People all over the world are panicking over the Mayan doomsday prediction. December 21, 2012 marks the end of the Mayan 5,125 year “long count” calendar, and many people believe that it marks the end of civilization. Some claim that the (fictitious) “planet X” or some comet is going to collide with the earth and destroy most or all of civilization. Others claim that the earth will be destroyed by a huge solar storm. People are so distraught over the “doomsday” prospect that many of them have become physically sick and even suicidal. In countries all over the world people are buying and hoarding survival gear, food, bottled water, candles, kerosine and other staples. The U.S. has recently seen a dramatic increase in the sale of “survival shelters.” Some people are fleeing to certain mountain-tops in France and Serbia that are alleged to serve as launch pads for alien space ships. It is believed by some that the aliens may have room for a few human passengers who are lucky enough to escape with them.
Ironically, Mayan scholars actually say that the prediction says nothing about the earth or civilization “ending,” but that it actually suggests new beginnings. I have other reasons for rejecting the December 21st Mayan “doomsday” scenario, but either way, people have wasted much time, effort, money and worry in anticipation of this date. There is, however, a day that people really should be concerned about — the Bible calls it “the day of the Lord” (2 Peter 3:10) — judgment day.
Some Observations About The Real Judgment Day
- Unlike the so-called “Mayan Apocalypse” that cites a specific calendar day as “doomsday,” the “day of the Lord” will come “as a thief in the night” (2 Peter 3:10; Matthew 24:43). We are not told when that day will be, nor do we have any way of finding out (Matthew 24:36, 42 – “in such an hour when you think not…”). No date has been revealed for the return of Christ. All past efforts by men to predict the time of Christ’s return have failed miserably. Per the rule of Deuteronomy 18:22, such prognosticators have been proven to be false prophets and should be shunned.
- Those who believe in a “Mayan Apocalypse” have had their lives turned upside down. They have bought things that they don’t ordinarily buy, done things that they don’t ordinarily do, and traveled to places that they don’t ordinarily travel. No such life changes will occur in anticipation of the judgment day of the Bible, for it will be unexpected. When Christ returns, people will be going about life as usual upon the earth. As in the days before the flood, people will be “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” (Matt. 24:37-39). There will be no indication that the end is near, so there will be no last-minute preparations or radical life-style changes. [Incidentally, the first 35 verses of Matthew 24 address the destruction of Jerusalem, not the final judgment. Whereas there were physical observable signs of the Lord’s coming in judgment against Jerusalem, there will be no such signs for the universal judgment day.]
- Survival shelters, flashlights and extra food and water might help people in the event of a short-lived, small-scale disaster, but they will provide no help when the very constituent “elements” of the universe melt from intense heat. All matter will be “dissolved” in the final judgment (2 Peter 3:10-12). Humans will need no physical home, for their corruptible physical bodies will have been converted into incorruptible spiritual bodies that are designed to either enjoy eternal life, or suffer eternal hell (Matthew 25:46). Jews could “flee to the mountains” to escape the Roman attack upon Jerusalem in AD 70 (Matt. 24:16), but no one will be able to “flee” the final judgment.
While I am encouraged by the fact that the Mayan controversy proves that people do realize the uncertainty of life on earth, I wish that they were more concerned about biblical facts and less concerned about speculative theories about a Mayan calendar. Our only hope for the end is that we “be found doing” (the Lord’s will) when He returns (Matthew 24:46).