The
Rapture conjurors up visions of hell on earth and things happening in biblical
proportions; to quote Dr. Peter Venkman “Dogs and Cats living together, mass
hysteria.” The Rapture is believed to be by many the day when Jesus will call
the chosen up to Heaven with him, they will all just disappear and be in heaven
while leaving the rest of the world to hopefully get onto the next wave of
ascension or be blinked out of existence for the rest of eternity to never be
thought of again, pretty scary/creepy no matter how you look at it.Now why am I brining up the whole Rapture topic, well on May 21sr, 2011 the Rapture is supposedly going to take place. That’s right folks the Rapture is about to happen and you can’t stop it, so run up those credit card bills because you won’t have to pay them off, so long as this date is correct…which it isn’t. That’s right, there is no way this can be accurate, I say this for a number of reasons and not just because I’m selfish and want to see the entire season of Mythbusters before the Rapture happens.
Let’s
look at the most convincing evidence of them all, in the bible, Matthew to be
exact, it states: Matthew 24:36: "But of that day and hour no one knows,
not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only" Now to me
it would seem nobody really knows when the Rapture is supposed to take place,
not even Jesus himself and last time I checked he and God were pretty tight
with one another. So if not even Jesus knows the date then how in the world can
we? The answer is that we can’t known and won’t know until the day it happens,
plain and simple.
Now
there have also been quite a number of Rapture dates through out history, some
dating as far back as March 21st, 1844 and even dates predicted as far
into the future as 2060, which was calculated by Sir Isaac Newton. These dates
are based off the biblical time line of events presented to us through the good
book. I also hate to be the bearer of bad news, but trying to figure out exact
time lines in the bible is pretty much impossible, the calendar is not the same
as it was back then. Many scholars have tried with great effort to figure out
true dates and times within the bible and each time there are so many different
answers because most of the things are based on interpretations as to when the
events actually occurred.
Now
the May21st Rapture has been pushed really hard by Harold Camping who is the
president of Family Stations, Inc. which is a religious based radio broadcast
company. He has been criticized for his teachings and this Rapture date for a
number of years. May I also add that this is the 3rd or 4th Rapture date he has
come up with over the years, so as each one passes he revises his statement
with quoting miscalculation on his part. Do I care really if he says the
Rapture will happen on a certain date at a certain time? No I do not, however I
do mind if people start to really buy into and in the process hurt themselves
and others. His group has been compare to the Branch Dividian incident
involving David Koresh and the Heaven’s Gate group, which if we all remember
how these two groups ended it wasn’t good.
I
am not saying you can’t have opinions and speculations as to the time and date
of the Rapture, but make sure express it is presented as such. If you start to
predict the future end of the world then in essence you are going against the
teaching of the Bible. The Bible wants us to be kind and good to our fellow
man/woman, not to work them up into a anxiety filled stressful frenzy based
upon a date and time you made up just to try and prove how “Godly” you are.
Just be good and just enjoy life while helping out where you can along the way,
that’s the true message when you boil it all down. Take what is said with a
grain of salt and do your own research and draw your own opinions because you
may find out more about yourself than you realized.
Be safe and be happy; it’s the best way to make it though life,
Jon Bolton
