The Hypocracy of the End Times
I read a very interesting internet article on the End Times recently. Yes, there seem to be thousands of sites with their own opinions on when Jesus Christ is coming again. But this one was written about Isaac Newton's take on when the last days would occur.
For those of you who aren't aware of what the last days or end times are about, the Bible has somewhere around 100 prophecies on when our current world will come to an end as we know it today. Basically, man entered the world through the creation described in Genesis approximately 6000 years ago. And about 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ appeared and walked this earth. Jesus was the son of God meaning he was God incarnate, born of a virgin, and lived among us for about 33 years before being crucified on a cross. We are now living in the church age which will end when the tribulation occurs in the "last days". Following these last days, there is one more 1000-year period where Christ, along with the church, reigns over those people still on the earth.
But that isn't the reason for this article. I'm writing this because of all the information out there claiming that we are at the door of the "last days". World events, technology, and natural disasters all support the claims in the bible that we are very close. There is so much information out there and every time something happens, it's referenced as validation that the "last days" are very close. I am actually very intrigued by the quantity of information out there.
It seems that every televangelist is talking about it; taking everything that goes on and claims this is it, that "we" are living in the last days. The problem is, they will continue to preach this as long as they are on the air until one of two things happens; they're right or they die. There is no real accountability to whether they are right or wrong about their claims.
Isaac Newton, on the other hand, is a different story. First of all, very few would refute Newton's level of intelligence, at least not in our age. But when he was alive, the world was very repressive and anyone who believed or claimed they knew the truth would be labeled a heretic and would most likely be killed for believing anything outside of the standard teachings of the Catholic church. So, while Newton did extensive research on the end times, he had to lock it up so it wouldn't be exposed until the end times were to occur. His reasoning was it didn't matter if nobody knew what he predicted because it wouldn't affect the people of his generation anyway.
You see, Newton's calculations actually put the end times in the year of approximately 2060. Given that we are now in 2014, that's still another 46 years away. For most of us baby boomers, we'll be gone by then. Not only that, but most of the televangelists preaching we're in the last days today will all be gone too. Fortunately for us commoners, there will be more preachers preaching it. And you know, a few of them are actually going to get it right.
There isn't a church or religion, where they believe in a monotheistic god, out there that doesn't believe there will be "end times". Islam believes their messiah, the Mahdi, will be coming soon. The Jews believe their "real" messiah will be coming soon. The Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and are waiting for him (not Jesus) to arrive any time now. Of course, Christians believe that Jesus will be coming back again but only after there is an anti-Christ who comes pretending to be the Messiah.
When the Mahdi comes, the Jews could claim him to be their Messiah, the Islamists will claim he's their messiah, and the Christians will be telling everyone he's the Anti-Christ and a very bad person. Wait, that's if the Christians are still around. They are apparently zapped up into the air in the rapture.
I also remember as far back as the 1980s when there was as much hoopla that the end times were coming then. There was no way we were going to see the turn of the century. Boy, that didn't happen. There are some groups that went so far as to say that it did happen but it was a spiritual event that nobody noticed except for the true believers. Anybody would say anything so they didn't look like a fool. In fact, some of these people really do deserve the treatment that heretics received back in Newton's day. Instead, they are allowed to go and make another "prophetic" prediction.
I like Newton's prediction because that means I'm probably going to be able to live out my life on Earth. I enjoy living and the thought of it ending because of some world leader taking over the world doesn't really appeal to me. Christ can come but there is already a way for anyone to be with him after we die. So why do we need to expedite the process?
This I am certain, however. The "end times" will occur. It's biblical and every prophecy of the bible, if it hasn't come true yet, will. Prophecy is what shows us that it is a creditable resource to the future. Its past prophecies have been true to absolute accuracy. And they will continue to be fulfilled in time.
So, while the world continues to wait for that significant time when there are the "end times", I think I'll sit back and enjoy the ride. Of course, living in North America, there's no persecution or trials to speak of. For most of us, life allows us to live without believing or relying on God.
That's really a shame because God's whole reason for creating us in the first place was for His fellowship. Through Christ, he provides us the opportunity once again to share in that fellowship. And through His word and wisdom, we can know that one day, the scriptures WILL be fulfilled.
For those of you who aren't aware of what the last days or end times are about, the Bible has somewhere around 100 prophecies on when our current world will come to an end as we know it today. Basically, man entered the world through the creation described in Genesis approximately 6000 years ago. And about 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ appeared and walked this earth. Jesus was the son of God meaning he was God incarnate, born of a virgin, and lived among us for about 33 years before being crucified on a cross. We are now living in the church age which will end when the tribulation occurs in the "last days". Following these last days, there is one more 1000-year period where Christ, along with the church, reigns over those people still on the earth.
But that isn't the reason for this article. I'm writing this because of all the information out there claiming that we are at the door of the "last days". World events, technology, and natural disasters all support the claims in the bible that we are very close. There is so much information out there and every time something happens, it's referenced as validation that the "last days" are very close. I am actually very intrigued by the quantity of information out there.
It seems that every televangelist is talking about it; taking everything that goes on and claims this is it, that "we" are living in the last days. The problem is, they will continue to preach this as long as they are on the air until one of two things happens; they're right or they die. There is no real accountability to whether they are right or wrong about their claims.
Isaac Newton, on the other hand, is a different story. First of all, very few would refute Newton's level of intelligence, at least not in our age. But when he was alive, the world was very repressive and anyone who believed or claimed they knew the truth would be labeled a heretic and would most likely be killed for believing anything outside of the standard teachings of the Catholic church. So, while Newton did extensive research on the end times, he had to lock it up so it wouldn't be exposed until the end times were to occur. His reasoning was it didn't matter if nobody knew what he predicted because it wouldn't affect the people of his generation anyway.
You see, Newton's calculations actually put the end times in the year of approximately 2060. Given that we are now in 2014, that's still another 46 years away. For most of us baby boomers, we'll be gone by then. Not only that, but most of the televangelists preaching we're in the last days today will all be gone too. Fortunately for us commoners, there will be more preachers preaching it. And you know, a few of them are actually going to get it right.
There isn't a church or religion, where they believe in a monotheistic god, out there that doesn't believe there will be "end times". Islam believes their messiah, the Mahdi, will be coming soon. The Jews believe their "real" messiah will be coming soon. The Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and are waiting for him (not Jesus) to arrive any time now. Of course, Christians believe that Jesus will be coming back again but only after there is an anti-Christ who comes pretending to be the Messiah.
When the Mahdi comes, the Jews could claim him to be their Messiah, the Islamists will claim he's their messiah, and the Christians will be telling everyone he's the Anti-Christ and a very bad person. Wait, that's if the Christians are still around. They are apparently zapped up into the air in the rapture.
I also remember as far back as the 1980s when there was as much hoopla that the end times were coming then. There was no way we were going to see the turn of the century. Boy, that didn't happen. There are some groups that went so far as to say that it did happen but it was a spiritual event that nobody noticed except for the true believers. Anybody would say anything so they didn't look like a fool. In fact, some of these people really do deserve the treatment that heretics received back in Newton's day. Instead, they are allowed to go and make another "prophetic" prediction.
I like Newton's prediction because that means I'm probably going to be able to live out my life on Earth. I enjoy living and the thought of it ending because of some world leader taking over the world doesn't really appeal to me. Christ can come but there is already a way for anyone to be with him after we die. So why do we need to expedite the process?
This I am certain, however. The "end times" will occur. It's biblical and every prophecy of the bible, if it hasn't come true yet, will. Prophecy is what shows us that it is a creditable resource to the future. Its past prophecies have been true to absolute accuracy. And they will continue to be fulfilled in time.
So, while the world continues to wait for that significant time when there are the "end times", I think I'll sit back and enjoy the ride. Of course, living in North America, there's no persecution or trials to speak of. For most of us, life allows us to live without believing or relying on God.
That's really a shame because God's whole reason for creating us in the first place was for His fellowship. Through Christ, he provides us the opportunity once again to share in that fellowship. And through His word and wisdom, we can know that one day, the scriptures WILL be fulfilled.
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