The Bible has long been a source for prophetic pronouncements on almost everything. This multi-faceted literary, historical, cultural, and moral iconoclastic work is the basis for many a doomsday declaration. Various cults throughout the centuries have relied on the Bible to provide them with the ammunition to declare, "The End of Days is nigh."
Yet, like in its handling of the Devil, the Bible is not profuse in its expressions on when and how the "End of the World" will occur. Those who grasp onto so-called "Biblical" notions such as the Rapture and the character of Devils neglect to mention the popular conception of these notions does not have a valid base in Biblical quotations.
Yet, the visions of an apocalyptic world are not totally lacking in the books of the Bible. There are instances where the religious work does appear to refer to the coming of a major catastrophic or at least an Earth-altering event. For the decipherers of the Bible, the information is available in the Old Testament – the first five books that make up the Jewish Holy book called the Torah.
The Bible Code (or Torah Code) is a form of letter rather than word play. The most famous or notorious use of a biblical code is by the author Michael Drosnin. In his books The Bible Code and The Bible Code II,5 he uses a system called equidistant letter sequence (ELS) to unravel a code hidden in the first five books of the Bible. These also comprise the Torah. According to traditionalists, the Bible Code may only be accurately applied to the Torah. It is, in their eyes and minds, the only books retaining their original flavor.
These works did not undergo the extensive editing and revision of the other books in the complete Bible.
The Torah consists of the following books:
- Genesis
- Exodus
- Leviticus
- Numbers
- Deuteronomy
The Bible Code is a means of deciphering certain information concealed within the Bible. It requires the correct use of selecting and arranging the initial letters within a certain sequence. As a result, the application of the code provides information on the specific dates of events. According to the work of Drosnin, the world will be threatened with or actually suffer annihilation in the Hebrew year 5772. This is the Gregorian year of 2012.
The book also provides other predictions. The application of these forecasts has been, however, less than perfect. This leads to fodder for the critics of the system. They insist that Drosnin is guilty of any number of errors including :
- misapplying the Code
- misinterpreting the Hebrew words, phrases, or language
- selectively choosing some words and ignoring their context
- declaring the system nonsense and being applicable to any body of literature
Drosnin defends his work and cites that the application of the Bible Code consists of possibilities not probabilities. The books of the Torah outline all possible outcomes, but do not focus or support any one of them. In this, it would agree with the concept held by many New Age followers and Mayan Shamans. The overall severity of the arrival of 2012 and its ultimate impact upon humans and the Earth depends upon people and the attempts they make to alter the initial paths currently set upon by the human race. Meanwhile, traditionalists hold firm to the belief that while the Code is valid, it is not capable of predicting the future, including significant future events.
There is little doubt that the "Book of Revelations" is the book of doom and gloom in the entire Bible. It is also, undoubtedly, the most complex and convoluted book. "Revelations" is replete with disturbing images such as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the beasts and the peculiar seals. From start to finish, it is a commentary on purported things to come. As it begins, it is clear in its statement:
(1:1).
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to past …
It continues to state how he is "… Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending …" 6
The most oft quoted verses from Revelations referring to the upcoming natural disasters prefacing and including 2012 are in chapters 11 and 16.
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And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand; and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of Heaven
And the temple of god was opened to Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thundering, and an earthquake, and great hail
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was since men were upon the Earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great
Yet, there are also some very strong verses referring to a type of end times in Chapter 8. There is reference again to earthquakes (8:5), but also to such things as the destruction of one-third of vegetation (8:7), one-third of the sea and the life in it (8:8), and one-third of both the sun and the moon (8:12).
There may also be allusion to a volcano in 8:8 with the mountain burning with fire and to a meteorite in 8:10. The verse says there "fell a great star from Heaven" named Wormwood. This is also mentioned in 9:1 where the author states: "and I saw a star fall from Heaven unto the Earth."
Some biblical scholars apply such prophecies to current events. In general, the reference is applied to the increasingly strong bouts of earthquake striking in Asia, South America, and the islands. Further extrapolation extends the many cataclysmic references of "Revelations" to the upcoming date of 2012. These predictions vary from a total destruction of the Earth and its population to a Noah’s Ark type of scenario similar to that found in the movie 2012.
And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth, for the first Heaven and Earth were passed away and there was no more sea.
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it; and the new kings of Earth do bring their glory and honour into it
While some may object, others adopt an approach of using the Bible to interpret or predict current times. There are those who do not hesitate to state that the Bible teaches concepts or perspectives on the future comparable to those of the Mayan philosophers, Hopi Prophecies, and/or Shamans. These Bible interpreters look at the natural disasters as guidance and not punishment for either human mistakes or lack of good judgment.
Among such individuals are Robert Powell and Dann Kevin.7 They have their own approach - a tendency to link the life and death of Jesus Christ with subsequent historic events.
Included in their study are references to the Empire Wars, torture, and the financial crisis. The year 2012 is a time of continued movement towards the end game resulting in passing over to another world. The period from 1980 to 2016 is a 2012 "window." According to the authors, these few years correspond to the Temptation of Christ.
This is the time when Jesus was in the wilderness and set upon by Satan. For these authors, the star of the apocalyptic vision is not the arrival of the Antichrist; it is the coming of Christ.
Powell and Kevin are not alone in their attempts to deduce the future from certain passages in the various books of the Bible. Nor are they the only ones who see a correlation between the Christian religious texts and those of other civilizations. Those who tend to support a co-relation between the Mayan prophecies and the Bible look towards certain common passages.
Some of the most frequently utilized are found in the books of "Isaiah," "Hosea," "Second Timothy," "Hebrews," "James," "Matthew," "Mark," "Luke," and "Second Peter."
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation …
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night; in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the Earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.8
Another example comes from "The Gospel according to St. Matthew."
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that ye need not be troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
All these things are the beginning of sorrows (24: 6-8).
"The Gospel according to St. Mark" continues the same theme expanding it slightly.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in diverse places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these shall be the beginning of sorrows (13: 8).
In Chapter 21, verse 11 of "The Gospel according to St. Luke," the extra or differentiating element thrown in is "pestilence." There are earthquakes, famines, troubles, and pestilence. Luke also notes in the same verse, "and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from Heaven."
The prognosticators who use the Bible find in it earthquakes and other signs in the skies and on the Earth. They point to these as being the indicators. The presence of these "signs" and omens reveal the start or progression of the planet and all its inhabitants – human, vegetable, and animal, towards the "End-Times."
These indications of things to come are found by those who choose to look in different parts of the "Good Book." Those who look to the Bible quote from both the Old and New Testaments. The Apostle Paul is one Biblical author who always seems to be on the verge of declaring the times he lives in, the times past, and all future times as being related to some form of the End of Days."
