We seem to be living in a time when mankind seems to think that the end of all things is near. Almost everyone has a theory to how the world will be threatened and when the end might come. The media and the Internet are full of doomsday theories concerning the New Age “Mayan Calendar” and the year 2012.
Harold Camping, a Christian radio broadcaster and owner of the “Family Radio Network,” recently announced that the world will end May 21 – this Saturday. He has used mathematical predictions applied to the Bible to predict dates for the end of the world.
His recent end of times prediction is that God will completely destroy the Earth and the universe five months later on Oct. 21. He previously predicted that the Rapture would occur September 1994. I wonder what his followers thought after nothing happened.
His is not the only doomsday prediction floating around.
Some scientists predict that Global Warming could wipe out life on planet Earth within a certain number of years. Meanwhile, politicians work to stop the production of nuclear weapons before it is “too late.” News reports of economic downturns, crime, wars, tsunamis, earthquakes, and disease outbreaks cause people to question if doomsday is soon upon us.
These ideas cause panic and fear. Some think that the bible is telling us when the world will end. Rather than turning to the Bible as the source of these answers, they turn to churches and religious leaders. They might be told that the end will not come until the Antichrist rises as a political leader and will make them take the “mark of the beast.”
Many are told that God will rapture his people before a seven year Great Tribulation after which Christ will set up a thousand year reign from an earthly throne in Jerusalem. Others are told that Christ will come to rapture believers the same day he destroys the world. While every church and religion has a different idea as to what spiritual texts teach concerning the end, they all seem to agree on one thing: no man can precisely know the day or the hour of the end.
Ever since the beginning of time, we always wanted to know how we would end. The most recent failure for apocalypse is Y2K. Many people predicted a massive computer crash which would throw global commerce and financial systems into chaos. These predictions obviously didn’t come true (we’re still here, folks!).
To make a pretty believable apocalyptic theory, you have to use numerology and include things you can’t find physical proof for. It also helps if you use religion to scare people into repenting their sins before drinking the Kool-aid.
If God wanted us to know when the end of days would come, wouldn’t he just put “THE END” in big, bold capital letters? It might make things easier than scaring gullible people.
