Daniel 12;1-3
‘At
that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will
arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from
the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people –
everyone whose name is found written in the book – will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.'
Daniel, living and working for the regime in Babylon at the time, continued to stand for his God Yahweh. He had faced opposition yet continued in faith in the living God. At time the Lord himself gave him messages, prophecies, for the people around him and for the world in general, that is you and I. This is one such.
One day the life around us will end, Jesus will appear, and our world will be seen to belong to the creator Yahweh after all. Our conception of life will end and he will be seen to be Lord of all.
Mark 13:1-8
'As
Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look,
Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!’ ‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?’ Jesus said to them: ‘Watch out that no-one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, “I am he,” and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be
earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of
birth-pains.'
Jesus himself made clear the biblical story. God created the earth and the heavens, through him, and one day will reclaim ownership. Not only has he used a nation, the Hebrews, to teach the word about himself, though they failed, the Son of God, fully God and fully man, arrived on earth to take the wrath for our sinful natures on the cross, so opening a way to reconcile us to him who has no sin.
We tend to see Jesus as weak and 'nice,' while he is in fact none of that. Much of what he said was in anger against wrongdoing because he is Holy. His Love shows in that he is patient and forgiving, but still will judge us one day for all our actions.
The only way to safety is via the Cross of Christ, yet we look elsewhere. Those who's names are found in the 'Book of Life' will be those who turn to Jesus now. The end will come so we may as well be ready. Life is for living and Jesus came to bring abundant life. Let's take it now.
I made use of the day by watching as many football matches as possible. All were dreich! None worth the money I did not pay for them. However, by using Viaplay International all watched so far had no commentator to babble nonsense all the way through. This is good! It is time all games had a switch to prevent us hearing these talkatike indivisuals and allow us to see the game properly I say.
