I’m afraid of turning into End-time Ed. I am! You know, the guy who views everything in his world through the eyes of the Apocalypse. You and I look up into the sky and see a slightly overcast day: the sign? It’s gonna be a lovely day. Not End-Time Ed. No he sees cumulo nimbus clouds that have somehow formed in the shape of Maradona’s hand of god and tweets; ‘Watch out, sulphuric acid is set to pour out of the sky and obliterate all those who haven’t been to confession recently!’ And should the rain pummel the ground at an angle 43.5 degrees (yes, he measures such obscure things), it’s a sure fire sign angelic hosts are washing their three-pronged spears in preparation for Armageddon.

End-time Ed has read every piece of Scripture that talks of the last days, gone over it with a fine-tooth comb at least ten dozen times, and misinterpreted it five times over. Revelation is his favorite research fodder. Yet what’s lost to him in all his study is that not a single Biblical author set out to specifically write about the end times. None. Not even the author of his beloved Revelation.

Yet when you turn on your ‘favorite’ religious broadcast, there he is, helping us decipher and apply the book’s prophecies and symbols in a way the author never intended. End-time Ed and his cohorts make us look out for an apocalyptic blueprint, whereas its author was writing to give its first-century readers hope beyond the cold-blooded persecution they were suffering at the hands of an oppressive Roman government. Revelation is a tomorrow book – but not a tomorrow book to help us understand the four horsemen of the apocalypse, but a tomorrow book to give us perspective in our today world.

 

Because of him, more people have been turned away from the Gospel, and even more desensitized towards the reality that Jesus said he would return, and that he would plainly show us the signs of this return. As a result, even the most obvious and legitimate of signs that Jesus himself spoke about become lost in the din of heresy and twisted interpretations

 

Here’s what I mean. As I write this, it’s the 16th day of 2011. And in one day alone, what I have read in the local dailies has been disturbing beyond words. Check this out:

* Indian Stampede – Over 100 dead

* Brazilian floods – Over 600 dead

* Australian floods – Over 18 dead

* Political unrest in Tunisia – over 21 dead

* Post-poll violence in Ivory Coast – Over 200 dead

* Philippines monsoon – Over 47 dead

* Afghanistan blast – 9 Civilians dead

 

I kid you not – all these were news stories from this one day; Google it if you doubt me.

 

What did Jesus say?

He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? Luke 12:54-56

 

These are perilous times we live in. The lesson for me as I reflect on all this is not to jump into some indestructible bomb-proof underground space capsule, hunched over with hands covering ears together with my doomsday buddies waiting for the world to disintegrate into a gazillion pieces in some big bang. (OK, I exaggerate). The point of it all is to keep my eyes open to the realities going on in the world around me, and to adjust my lifestyle appropriately. The last three words in the next section of text are particularly incisive for me.

 

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. THEREFORE KEEP WATCH! (Matt 24 – Select verses)

 

I pray for myself. I pray for you. I pray that we will KEEP WATCH. That we will look at the world around us and appreciate the real signs of the times. That we would not look at the events with just a cursory disinterested glance (or at worst become apocalyptic nut heads), but that we would adjust our lifestyles and actions appropriately. Is there sin or compromise in our lives? Repentance and restoration needs to be an urgent matter. Are there friends and family who are far away from God? We need to act with greater urgency and commitment.

 

As for me, I’m off to watch I Am Legend one more time as I wait for End-Time Ed and his Dini Ya Msambwa pals to resurface from their underground space capsule all decked out in branded “I Told You So” t-shirts only to find that the only thing that changed while they were gone was fuel prices.