I'm finding I'm beginning more and more Bible-intensive posts with disclaimers. This post will not be an exception.
I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the end times, nor the book of Revelation. For starters, its contents are tricky. Whereas the entire rest of the Bible consists of accounts from the past, or letters written in the past about a situation that was present at that given time, the last book in the Bible reads as a record of a vision someone had regarding events yet to happen. At worst, it gives rise to my retort "how many 'winners' who write history books write about the future?" (regarding the phrase "the winners write the history books")
At any rate, this book -- I think more than any other -- has served as a lightning rod for the question that many skeptics have had of the Bible's reliability, and debates that have stirred up as a result. I do think there are legitimate questions, given that this is a record of a vision a man named John had. Having spent almost the last decade attending a church where prophecy and prophetic prayer is a key part of our ministry, I can definitively say that prophecy is tricky. It really is. Primarily, we have to interpret it rightly, and us humans often get the interpretation wrong, especially if we don't know the history of the Bible and the history of how God had shown up both in Biblical history and in our own lives. I've often received prophetic words and visions, only for me to realize that they don't apply to me. (We have learned as a church to be very intentional and upfront about adding disclaimers.) But, I will also stress that I have also had experiences -- usually more so with commands regarding how to handle a situation or a friendship -- where I experienced that God has spoken clearly, and I too have seen how my following through (or not following through) resulted in the consequences that they did.
Regarding the book of Revelation, though, we also have had preacher after preacher predicting the end of time based on mathematical formulae, and each time having been proved wrong. Embarrassing. As it well should be. After all, Jesus Himself made it clear: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matthew 24:36 AND Mark 13:32, New International Version)
I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the end times, nor the book of Revelation. For starters, its contents are tricky. Whereas the entire rest of the Bible consists of accounts from the past, or letters written in the past about a situation that was present at that given time, the last book in the Bible reads as a record of a vision someone had regarding events yet to happen. At worst, it gives rise to my retort "how many 'winners' who write history books write about the future?" (regarding the phrase "the winners write the history books")
At any rate, this book -- I think more than any other -- has served as a lightning rod for the question that many skeptics have had of the Bible's reliability, and debates that have stirred up as a result. I do think there are legitimate questions, given that this is a record of a vision a man named John had. Having spent almost the last decade attending a church where prophecy and prophetic prayer is a key part of our ministry, I can definitively say that prophecy is tricky. It really is. Primarily, we have to interpret it rightly, and us humans often get the interpretation wrong, especially if we don't know the history of the Bible and the history of how God had shown up both in Biblical history and in our own lives. I've often received prophetic words and visions, only for me to realize that they don't apply to me. (We have learned as a church to be very intentional and upfront about adding disclaimers.) But, I will also stress that I have also had experiences -- usually more so with commands regarding how to handle a situation or a friendship -- where I experienced that God has spoken clearly, and I too have seen how my following through (or not following through) resulted in the consequences that they did.
Regarding the book of Revelation, though, we also have had preacher after preacher predicting the end of time based on mathematical formulae, and each time having been proved wrong. Embarrassing. As it well should be. After all, Jesus Himself made it clear: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matthew 24:36 AND Mark 13:32, New International Version)
So when I look at this last book in the Bible -- which isn't often, mind you -- I do so knowing that I have no clue as to the timeline of when and how all these things recorded in the prophetic vision will happen. I do believe that what is described in Revelation 12:1-6 did indeed happen on September 23, 2017. I even posted about it. (You can see it here.) But that's it.
But a headline about New York City deporting homeless people to other states woke up my conscience. I did check to see that it was a real headline. The first article is courtesy of the New York Post; the second article is courtesy of New York's NBC TV station. I won't go into a whole lot of depth about the content of these articles, but they both state that the city has been sending homeless people away on one-way tickets to places like Hawaii and Mississippi.
What prompted me to post about this at all (after all, I don't think about the end times a whole lot, and I don't read the book of Revelation a whole lot) was a recent string of posts on Facebook from a friend of mine who thinks a lot about the end times. Has for years. The one post that jumped out for me, though, referenced FEMA and guillotines in the same sentence. Earlier this year I had a conversation with another friend who had said that FEMA has ordered a mass number of guillotines, over the last couple of years. If that sounds scary, it's because it is. A simple Google search with the words "FEMA guillotines youtube" revealed the following results: Guillotines at US Military Bases ; One Man's Opinion on FEMA's Welcoming Campaign ; FEMA Receiving 16,000 Guillotines From Mexico ... (these are just a few of the results, three out of like 20,100 results, according to the aforementioned Google search)
I'm not going to go on record and say that this is absolutely what's happening. In this video, PNN appears to set the record straight about US law on lawful execution, basically that there is no US law that allows it. However, the following verse from Revelation says this (boldface mine):
What prompted me to post about this at all (after all, I don't think about the end times a whole lot, and I don't read the book of Revelation a whole lot) was a recent string of posts on Facebook from a friend of mine who thinks a lot about the end times. Has for years. The one post that jumped out for me, though, referenced FEMA and guillotines in the same sentence. Earlier this year I had a conversation with another friend who had said that FEMA has ordered a mass number of guillotines, over the last couple of years. If that sounds scary, it's because it is. A simple Google search with the words "FEMA guillotines youtube" revealed the following results: Guillotines at US Military Bases ; One Man's Opinion on FEMA's Welcoming Campaign ; FEMA Receiving 16,000 Guillotines From Mexico ... (these are just a few of the results, three out of like 20,100 results, according to the aforementioned Google search)
I'm not going to go on record and say that this is absolutely what's happening. In this video, PNN appears to set the record straight about US law on lawful execution, basically that there is no US law that allows it. However, the following verse from Revelation says this (boldface mine):
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.It seems clear that those who stay true to the cause of Jesus and the cause of following Him will at some point, either in the near future or a few generations down the road, will face this fate. I don't know that this specifically says that the homeless being deported will also face this fate -- if anything, it doesn't seem to suggest it at all -- but I then come across the following passage:
Revelation 20:4, New International Version
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.As I've mentioned in the past, I've seen persons with signs asking for money at street intersections. Over the last year especially, I feel like Jesus has brought them more and more to my attention. Usually I've avoided them. Sometimes I'll give something. In the past, I've chatted up a guy or two. While I was living in Rogers Park I often came across a guy named "Tom" in a wheelchair at the intersection of Howard, Western, and Asbury. When he was out there and I stopped at a red light, I would chat him up and ask how he's doing. When he wasn't out on the street, I sometimes saw him hang out inside the Starbucks.
Revelation 6:9-11, New International Version
But generally I don't really know what to do. My defense against giving these folks anything is that 1.) it won't really help them (specifically referring to the folks I've seen out there for months, perhaps years); 2.) if I keep giving and giving, eventually I'll be broke like them. But, in June I had a couple experiences -- where I ended up avoiding interacting with the person -- that spoke to me my own failure of conscience regarding using what I had to help them. One of them was a guy holding a sign that said "bad back, need help", a mere few weeks after my back really went bad.
Today as I post this, I still don't know what to do. I've been getting myself to give a little more often, particularly if an individual does catch my attention. But, in going back to the passage from Revelation 6, I can't help but wonder how many of these people could also be counted among those referenced.
Finally, a stern warning from Jesus:
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46, New International VersionI don't think there is anything more that can be said right now.