2012 mania is pretty ridiculous

A positive mania about the end of the world prophecies has come over the globe. We see movies, books, tv shows, documentaries, predictions, discussions, cultural references. Experts are called in, interviews are held, prophecies are examined. They are picked apart, endlessly and repeatedly. Good news, you say? Christians should be looking at the things of the end, you say? They should, but those are not the prophesies that are being pored over and touted as truth. I am talking about the current mania with 2012.

The Mayans were an ancient South American culture (2000BC to about 900AD) that was extremely advanced in math and astronomy. Their calendar was more accurate than ours is today. They were also known for their art and architecture. They flourished in the Andean Mountains for a while, and then just as mysteriously, collapsed.

Their daily calendar was of 260 days but their "long count" or b'ak'tun calendar toted up long periods of time, from a mythological starting point equivalent to August 11, 3114 BC. "Misinterpretation of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is the basis for a New Age belief that a cataclysm will take place on December 21, 2012. December 20, 2012 is simply the last day of the 13th b'ak'tun. But that is not the end of the Long Count because the 14th through 20th b'ak'tuns are still to come." Their long count calendar went through cycles, and cycles end. 12 previous cycles have ended without incident. One such cycle is slated to end on December 21, 2012, but the news is that a new cycle begins immediately. According to the Mayans, the world does not end.

However, try telling that to 2012 enthusiasts/doomers. They believe the Mayan prophecies as if they are gospel. 'They were really good at calendars, so...they must know!' is the mind-set. 'The Mayans said it, so it must be true!' they think. The mania for the end of the world is so complete and factual to them that they aren't seeing the forest for the trees.

Jesus said that the world will end, but not when the Mayans say. When He says. Though no one knows the day nor the hour the Son of Man will make His appearance, but assuredly, He will. How do I know this?

The prophesies God has made have come true to the letter, all throughout history. Time and again, when the LORD sayeth, it comes to pass. Take this one: "As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country." (Ezekiel 34:12-15)

This visions given to Ezekiel was to prophecy both the Jews' restoration after their captivity, and also their recovery from at that point, their long dispersion. When a people are dispersed, it generally takes only three generations for them to assimilate, despite their best efforts to retain cultural norms, language, and values. It is nearly impossible for a people who are dispersed to hold onto them at all over time, never mind in exactitude. Intermarriage, acquiring the language of the new land, and pressure to acculturate all take its toll in the immigrant. How, then, did the Jews retain their language, culture, and values for 2000 years? HOW? It is a miracle in itself that they retained it all, perfectly, for over 2000 years, never mind 20. Then, they were given their land back and brought home. Not just any land, THE land. Now, that's a prophecy.

Will you put your faith in an obsolete calendar of a people who have vanished into history? Or will you put your faith in the prophesies of the God who has never failed to fulfill them?

As prophesied, the Jews are back in the land. Where are the Mayans?