Judgment Day

(Author's Note: I began this blog entry sometime before we left Vientiane for the Philippines. Due to the business of my schedule, I only managed to finish it now. It was meant as a response to the May 21 (now turned October 21) prediction of a well-known American preacher for Judgement Day. I hope that it retains its relevance in these times.)

"The day of judgment is here; your destruction awaits! The people's wickedness and pride have blossomed to full flower. Their violence has grown into a rod that will beat them for their wickedness. None of these proud and wicked people will survive. All their wealth and prestige will be swept away. Yes, the time has come; the day is here! Buyers should not rejoice over bargains, nor sellers grieve over losses, for all of them will fall under My terrible anger. Even if the merchants survive, they will never return to their business. For what God has said applies to everyone—it will not be changed! Not one person whose life is twisted by sin will ever recover.

(Ezekiel 7:10-13 NLT)

I have forgotten how many times I have heard people predict the arrival of Judgment Day (and be proven wrong afterwards).

It seems there are a lot of people who relish in the idea that they can predict the doom of humankind.

I am no exception to this.

After all, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that by the way humankind has been mismanaging the earth, there will come a day wherein the earth itself will break beyond recovery, and humankind would indeed reap the harvest of our actions.

Science calls it causality.

Scripture describes it as reaping what we sow.

As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians:

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

(Galatians 6:7-8 NIV)

There is no doubt in my mind that there will be a time of reckoning for our actions on this earth.

It’s just that scripture tells us that nobody knows when that time will be.

Even the Messiah said that He Himself does not know:

"However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows. - (Matthew 24:36 NLT)

Only the Father knows.

Scripture is full of references to the arrival of the Day of Judgment.  Bible scholars have even founded a separate branch of theology that focuses on the study of the End Times. (They call it eschatology.)

But although Scripture is generally consistent in pointing towards the coming of the End Times, it almost always qualifies those predictions by saying that the exact day and hour of Judgment Day is unknown.

It is important for us to realize this, because it helps us to identify false prophets who claim to know the exact time and date.

As Scripture notes:

And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. - (Matthew 24:11 NLT)

And:

Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. - (1 John 4:1 NLT)

That there will be people who will claim that they know the exact date of Judgment Day is therefore to be expected.

This brings about another dilemma.

The presence of these false prophets will inevitably cause many to fall from the faith.

This too was predicted by the Messiah:

Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. - (Matthew 24:12 NLT)

The more false prophets come; claiming to be messengers from God, the more the faith of the people will be tested. Many will be lured into believing them, as the Messiah predicted, and many will be sorely disappointed when their promises prove false and will end up falling from the faith. They will add to the number of the skeptics and will end up as haters and mockers of those still faithful.

"Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are My followers. And many will turn away from Me and betray and hate each other. - (Matthew 24:9-10 NLT)

It will truly be a dark day when the way of peace and love will be completely rejected by the worldly.

But we have been warned ahead of time by the Messiah Himself:

"I have told you these things so that you won't abandon your faith. - (John 16:1 NLT)

I know that it is not my place to remind everyone who believes to be steadfast in the faith. This trial of faith is for all of us to bear, and each trial will be unique as each one of us is unique.

I look at myself and ask: how strong is my faith in the Living God? Will I remain steadfast in the presence of the most severe trials?

My worst nightmares now consist of visions of what trials I would have to face to have my faith tested.

Would I be faithful enough like Job not to fall away when all that I have is taken from me?

Would I be strong enough like Abraham when the lives of my loved ones are put on the line?

Would I be steadfast like the Prophets and the Apostles when my own body is tortured and mutilated for sharing the Gospel of Truth?

Lest I fall into the same trap as Simon Peter and the Sons of Thunder and boast that I would die for my Lord, I would like to be perfectly honest and say that I don’t think my faith is strong enough for trials like these.

I suspect that many among the faithful share this same dilemma.

So should we just abandon my faith now even before these trials ever come to pass?

Should I just toss away my Bible and renounce my love for the Living God?

But to echo the words of Simon Peter: “To whom shall I go Lord?”

If I do not follow the path of peace and love, where then shall I end up going?

Shall I abandon the eternal riches of God’s Kingdom for the fleeting riches of this world?

Shall I become one of the worldly, whose sole motivations in life are greed and lust for power, fame and fortune?

Who will I become without the Living God?

Just another person meant to suffer His wrath on Judgment Day.

-------

It would seem that the faithful are given the devil’s choice: love God and suffer persecution from the world, or love the world and suffer judgment from God.

This is not surprising given that the devil himself tempted our Lord with the same choice.

…the devil took Him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. "I will give it all to You," he said, "if You will kneel down and worship me." - (Matthew 4:8-9 NLT)

The Messiah Himself warned His disciples of these trials:

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. - (John 15:18-20 NIV)

If our Lord was persecuted by the world, then as His followers we can expect to be treated no less.

This has always been a hard teaching for me to accept.

Is not a leader supposed to lead his people into safety? Why then does my King tell me that I must suffer for following Him?

The Apostle Paul offers the following words of comfort:

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. - (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT)

The Creator Himself encourages me as He spoke through the prophet Jeremiah:

For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. - (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)

I hold on to these words, as I hold on to my faith in the Living God.

His words will be a lamp to guide my feet, allowing me to walk through the darkness until the coming of dawn, so that when dawn breaks, I will not cringe and fall from its light.

So that when all of the Truth is revealed, I will not be found living a lie.

So that when the Day of Judgment does come, I will run to my Lord rather than flee from Him.

May His rod and staff continue to guide me until that day.

I urge you therefore brothers and sisters in the faith, not to be misled nor distracted by the predictions of false prophets. I believe that if our Lord meant for us to know the exact day of His Judgement, then people will be tempted to wait until the last moment to repent of their ways.

Thus says the Lord through the prophet Isaiah:

Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." - (Isaiah 6:10 NIV)
In the Lord's infinite wisdom, He has chosen to seal up this knowledge from the world, so that the truly faithful might be revealed.

As the Messiah commented on the faith of His disciple Thomas.

"Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." - (John 20:29 NIV)

Let us be encouraged that our faith in Him is not in vain.

To Him be all the Glory.