How Long, Oh Lord?!

On May 2nd, Cyclone Nagis tore through Myanmar, leaving a horrific trail of destruction in it's wake. Eight days after the storm, the death toll is in the tens of thousands, with widespread reports that they could escalate to over 100,000 when this all settles down. The government of Myanmar has stated that it is willing to receive supplies from foreign nations, but it refuses to allow foreign relief workers into their country to help distribute those supplies. This bureaucratic nightmare is certain to give weight to the new/old concept of establishing a one-world government. All sovereign systems must be shown to fail before the "final solution" of a New World Order is not just accepted, but demanded by the masses.

That aspect aside, what's happened to Myanmar is clearly, above all other things, a great tragedy. Even though this sort of thing is supposed to happen if George Bush is the Antichrist, I'm still stunned when I hear of earthquakes, floods, tornadoes and "mega-disasters" like Cyclone Nagis. The world is experiencing a new degree of suffering at the hand of mother nature.

People are broken down, weary, or numb from all the prophetic stimulation that they are being exposed to. Despite this, most will either scoff, or accuse you of being insensitive or sensational if you point out the prophecies to them. But there is a spiritual storm brewing, and like it or not, it's becoming more difficult to deny. Clouds are looming, and something deep inside more and more people is becoming aware of it. But it's still a subconscious awareness. On the surface, at least in most of America, everything seems like business as usual.

What gives?

Mainstream Christians are too proud or ashamed to admit the terrible judgment call they made by rallying behind George Bush in the first place. Also, many of them are too sold out on the escapist, deceptive fable of a pre-tribulation rapture to face up to the true danger we all live in. The rapture paints the world as a stick of dynamite, ready to explode in the tribulation and many people in the church today are looking to light the fuse, not thinking of how wicked their behavior is.

Likewise, many people outside the church are too fed-up with the language of the Bible and the sour fruit of the modern church to listen to how these modern events were predicted eons ago.
They throw the baby Jesus out with the bathwater of a religion gone wrong.

But to those who are awake and yearning for the return of Christ, by this point, it can be very easy to wonder how much longer we're supposed to wait.

The early Christians were eagerly awaiting the return of Christ. Living under the horrible oppression of emperors like Nero, they held firm to the hope that their deliverance was very near at hand. Knowing this, the apostle Peter reminded those he wrote to in 2 Peter 3:8-10a

Beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is patient toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night

The significance of that specific formula (1000 years = 1 day) is explained very well on PeterZ's blog. It was also the reason that the book of Barnabas was rejected by the Nicaean Counsel. In Barnabas chapter 15 it reads

"The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation: "And God made in six days the
works of His hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it,
and sanctified it." Attend, my children, to the meaning of this
expression, "He finished in six days." This implieth that the Lord will
finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a
thousand years. And He Himself testifieth, saying, "Behold, to-day
will be as a thousand years." Therefore, my children, in six days, that
is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished. "And He rested on
the seventh day." This meaneth: when His Son, coming, shall destroy
the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the-sun,
and the moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh
day."

The 21st century roughly marks the beginning of the seventh millennial "day" since the fall of man, and the third millennial "day" since the death of Jesus Christ. I don't believe there is a coincidence in that. And while it's true that Jesus said no one will know "the day or the hour" of his return, in the same teaching, he also said in the same passage that when the fig tree begins producing fruit, you will know what season it is. These signs:

• natural disasters
  
• wars
• rumors of war
• earthquakes in diverse places
• famine
• widespread disease
• false prophets
• false "saviors"
• the rise of a monstrous empire that calls itself a "Christian Nation"

...all of these are signs given by Christ himself that show us what season of world history we are now living in. This millennium has begun with war and great tribulation, no doubt, but it will be defined as God's rest. These "early hours" of the "third day" since Christs' death will show his body coming to life and completely conquering the death of religious institutionalism.

Jesus warned that his return would take many by surprise. That many would "be in the darkness" and not comprehend the light. However, he also went out of his way to share specific signs of his coming return, and instructing us to be ready for it. The reason why Jesus' return will be "as a thief in the night" and people don't connect the Biblical dots these days is pride.

The greatest misconception which helps people to dismiss the Bible, and has therefore helped spiritual darkness to flourish, is the idea that people living in the modern age are born more "evolved" in mind and spirit beyond those who lived in the first society to leave a written record. This causes people to falsely conclude that we can't benefit from ancient wisdom, because we are so different (and better) now than we were then. Interestingly enough, this misconception has actually plagued and blinded the masses all throughout history (while this same wisdom has always been cherished and preserved by the ruling class). Solomon, the wisest king of Israel remarked on this self deception when he proclaimed, "There is nothing new under the sun". The trap of believing that we are "further along" than those before us is pride: a moral carelessness that reduces our capacity to respect (and therefore learn from) many lessons that have been left in history.

If you would like to point to the modern technological revolution as irrefutable evidence that we are more evolved than any generation before us, then brace yourself. The Sumerian civilization, which flourished about 5000 years ago (and is one of the first cultures in written history), left behind artifacts which clearly shows our solar system, complete with Pluto ("discovered" in 1933) and a tenth planet, unknown to modern astronomers today. This solar system is accurate in it's scale and arrangement.

If you've ever seen the movie "Stargate", or spent some time wondering how the engineering of certain ancient relics still surpasses our modern engineering capabilities, you will know that there is more to history than what meets the eye.

It must be noted that the assumption of personal superiority doesn't only apply to "secular humanists", but also to "born again" Christians who assume that the life Jesus led would sufficiently replace the need for them to live in obedience to the commands of Christ; to "pick up their cross and follow Him".

2 Timothy 3:4-5 continues to describe men who thrive in the end of days, calling them

..traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

There is a constant moral standard which has applied to humanity all throughout history. It does not change. The wrath of God is simply the consequence of wickedness thriving unchecked. We have the freedom to change, by the decree of God, but it we refuse to repent, judgment is sure to come. Wickedness is clearly and logically defined in scripture, and no amount of religious posturing can excuse truly wicked behavior. For decades the "moral bankruptcy" of America has been highlighted in church pulpits across the country. It was that issue which has been used to unite millions of church-going republicans in an effort to take over the political sphere, which they did in 2000. However the spirit released by that focus was not one of faithful vigilance, but accusation. Sin is, in the mind of the accuser, a force which exists outside the safety of their earthly refuge. The more obsessed believers become with the forces of sin, the more they tend to justify themselves, and fall victim to the sin of personal pride. Most Right-wing "Christians" still believe that George Bush is a believer, despite the many signs that God (and Bush's own actions) have given us to the contrary. In the process of trying to create a more "Christian" nation, the love of many believers has grown cold. The gospel has been twisted, stolen, misrepresented, and darkness has come like a flood against humanity, calling itself righteousness.

Rest assured of this: the Kingdom of God is not an empire of this world system. It is something completely different. It is the light of sunrise that will defeat the darkness of our current night. and it is coming very, very soon.