End of the world?

Here is a comment - question posted a couple days ago. Below that are my comments.
(We are still on moderated status for the moment. May not last all that long.)

Here's an off topic subject!
There are rumblings amoung various people and groups that 2012 has a significant place in history! Some are prediciting specific events and that there are radical groups that see it a critical point in which they must proceed with their agenda!
I think there is some sense amoung the general population that there are people in the World today that see their mission is to disrupt the General well being and prevent "PEACE"!
Maybe to stop a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT?
Maybe to bring back their Deity?

Are we accelrating and/or racing to some sort of Climax?
>>>

The Mayan calendar ends in 2012, with some veiled prophecies of end times destruction. The Mayans were great astronomers. They understood astronomy and math at a higher level than the europeans did. Unfortunately most of their writings were destroyed, and the spanish invaders didnt bother to learn to read what was written.
So we dont really have any context. We have no way of knowing what it meant to the people at the time. This would have been from about 300 - 500 a.d. I guess?
(So many interesting things about the Maya. Sometime after 500, before 900, they all simply abandoned their cities and they went back to stone age type living. No one knows why, but many theories abound.)
One weird thing is that the Maya didn't have the concept of zero, or they had no symbol for it. So maybe they just got tired and stopped on their calendar.
Modern mayans dont really think its any big deal. Its just a few people trying to make it into some big deal, and those people are not mayans.
I would say if current day mayans were heading for the hills, then, maybe we would have something to worry about.
There is just so much not known about the maya. Its real easy to manipulate anything concerning them. There is a stone carving at a temple in Tulum, Mexico. looks like someone in a spaceship, ive seen it, and it does look like that, but ... could also be someone in a coffin. or just decorations... but books have been written about the space flying mayans.

but END TIMES is always a big deal.
Every century there have been people who were absolutely sure that the end would happen at their time. Yea, they knew others had been wrong before them, but they were so sure the bible was telling them exactly about their own culture.
And that is true today.
Now you know I love the bible. I believe it contains the words of God. I believe every word is true. But I believe it means ONLY what it says in its context.
People read the book of revelation - and Daniel too - which has a lot of imagery of end times calamity. But you need to realize, there was a lot of end times writing at that time. What did the original writer intend - and how did people perceive it at the time? That is the question.
There are 4-5 major theories on Revelation, and more minor ones, but most fit into those 4-5. Most scholars try to fit into one of those. Which kinda makes sense.
But the thing is, you have to do some heavy duty theorizing and reading into the text to get any of their theories to work.

A plain reading of revelation, does not say anything about any specific time. It says these things "will soon come to pass."
well, that was 50-60 a.d., Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 a.d. ... could have been that revelation was about that?

The thing is, whenever there are hard economic times, or uncertainty, the end times thing gets going. The 1840s through about 1870 was big. and many new denominatinos and religions got started then. the 1920s was another era. the 60s. and now ... there were other minor ones as well.

There is money to be made off fear. Theres power to be gained in tumultuous times.
Im sure some may think they are hastening the end. but they are just gaining power for whoever it may be.
But the bible clearly says, NO ONE. not even Jesus, knows when the end will be. ONLY God knows. Those dates are set and they cannot be changed. Whether that's this afternoon or a million years from now ...

If the economy turns around, you will hear less about end times calamity.