End Times? Maybe Yes, Maybe No

Whenever there are several natural disasters occurring in within a short timeframe, we often hear that they're a sign of the "end times". I'm a little skeptical myself, mainly due to the fact that I'm old enough to remember the late sixties and early 70's when many Christians were convinced that the Rapture was due any day now. The number one song in gospel music in 1968 was an Oak Ridge Boys recording of Jesus is Coming Soon". That was 37 years ago.

And any Christian who was alive at that time will remember Hal Lindsey's book Late, Great Planet Earth which described the world political situation as completely lined up for the 2nd coming, or the Billy Graham film Thief in the Night, which scared the bejesus out of anybody who had even the slightest doubt about their salvation (us Nazarenes were always doubtful about our salvation - you weren't a good Nazarene unless you got saved several times a year).

Various biblical scholars have been predicting the end since 1948 when Israel became a nation once again and seemed to put one of the last pieces of the end times puzzle in place. However, God works in mysterious ways, and after all these years, we're still here.

The current spate of disasters has brought the usual end times prophets out in force again, including Hal Lindsey:

"It seems clear that the prophetic times I have been expecting for decades have finally arrived. And even worse, it appears that the judgment of America has begun," Lindsey said on the Sept. 9 broadcast of the "International Intelligence Briefing" on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. "I warn continually that the last days lineup of world powers does not include anything resembling the United States of America. Instead, a revived Roman Empire in Europe is to rule the West, and then the world. "

I'm sure Lindsay is hoping he's right this time, since it's been 35 years since his book was published, and the Soviet Union, which played a major role in this book, doesn't exist anymore. Pat Robertson was a little more noncommittal about the whole thing:

"What was called the blessed hope of the Bible is that one day Jesus Christ would come back again, start a whole new era, that this world order that we know would change into something that would be wonderful that we'd call the millennium," he continued. "And before that good time comes there will be some difficult days and there will be likened to what a woman goes through in labor just before she brings forth a child."

When asked if the world was approaching that moment, Robertson said, "It's possible. I don't have any special revelation to say it is but the Bible does indicate such a time will happen in the end of time. And could this be it? It might be."

I think I'll take a wait-and-see approach on this.