The End Cometh
For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. – Revelation 16:14-16 NKJV.
Placed any bets on the “end,” lately? As strange as that sounds some people are actually betting when the end of the world will occur. Now we have to wonder if they win their bet, how would they ever collect!? One bookmaker recently said that about six people per week place very specific bets about when the end will come. The odds on the world ending on a specific date were given at over six million to one. Even if they win, they can never collect!
For years we have been hearing theory after theory about when the Lord will return. We have been hearing about when the tribulation will begin. I must admit I have at times been convinced that some of those theories were right. But the time for the end came and passed. Some have written entire books and distributed them for free across the world advancing their reasoning on why Jesus was coming at a particular time. But the time came and apparently it wasn’t yet time for the end.
Now I understand all of the reasons why many say Jesus is coming again in the year 2000 or soon afterwards. However, all those who have previously made predictions based upon their Scriptural reasoning have been wrong.
In Revelation 16, when the Bible is talking about the “great day of God Almighty,” and the great final battle; even here God says, “Behold, I am coming as a thief,” It will be at an unexpected time. In 1 Thessalonians 5 just after Paul tells of what many us believe will be the rapture, we are told in the old KJV: “…the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” The point being it will be a surprise when the Lord comes again.
It will be a surprise when the end of the world comes. However, Paul points out in 1 Thessalonians 5:4, that as Christians, “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.”
Paul also says in verse 8, “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.”
The signs of our times certainly point to the approaching end of the world as we know it. Will the world end on January 1, 2000? Will the world end on January 1, 2001? I wouldn’t want to bet the ranch on it!
(This devotional has been updated and was originally written and sent by email on 02.09.1999.)