Are we approaching Armageddon? On last night’s Paula Zahn, she featured Christians who were “excited” about the war in the Middle East because it is viewed as a sign of the end of the age. Are they just looney? (Well, perhaps Paula is looney as she compared Christians to Waco's David Koresh and Hitler--come on!)

Here’s what we know

We know that the Middle East, specifically Israel, is going to be at the center of it all during the last days.

The Bible talks extensively about a re-gathering of the people of Israel. Is this happening? I don’t know. I see this and I think yes; then I remember that New York is the second largest deposit of Jews outside of Israel.

The Bible says in Matthew that the signs of the end of the age would be “wars and rumors of wars…famines, earthquakes…increased persecution…the love of most will grow cold”.

The Bible says in Zechariah that all the nations of the Earth will be gathered against Israel, and the Lord will completely destroy those who fight against her.

Also in Zechariah, the Bible says that many will “look on [b] me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” Christians look at this and think of Jesus.


Here’s what we don’t know

We really don’t know whether this is just another skirmish like the many previous battles or whether this one will lead to the end.

We know that natural disasters are a result of the fall of man, but we don’t know whether they are increasing in a way that points to the ends times.

Matthew says that no one knows when it the end will occur, only God the Father. In fact, we are so ignorant that we will just be going about our daily routine (getting married, eating, and drinking) when, boom, Jesus will come back. This is a description as well as a warning.

So, while we must beware of the person who says definitively that we are at the end of the age, we must nevertheless prepare our souls for it.