Eclipse or Apocalypse?

This past Monday there was a total eclipse that crossed over the United States. People gathered from all parts of the country to be in the path of this phenomenon. There were photographers, astronomy enthusiasts, conspiracy theorists, and just regular old people too. But perhaps the loudest of the people to talk about this Eclipse were those shouting about the end of the world. Every time something major like this happens there are people who speak up telling everyone the end of time is coming! It happened in 1910 with Haleys Comet. It happened in the year 2000 with Y2K. We saw it in 2012 when everyone thought the Mayan calendar predicted the end of time. Some thought the world would end in 2020 when COVID came. Some thought the ushering in of a vaccine for COVID in 2021 was the mark of the beast, and we were approaching the end of time. Some thought the wars in Israel were marking the end of time. And it has been no secret that there were hundreds if not thousands of theories that the world was ending with this eclipse on Monday. All of these theories, yet here we are... People have strung together random Bible verses for years to predict the end of time, yanking these verses right out of their context to scare the world into repentance. The problem with this is that it ignores a core teaching of Jesus: NOBODY KNOWS WHEN THE END IS COMING.

Notice a few teachings on the end of time from the Bible:

  • “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”(Matthew 24:36)

  • “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know the day which your Lord is coming.” (Matthew 24:42)

  • “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.”(1 Thessalonians 5:2)

Jesus and the apostles taught people to always be ready for the end of time because we don’t know when it’s coming. We can’t string together Bible verses, and predict it. Not even Jesus or the angles know the day, but only the Father in heaven. The question is, Are you ready for that day to come?

-Kolton Ballance