One thing to watch as we approach the end of history is the city of Jerusalem. Notice that I said the end of history, not the end of the world. When I was a kid I used to hear people talk about the end of the world, and I did not like the sound of that one little bit. The expression the end of the world entered our language from a mistake in the King James version of the Bible.

In Matthew 24, Jesus’ disciples ask him about the sign of his coming and of the end of the world. The mistake is the word world. The Greek says that Jesus’ disciples asked him about the end of the age. The return of Christ does not bring the end of the world unless you mean the world as we know it. It mark the end of the age of the kingdoms of this world and the beginning of the age of the Kingdom of God. Also in that chapter is something Jesus told his disciples to watch for—and it is of singular interest:

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

Here we have a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem and a warning to flee the city. That brings us back again to Jeremiah—this time, chapter 6.