One Year Until Doomsday?

The idea of a “doomsday” approaching in December 2012 is terribly problematic in a seemingly endless number of ways.

For one, all credible evidence—and there is a lot—indicates that the ancient Maya predicted no such thing as any sort of “doomsday” to occur in December 2012! Of all the multiple thousands of inscriptions, carvings, and writings we have found from that ancient Mesoamerican culture, only one—Tortuguero Monument 6—definitely mentions the date, and there is one other disputed reference found on the back of a small building tile from Comalcalco. Neither of these inscriptions describe anything that the Mayan culture would have recognized as a “doomsday” or “apocalypse.”

Only two references out of approximately 15,000 Mayan carved artifacts? If the Maya thought that December 2012 was a “doomsday” date, they sure were quiet about it! As professor of anthropology and specialist in Mayan writings Dr. Stephen Houston of Brown University said while speaking about Monument 6, “It has nothing to do with prophecy or the supposed, dread events that await us in AD 2012. About that the Maya are notably silent… or, truth be told, a bit boring.” Dr. Susan Milbrath of the Florida Museum of Natural History is similarly blunt: “We have no record or knowledge that the Maya would think the world would come to an end in 2012.”

So, where does the idea come from that the Maya thought the world would end in 2012? Frankly, it is a collage of New Age ideas and astrological fantasies mixed with an overlay of Western ideas of apocalypse that would have been foreign to the Maya. You can read more about this in the Tomorrow’s World magazine article, “The Truth About 2012: Hollywood vs. Humanity” and in the Tomorrow’s World telecast, “2012, Bible Prophecy and You!” As explained by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, “Western messianic thought has twisted the cosmovision of ancient civilizations like the Maya.” In truth, the 2012 phenomenon has more to do with “profits” than “prophets.”

But even if the Maya did say something about 2012, God’s word makes it plain that “doomsday” will not happen in 2012! The final events of this world’s age are clearly laid out in Scripture, including a two-and-a-half-year Great Tribulation that will test the world—in particular the United States and the nations of the former British Commonwealth—in a level of suffering that has never before been experienced, and after that a year-long period the biblical authors call the “Day of the Lord” during which God, Himself, will intervene miraculously and dramatically in this world’s affairs! None of these things have begun, and 2012 is not the end of the world.

And yet, world events make it clear that we are moving forward to these prophesied times at an accelerating pace! The year 2011 was unique in many ways! In 2011, the United States continued its plunge into an economic morass and experienced a virtually unprecedented onslaught of weather disasters. The European Union—key to the rise of the prophesied Beast of Revelation—entered into unprecedented turmoil that will spur dramatic changes. And the realignment of nations in the Middle East, necessary for the creation of the prophesied King of the South, is happening before our very eyes!

The “end of the world” will not occur in 2012, but world events in 2012 will affect us in profound ways, setting the stage for further fulfillment of end-time prophecy! Request our free booklet, Fourteen Signs Announcing Christ’s Return, and take care not to become distracted by New Age silliness. Know the biblically prophesied facts about what lies ahead!