Apocalypse Now?

We have recently learned that the Rapture will be coming sooner rather than later. According to Harold Egbert Camping, this summoning of mythical proportions is slated for Saturday, 21 May 2011. Previously, Mr. Camping predicted a similar end of the world scenario. It was to have happened on 6 September 1994. To the best of my knowledge, it did not.

From Wikipedia

The Rapture itself, according to Christian enthusiasts, is not something to be feared (unless you are not virtuous and not Christian). It is the time when God will call all those alive and asleep (pronounced: dead) to him in Heaven. The pious will be called forth. The rest will burn in Hell for all Eternity.

Honestly, I’m not really the white dress and harp kind of girl. My tastes are more colorful. I like my music a bit more vibrant. However, I don’t really relish the idea of Hell either. Color abounds, but it’s mostly red or shades thereof. Plus, I don’t tolerate the heat all that well.

Since it seems more or less inescapable, the Rapture isn’t really my concern. I’m going to end up where I end up and I’ll make the best of it either way. What I am concerned with is the seven years before the Rapture: the Tribulation.

I don’t think Mr. Camping has done his math correctly (again) since the Tribulation supposedly precedes the Rapture by seven years. And it is full of nastiness. Sadly, it’s not the kind of nastiness you’ll find on Skinemax.

Depending on whose interpretation you read, the Tribulation immediately precedes the Rapture, lasts for seven years and its name is severely understated. The Tribulation will be a time of

• nation rising against nation,
• earthquakes,
• famines,
• pestilence,
• the arrival of false prophets,
• religious renunciations,
• persecution of Christians,
• and the spreading of the Jesus’s message.

The possibility that we have been living the Tribulation and didn’t realize it seems slim. Have there been lots of natural disasters? Certainly. Have people been adversely affected? I’ll not dignify that question with a response.

Is this the beginning of the End Times? I suppose it’s possible, but if it is, frankly, I’m disappointed.

From the Biblical Prophecy Resource Center

Nations have been rising against each other for thousands of years. Earthquakes have been happening since there has been an Earth to quake. Famine and pestilence are the norm in several parts of the world. We could look at the arrival of false prophets, but they have been around since before Christ. People renounce religion every day; and they aren’t all Christians. Christians are persecuted, but so are people of other religions and belief systems: like other signs, this depends on where in the world you look. People have been spreading their interpretations of Jesus’s message since he sent those first disciples out into the world.


So, how does one survive and apocalypse of Biblical proportions? If we had backpacks that threw electricity, we could cross the streams. But we don’t.

The Tribulation sounds like a world in disarray. Perhaps working together to set things right will do more to stave off the End Times than any other tactic. Instead of trying to save ourselves, maybe the answer in this case is to save each other.

• Wars can end.
• Send relief to victims of natural disasters.
• Send food to those in need home and abroad.
• Teach preventive measures for disease control and supply life saving medicines where needed.
• Do not listen to those who would have you hate your fellow people because of their color, creed, religion, or orientation. These are the true false prophets: the people who would have you believe that God doesn’t love every creature He has made.
• When one door closes, another opens. Religious renunciation could be the correct path for some.

That last bullet – spread the message of Jesus – is tricky. Last I knew, His message was to love thy neighbor, practice forgiveness, turn the other cheek, help each other, and generally be groovy. I certainly wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from spreading a message like that.

So maybe it’s not the message that’s the issue, but how it’s spread. Avoid fear mongering. A person cannot be forced into Enlightenment.

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