Saturday, October 10, 2015

Armageddon?

Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Revelation 16:16 (NIV)

There’s always been an interest in the End Times, especially when there are movies and popular books available that contain fictionalized portrayals of those events. Just like we want to know how we got here, we also have a desire to know how it all will end. I remember back in the 1970s and 1980s that whenever there was trouble in the Middle East, people would say, “Armageddon.” It was sort of a knee-jerk reaction.

Today, I’m beginning to think that Armageddon may not be too far in the future. Obviously a number of things must happen first according to the Book of Revelation and other apocryphal books of the Bible. Nevertheless, with Russia now involved militarily in Syria, and ISIS a factor, an Armageddon-like battle doesn’t seem so remote any more. We could see the End Times play out in our lifetime. Are you prepared?

My advice is to grow closer to God by weekly worship, daily prayer, reading your Bible and maybe even attending a Bible study. If you are interested in the End Times, get a book on the subject by a reputable Christian author. Those who have a personal relationship with God have nothing to fear from the End Times. Indeed the End Times will usher in a whole new era, with a new heaven and a new earth. I’m looking forward to it. Are you? Read this description from the Book of Revelation:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:1-4 (NRSV)

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