A Christian ministry has made a wild claim that the countdown to the apocalypse began more than a century ago.
Lamb & Lion Ministries, a non-denominational organization based in Texas, has identified several signs it believes are evidence that humanity is approaching the end times.
The group claimed that Britain’s Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, was the first tangible sign that the Second Coming of Jesus was drawing near.
The historic document expressed British support for establishing a ‘national home for the Jewish people’ in Palestine, helping pave the way for the creation of Israel in 1948. The ministry connected that development to Isaiah 11:11–12, which describes God gathering the scattered people of Judah from nations around the world.
It argued that the founding of Israel, the return of Jewish people to the region and Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in 1967 fulfilled additional biblical prophecies.
The organization also claimed subsequent signs include increasingly destructive natural disasters, wars, disease, social unrest, religious upheaval and technological advances that could make scenarios described in Revelation possible.
It specifically suggested computers could enable the Antichrist to control global commerce, while satellite technology could allow the entire world to witness events unfolding in Jerusalem.
However, the ministry’s claims reflect a disputed religious interpretation rather than an established prediction of when, or whether, the world will end.
Lamb & Lion Ministries, a non-denominational organization based in Texas, has identified several signs it believes are evidence that humanity is approaching the end times
The argument appears in an article titled 50 Reasons We Are in the End Times, published by Lamb & Lion Ministries on its Christ in Prophecy website.
According to the ministry, there was no ‘single, tangible, measurable sign’ of Christ’s imminent return at the beginning of the 20th century.
That allegedly changed with the Balfour Declaration, issued during the final stages of World War I after British forces began wresting territory in the Middle East from the Ottoman Empire.
The declaration stated that Britain viewed ‘with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people,’ while adding that nothing should prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities.
The ministry said prominent British evangelical preacher F B Meyer immediately interpreted the declaration as prophetically significant.
Meyer reportedly invited evangelical leaders to London to discuss its implications, declaring: ‘The signs of the times point toward the close of the time of the Gentiles… and the return of Jesus can be expected any moment.’
Days before that meeting, British General Edmund Allenby entered Jerusalem in December 1917, ending approximately 400 years of Ottoman rule over the city.
The ministry believes these events initiated the worldwide gathering of Jewish people and ultimately led to the establishment of Israel on May 14, 1948.
The group identified Britain’s Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, as the first tangible sign that the Second Coming of Jesus was drawing near. Pictured is Arthur James Balfour, who issued the declaration
It connected that moment to Isaiah 66:7–8, which describes a nation being ‘born at once,’ and Ezekiel 37:21–22, in which God promises to gather the Israelites from among the nations and return them to their land.
The group also cited Luke 21:24, in which Jesus says Jerusalem will be ‘trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.’
The ministry interpreted Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in June 1967 as another step toward that prophecy being fulfilled.
None of those passages mentions Britain, the Balfour Declaration or 1917, however.
Under signs from nature, the ministry pointed to Luke 21:11, in which Jesus warns of ‘great earthquakes’ as well as famines and pestilences in various places.
It also invoked Matthew 24:8, which characterizes such events as ‘birth pains.’
The Christian organization interpreted that comparison to mean natural disasters will become more frequent and intense as Christ’s return approaches.
Its societal signs include increasing violence, lawlessness, materialism, drug use and despair, while its spiritual warnings include false messiahs, religious deception, occultism and the persecution of Christians.
The group simultaneously identified the worldwide spread of Christianity and the Bible’s translation into numerous languages as positive signs that the end is approaching.
Wars are another major part of the ministry’s case, as the ministry cited Matthew 24:6–7, where Jesus tells his followers they will hear of ‘wars and rumors of wars’ as nations rise against one another.
The development of weapons of mass destruction, conflict surrounding Israel and the growing possibility of global warfare are all presented as modern manifestations of that warning.
The organization claimed subsequent signs include increasingly destructive natural disasters, wars, disease, social unrest, religious upheaval and technological advances that could make scenarios described in Revelation possible
Perhaps its most striking claims involve technology that did not exist when the Bible was written.
Revelation 13 describes a time when no one can buy or sell without the ‘mark’ of the Beast.
The ministry claimed computers and digital financial systems could provide the infrastructure necessary for the Antichrist to impose that control.
It also pointed to Revelation 11, which says people from across the world will gaze upon the bodies of two witnesses killed in Jerusalem.
The ministry argued that this seemingly impossible scenario became conceivable with the arrival of television, satellites and instantaneous global communication.
Virtual reality, holograms, and robotics are similarly linked to a passage describing an image of the Beast that appears to speak and come to life.
However, these associations are interpretations, as computers, satellites, and virtual reality are not mentioned in the biblical text.
The ministry ultimately lists 50 alleged signs, but does not provide a date for the Second Coming.
The Bible itself cautions against attempting to calculate one. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus says that no one knows the day or hour, not even the angels in heaven.
