The end

As some of you may know, just around 12 hours ago at 12:51pm on 22 February 2011, an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hit Christchurch, New Zealand. This is the second earthquake following the 7.1 jolt that hit the city just around 4 months ago. This one has caused more damage than the first one, though: iconic buildings destroyed, fires, flooding, mass evacuations, power outages, hundreds of people trapped in buildings...and worse of all, 65 people have been confirmed dead already. It has truly been a dark day for New Zealand. Because we are such a small country, we are practically (in the words of Peter Jackson) like a village, and so everyone is deeply affected by this disaster. The responses I have seen and heard today have been quite overwhelming and moving. There's this helplessness in the air because no one can really get to Christchurch because of the danger. All there really is to do is to support causes, donate blood and/or money and pray.

As the day goes on, the news gets worse and I become more saddened. I've been praying, refreshing the news updates and I donated some money using my mum's credit card, but throughout the whole day I couldn't shake off one thought: the end of the world is truly near.

I picked up my Bible for the first time in ages, and upon opening it I almost instantly turn to a bookmark of a chapter in Malachi which reads 'The Day of Judgement is Near.' Weird coincedence. I turned to the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke to read about the end of days and there was such a surge of emotions running through me when I read them. It has put shivers in my bones, and a hopefulness in my heart.

³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴ Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ 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. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵ “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. ¹⁸ Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. ¹⁹ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ²⁰ Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

²² “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. ²³ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you ahead of time.

²⁶ “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

³⁰ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. ³¹ And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³² “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. ³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁴ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown

³⁶ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 24:3-51

I don't know how you felt when reading this passage, but I was scared. The earthquakes, famines, battles, revolutions and false teachings are like the first pains of childbirth, but there is more to come: persecutions and false prophets, betrayal and love turned cold. People will lose their faith. People will hate you because of Jesus. It's heavy stuff. However, I found comfort in the encouragement Jesus gives to us believers during days like these:
Stand firm.
Be on your gaurd.
Do not worry.
He will give you the words to say in times of persecution.
Those who hold on to the end will be saved.
They will hate you, but not a single hair from your heads will be lost.

All of a sudden, even while typing this, a peace that transcends these horrors come over me. I am not scared so much anymore. Jesus is greater than all of this, and he always has been. So many people will blame God for disasters, but I believe it is not His fault at all. If he is perfect and just, how can He make innocent and good people suffer and die? It is a result of human sin. This is a consequence and we are paying for it. 98% of the time I do not understand why bad things happen to good people, and I won't try to. All I am 100% sure of is is that it is not God to blame.

Are you ready to be persecuted if it happens, and stand firm on your faith even if it means death?
Are you ready to spread the Word of God, and be hated by everyone because of it?
Are you ready to love in a world full of hate?
I'm not just asking you, but I am also asking myself.

These two verses will anchor me when I feel cut about the disasters happening in the world today, and I hope they will for you too:

'The great trumpet will sound, and He will send His angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather His chosen people from one end of the earth to the other.'

Matthew 24:31

'Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in a cloud with great power and glory. When these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your salvation is near.'

Luke 21:27-28

Listen to: Foals - Spanish Sahara