It seems like every critic of Sarah Palin on blog posts these days has to pop in a comment at some point about her or her supporters “waiting for the Rapture.” Geez, I hate to be left out. Except I’m not going to rail on Palin at the moment. Miz Pink tells me that’s her job with this week’s Two-fer Tuesday topic. So, I’ll just rail on the folks who obsess about the following things and all things related to them:
The Rapture, the End Times, the End of Days, Armageddon, the Book of Revelation, etc., etc., ad nauseum.
It’s not that I think we shouldn’t ever think of such things or cogitate on them a bit. Hell, let’s even get some entertainment from them. Enough movies and books have played off the end of the world and the Rapture, right? I liked the Left Behind series well enough for the first five books or so, until it became clear that not only was the plot getting kind of silly, but the authors were dragging things out to write as many books (and get as much money) as possible.
The problem is that there are Bible scholars—and pseudo-intellectual blowhard hacks a-plenty, too, to be honest—who make their living theorizing about the “end times.” Who try to figure out what, if anything, in modern day ties into prophecies about the second coming of Jesus and the road to Armageddon. And I ask you: Why the hell are you spending so much time on this?
Jesus himself said, “no one knows the time but my Father in Heaven.”
No one.
Jesus said “no one.”
That means him, too.
God the Father is the only one who knows what the day and time will be that He starts wrapping up things here on Earth and moving us on to whatever it is that is far more important for us to do for the rest of eternity in the spiritual realm and perhaps elsewhere in the physical universe.
Only God.
If Jesus wasn’t fretting over the time and was willing to wait…if Jesus doesn’t know the precise signs that will tell us the day is nigh…if Jesus said only the Father knows…
…how in hell do you expect, as a measly mortal, that you are going to figure it out?
Are you smarter than Jesus? More connected than Jesus? If you think so, you need to re-examine whether you’re born again, because if you think you’re better than your Messiah, Lord and Savior, then you haven’t submitted yourself to God.
There are too many millions upon millions of things going on amongst us billions on this planet—even if you focus just on the movers and shakers and political dealings—to tie anything to the Book of Revelation. I might get a bit worried if I hear about a seven-year peace agreement between the Arabs and the Jews, but even then, it wouldn’t prove anything. It would be about the clearest warning sign, but it still could just be a false start. If it ever happens in my lifetime or yours, which it probably won’t.
No matter how bad Christians may think the world is, this isn’t the worst it’s ever been and it isn’t as bad as it could still get. I suspect this planet has plenty of life left in it. Yes, the end days could come tomorrow. The Rapture could happen a few minutes from now. But is that likely?
No.
And frankly, I have bigger things to worry about, both in terms of my worldly/family obligations and Jesus’ Great Commission, than to fret about when the end times are coming.
So should you.
Deacon Blue
Inda Pink
Holy Sh!+ from Deacon Blue 
Deac, you really believe Jesus doesn’t know when the Rapture is coming? I thought the Kings James version said that “No man” knows the time, not that “No one” knows the time.
I fully believe that any information the Father has the Son also. Now, he might not have had access to all that info while on work, but I think that in order for Jesus to be fully divine and fully human he would need to know everything his Father knows.
Interesting debate though.
Also, I think the attitude towards Palin is insulting to many Christians. The reaction to her pastor who fought witchcraft was troubling. Do people really not believe in the supernatural?
You may be right, Big Man…seminarian I am not…and if I have misled, my bad.
But even so, of course, the point is that even if Jesus knows, along with God and the Holy Spirit, clearly that secret is staying upstairs, and it’s still pretty pointless for us to try to unravel the secret down here. And arrogant of those who make it their living to do so, in my opinion.
As for the Muthee thing, I have some troubles with that, only because while I believe in the supernatural, such battles should be waged in the spirit and with prayer. Muthee’s efforts against witches (whether they were or were not…and it’s quite possible they may have simply been scapegoats) seem to have resulted in physical threats and harrasmment of said “witches” by the authorities. Doesn’t make me confident that Christian values are on display thre…
I actually don’t have much problem with Palin being prayed over by Muthee, either, except that the focus seemed to be on the political and material and not so much on the spiritual from what I saw.
It’s Palin’s rather tunnel-visioned view of faith that has me worried. If she wasn’t making like dinosaurs walked the earth with humans (and I have yet to see her refute that she said that), I would take her faith more seriously. She’s not thinking critically at all, and is using faith as a crutch instead of a shield.
Again, just my opinion. I know many Christians out there disagree with me on that, and I’ve pissed some of them off at their own blogs, frankly.
😉
Howza bout I show my big bad bible knowledge for once.
Big Man is right about teh King James version of Matthew 24:36. It sayeth:
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
So do several other versions.
But some other translations say that the son is in the dark about it too:
No one knows when that day or hour will come-not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (ISV version)
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone (NASB version)
But as to that day and the exact time no one knows–not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone (Weymouth)
So, yer both right, gents, depending on what you’re reading.
I think of course that Big Man makes a good point that Jesus is probably in the know now that he’s ascended upstairs and sitting next to the big chair. I don’t think Deke would argue the logic of that either.
In the end though its the same story. We humans aren’t meant to know and we shouldn’t presume that we can figure it out.
You’re welcome boys.
(I don’t comment much around here. Figured I should make an appearance. Baby isn’t kicking me insides too bad tonite.)