The world is going to end tomorrow, Friday, the 21st. So I remembered that I have a blog and thought I better get at least one last post in.
The first thing I have to say is that, on my second-to-last day on earth, it's kind of a bummer that I'm snowed in by a blizzard and that my wife does not care that there's no day after tomorrow. She wants the drive shoveled. Such is the attitude of those who do not take Mayan predictions seriously.
Evidently, she's in a shrinking minority. I've read accounts of Russians flocking to a mountain which hides a pyramid "safe house" left by aliens. (President Medvedev had to issue a statement assuring people who have been buying survivor packs that the world is not about to end and that they'll have to endure more photos of Vladimir Putin doing manly feats.)
Six months ago some guy in Hong Kong, upon learning the world was going to end on December 21, sold up everything and has been partying big time, maxing out all his new credit cards. Now there's a believer! Almost has me hoping, for his sake, Saturday doesn't roll around. Guessing the rising of the sun is going to really ruin his day.
In Argentina, where my son is studying for a year, the police just closed down a mountain after 150 people responded to a Facebook invitation to climb the mountain and engage in mass suicide. "We will abandon our impure flesh and transport our spirit through the inter-dimensional portal which will open at 21:00 on 21/12/12," the writer posted. "Unite with the Army of Light which will save all humanity!" It's a good thing that over Christmas my son is in a remote area and out of internet access. He said he's in some mountainous region.Even in our beloved, blizzarding America, NASA has been deluged by calls asking, among other things when people should euthanize their pets. (For my part, I've at least settled on the method, if not the timing, for our two cats; that blizzard has been called a "killer storm.")
Problem is, the Mayans got it wrong. Perhaps that sounds ethnocentric and culturally uncharitable. Not so; I've always wanted to visit Cozumel. But a good beach or jungle does not necessarily a prophet make. I've found most of the best predictive info to be found in the Middle East. Palestine. Israel, if you prefer. Must be something about the desert and Mediterranean air.
The same Scriptural corpus that predicted Messiah's birth in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) indicates that his first coming ushered in the "last days" (Hebrews 1:2) and that He, himself, is the final revelation (Hebrews 1:1). The miracle of Christmas is that this little baby in the manger is the Creator of the universe (Hebrews 1:2) and actually "sustains all things by his powerful word" (Hebrews 1:3). He is the One holding everything together without whose fiat nothing happens.
Having made purification for sins on the cross, He now sits at the right hand of God in the place of supreme authority (Hebrews 1:3). And He will return.
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. (Revelation 1:7)Yes, we do live in the last days. And there are challenging (and exciting) times ahead. But one thing is certain. Tomorrow will not be the end of the world.
May all the hype serve as a reminder that the future is very tenuous. May the Mayan "prophecy" spur us to mourn our sin and welcome the Savior when He comes. For one thing is certain. Come He will.
