The End of a 12-Year Run!

Well, we have seen the arrival of 12/12/12, which if some of you remember when Y2K arrived, there were vast predictions of the impeding “doomsday” scenario among many conversations around the world! A coworker of mine brought up an interesting point that made me reflect differently about number-related dates as we have witnessed over the course of the past 12 years. How interesting these comparisons are.

January 1, 2001 – 1/1/1

February 2, 2001 – 2/2/2

March 3, 2003 – 3/3/3

April 3, 2004 – 4/4/4

May 5, 2005 – 5/5/5

June 6, 2006 – 6/6/6 (Wonder if this day put the fear of God in some people’s hearts)

July 7, 2007 – 7/7/7

August 8, 2008 – 8/8/8

September 9, 2009 – 9/9/9

October 10, 2012 – 10/10/10

November 11, 2011 – 11/11/11

December 12, 2012 – 12/12/12

One thing is for certain, we will not see this type of occurrence again in our lifetime that would happen in 12 consecutive years. But wait, what about other similar numerical incidences during the last century? They only cover a scope of 9 years, but not successively. They were all 11 years apart!

September 9, 1999 – 9/9/99

August 8, 1988 – 8/8/88

July 7, 1977 – 7/7/77

June 6, 1966 – 6/6/66 (Bet this day scared the crap out of a few people)

May 5, 1955 – 5/5/55

April 4, 1944 – 4/4/44

March 3, 1933 – 3/3/33

February 2, 1922 – 2/2/22

January 1, 1911 – 1/1/11

Of course, we can continue to go back further into history to find numerical similarities among certain months, on certain days, in certain years. However, from 2001 to 2012, this is the only time in my lifetime where I will see a consecutive 12-year mono-numerical significance, which gave me an intuitive moment to pause. I was aware of our 12-year pattern of fixated numbers, but I never stopped to take all of this in!

Now this was certainly a “things that make you go hmmmm….moment!" Not quite the end of the world!

Preparing For Judgment Day?

We are on the heels of yet another prediction about the world coming to an end. It is no doubt that these are indeed turbulent times we are living in. There are wars occurring all around the world, debts are high, suffering surrounds us and natural disasters are appearing to be more violent than ever before. We watch the aftermath of lives shattered, homes lost and the interruption of life as we once knew it forever changed. We pray for the victims as well as the survivors. If we read, study the Word of God and strive to live obediently however, we will understand the lessons Jesus taught His Disciples. These are lessons that we need to learn in order to survive today.

If we would meditate on the 13th chapter of Mark in the New Testament for example, Jesus made some distinctive points about the Great Tribulation. Beginning in the 5th verse, He told His Disciples to be careful because many shall come in His name and deceive numerous people by leading them astray. There will be wars and rumors of wars, but the end shall not yet be, although these things exist. However, even more significantly are the words echoed in the 32nd and 33rd verses: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” (KJV)

We are witnessing a dangerous display of extremism in so many facets of life and the religious sector is not immune to it. Many who flank top leadership roles in our churches, cathedrals and synagogues are manipulating the Word of God by preaching it to those who will listen, but do not understand the oracles of truth. Such leaders who lead others astray will be held accountable for their actions. Should we take the end times lightly? Absolutely not! We do not know when “our” personal end times will occur, but it behooves us to live righteously, heed the warnings, watch and pray at all times.

People often scratch their heads in bewilderment, not fully understanding how those in the midst of losing all of their earthly possessions, while standing in the rubble of what appears to be a hopeless situation, proclaim to be blessed. Yet, we fail to recognize that we are blessed in so many ways, but do not thank God as sufficiently and as often as we should. We tend to take people and things for granted until something tragic happens when these things are gone forever.

Will there be more predictions of the rapture, Judgment Day and the end of time? Most certainly. However, we must remember that we are not the authors of this book, but participators with a divine purpose. We must put our focus on living and giving, instead of manipulating and using scare tactics to flex our “know it all” muscles. We must pray for those who are held captive by putting their faith and trust in a counterfeit man, instead of choosing to be free by trusting, obeying and embracing the Word of the LORD.