The End is near! And I am not just talking about the end of the year. Nor am I just talking about the end of the first decade of the 21st century. Can you believe that we are in 2008 already? It seems like yesterday the world was frazzled over Y2K. Do you remember back in the 1960’s, the men on the street corners carrying the signs that read: “The End is Near”? I remember seeing these guys while I was growing up. They would be on the news and even on the street corners of my hometown. Most times people would just dismiss them as crazy or fanatical but there was always that looming question that I never had the nerve to ask them; “How do you know that the End is near?” That was nearly fifty years ago, so, a lot of folks have dismissed these fellows as just plain wrong. This kind of ruins it for anyone else coming along preaching the same thing. It is like what Peter said in his second epistle: “First of all you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this coming he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’” 2Peter 3:3,4 Some folks feel ‘it’ and some folks don’t. When you look at the world by itself and how one day rolls in right behind another and the future continues to be amalgamated into the present, then there is no real logical reason to think that the end is near. The sun will rise tomorrow and the sun will set tomorrow. Life will go on just as it has. There is no evidence that time will stop as we know it, if we just go by that which is transient. Sure, things are passing by quickly but that doesn’t prove that an ‘end’ is inevitable, or even probable. Someone may say, “I am old and my life is coming to an end.” And then, I am telling you, “That five more babies will be born to take your place and life will go on.” Someone else may say, “The scientists are telling us that the sun will burn out! The End is Near!” Yeah, if you consider a hundred, hundred million years a short time.

Here’s another dilemma; if we evolved like the scientist theorize, then we exist in time like fish exist in the water. It would be impossible to conceive of an of ‘end’ to this existence just as it would be impossible to conceive of a ‘time’ before this existence. But for some reason man can conceive of a beginning and an end. This conception can only be attributed to Something outside of this ‘time’ existence. And, that would be God!

Now, the reason I said all that was for one purpose only. If we ‘know’ that the end is near, then we can know for certain that we were made for something more than just this existence. We have trials, afflictions and hardships in this life. Maybe, just maybe, God wants us to know that we should ‘hang in there’ –the End is Near. Paul says that our troubles are momentary but our reward is eternal. The visible is only temporary but the unseen is permanent! Life as we know it is ebbing away, but he who does the will of the Lord will live forever –and that, in a greater existence than this temporary one! At the close of this year and with new hopes for the next, let us look up, for our Redemption is drawing near. Yes, the End is Near!

Shimshai jumped up and bolted the door. He turned back toward Ehud but continued to stand there. “Ehud,” Shimshai paused searching for the right words, “did you see how the wind and the rain came in through the door way? Wind and rain are elements that belong to nature. I built this house, with these walls and this door, to keep those elements outside. Yet this house is part of the whole of nature, and the wind and rain permeated the boundaries of these walls. The wind and rain seem out of place within these walls, yet the wind and rain has every right to infiltrate this house because this house is a part of nature.”
“Yes, yes.” Ehud understood. “But what does this have to do with your trip to Bethlehem, the Magi and the star?”
Shimshai sat back down next to his friend. “Ehud, the Magi told us that they all had the same dream. They all said that the Hebrew God had warned them not to return to Herod and not to return home the way they had come, but to hasten home by another route. Ehud, Herod was out to kill the baby!”
“Why? I heard that Herod was insane but what insanity would bring him to murder a child?”
“Because I think he knew, as I know now, and each of the Magi knows –this Child is no average child. Ehud, I saw Him with my own eyes and I fell down and worshipped Him as did the Magi. His mother was holding Him and yet it seemed that He was holding her. While He was in her arms He reached for us! It was as though He wanted to hug us all. I got close to Him and He touched me, Ehud!” Tears began to run down Shimshai’s face. “When He touched me, Ehud, all my fears left me. I didn’t know what I was feeling. I had hope for life but I had no reason why. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. My spirit wanted to soar with the wings of an eagle. Then, one of the Magi told me an amazing thing. He said that the man standing with the mother was not the father. And that the mother was still a virgin!
“Isaiah’s prophecy?!” Ehud blurted out.
“Yes, Ehud, Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled and I was honored to witness it all! He then said to me that this Child was the Son of God! The Eternal God infiltrated His creation just as the rain and wind infiltrated this house a moment ago! I tell you, He infiltrated my very soul and I will never be the same again!”

Brother & Sister, my prayer is that you, too, will allow the Lord, Jesus, to infiltrate your life today and every day, so much so, that you’ll never be the same again.

“Ehud, my friend,” Shimshai spoke quietly, yet determinedly. “I have witnessed something very special. It is beyond full comprehension, yet if you can believe what I am about to tell you, it will liberate you to a life of joy.”
“Please continue, Shimshai. I have been wanting to hear some good news. I have become so weary with the way that life has been. We live in troublesome times and I don’t see anyone who can bring us any relief.”
“Then listen carefully, please. You remember that I joined the caravan two years ago. The Magi had been studying the appearance of that new star and…”
“Yes, I remember that star. Where has it gone?” Ehud broke in. “I haven’t seen it for about five months…”
“Please, good friend, do not interrupt me. I will explain it all.” Shimshai smiled at his friend, then continued. “The magi had determined that this star would bring them to a new born king. We followed it for nearly two years. It took us to Judea, near the Great Sea. We were four hundred strong. We looked like a small army. I tell you, Ehud, those Magi are something else! I didn’t realize how influential they really are until we began crossing over into different territories. Each kingdom brought us to their king and asked about our business. They all seemed a little nervous because of our presence. Then, when we told them about the star, they were somewhat relieved. They had seen the star as well and wondered what it meant. So, when we arrived in Judea, we traveled east to Jerusalem. When we were given audience to King Herod we asked him, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” He was very troubled and brought in some priests and teachers of their law. When they searched the writings of their prophets they had told us that he was to be born in Bethlehem. The prophecy went something like this: ‘but you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’ Herod told us to go to Bethlehem and make a careful search for the child. Then he said that we should report back to him so that he could go and worship the child also. He seemed strangely alarmed and the news just spread like wildfire around Jerusalem. All of us in the caravan felt we were getting close. Everyone was excited for Bethlehem was only a few miles south of Jerusalem. The Magi spent the night in their tent before we set out the next day. As we were breaking camp they gathered us around for a meeting. If anyone wasn’t excited by now, they would be after the Magi spoke to us.”
“Really? What did they tell you?” Ehud asked sitting on the edge of his seat.
“They told us that by evening, we all would be some of the first to witness, to see with our very own eyes, the proof that the Hebrew God –was God!”
“What! What was it Shimshai; please do not hold me in suspense any longer.”
“Well, they said that last night they all received the same dream!
“What? All of them? The same dream?”
“Ehud, please. Let me continue.” Shimshai’s eyes began to well up with tears and Ehud knew to be silent. “They told us that in this dream…”
Just then the night wind had blown open Shimshai’s loosely latched door. It banged against the wall with a crash and the rain began to soak the threshold.

Ehud suggested that they move nearer the hearth before Shimshai began. The tea would warm their bones while the fire would warm their bodies. As Ehud moved his chair and took his seat, Shimshai poked and stoked the fire. Throwing another log on he positioned himself, squatting to tend the fire for just a moment. As he was poking the fire and stirring up the coals, he never took his eyes off his work. He seemed to be staring past the flames as he began to tell his friend his wonderful news. “As I was saying,” Shimshai began, “I am not given over to fancy stories. Do you not recall how long we had studied together our own historians and Jewish manuscripts concerning Daniel, the servant of King Nebuchadnezzar? He was Jewish you know. We both have witnessed the fulfillment of his prophecies. Just as he wrote that Cyrus would conquer the Babylonians and the Persians would fall by the hands of the Greeks, so he also said that the Jews would return to Jerusalem. They have been living there now for nearly five hundred years! The story that I want you to remember in particular was the one of Daniel’s friends, who were saved from the flames of Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace. If you recall correctly, the king called them out of the furnace after seeing not three men, but four! But the fourth never came out. I always wondered where he went!”
“Don’t you just count that as a hallucination of a man in rage” Ehud interrupted.
“I would normally, but it seems to me that he asked for verification by his own officials.” But that’s not the only amazing story surrounding these Jewish men. I also remember that when they were first brought into Nebuchadnezzar’s service, the king had a dream. He had asked all of his wise men to tell him his dream and none could do so. The king was enraged and threatened to kill them all. When they tried to rebut, saying that only the gods could tell them his dream, they also concluded that the gods do not dwell with humans. Therefore, what the king asked for was impossible to do. This did not stop the king’s fury and he had appointed a time for them all to be killed. Well, it just so happened that Daniel came in to the king’s presence and told the king his dream! And this was the next day! Why, I have a hard enough time recounting my own dreams just after I wake up from them! Tell me, Ehud, how could Daniel know another man’s dream?”
Ehud took a sip of tea. To answer that question, he would have to admit that Daniel was told the dream by a god, just as Daniel claimed. Ehud wasn’t ready for that, at least not the God of Daniel. For Daniel claimed that his God was God only and God over all. Daniel claimed that his God would set up His kingdom and that this kingdom would remain forever. This doctrine didn’t sit well with people who were not Jewish. The Gentile nations had destroyed the Jewish people and their final destruction would come at the hands of the Romans. He wasn’t about to answer that question.
“I know what you are thinking Ehud.” Shimshai laughed. “But tell me: how is it that the Jews are living in their land again. Didn’t their prophet, Isaiah I believe, didn’t he predict that Cyrus would decree them back into their homeland?
Ehud reluctantly shook his had affirmatively. “Yes, yes and I think he even prophesied that the Israel nation would be an everlasting kingdom and…”

“That’s what I want to talk to you about.” Shimshai exclaimed. To be continued…

A few years ago I wrote a short story for the Pastor’s Desk during the weeks just before Christmas. It’s time for another story!

Susa (1 B.C.)

Actually, Shimshai lived about thirty miles southeast of Susa just at the base of the Zagros Mountains. The winter rains had cooled the night air and the fire in the hearth was as inviting as the hot tea he poured into the cup. The cup steamed yet he continued to hold it in his hands as he sat at the table. His one-room hut was dark except for what the few lanterns could light. His friend would be there soon to hear all about his journey; he tried playing it through his mind again but stopped at the same place that had continually left him dumbfounded every time he thought about it. He shook his aged head again and ran his hand through his gray and white beard. The lantern glowed in his eyes. A slight smile showed his thoughts were beyond the present moment. He had traveled to Judea with a group of astrologers and other wise men. He had always been interested in the study of the stars and this journey was a good opportunity to see some learned men in action. But he got more than what he bargained for –everybody in that caravan got more than what they bargained for! He ran his hand through his beard again, took a sip of tea and brought his thoughts back to the present. His friend would be here soon.
Judea was just a little over 600 miles away, but that is by the way the raven flies. During their journey however, the caravan had followed a bright star that had led them up through the Euphrates valley rather than across the desert. It was a good thing too; the desert could be so dangerous with all the bandits and wild animals. Following that star was amazing enough but where it led was… well, just unbelievable. Shimshai laughed quietly and thought, “Yes, totally unbelievable, yet I do.” He took another sip of tea and went to the door. Wrapping himself with his outer garment he braced for the night air. Ehud was just now coming up his lane. Shimshai went out to embrace him and the two walked together back into the house.
“It is good to see you back safe and sound Shimshai” Ehud said. “But I did not expect you back so soon. Why did the caravan cut short their trip?”
“If you have the time Ehud, I would like to tell you everything.” Shimshai said pouring tea into his friend’s cup.
“Yes, tell me everything. I love to hear about long journeys. What did you learn?”
“Ehud, what I am about to tell you is so amazing that you will find it very hard to believe. But as you know that I am your friend and you know that I am not given to fanciful stories. I have always investigated very cautiously things that I have been told and asked to believe. But Ehud,” Shimshai swallowed hard, “what I am about to tell you is the truth and it is very wonderful.”
To be continued…