While I, Daniel, was trying to make sense of what I
was seeing, suddenly there was a humanlike figure standing before me.
Then I heard a man's voice from over by the Ulai Canal
calling out, 'Gabriel, tell this man what is going on. Explain the vision to
him.' He came up to me, but when he got close I became terrified and fell
facedown on the ground.
He said, 'Understand that this vision has to do with
the time of the end.' As soon as he spoke, I fainted, my face in the dirt. But
he picked me up and put me on my feet.
And then he continued, I want to tell you what is
going to happen as the judgment days of wrath wind down, for there is going to
be an end to all this. The double-horned ram you saw stands for the two kings
of the Medes and Persians.
Have you ever had to stop and try to make sense of what you
are seeing or hearing? Maybe someone just told you some unexpected news or you
saw something on TV that was unbelievable—but it involved someone that you
knew. What did I just see and hear? Help me to understand this, God. That may
have been your cry for help. It seems like that was Daniel’s heart at this
point also.
The End of Time—what is going to happen? Will all the clocks
just stop ticking? Will the sun go out? It is not about life ending—it is about
a big change in life—one that is likely to go on forever. The Jewish see this
as a time of their mashiach, Messiah, who will bring peace and unity. The
Islamic belief is that of judgment and the end of the world. The Christian view
of the End Times includes that of tribulation followed by the return of Christ
who will bring an end to suffering and evil. There is so much emphasis now on eschatology.
If you Google “eschatology” you’ll get about 3,160,000 results. Bing has even
more with 7,620,000 results. That is a lot of information! What do we need to
know—and what difference will it make? Can we really “be prepared”? More than
forty years ago when I accepted Christ as my Savior it was because He was
coming again—and I thought it would be in my lifetime. Now, all these years
later, I think that God’s timing is better than my understanding of His timing.
There are the wars and rumors of wars, the natural disasters that Jesus
foretold in Matthew 24:6-8 (NASB) You
will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened,
for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there
will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning
of birth pangs. All these have been occurring for many years—before my
lifetime, and yet it seems that they are escalating. Does this mean that Jesus
will return soon? Only God the Father knows. Jesus told us that in Mark 13:32
and Matthew 24:36 (NASB), …but of that
day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the
Father alone. It is one of those things that is beyond our control and we
don’t even need to worry about it. What we do need to do is to tell everyone we
meet about Jesus so that they will be going to heaven one day, too. That’s my
goal in life…to go to Heaven and take as many people with me as possible. What
do you think of End Times? Are you doing anything to prepare? Who is Jesus to
you?
Lord Jesus, guide our
hearts and thoughts and minds that we would keep our lives focused on You. We
want to live to please You today…and every day into our future…together.
© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
Scripture from The Message, except where noted.
No comments:
Post a Comment