Question: Do you think the year 2012 has any prophetic significance?My Response: We won't really know if 2012 has any genuine prophetic significance until 2012!
I remember the hubbub over "98 Reasons Jesus Will Return in 1988" and the sequel "99 Reasons Jesus Will Return in 1999"! I followed that with an New Year's message entitled, "00 Reasons Jesus Will Return in 2000."
The purpose of God's prophetic word has never been to enable us to predict the future. He has given us His Word so that we can recognize prophecy as it is fulfilled. The common mistake Christians make is to try to use Scripture and "signs of the times" to know ahead of time what will take place. There are many "secret things" that belong only to God. We strive to know things that are not for us to know.
Why, then, did God give us any prophetic word? What is the reason for the signs of the times? The purpose of biblical prophecy is preparation not prediction. We have been given enough information so that we can be prepared, not so we can predict! The key words in biblical prophecy are Watch! and Be Ready!
As an afterthought ... why would we put any validity into the Mayan calendar, anyway??
No, its just more people trying to predict when its going to happen.
ReplyDeleteWell, the Word says that no one except the Father knows the day. Not even the Son.(Carroll paraphrase) I don't see how any one can legitimately predict when the end may come. But that was not the question was it. Gonna have to think on this for a bit.
ReplyDeleteMans limited knowledge even with divine revelation can be suspect. I once heard a Godly wise friend say "Live like He is coming tommorrow and their is no reason to be afraid."
ReplyDeleteWhy does Daniel 12 says that "the wise would understand" Daniel's prophecies (including those very day counts in the same chapter) in the time of the end—our time?
ReplyDeleteWhen Revelation 1:1 says it is written to show God's servants what will come to pass, does that mean everything except the timings given all over the place in 42 months, 1260 days, time, times, and half a time, etc.? The year 2012 May have a prophetic significance. "The signs of the times are everywhere". I believe I need to keep "the oil in my lamp burning" like the 10 wise virgins.
he 2012 year is the end of the 5,000 year life cycle according to the mayans. The relation is based on solar and universe measurements of the stars and planets. The "End" according to them will occur after an eclipse followed by venus being inline with the earth and sun. This is followed by the 5,000 year "new" life cycle. Apparently this is the mayan "religious" or "galactic" reading which was approximated by taking measurements of the stars and planets. All of this is according to a mayan researcher, can't remember his name..
ReplyDeleteMy sister was saying how Pastor Weets told us to always remind Satan of "Revelation 20:10" when he is bugging you ... hmmmm ...the great abyss ... 20:10 ... the year 2010 ...j ust sayin ... But seriously, no one knows the day or time...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thes+5%3A1-10&version=ESV
ReplyDeleteTimes & seasons aren't near as important as being children of the light & being awake & sober.
My point in saying that was that they read the stars and planets and came up with a time according to those measurements not necessarily(not for sure) a book written by God's divine inspiration and word like The Bible was written
ReplyDeleteWe must remember that even the Apostles thought the return of Christ was imminent (Our Blessed Hope) and often mentioned it. They weren't concerned about the date, but about what their mission was - make disciples of all nations. Jesus can come anyday for his Church and boy am I ready, but I muct be about the workd of the Father - seeking and saving the lost (through spreading the Gospel).
ReplyDeleteJesus gave us several warning signs of his return which are taking place, but one thing must occur prior to his return - the Gospel has to be preached to all nations first [Matthew 24:14, Mark 13:10, Luke 24:47 (in the discourse about waiting for the Spirit)]. So has the Gospel been preached to all nations as a testimony? Given our modern technology the Gospel has been broadcasted into all nations (politically speaking), but are their still unreached people - YES!
So whether the end of time begins on 12/21/2012 or not, we need to be doing the work of the Kingdom. We must not get caught up into the hype and be on our rooftops ignoring the cries of the lost around us. Jesus told us that we must be faithful in our Kingdom work until he comes.
I assume that the 'question' is somewhat, at least, alluding to the 'Doomsday: 2012' book, which I have no inclination to read. As to prophecy about the end, the Word says that God does nothing that He has not revealed to His servants, the prophets. (Amos 3:7) I assume that He is referring to His own prophets, not the multitude of false prophets that have plagued us from early times until today.
ReplyDeleteWe need to look to our Lord for wisdom to discern the difference between true prophecy and the flow of words from the minds of men not authorized by God, but masquerading as prophets, to their own destruction.
Remember also, that "soon" to the mind of flesh may be tomorrow, or next year, or within a few months. Our Lord created time for our earthly existence to give us structure for our lives, but in the Spirit time is a different thing. God says that to Him a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day. He says this teach us that He is not bound by time, and we should not try to impose our concept of time upon Him. "Soon" to a God who exists apart from time is 'whenever' He likes. So as others have said, let's be ready!