Doomsday

Last week the Doomsday Clock moved to 2 minutes before midnight.  Rachel Bronson, President of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists said, “As of today, we are two minutes to midnight. To call the world’s nuclear situation dire is to understate the danger and its immediacy.”   The world has never been closer to its final apocalypse.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists was formed in 1945 by the Manhattan Project Scientists after the creation of nuclear weapons and the annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. Its concerns have expanded to include environmental change and emerging technologies. The decision to move the Doomsday Clock forward 30 seconds included the increased dangers of global warming and development of artificial intelligence.

In light of increasing threats from North Korea, Japan recently adopted nuclear drills for survival of an attack.  For the first time in 70 years sirens wail, children run for shelter, adults hunker down behind walls hoping to find shelter while wondering if it would do any good.

On December 1, 2017, Hawaii initiated monthly nuclear warning drills.   At 8:07 AM on January 13 sirens sounded as smart phones lit up with the warning, “This is not a drill!”  People panicked. It was a false alarm.

Stephen Hawking has concluded human survival on earth has less than 100 years.

While the scientific predictions are new, the destiny of life on earth is not. The Bible has predicted our fate for millennia.  Jesus said, “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. … For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.” (Matthew 24:7-8, 21). “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10).

But there is a difference.  While many see little hope for human survival, the Bible sees the end time as an open door to the future.  Jesus said, “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:30).  “The heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:12-13)

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create.” (Isaiah 65:17)

Those who have faith in Jesus Christ need not fear.  Whether we live to see the end of days on this earth, we know that for each of us, our days will end.  We are all mortal.  God has created another dimension, another time and place, a new heaven and a new earth where life, joy and righteousness reign.