I do not believe that the rapture is going to happen tomorrow. It is close to midnight as I type this and I am skeptical of the methods and the conclusion that the “prophet” who has announced the second coming of Christ taking place on May 21.
Like many of you, the first passage of Scripture that comes to mind when hearing this date on the calendar prediction is the one where Jesus (the Son of God incarnate) tells His followers, “I don’t even know the day or the hour. That’s for the Father alone.” This is an interesting passage that shows the diversity yet unity of the trinity/Godhead.
I am not spending much energy mocking the people who are standing on this prediction, though. If they happened to be right, I would not want to be one of the ones caught laughing and mocking. There’s some passages in Scripture about that as well.
But back to this supposed prediction. From what little I’ve read (and I blogged about it not too long ago), when it comes to numerology and creative understanding of calendar dates and whatnot I start to back up and doubt what I’m hearing. It’s a stretch, it seems, to have to go through so many jumps of logic to arrive at this particular conclusion.
One of the interesting things they hang their prediction on, however, is the passage where Jesus explains that it (His second coming) will be like “…in the days of Noah…” and they go from there to figure out lapses and dates on the calendar – even arriving at a very specific day.
Because no one knows the day or the hour (at least by my estimation), we cannot rule out May 21, 2011 as the day He will return.
If He does come back tomorrow, it will be more glorious than you can imagine. It’s hard to fathom the majesty and sheer power and authority that He’ll come back with. And the joy of being face to face with the Man of Sorrows and the One Who has shown mercy to a complete jerk and wasted freak like me … it’ll be like an explosion of ever-increasing joy. Forget goosebumps on the arms and hair on the back of the neck, I bet parts of the brain that we supposedly don’t use will kick into gear with some new mind-blowing experience.
I love Jesus. The very thought of seeing Him face-to-face is awesome. I also appreciate very much the fact that I can know Him in the here and now. I think of the time Jesus allowed “doubting” Thomas to feel the wounds in His hands/wrists. He said, “Blessed are you, for you have seen and believed, but blessed are those who have not seen and yet still believe.” (Yeah, that’s a weak paraphrase)
There is a joy and a privilege of being alive right now and here in this time. Praise God for His mercy and permission and oversight to place us here.
Another reason why I hesitate to mock the notions and the messengers of these May 21 doomsday predictions is that there are some very unusual uses of logic and prophecy in Scripture that would sound just as ridiculous to the person hearing about it before it happened as all this does to me now. There’s another passage of Scripture, where Scripture actually interprets itself, where an Old Testament prophecy is used to validate the miracle-working power of Jesus. It’s unusual and I never would have pulled that one out of the Old Testament to say that.
Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 and 55 are simple enough to see, but who would read Exodus 12:46 before the days of Christ and realize it was speaking of a Suffering Servant Messiah Whose legs (nor any bones in His body) would be broken? Unreal. Yet the Lord Himself pulls it out and says, “See? I told you so!”
That’s one of many. A brief search couldn’t pull up the ones that’ve really stood out to me over time. Reminds me I need to be diligent to study Scripture and go over things “I already know” (which is kind of arrogant and blind, actually, as even familiar passages have a depth to them that can be ever-enlightening).
So, as ridiculous as this numbering and dating system sounds to me, I prefer not to rush to judgment. It’s not easy, because it can be kind of funny to think of people banking SO MUCH on a prediction. The notion that our attention should rather be focused on adoring, loving and obeying Jesus over and above searching out when He might return seems like a good priority to me. It’s not evil or a waste of time to search out these things (prophecy). In fact, it can be quite motivating, inspiring and even an act of obedience. But it can get “out of balance” and twist us in many not-so-funny ways.
If these folks are wrong (and I would bet money they are), tomorrow might be a sad day for many of them. I pray that their faith would only be shaken enough to draw them to their Father in heaven, Who is faithful to comfort, instruct and love us like children. I pray that people would not be devastated and despair of faith, but instead be stretched in a good way.
None of us knows it all, so realizing that and failing to understand something can lead to instruction, improvement and growth. Failure need never be final.
I don’t want my heart to grow hard and cold. The Bible talks about this exact scenario in the context of “end times” things, too. It says people will mock and get cynical, saying stuff like, “What? People have been saying this forever. It’s not gonna happen.” And then it does.
Even if the predictors of May 21 are intellectually challenged, they are still our brothers and sisters in Christ. I feel a sense of solidarity with my intellectually-challenged brothers and sisters. Yes, it’s arrogant of me to look down on others and think of them as “intellectually challenged” (which is really a politically-correct way of calling them “idiots” … and Scripture actually warns about, too), but I’m being honest here. I feel a little bit superior in a sense. I think they’re wrong. I think they’re mistaken. I think I’m right and they’re wrong. But I don’t really feel good about shoving their nose in poop or being a bully to them. What if they’re right? Even if they’re wrong, they belong to my family. While at times it might be embarrassing to be associated with them, nevertheless, they are family. I (gulp) love them.
I have plans for the future and I hope to live a long, full life … but I still hope they’re right. The second coming of Jesus Christ will be so amazing and wonderful that it trumps any future I could imagine.
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