The gospel message was obscured until Jesus came to reveal it to the entire world. Verse 26 continues: “But now is made manifest [apparent], and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.”

The revealing of the gospel of the Kingdom of God is the greatest “apocalypse” anyone can experience. This is the same message Jesus preached. He plays the central role as Savior in God’s master plan for humanity, yet the Kingdom involves so much more.

God “apocalypses” this awesome knowledge in the first pages of His Word. In Genesis 1:26, God declared, “Let Us make man in Our image…”

God made mankind in His image and likeness. He desires to expand His Family by creating sons and daughters. What does this have to do with the gospel of the Kingdom?

In the Lord’s Prayer, we are to pray for God’s Kingdom to come because it is not yet here. That Kingdom, or government, will soon come to Earth and change everything.

Who will reign in this government?

Romans 8 reveals the answer: “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed [apokalypto] in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation [apokalypsis] of the sons of God” (vs. 16-19).

These sons and daughters being born into the God Family will be a joyous moment in human history. These firstborn children will then teach everyone who has ever lived to do the same.

Ultimate Apocalypse

While the book of Isaiah describes many turbulent events that will befall Israel as well as gentile nations the world over, it also details the ultimate “apocalypse”—when God’s Way will be revealed to the entire world.

Verses 2-3 state: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’ s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

The result of Earth following God’s commands? “And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (vs. 4).

In the Kingdom, God will remove the veil that currently covers men’s hearts (Isa. 25:7) and reveal His plan of salvation to everyone.

For all of the cataclysmic events the book of Revelation contains, it is ultimately about the same positive message. In its last chapter, it states: “And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (22:17).

Soon, the entire world can come and take the water of life. For now, God is working with individuals who respond to Him opening their minds.

If you understand these truths, read the article Are You Being Called? You owe it to yourself to explore this most important question.

Make no mistake, the many terrible events occurring today are heading mankind down a path of doom and destruction. Without God’s intervention, a cataclysm is certain.

Yet, in these tumultuous times, God reveals this to those who follow His ways: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom” (Luke 12:32).