I had two reactions to seeing these stories (here and here – the latter takes a while to load):
1. Is anyone going to listen to them, given that the alternative (the calendar doesn’t *predict* doom) is so boring.
2. Is this really necessary? How many people really believe this sort of thing is going to happen in 2012 on the basis of the Mayan calendar (which doesn’t actually predict anything)?
Sort of a recipe for irrelevance, so I thought I’d blog it!
For a lot of folks out there, scientific and biblical accuracy have nothing to do with belief. Many people believe in the so-called disasters “predicted” for 2012. Doesn’t matter to them whether the Mayans really predicted it or not. It really is pointless to debunk any belief with scientific or technical accuracy. Belief is of the heart and not the mind. Until a person’s heart is changed (and only God can do that) their belief will not truly change.
I agree, there sure is a lot of dubious end time speculation about. But it is significant. Why? The authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, always need to have a diversion in the works, be it Mayans & 2012, Nostradamus, or Stichin & Nibiru. As long as it distracts the public at large form Jesus Christ it is promoted by the world system.
Forget 2012, Israel becoming a nation in one day (Is 66:8) on May 14, 1948 is what excites me. Jerusalem has become a burdensome stone as Zechariah 12:3 predicted it would. For those reasons alone, I think we are close.
The only reason that the New Ager’s and Occultist’s apocalyptic fervor might be meaningful is that their sources (fallen angels, demons) might see something that we don’t, so they are ramping up the deceptions. This crosses over to the “UFO Religions” blog as well. There are reasons to believe a “disclosure” scenario is imminent.
The end of the world is nigh LOL – I dont believe this is the end of the world, maybe the end as we know it. But certainly not the end of the world!