He said, “Watch out for the doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, ‘I’m the One,’ or, ‘The end is near.’ Don’t fall for any of that. When you hear of wars and uprisings, keep your head and don’t panic.
This is routine history and no sign of the end.”
He went on, “Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Huge earthquakes will occur in various places. There will be famines. You’ll think at times that the very sky is falling…
Staying with it—that’s what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry; you’ll be saved.Luke 19:5-11, 19 The Message
Here is a list of all the end of the world predictions.
As you can see, claiming this time around as the end is a favourite pastime of humanity. Those dates come and go with another doomsday clock on the horizon.
Jesus’ advice is probably the best thing we can do.
It doesn’t excuse us from ignoring the issues at hand, or for not taking them seriously. What’s needed is figuring out what can be done and then going ahead and taking action… making sure to keep your head on your shoulders as you do so.
Rough patches in human history are not easy, but we should be prepared for them more than ever before.
After all, and unfortunately, this is routine.