The ancient Mayans were astute astronomers and are considered to have been far ahead of their time as students of the universe. They prepared calendars that extended thousands of years into the future and predicted events based on the movement of heavenly bodies.
They defined future "ages" based on the projected alignment of the stars.
What does that have to do with us here in the 21st century? Well, the ancient Mayan calendar predicts that the present "age" will end on Friday, December 21, 2012. It sounds ominous, but the Mayans didn't leave much information about what they thought would happen at the conclusion of this "age."
The Mayans' lack of "prophetic" specificity has opened the door to a wide range of speculation about what December 21 will bring. Unfortunately, most of that speculation has included some sort of scenario for the end of the world, or, at least, widespread and catastrophic global destruction.
On this week's edition of "The Hal Lindsey Report," we'll talk a little bit about the end of the world. More specifically, the end of the world as we know it. Someone devised an acronym to express that concept. It's TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It).
As usual, Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon. But there have been others talking about the end of the world as we know it for quite some time. A few come readily to mind: besides the Mayans, there's Nostradamus, St. Malachy, the Hopis, and others. For some years, Hollywood has had a whole genre of films that capitalized on the public's fascination with TEOTWAWKI.
However, as we approach December 21, 2012, this fascination has mushroomed. The Mayan Calendar seems to indicate that something dramatic will happen, but so does the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. In November, 2009, Hollywood released a major motion picture based on that prediction. It was called "2012." I'll show you a snippet of what some filmmakers think might happen on the 'fateful' day -- next Friday!
How much stock should we Christians put in these types of 'prophecies'? Tune in this week and I'll let you know how much stock I put in them!
Over the last few years, a lot of viewers have written to ask about the various and sundry 2012 doomsday predictions. Many want to know about the Mayan calendar, Planet X or Planet Nibiru, Comet Elenin, Edgar Cayce, Nostradamus, and more.
Opinion about the Mayan calendar is split. Some experts believe the fact that it abruptly ends in what translates to 2012 indicates that there will be a positive physical or spiritual transformation of the earth on that day. Others -- especially Hollywood and the popular culture -- prefer the other theory: the world will literally, physically, and, apparently, very violently end on December 21.
The Planet X believers also promote a traumatic physical-destruction-of-the-earth theory. Planet X, or Nibiru, is supposedly four times larger than the earth and is headed on a collision or near-miss course with our globe. Obviously, if it collides with us, we're goners. If it passes near us, its size and gravitational pull on the earth will make us wish we were goners. Neither is a pretty picture.
(Just a marginal note for those who have never heard of Planet X. We "know" about it because a woman started a website in 1995 to reveal its existence. She "knew" about it because some alien visitors to earth had implanted a communications device in her brain so they could keep her posted about its arrival. Oddly, no reputable astronomers have been able to locate it in the universe. The ones who claim to have found it say that it's "hidden" behind other planets and will become visible as it gets closer to earth. Unbelievably, Planet X has gathered quite a following here on this planet!)
Obviously, I believe that neither will happen. That's because I believe the Bible's version of what's to come on the earth. And it does not entail the imminent destruction of the universe or the disappearance of our planet. And why do I believe the Bible's version? Because EVERYTHING predicted by God's prophets in the past has come true with amazing precision. If they've been 100% right so far, why should I believe they'll be wrong now? (See how that works? That's why I keep insisting that knowing and understanding Bible prophecy is important for the Christian -- and for the non-believer, too!)
If you want a glimpse of what the Bible says is headed our way, and what it means to the Christian, be certain to tune in this week. It's both exciting and reassuring.
One more thing, despite what the Mayans and the talking heads say, don't cancel your Christmas plans this year.
And don't miss this week's Report on TBN, Daystar, Inspiration, CPM Network, various local stations, www.hallindsey.com or www.hischannel.com. Please check your local listings.
"PROPHETIC YEAR IN REVIEW - 2012": This may be of interest to those of you who live in the San Antonio, Texas area. I will be presenting the 2012 edition of my annual "Prophetic Year in Review" on Monday, December 31, 2012, at 7:00 p.m. at Calvary Temple Church, 3000 Loop 534, Kerrville, Texas, 78028. I'll look back at the major events of 2012 and examine how they fit into the prophetic scenario. There is no admission charge, but seating is limited. So please call the church office during regular business hours to let them know you'll be attending and how many will be in your party. The Calvary Temple office number is 830-895-3000. I'll see you there.
God Bless,
Hal Lindsey
December 20 (By Jaclyn O’Laughlin for RIA Novosti) – Thousands of students in Michigan are getting a couple of extra days off after classes were cancelled Thursday and Friday amid rumors of violence related to the Mayan calendar’s prediction the world will end on Friday and heightened sensitivity about safety after last week’s massacre at a Connecticut elementary school.
“In this era we are not taking the chance, and we are not willing to be dismissive about student safety especially in the wake of Connecticut. It was an easy decision,” said Matt Wandrie, superintendent of Lapeer Community Schools, in an interview with RIA Novosti about the decision made by school leaders to cancel classes for approximately 81,000 students in three counties.
Officials made the decision Wednesday evening after a “rumor mill started to spike” and many parents became concerned after hearing “vague second-and-third-hand accounts” that students and individuals were saying things like “let’s go out with a bang on Friday” and that there would be “gun violence,” said Wandrie.
Parents started to express their anxieties on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and some even came into the schools informing administrators they would not have their child attend class due to the speculation of violence, Wandrie said.
“When parents hear those comments they believe they must be true, and we decided to act right now to deal with this,” said Wandrie, who posted a letter on his district’s website announcing the class cancellations along with administrators from two other counties.
Wandrie said the rumors were unsubstantiated threats, but there is an increased awareness about school safety after the recent massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 20 children and six adults dead.
“We have to be cognizant of what is happening around us,” he said. “We can’t bury our heads in the sand and say ‘It won’t happen here.’ We are not going to do that.”
In Wandrie’s letter to parents he said, “Given the recent events in Connecticut, there have been numerous rumors circulating in our district, and in neighboring districts, about potential threats of violence against students. Additionally, rumors connected to the Mayan calendar predicted end of the world on Friday have also surfaced.”
The letter also said it was “the most appropriate decision” to cancel classes “given the gravity of recent events and our present circumstances” and the fact that the rumors had become a “serious distraction for students, teachers, administrators, and parents.”
Extracurricular events, programs and athletic contests and practices were also cancelled for students in all 33 schools.
RIA Novosti
TUCKED away in thick forest, an exquisite site of Mayan ruins have begun hosting winter solstice ceremonies as the region's indigenous people marked the end of an era.
Or perhaps the end of the world, depending on your point of view.
At the site, there were no signs that doomsday the stark scenario conjured by proponents of one minority reading of the ancient Mayan calendar that underlies the festivities was imminent.
At sunset, Guatemalan President Otto Perez was to kick off a long night of Mayan dance and other rituals, lasting until dawn, when Mayan natives will greet the rising sun on December 21, 2012 - a date feared by some.
Around the world, superstitious people have fretted over a quixotic, not to say apocalyptic, interpretation of the calendar - taking refuge in mountains or bunkers, with some stockpiling guns and survival rations.
In the United States, still in shock after a massacre at an primary school, officials in one county of the midwestern state of Michigan sent thousands of students home early for the Christmas break.
The Lapeer County district said "rumours connected to the Maya calendar that predicted end of the world" had distracted students and teachers, even though they have been "thoroughly investigated and determined to be false."
Still, classes were cancelled Thursday and Friday.
The mystery stems from a carved stone found in Tortuguero, a Mayan site in Mexico. The relief contains a cryptic allusion to something really big happening on Friday.
However, most experts interpret the calendar to mean December 21, 2012 is simply the end a 5,200-year era for the Maya and the start of another.
This reading says that Friday marks the end of 13 cycles with which they measured time - each lasting 400 years.
If that's right, everybody can relax and enjoy the ceremonies as folklore.
Governments and tourism officials have thus scrambled to cash in on the doomsday frenzy and lure visitors to Mayan sites from Mexico to Belize, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
In the run-up to the ceremonies, Mayan high priests purified some 20 sites that are sacred to their culture, including Tikal.
But a leader of an association of these leaders, Sebastian Mejia, said the government is cheapening it all by treating like a circus show.
"For us it is not a show and it is not about tourism. It is something spiritual and personal," Mejia said.
The site here in Tikal is a UNESCO world heritage site that boasts six pyramids as high as 70 metres and an astronomical observatory.
To get to it you have to hike through the thick forest of a national park that is home to 500 species of butterflies, 300 kinds of birds, jaguars, pumas, wild boar and deer.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/crowds-gather-at-mayan-sites/story-e6frfkui-1226541687493#ixzz2Fe7qRiJ7
With the end of the world just a few days away, it may be the right time to plan a party. And if a house party sounds too risky, then a bunker based deep underground might prove the safest place to be when an apocalypse hailed by 'Doomsday' believers hits on December 21.
Built in 1956 and transformed into a museum in 2006, the nuclear protective Bunker 42 in Moscow is offering £600 tickets for the underground party that will start late on December 20 and last until a day after the end of the world (December 22).
As the museum's guide Alexei Pavlovsky explains, the idea to organise this type of event in the Bunker came from random museum visitors, so they just couldn't say no.
"The idea is pretty simple, many people would feel much calmer if they could spend this critical day being surrounded with maximum comfort and safety. And who are we to say no when we have 56 meters of ground above us and a well 100 meters below us, there's also a pumping system and ventilation.
"On December 21 people will be able to spend the entire 24 hours from midnight to midnight here underground," added Mr Pavlovsky.
The Telegraph
