It’s the End of the World – Again!
19 September 2017 Hits:4000
Social media is abuzz with yet another prediction of the end of the world. There seems to be no end to prognostications of the end! This time it’s because of a mysterious planet called Nibiru (or Planet X) that apparently will crash into the earth this Saturday. Nancy Lieder, the founder of the website ZetaTalk, first mentioned Nibiru in 1995 after she received messages from extra-terrestrials through an implant in her brain [1]. Nibiru was supposed to destroy the earth in May 2003 and then December 21st, 2012, and here we go again! According to Nasa, Nibiru does not exist.[2]
The forerunner event is said to have been the Great American Eclipse on August 21st, with September 23rd being 33 days after the eclipse. 33 is significant because it was Jesus’ age when he was crucified, the eclipse featured a black moon which occurs every 33 months, and the eclipse was the first of its kind in 33 years – 33 times three – three being the number of completion in the Bible.[3] The only problem here is that the three things this prophecy is based on are not true. Jesus could have been much older than 33 when he died[4], black moons occur every 32nd month, and total eclipses happen every 18 months somewhere in the world.[5]
Those who are making this forecast of doom are quoting Revelation chapter 12 along with Luke 21:25-26, “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” The video has had over 2 million hits and is intentionally disturbing.[6]
Why is it that some people are preoccupied with the end of the world? Of course, it’s not a new phenomenon. For centuries people have been prophesying the end of the world. Many of them have given exact dates; all of them have been wrong! More recently, people have been deceived by American radio evangelist Harold Camping who said that judgment day would be on May 21st, 2011 when God would raise up all the dead that have ever died from their graves. Earthquakes would ravage the whole world, as the earth would no longer conceal its dead. Once again the prophecy was based on numerological “proofs” that proved incorrect.[7]
And then there was John Hagee’s now-defunct Blood Moon prophecy of the end of the world. Hagee, another American preacher with a huge following despite his numerous false prophecies and false teaching, taught of massive upheaval in the world between April 2014 and October 2015 when the sun and moon eclipsed creating a red (blood) moon (an unscientific term by the way). The fourth blood moon was on September 28th, 2015 a time when Hagee suggested America and the world would face another economic crisis, perhaps as a result of a war in the Middle East or an economic crash. Hagee even wrote a book on the subject, Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change and made a movie of the same name. Nothing happened except the author made a bucket load of money from gullible church people – and he still is.
Last year was going to be the beginning of the end, with World War III starting in June 2016, according to Pastor Ricardo Salazar, a Peruvian lawyer who now resides in Japan.[8] He has put together his very own timeline of events from 2015 until the second coming of Christ by 2023. He prophesied that China would attack Japan in February last year; an asteroid would strike Earth on May 16, and shortly after the Yellowstone volcano in U.S. would erupt, obliterating a large part of California. As a result, the profoundly weakened America would suffer an attack from Russia and China who would win the war on October 25th, 2016 resulting in the Chinese Yen becoming the new global currency by March of 2017. In late 2018, Russia will attack Israel. The Anti-Christ will arrive on Earth by 2020 and the Second Coming of Christ will rescue people in 2023. I think Pastor Ricardo had too much cheese on his pizza before going to bed!
All of these predictions should sadden us greatly because they cause people to harden their hearts to the truth of God’s Word just like the people who heard the boy cry “Wolf!” Jesus IS coming back but making endless predictions based on dates, numbers, times and seasons is pointless and counterproductive to the Gospel.[9]
It’s interesting to note that the vast majority of Bible prophecies concerning the end of the world deal with how we are to live in the here and now. The Bible teaches that the world will end one day, so it’s important that we live pure and productive lives in the present.[10]
In the meantime, share the GOOD NEWS about Jesus with people who are open to hearing it; live a genuine and consistent life that makes this world a better place and love your neighbour as yourself. Resist getting sucked into these baseless and pointless predictions and look for the real Christ, not the anti one!
[1] http://www.paranormality.com/maya_prophecy.shtml
[2] https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html
[3] http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/no-world-not-september-23-article-1.3504874
[4] The Church Father Irenaeus claimed that Christ was about fifty when he died (Against Heresies II 22:5). His primary argument was that this information has been passed down to him by way of John and the other apostles (Courtesy of internetmonk.com)
[5] https://www.space.com/25644-total-solar-eclipses-frequency-explained.html
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoNp8dkyYWU
[7] https://baysidechurch.com.au/the-end-of-the-world-not/
[8]https://www.reddit.com/r/WWWIIIPredictions/comments/3wl4w5/pastor_ricardo_salazar_predicts_wwiii_june_2016/
[9] Acts 1:7-8
[10] Matthew 24:36-44; Luke 19:13; 2 Peter 3:11 & 14; 1 John 2:28; 3:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Philippians 1:9-11; Titus 2:11-14
Rob Buckingham
Senior Minister
