Prognosis

I do not in the least bit believe that the world will come to an end in December 2012. Frankly, though this world-age [aeon] could come to a crashing end at any second, I don't think it will occur in my lifetime. I guess that what I am saying is that it is more likely that my lifetime will come to a crashing end at any second; I am only a heartbeat from judgment.

Now that thought could be scary. The uncertainty of our lives is one of the reasons Jesus preached about the dangers of slacking off in our Kingdom duties. Today I read the 13th chapter of Mark. Here is what I think is a likely scenario for the future.

As a nation holding out the promise of freedom and justice, the United States is finished. The recent election was the modern equivalent of the man's hand writing on the wall, and the message was the same -- "mene, mene, tekel, upharsin"; "numbered, numbered, weighed, divided". Our national sins have been tallied up, the decision has been finalized, and as a nation we no longer have the unity of purpose to exist as a free people.

What comes next is anyone's guess, but the Glory of America is gone. Jesus warned of wars, rumors of wars, natural disasters, and the rise of evil and deceptive rulers. His prophecy regarding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the Temple in particular was only partially fulfilled and waits completion; the horror of the abominable desolation of the city and the destruction so complete that not even the Western Wall remains standing seems yet to come.

The danger to those who call themselves Christian is then evident in His next words, for He tells of deceivers coming in His name, and Daniel speaks of the Little Horn who "shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: " As Jesus put it, "For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect."

Now I realize that popular opinion is against me in this, since there is that school of thought which holds that Jesus will secretly snatch away all the Believers at the secret sounding of the trumpet and that the elect spoken of here are Israelites and not the Church. They are, of course, wrong. The elect are the Chosen of God, both Jew and Gentile according to Paul, and the warning Jesus gave was to all those who claim to be His disciples.

History tends to repeat itself, and the inhumanity of the Inquisition will doubtless reappear. There will be those who betray their loved ones, because they think they are doing Christ a favor. We may tend to scoff at that idea, but when someone who appears as a savior, capable of publicly working miracles, gives the command to round up those who impede his progress, he will have no trouble finding believers in his cause. Jesus said the love of many would grow cold; Paul said there would be a great falling away when the son of perdition would be revealed.

Pause for a moment to consider the havoc that would be worked on our political and economic system if everyone were to follow the teaching of Jesus. Forgiving those who have harmed us would ruin the military-industrial complex, as would doing good to our enemies. Refusing to be covetous would ruin the bankers. Insisting on chastity would destroy a good portion of the entertainment (or what passes for entertainment) industry. A side effect would be the ruination of most of the lawyers.

If a wonder-worker providing food and world peace came on the scene and said that those who didn't support his program had to go, does anyone doubt he would find willing hands to do his evil work? If someone who claimed to be the Son of God, performing miracles as proof of his deity, commanded his followers to kill anyone who refused to obey him, do you think that there would not be many who would be deceived enough to do his bidding? Jesus said it would happen. There will be many professing Christians that will be seduced; the elect will refuse to fall for it and will pay with their lives.

Jesus warned His disciples not to slack off in well-doing. He gave to each of His own some work to do, and if anyone needs to be reminded of that work, he needs only read Matthew chapter 5. Those are the talents the Master left with His servants. They are sand in the gears of the mechanism of this aeon.

We need not fear missing the "Rapture" of the church unless it is through our own deception by the False Christ. The dead in Christ are beyond worry, and the living need to watch. We can tell when the Real Jesus appears -- He "shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven." and, as Paul writes, "and so shall we ever be with the Lord". That, however, requires a change -- we will have to leave these bodies behind, most likely but not necessarily as corpses, since "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God". Any messiah which appears without causing us to be resurrected is a false messiah.

And now comes the somewhat esoteric part -- the reason I think that the Lord's return is still somewhat distant and that tribulation is near. Space travel. Yes, you read that correctly. I have a hunch that mankind is going to step forward into space, and actually reach out quite far. A false messiah, enforcing world peace, as dictator and controller of the earth's resources, would have the means of channeling the energies of the earth's people into star travel. It would be another of those vain attempts to "reach unto heaven", the dream that was crushed at Babel. Further, the Scripture hints at that possibility, when God warns Israel of the penalty for apostasy -- exile -- but says that if they repent,

"If any of thine outcasts be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will Jehovah thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:" Dt 30:4(ASV).

This is repeated and reinforced,

"…but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell." Neh 1:9 (NASB).

Thus Jesus tells His disciples,

"And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven." Mk 13:27 (NASB).

Perhaps history will yet repeat itself. When guinea pigs are needed for "scientific" experiments, when expendable lives are required, who else to utilize, but the Children of God? Another Holocaust is on the way. "And ye shall be hated of all men for My name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."