Have you ever noticed that people have an almost gleeful obsession with the end of the world? With few exceptions, any "end of the world" disaster movie is almost certain to be a blockbuster that makes the movie studios millions of dollars (Armageddon - $200 million, Deep Impact - $140 million, The Day After Tomorrow - $186 million, The Day The Earth Stood Still - $73 million and counting). But why are we so interested in global cataclysm? Perhaps people just love to watch and see what it would be like if "What if...?" actually happened (without having to witness it firsthand).
I started thinking about this a couple of nights ago while watching a program with my sons that was on The History Channel. The show was called "Nostradamus 2012" and it focused on the "prophecies" of the 16th Century French seer, which supposedly foretell of impending global doom in the year 2012. More specifically, it connected his Quatrains with the end of the Mayan calendar (December 21, 2012), which some speculate will be the end of the world.
I can't help but wonder how people would react to a movie that accurately depicted the end of the world as described in the Bible? Can you imagine seeing and hearing, "the heavens pass away with a great noise, and the elements melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein burned up" (2 Peter 3:10)? Whether or not Hollywood ever decides to showcase the real judgment day on a 75 foot Imax screen with Dolby Digital surround sound (although I'm sure they will if they think they can make a dollar off of it), it certainly is coming to a sky near you. The certainty of the second coming is as sure as the resurrection and ascension (Acts 1:10-11). Rather than being fascinated by the end of time, I pray that people will become concerned about "what manner of persons" they ought to be when it does happen (2 Peter 3:11a). If we are living holy and godly lives, without spot and blameless (2 Peter 3:11b, 13) we can actually anticipate the return of Christ (even more than folks look forward to blockbuster movie releases). By the way, on July 10th Sony Pictures will release an end of the world thriller called "2012" and you guessed it, I can't wait to see it.
Brandon, I watched that same exact show on the History channel this week. There are definitely some unusual people in the world who follow and believe these strange prophecies from an old dead guy. These Quatrains are so vague a person could manipulate them to say virtually anything. If people would simply read the Bible it will quickly tell them when this world will come to an end which is "we don't know". Only God the Father knows this and if people would spend as much time getting prepared for it as they did worrying about when it will happen this world would be a much better place!! Awesome post and I look forward to reading more in the future! :)
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