Those blasted Mayans...what Apocalypse?

December 21, 2012

I thought I had a front row seat to the Apocalypse, the last great show on earth. According to the media, the Mayans promised it, so did the Hopi Indians, solar experts, the Bible, the Chinese Book of Changes (called I Ching), the Hindu religion, geologists studying geysers at Yellowstone National Park, physicists at Berekely Uni and…programmers at the History Channel. For several days leading up to December 21, the History Channel aired end of the world specials with such titles as Seven Signs of the Apocalypse, Nostradamus 2012, Last Days on Earth and Doomsday episodes of Decoding the Past and Brad Meltzer’s Decoded. Similarly, the Discovery Channel aired such shows as 2012 Apocalypse and the National Geographic Channel launched a show called Doomsday Preppers, which is a documentary series about survivalists who prepare for cataclysmic events such as the 2012 Apocalypse. And there were countless other Doomsday specials and series that saw air time on other channels. To put it simply, we were inundated with warnings that the world would end TODAY!

But we’re still here. Why? What happened? Was everybody wrong? How could it be that all these disparate groups came to the same conclusion about the same exact date, yet were all mistaken?

Predictions are a tricky business. Just ask anyone who used to work for the Psychic Friends Network before it declared bankruptcy in 1998 (why didn’t they see that coming?). And End of the World prophecies are far more complicated than individual predictions. History has given us a long list of people who failed in that endeavor…most recently, Harold Camping, whose Family Radio International plastered the country with warnings that the Day of Judgment would come on May 21, 2011, then recalculated after 5/21/11 came and went. The next date Camping selected was October 21, 2011. When he found that the world was still spinning on October 22, 2011 and people were still doing their things, Mr. Camping wisely decided to hang up his Doomsday hat. Nostradamus, the most famous predictor of catastrophes, wrote about his “visions” in vague terms. For example, consider his quatrain that supposedly predicts the attacks of 9/11…

“Volcanic fire from the center of the earth
will cause trembling around the new city:
Two great rocks will make war for a long time.
Then Arethusa will redden a new river.”

People who want to believe that Nostradamus had the great gift of prophecy have found very inventive ways to apply this quatrain to the horrible events of 9/11, but I think anyone with a degree of common sense would take issue with these assertions. This quatrain could apply to practically any war, any city with the word new in its title (look out New Lenox, Newark, New Braunfels, New Bedford, New Orleans and New Haven) and any catastrophe that involves a volcano.

What about the Bible’s book of Revelations? It clearly predicts the End of the World. But like Nostradamus, it is non-specific. The author of the book, John of Patmos, speaks of earthquakes and lightening, famine, plagues, pestilence. He paints us a picture that includes falling stars, scorched earth, seven seals, four horsemen and mythical beasts. Consider Revelations 4:8…

“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night.”

How are we supposed to predict the date of the End of the World with information like that? The bottom line is…we’re not. The Mayans couldn’t do it, Nostradamus couldn’t do it, Harold Camping couldn’t do it and neither can we. As Matthew wrote in the New Testament, “of that day and hour knoweth no man” (Matthew 24:36).

End of Days prophecies make for great entertainment, but they are poor guides for us to follow. However, if any of you stopped paying bills or maxed out your credit cards with the belief that December 21, 2012 would rid you of all debt, I extend to you this comforting thought: if the past is any indication of the future, you’ll have many upcoming Doomsday prophecies on which to hang your hopes for debt deliverance.