Left Behind

Isaiah continues the imagery of a new heaven and new earth in today's reading, particularly in Isaiah 65. This will not be the last time we see these words, since John will use much the same language in Revelation 21. These are among the most beautiful words we'll read in the Bible, so take some time and read them over and over--it's our entire raison d'etre as Christians.

Starting about 15 years ago, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins began publishing a 13-book series about the End Times titled Left Behind. The books got loopier as they progressed, because the further along they got in the narrative, the more they had to make things up, since we'll never know what those days will look like until they're upon us. The last book in the series, titled Glorious Appearing, went completely off the deep end, and the primary basis for that was based in Isaiah 65:20:

Never again will there be in it
   an infant who lives but a few days,
   or an old man who does not live out his years;
he who dies at a hundred
   will be thought a mere youth;
he who fails to reach a hundred
   will be considered accursed. 

I don't want to go too deep on this, but the crux of the book was that you could tell the evil in the Millennial Kingdom by whether they lived over 100 years of age or not, to which I responded with a resounding "Whatever."  My only point was to point out what LaHaye (and it's all him--Jenkins just fleshed out the story, LaHaye is the man behind the theology of the books) was referencing when he makes that point. Maybe he'll be right (doubtful), maybe he'll be wrong (which is what I think).

Nor does it really matter. I had a brief discussion with Pastor Vokt today, and we touched on the idea that while we have a tendency to plan for things, it's much better to be prepared to meet whatever life throws at us. Planning for the End Times would be akin to stating you'll make a last-minute confession, accept Christ when you "know" that we're in the End Times (good luck with that) or things along that line. It's much better to be prepared by reading prophecy such as this and know that, while we may never experience it in our lives, it's always possible. In the parable of the 10 Virgins, all of them planned--they had lamps with them. Only five prepared by having oil for the lamps. I'll touch more on it when we reach 1 Peter, but what we're being shown here is that our preparations won't be in vain and that being reunited with God will surpass anything we can imagine. In other words, it will be the greatest reward ever. That's not enough?

Scott