24    The Bible and the Future of the World 

    In Matthew 24:9 14, Jesus describes a time of suffering in which 

Christians are persecuted. These words have a dual meaning; they apply 

both to the time of the Forty Years (in the 21st century) and the time leading 

up to the reign of Antichrist (in the 25th century). 

    There will be a major persecution of Christians near the end of The Forty 

Years. This persecution will occur in the 2030's  A.D. It will be the worst 

persecution of Christians since the beginning of the Church until that time. 

But the persecution will be greater in some areas and lesser in others, and it 

will not be worldwide. The Church will have great success in preaching the 

Gospel during, and especially after, the suffering of the Forty Years. The 

phrase  and then the end will come  (Mt 24:14) shows that the next set of 

sufferings (during Antichrist's reign) which Jesus describes are separate from 

these earlier sufferings (of the Forty Years). 

    This passage (Mt 24:9 14) also refers to another great persecution of 

Christians, which will be far worse than the persecution at the end of the 

Forty Years. Jesus says  you will be hated by all nations for my name's 

sake  (Mt 24:9). Jesus uses the words  all nations  to mean a worldwide 

persecution of Christians. Therefore, this persecution is greater than, and 

different from, previous persecutions which have occurred only in one area 

or one country. This worldwide persecution occurs during the time of the 

Church's great suffering (the Church's Passion), in the years leading up to 

Antichrist's reign. The worldwide persecution begins, to some extent, during 

the reign of the ten kings (when ten leaders only rule the whole world) in the 

late 24th century  A.D., but does not encompass the whole world until the 

Antichrist defeats the Christian king of the South (in A.D. 2430). The 

kingdom of the South will be the last area of the world that will tolerate the 

Christian faith. 

    Notice that, even though  wickedness is multiplied  (Mt 24:12) in the 

world, the Church has success because  this gospel of the kingdom will be 

preached throughout the whole world  (Mt 24:14). Even during the greatest 

persecution of Christians on earth, the time of the ten kings and Antichrist, 

many will be converted by the sufferings and prayers of the faithful. 

    After this time of great suffering, Jesus says,   the end will come  (Mt 

24:14), meaning that the last and worst of the sufferings occurs next. The 

end is not the end of the world, but rather the end of the sufferings and the 

end of the reign of sin over the whole world. The last and worst of the 

sufferings for the faithful are the sufferings which the faithful endure during 

the nearly seven years of the Antichrist's reign. These sufferings are 

described in the following passage, Mt 15 28. 

      `So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet 

Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those 

who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not