“So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).
All Christians are to be looking for the return of Jesus Christ to take them to heaven before the Tribulation starts. They watch for His return by observing the fulfillment of prophecies , which are also warning signs. In their 1999 book, Are We Living in the End Times?, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins emphasized the importance of signs:
We are surrounded by so many obvious signs that one would have to be blind not to see them, yet some fail to recognize them even when they are called to their attention. So many signs exist today that you could write a book about them. In fact, I [LaHaye] did, The Beginning of the End, first published in 1972 and then again in 1991. Many changes in the twenty-seven years since that book’s first publication have only brought further confirmation that we are indeed living in ‘the times of the signs. ‘ Never in history have so many legitimate signs of Christ’s return existed (pp. 26-27).
There are so many warning signs of the approaching Tribulation that we must be living in ‘the times of the signs.’ Numerous warning signs have already been given to us, with many more to follow. God gave Noah and the people of his day 120 years of warning (Genesis 6:3); Lot and his family were given a warning; the Egyptians were given 10 warning signs (Exodus 5:1-12:36); a forty day warning was given to Nineveh (Jonah 3:4); and Jesus gave the nation of Israel a warning 37 years before her destruction (Matthew 24:1-2).
God warns His people before judgment falls, and saves those who are obedient. He will do this before the start of the Tribulation with specific warning signs, and then save them by rapturing them.
“Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).