The End of the World, Part 2 of 2: True Signs and False Teachers Is the present blood moon tetrad really a sign of the end of the world? Signs such as the star over Bethlehem and the darkening of the sun over Calvary were supernatural events, which should not be confused with natural phenomena such as comets and solar and lunar eclipses, etc. (Matt 2:2, Luke 23:45). The current blood moon mania is the latest in a continuous stream of extra-biblical predictions working their way through most Bible prophecy TV shows. The Muslim Mahdi and the Roman Catholic Malachy prophecies are also currently popular while the Mayan calendar and the Y2K predictions are two other well known examples in recent history. There are good reasons to be familiar with non-biblical prophecies, but the way in which they are often presented implies a false equivalency between the Bible and other sources, and the presentations are often biased and exaggerated, which implies that the bottom-line is ratings and money. Nevertheless, the tetrad predictions together with all the other extra-biblical predictions are still a sign of the coming judgment of the world because they expose the worldliness and carnality of the modern church, which is the rightful (not arbitrary) sign of the end of the present age. After all, the coming judgment will begin with the church, and therefore corresponds to the end of the present age, which is the age of the church (1 Pet 4:17). And the frequency and frenzy of non-biblical proclamations such as those connected with the present tetrad are only increasing, which is a sign that the coming judgment is not only approaching but fast approaching. One should not, however, think that “mainstream” Christianity is not part of this menagerie. The only thing worse than the Bible-believing minority embracing unbiblical prophecies together with pagan superstitions is the majority of Christendom having altogether rejected Bible prophecy, for the latter is nothing less than rejecting the testimony of Jesus that is the Spirit of prophecy (Rev 19:10). Further, one should not dismiss phenomena such as blood moons in and of themselves just as one should not dismiss anything in the reality that has been created by God. In fact, creation has not only been formed by God but also of God, that is, in the image of God. Astrology cannot be used to calculate the timing of the sovereign acts of God just as nothing in general revelation can be used to calculate the timing of the sovereign acts of God. But the spiritual and the natural are connected. Reality is not arbitrary just as God is not capricious. Blood moons do point to a larger reality just as all things point to a larger reality. Every falling star (meteor) points to lucifer being cast down from heaven. Every earthquake and hurricane portends the final shaking. And every blood moon and solar eclipse foreshadows the disrupting of the natural (common) order that will mark the end times. And our personal realities testify to the same basic truths as do the celestial realities. Morning follows evening as a sign of the promised redemption of all things (Gen 1:5). Likewise, every evening we fall asleep as a sign of our coming death, and every morning we wake up as a sign of our promised resurrection. Links: (1) Mahdi/Twelfth Imam . . . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Imam (2) Malachy/Prophecy of the Popes . . . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Malachy (3) Mayan calendar/2012 . . . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_apocalypticism (4) Harold Camping/2011 . . . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_end_times_prediction (5) Y2K bug . . . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypticism#Y2K (6) Whisenant/1988 . . . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_C._Whisenant (7) Historical summary . . . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 16:29:15 +0000
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