Doomsday Determinism

In the last few years we have heard all the doomsday predictions regarding this year and probably seen the movie 2012.  With the economy on a collision course with disaster and strange signs happening everyday it is not hard to imagine why so many people are stock piling weapons and food.  There is a strange anticipation that all things are coming to a conclusion…but are they?  There is also a common underlying mindset that we are only part of some predetermined events that cannot be changed and that these events will bring this whole world to a disastrous end in which we can only be spectators.  I will call this fatalistic determinism.

Determinism is humanistic philosophy that every event, including human cognition and behavior, decision and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences.  Fatalism is the philosophy that free will does not exist, meaning therefore, that history has progressed in the only manner possible.  Is also the belief that actions are free, but nevertheless work toward an inevitable end, which believes that acceptance is appropriate, rather than resistance against inevitability.  When taking an in-depth look at these philosophies nobody would ever admit to thinking in such a manner.  The truth is that these humanistic philosophies have been cleverly disguised behind end time doctrines.

What emerges then is the feeling of why should we pray, or do anything since it is all coming to an end anyway.  It also gives rise to feelings of apathy, lethargy and pessimism.  As people get focused on all the possible disaster scenarios, fear sets in, making the future look so bleak that faith gets pushed out of any conversation.  After all, what can our efforts do if God has already written the final chapters of our lives here on earth?  Maybe the there are some of us who may be secretly delighting ourselves in the final destruction of our enemies since we have our own escape plan in place.

In many ways this generation has been like the prophet Jonah; unwilling to tell our enemies that they will be destroyed unless they repent and unwilling to see God extend mercy to people we feel are deserving of His wrath.  Many of us see the story of Jonah as a fish tale when actually it an enduring lesson of God’s mercy and sovereignty.  It teaches us that even though God had scheduled Nineveh for destruction he had the power and right to relent of his anger.  In God’s great mercy He sent an unwilling prophet to preach the message of repentance.  Jonah went through tremendous discipline because of his rebellion to God’s cause.  To Jonah’s chagrin the people of Nineveh repented which upset him tremendously.  But the LORD said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?” Jonah 4:10-11  In other words, Jonah, why are you upset that I decided to extend the lives of a people who don’t know me. 

In a similar way God is speaking to us about His ability to extend our lives here on earth.  Think about it if EDD and the IRS can grant an extension to whomever they will, how much more can God do this for us here on earth.  Then God saw their works that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. Jonah 3:10  No matter who prophesies disaster God can change his mind.  He doesn’t even care that Jonah looked bad in the end.  It didn’t mean Jonah was a false prophet it just meant God has the right to give anyone an extension as long as they meet His criteria.  His criterion is always repentance.  Look at the king Hezekiah.  In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’”2 Kings 20:1  So what did Hezekiah do?  He turned His face to the wall and prayed.  The Lord extended his life 15 years.

Some of us may feel limited by our economic and governmental state but remember that God chose Jesus to be born during the Roman occupation.  The Jews were heavily taxed and under tremendous economic strain.  They had no freedom except what was granted to them by the government.  It was also during the Roman occupation that the greatest outpouring of God’s presence poured out on Pentecost.  God is not limited by earthly government, economic crisis or disaster scenarios.  He is sovereign.  He will raise up Josephs and set them up in government positions during a famine to preserve a people.  He will bring an Esther to influence the highest person in government to keep His people from being destroyed.  Even in captivity he will set up a Daniel to speak to governmental leaders.  God will always deliver and preserve His people.

While in time of prayer and fasting the Lord gave me a vision of soil that had been turned over. The dirt was dark and fertile from being worked.  Out of the dirt I could see green tender shoots growing out of the ground.  The Lord showed me that the very thing that has been meant to oppress America can be the very catalyst for a great revival.  Why?  In our poverty we can now receive the riches of heaven.  In our natural hunger we can now become spiritually hungry.  In our brokenness we can now receive the comfort of our God.  In our humility we can now seek God’s greatness.  America has long lost her attractiveness to God but in this season He is busy working the fields of her heart by uprooting the idolatry of materialism, self, immorality and self righteousness.  God has a plan for this nation and it is of good not of evil.  Why would Jesus pay such a great price and allow the souls of this nation to go to hell in a hand basket?

Which brings me to the question at hand, will it all end in ( insert the latest doomsday date)?  This is the same question that disciples asked Jesus on the Mount of Olives.  The disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will all these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3  After this Jesus gives them the usual end time scenarios.  He who endures to the end shall be saved Jesus explains but still one more thing must be done for the end to come.¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.  Oh wait, the gospel must be preached first?  Yes.  How do we know that all this testing is only preparation for the greatest harvest ever?  It would only make sense that God would want the sacrifice the Jesus to bring in the maximum amount people into His kingdom.  That would make Him the winner over the devil wouldn’t it?  I’m praying that faith is now stomping out all fear in your heart.  Remember we are on the ark of God not in the waters of judgment waiting to get washed away.  Noah preached to several generations of people “Get on the boat people, a flood is coming.” There he was day after day working on God’s plan of salvation and he never gave up until the hand of the Lord shut the ark door.  How much more shall we who are heirs of salvation be diligently preaching “Get on the boat this world’s judgment is coming but you can be saved.” Can we not be like Abraham and plead for God’s mercy over Sodom?  We must remember that, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”  Let us now declare a different outcome over the future of America…all things are possible to those who believe.  Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him— A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? Joel 2:14

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