2012 - Doomsday or What
A number of people believe the world
might indeed be destroyed on 21 December 2012. They
believe this because, among other reasons, the Mayan
calendar ends on that date. So, is this a real possibility,
or is it just so much hype to sell survival food and
movie tickets? To cut to the chase, it is a bunch of
unmitigated hogwash.
The frenzy being generated by the 2012
date is reminiscent of what happened on 30 October 1938
when CBS broadcast the fictitious “The War of the Worlds”.
Some listeners understood it was pure fiction, but others
did not and panicked after hearing the radio bulletins
describing a “Martian invasion”. In more recent memory
we are reminded of the Y2K catastrophe where “experts”
said most every computer in the world would shut down
on 1 January 2000. Of course, it did not happen, and
lots of gullible people were stuck with stores of survival
food while at the same time being unstuck of a large
chunk of their money.
The basis of this so-called “apocalyptic
phenomenon” is the Mayan Long Count calendar. It has
5125 years in it, and ends in December of 2012, somewhere
between the 21st and 23rd. Some people erroneously
believe the end of the Mayan calendar means the end
of the world. Those who predict this say it will happen
because of the earth’s alignment with a black hole in
space, the shifting of the poles, earth’s collision
with another planet or asteroid, etc. They claim it
will be accompanied with tidal waves that are higher
than mountains, earthquakes, super volcanoes, etc.
Just name your disaster-of-choice, it will happen.
However, there are many in the scientific
field who reject such speculations and refer to all
such cataclysmic claims as pseudoscience. The reasons
they give for rejecting the 2012 disasters include their
being in contradiction to terrestrial and celestial
observations, and their violation of the laws of physics.
But, the Mayan doomers are not the
only ones predicting the end in 2012. There are others
who look to the Bible and, lo, they also find a holocaust
in 2012. The Bible code adherents believe there are
secret codes found in scripture, and they reveal specific
prophecies regarding 2012. For example, Revelation
16:8,9: And the fourth angel poured out his bowl
upon the sun; and it was given to it to scorch men with
fire. And men were scorched with fierce heat; and they
blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these
plagues; and they did not repent, so as to give Him
glory (NASB). Regarding this text, in an article
entitled, “Bible Codes Predict Holocaust in 2012” you
will read:
“The sun-worshipping Mayans decided
that the year 2012 is the end of this age. The Bible
Codes hold cluster after cluster describing a nasty
solar event, as well as a terrible disaster in 2012...please
read on for the Bible Codes and an article published
in News Scientist magazine that indicate that a solar
eruption event will cause terrible destruction on
Earth.” (december212012.com/articles/bible
cited 11 Nov 09)
Before accepting this stuff carte-blanche
there is a couple questions that need to be asked.
First, if the Mayans even did decide, for whatever reason,
the world would end in 2012, why should anyone believe
them? Did God, who they did not know about much less
believe in, send an angel down to what is now southern
Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula with a secret word
about the end of the world? Are we to believe God withheld
something as important as “the end” from the Jewish
prophets and the church apostles? Can someone be so
ignorant and gullible as to believe God would give information
to pagans who would not understand it much less know
what to do with it while, at the same time, hide it
from His own people? I don’t think so!
And, speaking of Bible codes, just
how can any serious student of scripture buy into this
idea? To equate Daniel 12:8,9 which says, As for
me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, "My
lord, what will be the outcome of these events?"
And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for these words
are concealed and sealed up until the end time,
to a set of codes acrostically hidden in Bible texts
is more than preposterous, it is the conclusion drawn
by a spiritual simpleton. It is incomprehensible to
think God would communicate to His people in such a
way.
The Daniel 12 text — along with other
prophetic texts— is to be clearly understood today without
the use of some strange cryptic code. And the reason
is we are living out those prophecies in the unprecedented
events happening this very day. At no other time in
history have world events been so clearly subject to
the prophetic template as they presently are. God did
not hide the truth in a recently “discovered” alpha/numeric
code encased in some scriptural enigma. That defies
biblical reason. The truth is they are clearly seen
in the unfolding of current events! Self-deception
is the only reason I can think of as to why people find
that so hard to believe.
Beware of the lies circulating about
the book of Revelation being specific about 2012. Someone,
evidently clueless regarding Revelation, said, “...many
of the world’s religions and most famous prophets reference
something cataclysmic happening around Dec. 21, 2012.”
(december212012.com/articles; from www.foxchattanooga.com;
cited 11 Nov 09). This article mentions Merlin, the
Chinese oracle of the I Ching (whatever that is) and
Revelation as all pointing to this specific date. Hold
it a moment! Besides the fact that Revelation does
not mention the 2012 date, we need to ask how
can anyone with any amount of spiritual maturity place
Merlin and a Chinese oracle on the same level as the
book of Revelation?! Further, it mentions the predictions
of “...one of the best known Catholic prophets, Irishman
Maelmhaedhoc O’Morgair…” This is spiritual insanity
on steroids, and is deceiving ignorant multitudes!
Survival seems to be an important goal
as you read about 2012. Patrick Geryl, who says the
earth will suffer a “polar reversal” in 2012, plans
to spend most of his time organizing a survival group
after selling as many of his books about the coming
devastation of 2012 that he can. According to Geryl
the year 2012 will see a sudden magnetic field reversal
which will introduce horrible consequences where powerful
earthquakes will destroy all buildings, mega tidal waves
and super volcanoes will be everywhere, the earth’s
crust will shift and will move entire continents thousands
of miles, etc. Geryl’s idea of preparation is for supporters
to send monthly contributions to him in order to build
a survival farm. Imagine that. (howtosurvive2012.com
cited 11Nov09)
And, of course there are others who
are selling survival kits for those who would be willing
to part with their money in order to prepare for 2012.
If, however, the world will be destroyed, why would
anyone need a survival kit? Be that as it may, they
are out there for sale. Mostly they include food, bandages,
candles, etc. Interesting though, not one “expert”
I reviewed mentioned the need for firearms and plenty
of ammo. Seems these “experts” are living in a whimsy
pseudo-world in which they believe nobody would actually
steal, rob, rape or murder during times of disaster.
It is base stupidity to reject the importance of firearms
during any disaster, especially in the name of being
politically correct.
Well, what are these people saying
will happen in December of 2012? That mostly depends
upon who is doing the writing or talking. Here are
some possibilities, according to “experts”: asteroid
collision with earth, solar storms, magnetic pole shifts,
explosion of a black hole, the “rapture” or “judgment
day” (events about which they know absolutely nothing),
space alien invasion, flu pandemic, world war 3, world
take-over by robots (not kidding — it is listed!) global
warming, time-travel error, genetic modification, etc.
(survive 2012.com/possibilities cited 11Nov09). Just
about any scenario that can scare people into buying
books, movie tickets and canned food is out there.
Several days ago the topic of discussion
on a Christian radio station was the response by teens
to the 2012 doomsday predictions. It seems some are
considering suicide in order to avoid “Dying in an end-of-the-world
event.” If this is, in fact, true it serves to emphasize
the spiritual bankruptcy of our society. Further, if
this is true, church leaders should take the time to
root out the reasons and take action, for evidence clearly
shows church-teens are often more like their secular
peers than their parents and church leaders would like
to believe. Parents who are overly-focused on careers,
materialism and secular success for themselves and their
kids are often quite deficient in both living and teaching
the precepts of the Christian faith. Thus, they should
not be too surprised when hearing of kids committing
suicide, for at least one reason is the absence of God’s
moral compass and the resulting frustration and hopelessness
such absence brings. If parents and church leaders
would just take the time to listen to their kid’s stories
they would see every word of this is true.
Well, what about the truth? The truth
is this: first, we need to forget the Mayans and their
calendar, the so-called Bible coders, the Moslem Koran,
the pseudo-Christian cults, the academic/scientific
secular professionals and all others claiming to “know
the secrets” about the end of the world. Second, we
must place our complete and unashamed faith in God and
what He has said, because the Bible is the only
source of truth about the future. The 100% accuracy
of Bible prophecy 100% of the time is proof positive
of its unassailable credibility.
Further, we must read it and believe
it, and in so-doing we will see that nowhere in the
Bible does God tell us the world will end in 2012.
In fact, a study of the Bible will show it is impossible
for the world to end in three years. When the world
as we know it has eventually been vaporized, when human
intellect has been revealed as the bogus panacea it
is, when all that can be said and done has been said
and done and the dust has finally settled on the battlefield
of life there will only be one Standard remaining...the
eternal, all powerful and completely trustworthy Word
of Almighty God.
A general overview of what is going
to happens goes like this: the next event is the rapture
of the church. That could happen at any moment of any
day. No event has to “introduce” it. After that the
world will see incredible and unprecedented trouble
in various ways. Satan will energize a specific human
being to an unparalleled degree in order to prepare
the world for his final assault upon God. This man
is called by several names in the Bible, but anti-Christ
is the most common. He will look good, smell good,
dress good, talk good and will have charisma that is
spell-binding. He will murder everyone who does not
take his mark of allegiance. He will murder Jews by
the millions and those who come to faith in Christ during
those evil and dark days will pay with their lives in
horrible ways.
As anti-Christ comes to power God will
begin to pour out His wrath upon this Christ-rejecting
world. There will be wars, famines, diseases, violent
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions during this time.
Humans will attempt suicide in order to escape, but
will be unable to do so. There will be mass destruction
of human institutions and death will be everywhere.
All fresh water will be polluted as with rotting blood,
sea water will likewise be poisoned and the stench of
decaying life, both human and animal, will be both unimaginable
and unbearable.
In the middle of all this God will
yet offer His grace and mercy. The gospel will be preached
to all the world by means of an angel, two witnesses
in Jerusalem and 144,000 Jewish servants of Jesus.
Yet, most will reject His grace and will respond to
their suffering with curses and blasphemy instead of
sorrow and repentance.
Life will be worthless as human kind
will resort to the level of base animals. There will
be no means of escaping God’s wrath — not in the woods,
swamps, deserts or mountains. The ferocity of the animal
world will rise exponentially and humans will be easy
prey. Pathogens will inflict humans with bacteria-laden,
oozing sores, boils and carbuncles with excruciating
death at every turn. What is left of the medical community
will be helpless victims themselves.
Will 2012 have any bearing on this?
No! Actually, we are living in the shadow of these
things this very moment. I have no doubt things will
be bad in 2012, but it won’t be because the Mayan calendar
ended or Nostradamus or some other pagan false prophet
made predictions. You see, if anything spectacular
happens on 21 December 2012 it will be by pure coincidence,
for nobody knows the specific dates of the above events.
But, this I must say: at the dawn
of each morning and at the end of each day I consistently
have two thoughts in mind. First, that Jesus has not
already returned for His church. His delay is most
amazing to me. Second, I am surprised that Israel is
not at war with her immediate neighbors as found in
the 83rd Psalm. That, too, is an event that is imminent.
As a Christian, though, my hope is not in the events
of Psalm 83, but in the event of 1 Corinthians 15:50ff
and 1 Thessalonians 4:13ff.
Do not be afraid of 2012. This entire
world is in God’s hands, He has a plan and it will not
fail. Part of that plan is not for us to live in fear
of the unknown, but to live with peace, assurance and
hope. We have what our friends and neighbors need.
Become intimately familiar with the truth and be ready
for God to send someone to you to hear it. DLM
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