Unless you have been living underground since the New Year, you are sure to have heard the ominous news of thousands of dead birds falling out of the sky. Not to mention the millions of dead fish washing up in rivers. If this were just a one-off occurrence in one part of the World then it would be much easier to brush off with a simple explanation, such as a localised disease, or poisoning, which I except most of us would accept without too much difficulty. The truth is, however, that as more and more news of this phenomenon emerges, it is becoming clear that this is not merely a local development, but a global wonder.
In Arkansas USA, as revellers were seeing- in the New Year, more than 1,000 dead blackbirds fell from the sky within a one-mile area. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said that reasons for this baffling event could be due to weather factors like high-altitude hail or lightning, or even the possibility that celebratory fireworks startled the blackbirds causing them to fall to their deaths. Perfectly plausible explanations, that is until news began to spread of more mass bird deaths in Louisiana, Sweden and Texas. Add to this the 2 million fish that washed up dead in the Chesapeake Bay, the 100,000 dead fish in the Arkansas River and thousands of dead devil crabs washed up along the Kent Coast. All in all, no less than 9 mass animal deaths have been reported across the globe in the past week. As I have been writing this blog, news has come in of 1000 dead turtle doves that have fallen from the sky in Italy. It is, to say the least, disconcerting.
So what is the cause of these strange happenings? Are they coincidental and unlinked or is there a more sinister interpretation? News of these mass animal deaths has set the internet buzzing with conspiracy theories, speculation of alien invasions and belief that this is a sign of imminent Armageddon.
Many Christians believe that we are now living in the ‘end times’ or the ‘Tribulation’. A seven year period of hardship, adversity and sorrow leading up to the Second Coming of Christ and the Rapture, where every Christian being on the planet will disappear in the blink of any eye to be gathered up in the air to meet Christ. The last few years have done little to quell fears that we are indeed living in the time of Tribulation, what with the increase in disastrous earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes. Biblical scripture also cites wars, famines, rife immorality and the revolt of youths against authority as signs of the end times. Who can argue that with violent gangs of youths, knife crime, murder and drug related crimes all on the increase that society on the whole is becoming more and more unprincipled and corrupt? Another interesting indication that we may be living in the Tribulation is the Biblical belief that towards the end- times, money will go out of circulation. Intriguingly on 3rd December 2010, BBC Business News reported that for the first time ever, UK consumers spent more using their debit cards than they did using cash over the course of a year. Add to this the recent freak weather conditions that countries all over the globe have been enduring, including flood-related disasters in China, Pakistan and Australia, and the evidence for the fulfilment of Biblical end-time prophecy becomes compelling.
In 2009, thanks to the release of German film director Roland Emmerich’s suitably named movie “2012”, many of us who had not known of it previously became acquainted with the End of the World prophecy for 2012. This is a highly publicised prediction that has raised much interest. It spawns from the fact that the Long Court Calendar of the Ancient Mayans ends on December 21st 2012, thus creating a belief that a cataclysmic event will occur on this day. The Ancient Mayans were well known for their astronomical and star-gazing abilities and they were able to devise a calendar system that gave them the facility to be able to predict celestial events such as eclipses with great precision. Modern scholars however, while they accept the Mayan calendar does indeed end on 21/12/2012, argue that this indicates a time of great transition, not a World wide catastrophe.
Also fuelling the 2012 phenomenon is the prediction made by Nostradamus, a famous author who published collections of his prophecies that have become famous around the World. He is said to have predicted many major events, such as Hitler and the Holocaust and the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11th, and he also predicts catastrophe in 2012. His predictions nevertheless can be left open to interpretation as they are known to be vague, and some of his clearest predictions have turned out to be completely wrong. Still, the Mayan prophecy and Nostradamus have intrigued thousands of people, many who regard recent events as a build-up to Earths catastrophic demise.
Whether you are a person of faith, a conspiracy theorist or a sceptic, the subject of Armageddon is sure to capture your imagination. The more occurrences of rare and strange episodes that reach us through the media, the more our curiosity and fascination with this subject will continue to grow. I as a Christian believe that the end of the world is inevitable. I do not believe that this Earth was made to last forever and I do believe that eventually, despite all the Armageddon predictions that have not materialized in the past, one day the sun will rise on her final day and the Earth will cease to be. When this will happen, I have no clue whatsoever. What is important is that we do not become consumed with fear over our future but that we live each day to the fullest, until that day should come.
Even if the latest increase of unusual and extreme weather, the recent notable mass animal deaths, and the apparent rise in earthquakes and other natural disasters , can be simply put down to unremarkable scientific reasons, global warming, or if it is indeed an omen of a calamitous future, no one can be sure, nonetheless our judgement tells us to expect and be prepared for more.
In 2009, thanks to the release of German film director Roland Emmerich’s suitably named movie “2012”, many of us who had not known of it previously became acquainted with the End of the World prophecy for 2012. This is a highly publicised prediction that has raised much interest. It spawns from the fact that the Long Court Calendar of the Ancient Mayans ends on December 21st 2012, thus creating a belief that a cataclysmic event will occur on this day. The Ancient Mayans were well known for their astronomical and star-gazing abilities and they were able to devise a calendar system that gave them the facility to be able to predict celestial events such as eclipses with great precision. Modern scholars however, while they accept the Mayan calendar does indeed end on 21/12/2012, argue that this indicates a time of great transition, not a World wide catastrophe.
Also fuelling the 2012 phenomenon is the prediction made by Nostradamus, a famous author who published collections of his prophecies that have become famous around the World. He is said to have predicted many major events, such as Hitler and the Holocaust and the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11th, and he also predicts catastrophe in 2012. His predictions nevertheless can be left open to interpretation as they are known to be vague, and some of his clearest predictions have turned out to be completely wrong. Still, the Mayan prophecy and Nostradamus have intrigued thousands of people, many who regard recent events as a build-up to Earths catastrophic demise.
Whether you are a person of faith, a conspiracy theorist or a sceptic, the subject of Armageddon is sure to capture your imagination. The more occurrences of rare and strange episodes that reach us through the media, the more our curiosity and fascination with this subject will continue to grow. I as a Christian believe that the end of the world is inevitable. I do not believe that this Earth was made to last forever and I do believe that eventually, despite all the Armageddon predictions that have not materialized in the past, one day the sun will rise on her final day and the Earth will cease to be. When this will happen, I have no clue whatsoever. What is important is that we do not become consumed with fear over our future but that we live each day to the fullest, until that day should come.
Even if the latest increase of unusual and extreme weather, the recent notable mass animal deaths, and the apparent rise in earthquakes and other natural disasters , can be simply put down to unremarkable scientific reasons, global warming, or if it is indeed an omen of a calamitous future, no one can be sure, nonetheless our judgement tells us to expect and be prepared for more.
