I came across a couple of posts on Hive that had the tag #30daybloggingchallenge. I liked the idea, and so this is my challenge.
The way the world is heading today, it seems that it won't last as it is. As one of Jehovah's Witnesses, we believe that God will step in and bring about his government to rule over the earth. A few things need to happen, culminating in the final battle of Armageddon.
The first thing that will happen is God will put it into the hearts of the current world governments to remove all power from the churches. The book of Revelation, paints false religion as a prostitute. She is riding a scarlet coloured wild beast. The beast itself represents the UN showing that religion has prostituted herself to these governments instead of aligning herself with God. It is therefore fitting that it will be those very governments who will devastate and destroy her.
Given that the Bible says that God puts the thought into their heads, it seems like there might not be any real event that triggers this devastation. We don't know exactly how it will pan out because the Bible doesn't supply intricate details. It's enough detail though that anyone looking out for it will see it.
Once the devastation starts, people who once belonged to these religions will leave them and disavow having anything to do with them. However, the Bible does mention that those who serve God will carry on preaching. Their message, however, will turn from a message of hope to that of a judgement of the governments. These governments will then try to destroy the people of God. However, they will instead invoke the anger of God, and he will destroy them.
People misunderstand what the battle of Armageddon is. It's not something that will destroy the planet. Neither is it something that will take all the righteous people from the earth to live in heaven while obliterating everyone who remains. The book of Revelation mentions it only once in Revelation 16:16. It's not a literal location because if you read verses 13 and 14, you can see that the UN calls for all the nations to attack. The surrounding areas of mount Megiddo could never hold the entire political system. Therefore it has to be symbolic, like the majority of Revelation. Therefore the only conclusion is that Armageddon is the battle that sees God destroy all human rulership. After this, he will install his kingdom.
So why do I say this will happen within five years? The truth is that I don't know. It's mostly hope. I hope that it will happen in five years because no doubt like you, I can't stand to see the world on the path that it is. We've munted the earth. We've created more societal issues over the last 200 years than we've solved. Our governments have proved beyond any doubt that they cannot resolve our problems. As we have seen, they are behind most of them. Studying the Bible has shown me that God's Kingdom will fix everything, including death.
It seems reasonable to me that he can. Genesis chapter 1 tells how he created, then terraformed the earth so that we would have somewhere to live. If he could do that, then surely he can end all problems.
The book of Exodus tells us how Jehovah plagued the Egyptians, forcing them to release the Israelites. He then destroyed the Egyptian military, including the Pharaoh, when that leader's arrogance had him attempting to capture the people again. If he could do that, then human governments would be of little challenge to him.
Jesus was sent to earth to act as Jehovah's representative on earth. We read this in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Jesus called himself the perfect reflection of God. So look at what Jesus did. He healed the sick. Jesus supplied food so that everyone had their fill. He even raised three people from death, one of whom was dead for 4 days. If Jesus was merely a representative of God, then it stands to reason that what/who he represents could do the same or more.
My faith makes me feel that Jehovah will act soon. Given the way the world is going, action needs to be taken sooner than later. So yes, my idea of what will happen in the next five years is based on hope. But my hope is not unfounded. And while I know that you will not share my faith or hope, I know that YOU have most likely thought about what is going on.
I personally believe the Bible holds the answers we all seek. And that is why my goal for this year is to read the Bible. But not only read it but meditate on what I read. I plan to do it in chronological order because it helps put the Bible into greater perspective. I mean, how many people know that the book of Job is set just after the confusion of the languages at Babel? Given that it is listed as the eighteenth book nestled in periods well after Job lived, I would assume, not many.