The End of Times: Are we there yet?

There are about 2,800 people right now fearing for their lives or that of their families and neighbors as I write. The shocking news of a bomb explosion in West, Texas a couple of hours ago is an additional insult to the injury of the bombings yesterday in Boston, Massachusetts. There are silent questions of ‘which state will be the next target?’ not just at Uncle Sam’s place but in all countries all over the world.

It just goes to show how vulnerable we all are. No one’s invincible (not even Superman!). And as everyone else might have been asking for the past 24 hours, are we living in the end of times already? Believer or not, some verses in the Bible provide details of what the end of times look like.

I ‘Googled’ the words ‘End of Times’ and saw this Bible verse - Matthew 24 : 4-12. It’s amazing how Jesus narrated the things to come as if looking He’s watching the news today.

Verse 5: For many will come in My name saying, “I am the Messiah”, and they will deceive many.

Back in the old days, you are either a believer or a non believer. No stress of needing to answer, ‘To which Church do you belong to?’ –there’s a Lutheran, Pentecostal, Baptist, and the list goes on and on. Different churches; same church bulletin contents (all of the same God).

Verse 6: You will hear of wars and reports of wars.

Neighboring countries fight a lot these days. The cold war between North and South Korea gets hotter by the day. If moving out is possible, they’d be more likely to exchange thank you notes.

Verse 9: They will hand you over to persecution and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name.

How do you react to people preaching on the streets or to your sister inviting you to a Bible study? Do you not make fun of them? Well yes, I am one of them people who laugh, smile or do anything to make them go away. And I’m not laughing now; there’s no humor on this kind of story. Whether or not this is the start of the end of times, let’s stop running and start kneeling.

Verse 7: There will be famines and earthquakes from place to place.

Last night I felt the ground shook for about 10 seconds. It was a signal no.1 earthquake here in Davao but a no. 3 at the epicenter in Kidapawan City (merely a 3-hour drive from here). Then the news of a powerful earthquake hitting Iran at that same time filled the news. Famines are a common place as well. There’s simply no place to go when it’s the force of nature you’re running from.