Apocalypse Now!
Prophecy?
Policy? . . .should I prepare?
Not that many
years ago the Mayan calendar came to a screeching halt. Newscasters to TV
comedians, to end day survivalists were ready respectively with comments, jokes
and plenty of stored water and food. Packed along with the dried food and
automatic weapons was the grim determination that the end of the world would go
out with a cosmic fireworks display.
Only those who were prepared with supplies and/or great faith would
survive.
Most think the idea of an end day’s
apocalypse came with the message of Jesus and the New Testament. Well, actually
this concept was well entrenched hundreds of years before Jesus was even born.
Jews were looking for an end to those pesky oppressors who kept invading their
country and interfering with their religion. They wanted and demanded from God
a political activist both verbal and violent to lead the war effort and remove
all invaders. Enter the Zealots. They wanted and were ready for war, their kind
of war, a traditional but explosively successful war.
Let’s take our cameras into the fray
and like all good war journalists not just follow the action, but capture the
story in the faces around us.
Over there we find
a strident prophet, or possibly even a Pharisee or Sadducee, revving up the already
high pitched energy of groups of young men just itching for a fight and to kick
some Roman and gentile butt. Groups like this are filled with that righteous
sense of revenge and the need to destroy. Their vision of the apocalypse is
political, religious, violent, and includes complete annihilation of the enemy.
The good (read that as their own sectarian group of Jews) would be backed by
God and prevail over everyone else, and they meant everyone else. The end days of political and religious oppression
would bring back a golden age.
But, then, over
here are other groups. They are philosophically and emotionally different. One
of them, the Essenes, has recorded their view of the end times in the Dead Sea
Scrolls, specifically the War Scroll. Summarized, it says God will send his
angels to help the Sons of Light (only the Essenes) destroy the Sons of
Darkness (everyone else in the world including other Jews). The Essenes just
have to sit back and watch. The scroll also adds that the dead will be
resurrected and God’s kingdom will reign on earth and heaven.
When looking at
our snapshots, John the Baptist, we notice, was an apocalyptic prophet
expecting the violence of war and proclaiming the need for a clean mind and
body before God’s imminent end days. Was he an Essene, or a political revolutionary?
Or was he, perhaps, a little of both.
Still missing from
our album, however, are the snapshots of Jesus and the viewpoint he would
express. Be patient. He will spin off in a totally new direction and become a
different and unforgettable prophet. Be
prepared, he will soon appear for a photo shoot . . .but not just yet.
There
are a few more snapshots to take of the first century. Our album is still
unfolding.
Questions to Contemplate and Discuss
1.
How do
you believe the world will end? What will be the results? Who will this affect
and how?
2.
Following
the above question’s contemplation, how will you prepare for an ending if you
believe there will be one?
3.
And
will this preparation be something you will do alone, or must you include
others in your preparation, and if so what would that inclusion look like?
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