Is this the end of time or end of days as some believe?

United States
September 10, 2011 12:15am CST
There are many persons of different faiths who believe that we are coming to the end of time or end of days. I have found these beliefs to be very interesting but I, myself, have never adhered to the end of days or time. However, with all the many recent weather catastrophes, one wonders. I vaguely remember that according to the end of time theorists, there will be earthquakes, flooding, fires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. Myself, I still do not believe that we are coming to the end of time but I would expect that believers are seeing the recent and present weather disaster we are having as signs that it is the end of days / time.
4 people like this
17 responses
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
10 Sep 11
As a Christian, I do believe the earth as we now know it will disappear and be replaced with a new earth or universe. The book of Revelation is part symbolic, so it's hard to always know what it means for sure. Jesus said we were in the end times back when he was on earth, but the Bible also says one day is as thousand years with the Lord. Many people have tried to interpret biblical prophecies and are sure they are right, but Jesus said no one knows the day or the hour except God himself. If we are living as we should in relationship to him, all these end time things shouldn't matter. We will be ready whenever. Of course, it would be nice to know if we are wasting our time remodeling a house we will never move into, etc. rather than doing something we'd rather do if the world were ending next month. But the Bible also tells us that we aren't supposed to be lazy and sit around waiting for the Lord's return (which is the beginnng of the end.) We are to keep at our daily work, etc. If the world ends, it ends. If it doesn't end in our lifetime, we have continued to be productive and earn a living. We are told that in the end times the number of wars, disasters, and earthquakes will increase until the Lord returns to claim his people. There is also a prophecy (can't remember which book of the Bible, since I'm not a student of the end times) that there will be a final big battle between God's people and the evil powers that will culminate in the end of the earth. This battle is assumed to take place in the Middle East. Some scholars focus most of their attention on these things, but for me, the when is not that important. The important thing for me is a right relationship all the time with the one who will be coming back and who holds history in his hands.
• Canada
13 Sep 11
There must be some reason why the Bible has prophecies of events leading up to the end of the world. Presumably there are things we should do when the end is near but not otherwise.
• United States
10 Sep 11
Although I am not a Christian, I am vaguely aware of The Book of Revelations and the beliefs or theories that you mention. I find it all fascinating. I am aware of some of the prophecies regarding end of times or end of days as some call it. It does seem that some of these prophecies are coming true.
1 person likes this
• United States
10 Sep 11
Ideas of the coming end of time have been around for a long time. I personally am intrigued and terrified by the idea. It is not so far fetched. It is hard to comprehend the damage we do to this planet with our over-consumption of resources and pollution! It is clear that nature has been unbalanced. The number of natural disasters are literally increasing over the years.
2 people like this
• United States
10 Sep 11
We are living in some very interesting times. We are very hedonistic and greedy, at least in the United States. No matter how much we have, it does not seem to be enough. I just sometimes wonder if we are being punished for our bad ways.
@chertsy (3798)
• United States
20 Sep 11
I have been watching about the countless earthquakes that have been popping up lately. A lot of them that have been happening in the United States in areas that haven't seen one in the past 40 years. Hurricanes, flooding and fires that isn't really strange because those happen so often it's not even freaky anymore. Fires are normal when it happens in ares that have been in severe droughts like Texas for example. I really don't know if it's the end of time or end of days. I do think with the earthquakes popping up in odd places has me thinking that the Earth is fighting back. I don't know if people see it that way. If you think about it, we have been destroyinng it for ages. It's just fitting that it would get tired of it.
1 person likes this
@chertsy (3798)
• United States
20 Sep 11
That does sound interesting about the viruses being located in the jungles of the world. It sounds about right, with areas fighting back against what we have been doing to it. It's like the so called 2012 theory, like with that movie. Where everything happens at once as a cleansing phase. Will be interesting to see what truly happens.
• United States
20 Sep 11
Your response is very interesting and has caused me to ponder what you have said. I think that you may be right. The earth is fighting back punishing us for what we have done to it. If so, weather catastrophes and disasters will not just continue but get worse. A few years back, I saw an amazing documentary on viruses. I can not remember what channel it was on but it was excellent. All natural viruses originate in jungles. At least I believe that that is what was said in the documentary. And the documentary went on to describe these viruses as the defense mechanisms of the jungle -- that the jungle is getting even because of human encroachment. You are saying something similar about the earth fighting back.
1 person likes this
• United States
20 Sep 11
Regarding the program that I was watching. It was titled "Viruses". I have tried to do a search and do not find anything about this documentary. Some of my memory may be incorrect but I believe that it was said that all viruses originate in the jungles of the world. And in the documentary, viruses were described as the defense mechanism of the jungle. That has always stayed with me. It did not sound like an interesting program when I saw the title and first began to watch it. But it turned out to be fascinating!
1 person likes this
• Thailand
11 Sep 11
Run! Run! Run in circles, scream and shout. We're all going to die! In all seriousness the only abnormal occurrence at the moment is that we are in a La Niña climate cycle. The number of earthquakes is running at a normal statical average and all else is somewhat better than it has been in past history. The difference is that the media has become all persuasive and we are better informed than we have been in the past.
1 person likes this
• Thailand
11 Sep 11
The weather is reacting to the La Niña cycle. This one is strong and is effecting weather worldwide. In Thailand we are having massive, almost countrywide floods but this is unpleasant but normal during a La Niña cycle.
1 person likes this
• Canada
14 Sep 11
Chiang_Mai_boy, I really don't agree that the only thing abnormal is La Nina. I'm not even sure we have a La Nina at the moment. If you look at things on a larger scale, the last 200 years have been about the strangest and most eventful in history. There are things happening with the Middle East: the "Arab Spring" and a UN vote on Palestinian statehood coming up and Iran's nuclear program that look very much like Biblical apocalyptic prophecies. Then there's the end of the Mayan long calendar and it's been prophecised that the next Pope will be the last. It's obvious that technological development is going to continue to change things until the world becomes a very different place or there will be a huge disaster ending technological advancement.
2 people like this
• United States
11 Sep 11
I appreciate your opinion. Myself, I am a moderate who loves to listen to all points of views. I just do not know what to think about the catastrophes that we are having in The United States due to weather. We are having such extremes in this country and so many disasters and catastrophes. There are a lot of points of views about why this is happening. And I respect all or most of them.
11 Sep 11
All that relious stuff is a load of nonsense. The earth has always had natural disasters and at times far worse than anything we see today. The best we can say is that in about 4.5 billion years the sun will run out of fuel and implode this will cause a supernova, probably only a small one, and it will then expand out to the obit of Mars and the earth will be no more. this sort of thing happens all the time in the universe and in our galaxy (the milky way). Why people should think we are something special in the process and evolution of the universe baffles me. We are just part of it.
11 Sep 11
Okay so our weather patterns are changing and there is no doubt that the seas are getting warmer than they have been in the recent past which will probably lead to more extreme weather patterns. This has happened before in the history of the earth sometime of the times before humans had evolved and sometimes after but before we developed the systems for studying and recording these patterns. Of course human activity is having effect as well and it all looks very new and different because it is something anybody now alive has not experienced. To say it is the end of the world because we have had some violent storms etc is just silly. I know you can read predictions by various such people as Nostradamus and Mother Shipton but when you examine them carefully it becomes clear that the predictions are so vague that you can apply them to almost any current event
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Sep 11
Some religious persons might disagree with your first sentence. There are many views about what is currently occurring and what the future holds, whether near or distant or very distant future. Four and a ha;f billion years is a long time. I guess I don't have to worry about end of earth according to your opinion / theory. I am fascinated with the earth and universe as well as religious views.
• United States
17 Sep 11
Imagine what it was like in ancient times before there was weather forecasting, telephones, newspapers, any technology or modern advances ..... Imagine living in the days of the bible and later the days of Nostradamus and so forth. Those persons did the best they could to understand and cope. We now know that a storm is coming and we know when a storm has hit even if it is halfway around the world. Long ago, it was so much different.
@andy77e (5156)
• United States
12 Sep 11
I do believe that it is possible that we are nearing the end of days, as the Bible foretells. However, the Bible is also explicitly clear that no one knows when the end will come. This is very specifically written, that no one will know. So although I believe it is true, I have no idea when or how long away the end is. Could be next week. Could be 100 years from now. But the Bible is also clear that certain things will happen. Those prophecies are coming true, even in these days. The natural disasters are, I believe, just a part of the prophecies that are coming true.
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@andy77e (5156)
• United States
12 Sep 11
But there are other more interesting prophecies. Like the prophecy of a one world currency. Did you know that one of the things being discussed, is that due to the recent banking crisis, we should have a single currency for the Americas? Imagine all of latin, and north America being under a single currency like Europe under the Euro? And from there, how hard would it be to simply adopt a universal currency? It's not so hard to imagine, and that's the direction we're going. Then how about the Middle East. All the prophecies are coming true there as well. How about the one world government, with 10 'kings'. In 1972, the Club of Rome, proposed dividing the world into 10 regions of control. More recently the US, open stated their goal of 'Regionalism'. Vince Fox, former president of Mexico, open stated his support for turning all of North America, into a single economy, a single country, where all people could move freely, under a currency called the Amero, like the Euro. Or how about the one world religion. Parliament of the World's Religions was held in Melbourne, Australia, just in 2009. And recently even an Iranian TV news channel discussed how all of us are worshiping the same 'god'. Even in a fundamentalist Islamic country, they are talking about a one world religion. All of these little things happening all over the world, seem rather unimportant. And yet together, there is a seeming clearer and clearer picture forming... the prophecies are coming true. Again, I have no idea when. Could be 3 generations from now. But it seem obvious to me, it's all just a matter of time before it all happens.
2 people like this
• United States
17 Sep 11
Agreed. Myself, I do not have time to keep up with all the prophecies or conspiracy theories that go around. There are a lot of both. It keeps me fascinated.
• United States
12 Sep 11
I know that some believe that the end of days is foretold in the Bible. Not everyone but some. I have heard some of the prophecies and they do seem to be coming true. But others disagree and say that it is just natural catastrophes or climatic changes. The Bible is very interesting even for those those are not very religious. It is history. And very interesting history.
@Pose123 (21635)
• Canada
11 Sep 11
Hi bostonphil, There have been people who felt this way in every generation for thousands of years. As for all the natural disasters, there have always been these, it's just that we hear so much more about it now. I don't believe in an 'end of days' or anything like that. We can destroy life on the planet but we can't destroy the earth itself. Scientists believe that there have been many changes in the earth over millions of years and of course we know that something killed the dinosaurs. We also know about the last ice age, and there may have been many others before that. The time may come when our species will no longer be able to live here but eventually the earth will be ready for life again. We may be approaching the end of an age and entering into a new time of enlightenment but the earth will be here for a long time yet. Blessings.
1 person likes this
• United States
12 Sep 11
It is all interesting and all fascinating. All theories. All beliefs. Maybe everyone is right and maybe everyone is wrong. Who knows? I enjoy the moment and the journey. I agree that there have always been natural disasters. it may seem like more because we do hear about them more. We are all connected by the internet and cable TV. And, yes, there have always been those who have predicted the end of the world. I love history.
• Canada
15 Sep 11
This is a complicated issue. I don't believe that we'll see the end of the world or Jesus returning this year but I do think we're seeing momentous events and that something very big will be happening soon and if there are historians to write about this, they will say that this the end of one age and the beginning of another. We're living in times unlike anything that has ever happened before. We've developed more advanced technology than anybody has ever had before. Technology is still advancing at an increasing pace and it's clear that it's either going to cause huge changes (probably including a huge increase in human life expectancy) or will be stopped by a huge disaster (the only thing that can stop it). The Western countries have mostly rejected Christianity and got themselves into a huge economic and demographic mess (partly because the family planning message has been mainly directed at Europeans and the Chinese, effectively a sneaky form of genocide against those groups) India, China and the Islamic countries are becoming more powerful. Looking at prophecy. Well there's the Mayan long calendar 2012 thing, Nostradamus, Saint Malachy's "Prophecy of Popes" which claims that the next will be the last. Then there's the Bible. It contains lots of prophecies, many phrased cryptically. Many people (especially the Jehovah's Witnesses) have used these to predict the end of the world and got it wrong. I try to resist the temptation to make these prophecies fit recent or likely near future events but it's getting increasingly hard: Hose 3:4 sounds a lot light the present situation of the Jews. Psal 2:1-2 sounds a lot like the present plan to erect a Palestinian state and increasing hostility towards Israel among the nations. Zech 6:1-8 sounds like a poetic description of 9/11 and also seems related to Reve 6:1-8. However, there are clearly 3 great disasters which have yet to happen: A quarter of the world's population being wiped out (Reve 6:8); something that involves stars falling and the sky rolling up like a scroll (Reve 6:12-17); a devastating comet impact (Reve 8:3-9:2). Therefore, I think we're living in very uncertain times and may well be seeing some prophecies being fulfilled. However, I wouldn't rely on being raptured tomorrow (I don't believe in the rapture anyway).
1 person likes this
• Canada
18 Sep 11
bostonphil, what you say isn't entirely true. It used to be that one century was much like the previous and the next. The names of kings changed, maybe there were different wars and maybe your village would be in a different country next year. However most people lived simple lives and seldom left their home village. Century after century, a plow was still a hand tool or pulled by a horse or ox, you lit your home with oil lamps or candles etc. etc. etc. The 19th century was very different from anything that had come before. The 20th century was more different still. We're only 10 years into the 21st century (it actually began on Jan 1st 2001) and some monumental stuff has happened and it's impossible to believe that more huge changes won't happen in the very near future (anything that prevents the predicted huge stuff, a big war between the West and Islam, technological advancement etc. will itself be huge).
• United States
16 Sep 11
We are living in very interesting but uncertain times. However, that is how it has always been. All times have been interesting as well as uncertain. To everything there is a season. It was the best of times and the worst of times. These could apply to each and every decade. But it is all interesting.
@globaldoc (858)
• Philippines
17 Sep 11
I believe that if there is a beginning, there should be an end. I believe in the things written in the Bible. I believe God has something in store for us soon to be revealed.
1 person likes this
• United States
17 Sep 11
I know many others who believe like yourself. Some of those persons take the bible literally and others interpret. There are many interpretations of what is written in the bible. And it makes for many thought provoking and interesting discussions.
@stary1 (6612)
• United States
10 Sep 11
People have been predicting the end times as long as I can remember. LOL I guess someday it will be true. I don't think one can interpret from the Bible that it's near the end. There have always been disasters like earthquakes, flooding, fires, hurricanes throughtout history, but no end time..yet..........
1 person likes this
• United States
10 Sep 11
You are so right. There have always been disasters. Since the beginning of time, there have been disasters. If one reads the Old Testament, it records great disasters. These disasters were seen as punishment from God back then. But the world went on, didn't it.
• Canada
14 Sep 11
It's true that earthquakes and things have been happening forever. However there are some passages in the Bible that seem to be alluding to things like atom bombs and computers, which haven't been around very long. Then there could be allusions to the zarachcloids who we won't find out about for a few more millennia so we can't spot allusions to them.
1 person likes this
• Mexico
13 Sep 11
I do not believe in any of those bunches of hoaxes. They are just so rubbish, and there's no reason to take heed of them. It's stupid to believe the days are going to end. That is not possible. At least no to happen that fast. There occur thousands of earthquakes every single day, and no one makes big fuss about them. It is natural, and it has always been and will always be like that. It's just that now media and propaganda bomb us with sensationalist news to benefit themselves. I do not believe that lot of non sense.
1 person likes this
• United States
13 Sep 11
Some will agree with you while others will disagree. And some might disagree with your comments very strongly. Others might agree with you very strongly. I am interested in all viewpoints. I have no strong opinions one way or the other.
@jeztrose (1405)
• Philippines
10 Sep 11
we can never actually tell wether if this is the end of the world.. only god knows everything.. if by this time the world ends then there is nothing we can do for it and just accept.. just live our lives to the fullest and enjoy life as it was a gift given to us..well have a nice day friends..
@stary1 (6612)
• United States
10 Sep 11
That is good advice..since we don't know and really can't do anything about it, we should just live and enjoy and appreciate our lives the best we can
1 person likes this
• United States
10 Sep 11
I love life. Every day is interesting. Life is a gift given to us. So is this wonderful planet that we call earth. How lucky we are to be earthlings.
• China
10 Sep 11
I am also intensely interested in the doomsday. But I really have no idea about if those believers are right. Prensonally, I think hedonism may be better than we talking about the end of time day after day. Why don't we set aside our time to enjoy lives? After all, there is nothing we can do if that day really comes.
• United States
10 Sep 11
I always enjoy life or at least try to. Hedonism is something else. I am a moderate person and am concerned about excesses. Some persons might say that we are being punished for our excesses and our hedonism.
• Romania
10 Sep 11
After all i have seen in this world ....earthquakes , tsunami and fire and all disasters i don't think the world is going on a good road.I think end is near , our planet is destroyed day by day by humans.I wonder how long will last .I guess it depends on us on how near or far the end will be.
1 person likes this
• United States
10 Sep 11
Well, the world has been around a long time. It's a wonderful planet. I would hate to see it go but I think that either some of the planet would survive or maybe return after a long sleep. I believe that earth can survive natural disasters. I am not so sure about man made disasters.
• India
2 Jun 12
These are not the end of days. that i can assure you.
@pogi253 (1596)
• Philippines
10 Sep 11
I intensely believe that we are at the creation of the time of Misfortune and the order of Events of Revelation ending with the end of the world as we recognize it.
• United States
10 Sep 11
You are very creative. I do not know how to comment on your response. So, what is coming as far as the new world??? What can I expect? Prepare me just in case I survive it all.
@cecil04 (409)
• South Africa
10 Sep 11
A lot of people want the world to end, the stress of life is just becoming to hard for some. The world will end someday, somehow or should I say the human race. Time will most likely never end, will the universe explode or something. All I know is that human life will come to an end, after we are gone the planet could easily heal itself and even replace us. The information of when time or the world is going to end is no use to me.
1 person likes this
• United States
10 Sep 11
Life has really always been stressful. Just think back to the very beginnings of what we know. I don't think it was easy to be a cave man. Think about every decade. And every challenge of every decade. Some persons believe that our planet began with a big bang. Maybe, it will also go out with a big bang. All theories and all beliefs are interesting to me.