Three Minutes to Midnight

Doomsday!  What in the world is that? For the secular world it is the time when all life ceases to exist. In Christian theology, it's the "Great White Throne Judgment".  There is a big difference! However, this commentary will be on the former. We'll pretend, just for a moment, that when the earth is destroyed "that's it, folks!" There's not much hope in that thought, but doomsday isn't a time for hope for most!

Doomsday must have a cause. The clock right this moment is set at three-minutes to midnight. Midnight is "Doomsday", "The End!".  However, there was a day earlier in time which the people dreaded! There exists a Domesday Book, antiquated English for Doomsday Book. It is a census conceived in 1085 A.D. by William the Conqueror of all the lands and livestock values in England and parts of Wales.  It was "Doomsday" for many because the assessor's evaluations was unalterable and the taxes due were deadly!

We jokingly refer to taxes as death:

"Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." (Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789; paraphrasing Daniel Defoe).

Defoe and Franklin equivocated taxes and death. The Doomsday Book was about dreaded taxes.  Life is about dreaded death! Most people don't fear the end of time, but the end of "self". It's when their first love, our "god" dies!  However, let's take a look at the living and do a "what if".

Three minutes to midnight is now. It's the condition of the world. It's when the peoples of the world using powerful weapons destroy everything for selfish reasons. There's that word again "self"-ish! The world is made up of billions of  "self's" who place their own interests first.

As an example, let's consider ISIS at the moment: Their desire is for the world to be Islamic, venerate the prophet Muhammad, have a world-wide caliphate with Sharia Law and that no other religions even exist. They don't want this merely for themselves, but everybody. It's their motive to create a society where all these billions of "selves" want the same thing. They want everybody to be like them! It's not that Allah is their God, but that they have a composite god made up of the totality of the Islamic faithful. All those little "gods" in unity are the one god, Allah!

Allah wants his way. Billions of Muslims want their way! That faith is one reason that we're at three minutes to midnight. Because people who fear and loathe Islam stand in the way of Sharia Law, the world is in danger. What's more, billions of Muslims don't care, because death for their faith makes them all martyrs. Each Muslim sacrifices their own little "god", the "self" for the good of the one god, Allah. They are willing to do that for "selfish" reasons: they get rewarded at the expense of others!

This is in eerie contrast to Christians who get their reward at the expense of themselves. Whereas Islam presents us as their sacrifice, Christians present ourselves:

Romans 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

This sacrifice is service to God and to our fellow men. Because Christians are to "love", even the enemy, it puts us at a disadvantage (for the present) because we don't terrorize our fellow men. Muslims do that! It's in their holy book, the Koran. In order to gain favor with Allah, orthodox Muslims are willing to sacrifice ME and YOU as living sacrifices. That's selfish on their part to the extent that to gain favor with Allah, many are willing to die for that cause.

(Let me digress for a moment since this commentary is not about Islam, but it's expedient to mention that although "Allah" has the same definition in English as our "God", the Islamic "Allah" is much different than the Christian "Allah".  Because our deities are called the same does not make them identical. That concept is universalism and is heretical!)

Likewise, we have the Russian Confederation which takes time off the Doomsday Clock. Mr. Putin is endeavoring to revive Russian Colonialism. Russia has always had as a prime motivation to expand the already huge Russian Empire. It's necessary for them to increase the number of their ice-free ports in order to remain strong and to grow their economy. As such, Russia is a dire to civilization and has always been!

Furthermore, China offers a massive affront to civilization. Their dense population requires much capital and land to support. Their desire, as is Russia's, is to expand their empire and control the world.

The west for the most part, wants to remain free, although Mr. Obama's objectives seem inclined toward a worldwide Muslim Caliphate. Therefore, within this world we have numerous world's made up of ideologies dangerous to life as we know it. America has most always been on the side of the oppressed and seek freedom for all nations. Most people,  it is believed, if free to choose, would choose something other than the oppression they have. The exception to this is insane Islamic thought. That is a religion of crazies!

All these little worlds in this world are on a collision course. I call this course "World's Colliding"! It's when peoples are brought together who are devoted to their own perceptions of reality to the extent that they will harm to preserve their truths and fictions. The collision of these little worlds will result in the destruction of the entire world: Doomsday!

However, the destruction of the world in this manner isn't biblical. There will be a collision of worlds at the Battle of Armageddon. Jesus Christ will defeat the evil empires from all  over who will gather to destroy Israel, and that event will usher in the 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ where Satan will be bound for a millennium! Worlds will quit colliding for a 1000 years and peace will reign on earth.  The Doomsday Clock will be set back to a safer time.

From Got Questions?org:

Question: "What does the Bible say about the end of the world?"

Answer: The event usually referred to as “the end of the world” is described in 2 Peter 3:10: “The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” This is the culmination of a series of events called “the day of the Lord,” the time when God will intervene in human history for the purpose of judgment. At that time, all that God has created, “the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), He will destroy. 

Yes, the earth will be destroyed! However, we have hope!

 Isaiah 65:17 "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

Revelation 21:1 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea."

What once was will be create anew (for Christians). That's our hope!  All my life I have feared the end of time, but now look forward to the new earth. I want a room in a mansion in New Jerusalem in Paradise. There will be a place where worlds no longer collide and all these little "gods", these selfish people, are no longer there. Our focus will be on the Almighty God and his will rather than ours, the "self's".

Even twelve minutes to midnight scared me as a child in this nuclear age, but now it seems that no one trembles at three minutes 'til!

Psalm 119:120 "My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments."

If this is you with your little "god" that you love too much to topple, judgment day is a time of woe! It's decision time before the clock runs out... the Doomsday Clock, that is:

Philippians 2:12 "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

One thing happens before Doomsday. While Doomsday is the day that all evil men die, before that day, all will die. We will return from the dust from which we came. We don't have the liberty of waiting until Judgement Day. Today is the day. It's got to be done before our personal doomsday!

2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

We are to decide our fate right now. Later is too late. We don't wait until Doomsday to beg, but "now is the day of salvation"! We plan for our eternal destination and now the time is ripe! Only fools would wait until those atomic bombs are dropped. Only fools would wait until that Day of Judgement!