Tragedy or End of Days

Tragedy in Haiti

Tragedy in Haiti or YHWH warming up for the grand crescendo of them all, the End of Days Armageddon.

The Bible tells us in Revelations about the end of the system of things. We call this day Armageddon (Rev. 16:16) and the times leading up to it we refer to as “the end of days”. Matthew 24:7-14 tells us (regarding signs of those times):

7) For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places.
8) All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9) Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10) And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11) And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12) And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13) But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Now let’s take a little look at Haiti. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. In the early 1980s, Haiti became one of the first countries to face an AIDS epidemic. Fear of the disease caused tourists to stay away, and the tourist industry collapsed, causing rising unemployment. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural sector. While the economy has recovered in recent years, registering positive growth since 2005, four tropical storms in 2008 severely damaged the transportation infrastructure and agricultural sector.

With these things in mind, should we be sad about the tragedy in Haiti or should we look at it as YHWH’s strategic targeting of third world countries in his building up to the grand crescendo of them all, Armageddon, and be happy because we are getting one step closer to the next thing? To quote Monty Python’s Life of Brian, “always look on the bright side of life”. Did the earthquake of 2005 in Pakistan get this much media attention? In my opinion we should be saddened by the fact that it takes a natural disaster to take notice of places like Haiti. Most people go about their daily lives with very little concern for people they cross paths with much less goings on in third world countries. Giving should occur all of the time. What makes the people in Haiti that need medical attention, food, clothing and water any different from those all over the world, even right in your backyard, that need those things on a regular basis? If it would further your concepts of giving, please consider that accumulated wealth, savings, property, and the like will be absolutely meaningless when Armageddon occurs. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says, "If you have money, don't lend it at interest. Rather, give [it] to someone from whom you won't get it back."

Sources for Haiti data:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107612.html?pageno=2

Bible source:
http://www.biblegateway.com/ (King James Version)

Gospel of Thomas:
Patterson & Meyer translation from the Nag Hammadi Library

Further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_disasters_by_death_toll
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_toll#Tsunami