The End of the World is Nigh

Yes, the end of the world is upon is. The predictions have been made and the early signs of the collapse of world order are clear.

There are more than a few predictions out there. In the fundigelical world, apocalyptic preachers have pointed to 21st May 2011 as the date of the 'Rapture' - when the great and the good will be whisked off to heaven leaving the rest of the sinners behind. The people who have made this calculation know what they are talking about. They have been predicting the end of the world on a succession of dates for very many years, so they have lots of experience in this field. Just because these dates come and go without event doesn't deter them. They are getting better with practice and they are pretty sure that this time they will be right.

There is nothing flippant about these calculations. They are backed up by firm biblical evidence. This is how it works:

There are exactly 722,500 days from April 1, 33 A.D. the day Jesus died on the cross until May 21, 2011. Astronomers have known there are 365.2422 days in a complete year. A day is added every fourth year (leap year) and every 128 years a day is dropped to maintain accuracy.

In order to find the spiritual meaning of these days, we must multiply the years between these events by the number 365.2422 to know the days between them. April 1, 33 A.D. to April 1, 2011 equals 1978 years. This equals 722,449 days. From April 1, 2011 to May 21, 2011 inclusively is 51 days. To this number is exactly 722,500 days.

Some numbers in the Bible can convey a spiritual truth and each number is a word. The 722,500 days is made up of 5x10x17x5x10x17.

The atonement demonstrated on April 1, 33 A.D. (the number 5) is 100 percent completed on May 21, 2011 (the number 10) when all the true believers are raptured into heaven (the number 17). Remarkably, this number sequence is doubled to indicate that it has been established by God and will shortly come to pass (Genesis 41:32, Pharaoh’s dream).

Tim LaHaye (Evangelical Numerologist)

See, it all makes perfect sense and it is as clear as a mountain stream.

Then there is the Mayan Calendar - displayed on Mayan carvings and charting the future up to - but not beyond - 21st December 2012. The Mayans knew a thing or two about predicting catastrophes - they performed human sacrifices, which were fairly catastrophic for the victims and were presumably predictable too. Still, nothing is ever too much trouble to appease the Maize God who was central to their religion and the continuing success of the Mayan people is testimony to the efficacy of their gods.

Mayan Calendar

Still, the evidence is mounting that the end of the world is upon us. The World economy has collapsed. Signs of chaos and natural disasters that precede the apocalypse are clear for all to see. Storms rage and earthquakes have struck New Zealand and Japan. Well, actually that's it. However, there are other lesser signs one could interpret as lending support to this theory.

Tsunami in Japan

Personally, I would add the downfall of William Hague as yet another 'end-times' disaster. Last week, Hague was riding high as the 'New World Statesman' - telling Gaddafi that his time was up and promising 'No-fly Zones' over Libya that no other leader was prepared to make. Here we are, just a week later, and he is looking like a complete fool - widely criticised for poor judgment and making rash statements. What else can explain this fall from grace? Surely this is yet another sign of the 'end-times'?

Don't tell them your name, Hague!

I think the evidence is mounting and it scares me. It scares me on every single occasion and I should know. There have been so many of these dates in the last decade and I have had to survive each and every one of them. I nervously await the arrival of the predicted date, the tension reaching a peak on the day itself, only to subside once the fateful day has passed. Phew! What a relief! And doubtless, if neither of these future dates turn out to be correct, the people behind them will come up with some new dates. (Well, maybe not the Mayans).

End-time Predictors - Providing repeat business for sign writers

Mind you, having survived so many of these final days - and the tension that comes with each of them - perhaps the purveyors of these messages would do us all a service by taking to the streets after the day has passed with signs apologising for getting it wrong - again. And this time, rather than giving away all my worldly goods as I usually do, I might hedge my bets and ask the preachers if they would be prepared to give me their possessions. After all, they are not going to need them once they have been raptured. And given the number of these predictions, I could be on to a steady earner for many years to come.

Now, here's my prediction. I predict they will choose not to do so. One might wonder why?