Well, I hope that all of
you have your affairs in order. Especially your “spiritual
affairs.” In case you haven’t heard, the end of time will occur a week
from tomorrow - April 23rd, 2018. Perhaps you haven’t heard the news yet
so I’ll use our lesson space here to inform you that we’ve got a new date set
for the end of the world.
Yep, it’s a new date,
however it’s the same prognosticator that has been wrong on two other
predictive occasions. You might recall last year when he (David Meade)
first said that the world would end on September 23rd, 2017 and then - oops -
it’ll really happen on October 15th. Guess what? Didn’t happen.
And now, since he’s had
6 months or so, he’s had time to re-figure and now says that on April 23rd,
2018 it will occur. I’ve read the report of his calculations and I’ll
attempt to give you what he says his prediction is based upon and what he
claims will be the sequence of events.
He says that at the
predicted time, the Sun, the Moon and the planet Jupiter will “align in the
constellation Virgo” which will “spark the start of ‘The Rapture.”
There’s more to come in his heavenly events and we’ll mention that later.
And, in case you’ve forgotten, The Rapture is a term coined by premillenialists
that’s really just another way of saying end of time. Of course, there
are other events attached to it, but basically it’s talking about the end of
our world.
The scriptural tie-in to
his celestial line-up he takes from Revelation 12:1-2 and I’ll cite it to you
here (and if you can figure out how this fits with his calculations you’re a
far better “figurer” than I am.) “And
there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the Sun, and the
moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being
with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”
Ok, let’s return to the
“heavenly events.” Our doomsday prophet says that when the aforementioned
alignment occurs, the planet Nibiru (also known as Planet X) will appear in the
sky and its appearance will set off three other events. They are, in this
order, World War 3, the rise of the “anti-Christ” and then the seven years of
tribulation. (Also part of the premillenialist’s theory).
Before I get into
rebutting this latest dooms-day forecast, let me just provide you with a little
more scientific information. First, the “Nibiru” theory has been around
for quite a while and NASA has refuted it’s existence ever since.
According to its believers, it was supposed to have collided with the earth in
2003 and when it didn’t, revised to collide in 2012, which again, didn’t.
And also, the Sun, Moon and Jupiter alignment isn’t something new. It
happens every ten years anyway.
Now, let me just make a
few remarks debunking this latest prediction about April 23rd. My first
thought is the line of an old folk song entitled “Where Have All The Flowers
Gone.” It’s the line that repeatedly asks the question “When will they
ever learn? When will they ever learn?” I ask the same question.
There have been many of
these end-of-time charlatans in history. I use the term “charlatan”
because its definition fits these people perfectly. It means: someone
pretending to have a special knowledge or skill; or an imposter. When you
think about it, there are a lot of these “teachers” around and, whether their
promotions are laughable or not, they are dangerous to the welfare of the souls
of others.
We don’t have enough
time or space to list them all, but a few of the more notorious ones are guys
like William Miller in 1843 who had thousands following him and his prediction
of the end coming back then. Sadly, by believing his forecast, they lost their
material possessions and, if they continued in following his false doctrine,
I’m afraid they also lost their souls.
Or, the “Heaven’s Gate”
people who had their “church” down near San Diego. Remember them?
In 1997, following their leader, a guy name Marshall Applewhite, they
took their lives in order to join up with the Hale-Bopp Comet and go to the
heavens.
I’ll mention one other
dooms-day predictor and he’s a guy named Hon-Ming Chen who founded the God’s
Salvation Church, a conglomeration of Buddhism, Christianity and science
fiction. This is the guy who predicted the world would end and when asked
when it would happen, he said, “when God appears on earth.” Asked how
would we know it was God, he replied, “He looks just like me, so if you see me,
it’s God.” Also, that “flying saucers” would come to save them. And
people believed him?
Well, I’ll just close
with some words of truth from “The
Truth.” When Christ said that there would be “many false prophets” in the
world and that they would “deceive
many” (Matt. 24:11) He certainly said a mouthful, didn’t
He? And, as for those deceivers predicting His return, they’ve
pretty much been doing that ever since He left.
We just need to remember
a couple things and they’re not complicated. There isn’t much calculation
to be figured. Here is all that we need to know about the end of time,
the return of Jesus and the condition of our souls. (1) Only God knows
the day that Christ will return (Matt. 34:36). (2) To have our soul ready
at all times because we don’t know the time of that occasion. (Luke 12:40).
And, whether still alive
or already passed on, when that day arrives we’ll know the answer to one of the
great questions of the Bible. When the “great
day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
(Rev. 6:17) Answer: souls that are “ready.”
Respectfully submitted,
Ron Covey
