Most of you have probably heard that there is a radio-pastor who is saying the world will end on May 21. You have probably either seen billboards, read articles, or heard on the radio the following: At 89 years old, Harold Camping predicts that 200 million people, about 3% of the total world population will be saved on May 21 2011 in the Rapture. Camping teaches that those not saved in the Rapture will be left behind in the Apocalypse until the End of The World on October 21, 2011 (From: http://judgementday2011.com/).
I’m sure none of you take this seriously since Jesus said in Matthew 24:36 (and other places) that no one knows the day nor the hour of Jesus’ return…Even Jesus himself did not know when he was with his disciples. He said that even the angels don’t know…Only God the Father knows.
The idea of a Rapture is a rather “new” point in theology going to the 1700’s at the earliest. Most writing/study on this started in the 1800’s and even more so in the 1900’s (especially 1970-now). Just because it is a “new” belief doesn’t mean it is wrong. It also doesn’t mean it is correct. I encourage all of you to study the bible for yourselves rather than relying on people who preach this theology for money (TV preachers, authors, etc.).
The end is coming; we can know that for sure. Jesus talked about the signs of the times. He talked about wars, rumors of wars, and natural disasters as the “birth pangs.” He talked about how things will get progressively worse and then he would return.
There is much confusion about end time events. This will by no means go over all of them, but I want to address a few.
First: The end is not just God’s destruction of the world, but rather God’s redemption of the world. 2 Peter 3:9-13 says “9The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.
11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? 13But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.”
So, Yes, things will be destroyed, but more importantly, the world will be redeemed. You can read about this in great detail in Revelation 21. But, basically it talks about a New Heaven and New Earth and God will dwell among the people.
The end is not something to be feared, but something to be embraced. For Christians, the “end” is really no end at all, but a fulfillment of a promise; a time when we will dwell eternally with God.
Second, there are a lot of theories about the Rapture. Basically, the Rapture states that God will bring all believers to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17 as well as other references). The bible talks that the dead in Christ (i.e. the bodies of those who have already died) will raise first, and then those who are alive (1 Corinthians 15:52). Debates are about the timing of the Rapture. Will it happen before a period of great suffering (The Tribulation)? Will it happen during the Tribulation? After the Tribulation? There are strong arguments for all 3…I’d have to do more research to discuss all three. There are also strong biblical arguments to say that the Rapture is the time when all Christians (dead and alive) will be raised to be with God forever (the Resurrection is the term used for this – Not Christ’s, but ours). Again, the timing is something that is of debate. But, as I said at the beginning, Jesus told us we can only know the signs of the times, not the date of his coming. Again, whatever the Rapture or Resurrection will look like, we don’t know, and it is not something to be feared, but rather it is a comfort in that God will fulfill the promise of redemption. People often wonder what happens if they are cremated or die after a horrible disfiguration of their bodies…will God raise them? The answer is “Yes.” If God can create the world from nothing, God can certainly put “dust” together again. This also causes confusion because we teach that once a person dies he/she goes to Heaven (or Hell). Again, a very complicated issue, but quickly stated: that person’s soul/spirit does go. At the end, our bodies (made perfect by God) will join our souls.
Third, I want to address the sign of the times. There are MANY bible passages about the signs of the end. They include wars, violence, natural disasters, disease, immorality, etc. It is obvious that these things abound now…and maybe even more than ever. But, remember that as long as there have been nations (or civilization), there have been wars. We had the Bubonic Plague that killed half of Europe in the 1300’s. Sin and evil have always been problems. This is not to say that what we see now is not a sign of the end…but we can’t be 100 per cent sure that these particular events are the signs. Remember that God’s timing is not ours (2 Peter discusses this). To be technical, the end times began when Jesus ascended to Heaven on Pentecost. From that moment, his return has always been a possibility.
So, how do we handle all this? We pray, we read our Bibles, we work for God’s Kingdom in however we are called. Those who love Christ have nothing to fear but have everything to look forward to. The end, though it sounds scary, is a time of great hope and redemption. Only those who consciously reject God need to worry. Many of us wonder about those who never heard the Gospel. I have no idea how God will handle that, but I do know it will be fair and everyone will have a chance to be saved. In the meantime, we need to be about our task to lead others to Christ.
This is MUCH LONGER than I intended, but I wanted to give you some understanding of the different theological arguments (all of which are Bible based). There is a lot of confusion about the end times, and I don’t claim to have all the answers. Anyone who thinks he/she knows the entire answer is just wrong. Jesus is clear on that. There’s much about God that we will never know on this side of eternity. But one thing is certain: God is always with us and has only the best in store for us.
You can find online Bibles at the following websites:
They are good links to have on your computer when you want to look something up quickly.
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