Ray a Day Guest Post: X-Zilla

Today's Ray a Day is by blogger/commender X-zilla, who blogs over here.

Here is the text I chose to send off to him, in it's entirity:

Just how long are the “last days” supposed to last?... The Bible says that none knows when the end will come, but then it gives some clues. And the clues it gives are all things that have happened since the dawn of human beans.

Yes, the questioner did write “beans” instead of “beings,” revealing that he has a strange belief about where we sprouted from, or he’s a big Mr. Bean fan, or he’s just like the rest of us and makes mistakes when typing.

Human beings are prone to err, and the greatest error any of us can ever make is to be wrong about God. The religious leaders at the time of Christ made that mistake continually. They came to Jesus with questions for which they didn’t really want answers. Instead their intent was to trick Him so that they could catch Him in His words. One such time was when they asked Him about the resurrection. They concocted a scenario in which a woman had seven husbands who died one after the other. Then they asked, “In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as a wife.” Jesus answered, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?” (See Mark 12:18-27 for the whole story.)

The same answer could be given to 90 percent of the questions asked by skeptics. According to the Bible, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments” (Psalm 111:10). So a professing atheist who has no fear of god also has no understanding at all of the character and power of God. Even those of us who know Him know only tiny drop in an infinite ocean of his greatness. He is omnipresent-he dwells everywhere, filling the infinitude of space. Every tiny atom in the universe is displayed before Him. He is omnipotent-nothing is impossible for God. He is omniscient-seeing every thought of the human heart. These thoughts are too much for human brains that can barely juggle a few thoughts at a time, let alone comprehend the greatness of the God who gave us life.Skeptics also don’t know the Scriptures. Most of the verses cited in questions are read with an ignorance of corresponding verses to give them their biblical context.

So, in answer to the question: God’s timeframe is different from ours-“For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past…” (Psalm 90:04), and “…with the Lord one day is a thousand years and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). The Bible tells us that the “last days” began on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2:17). We have been in the last days for two thousand years (not much in God’s timeframe). Most of the signs that the Bible speaks of have been around for many years; however, prophecies about the increase of travel and the increase of knowledge are far more evident in recent years. And, of course, the Jews obtaining Jerusalem in 1967 is the fulfillment that started the prophetic clock ticking. How long will the last days last? God only knows… but we are certainly getting close to when the door of His mercy closes.

 X-zilla says:

The question presented is not the question of a ‘skeptic’ or an atheist. It is a question from a person who is curious. The question alone does not indicate any belief system. It does however indicate a healthy curiosity about the world and the constructs we live under.

End time prophecy surrounds us in American culture. The Weekly World News, the A&E and History channels, Evangelical Protestants, Catholics, Hollywood movies, the Left Behind book series, Tom Robbins, Muslims, and Jews present and/or perpetuate myth about the end of the world. The concepts of a prophetic end of the world envelopes our culture. The power of these myths is fascinating. The deconstruction of prophecy is interesting. More interesting is the progression of these ideas over time. That these ideas subtly and dangerously permeate our politics and diplomatic agendum is frightening absolutely terrifying.

Fortunately for me and the spot on my wall where I bang my head in flabbergasted frustration Comfort does not deconstruct Revelations or Daniel for us. He ultimately answers the question with, “God only knows” so repent and accept Yeshua as Jesus Christ before the horn blows and the righteous disappear leaving nothing behind but sinners and neatly folded clothes.

Comfort begins his response with a lighthearted teasing about a typing error on the questioner’s part, noting that he’s just like the rest of us and makes errors. This is used as a segue into the danger of being wrong about god. The next segue is a subtle and scary one. Comfort equates questioners now with the skepticism of religious leaders during the week leading to the crucifixion (picture Jewish caricatures ala Mel Gibson jeering at Christ) which does nothing but further the divide between non believers and Comfort believers. His example is taken out of historical and political context as well. Yeshua (a member of a fringe Judaic group) came to town, declared himself the Messiah (Christ) and then flipped over the money changers table in the Temple (this sealed his fate, if you want to get nailed to a tree so you can suffer the sins of man and grant absolution and then prove this through resurrection and ascension the thing to do would be to espouse radical concepts and go after the money changers). Other people had reported miracles and supernatural attributed to Christ but that was other people’s observation and Christ himself refused to perform miracles for skeptics to validate his claim. I am one to seriously avoid victim blaming but really if Yeshua was treated poorly and looked upon with disdain by the powers that be it was because he was seriously asking for it. Many people before and after Yeshua have claimed to be a prophet or even the Messiah. It is good whether you believe in no god or Yahweh or whateverism to ask or even demand verification of such claims. Comfort claims that these skeptics do not know the power of god and neither do current skeptics. In order to understand even a little bit of the power of god you must fear him first. In the interest of finishing this review part I’m just going to state that fear is not an effective vehicle for promoting understanding and knowledge.

“Skeptics also don’t know the Scriptures”, Comfort states. Some believers also don’t know the scriptures (are they true believers then?). Some believers and skeptics are well educated in regard to ‘the scriptures’. Using blanket statements about a skeptic’s ignorance of the scriptures is not enough to validate your belief in what they mean.

In the final paragraph of his answer Comfort provides us with verses that indicate he has a non literal interpretation of time as represented in the Bible. Apparently time exists differently for us than it does for god (Does that make god a singularity or does he just live in one?). References to time are metaphorical and not literal. Except of course in Genesis where it is the literal inerrant word of god. Confused? Thankfully we have Ray comfort who knows which is which and what is what.