A 2012 End of the World - Is It Possible?

A 2012 end of the world date is being made popular by numerous books, internet sites and even TV documentaries (notably on the History Channel).

These 2012 end-of-the-world predictions are related to interpretations of an ancient Mayan calendar which some believe indicates that on December 21, 2012, the date of the winter solstice in that year, something significant will happen. While what exactly is projected to happen varies depending what you read some suggest, based on the Mayan calendar, a 2012 end of the world as we know it or the beginning of some "new age."

Here is some more information to explain this interest in 2012: (from Wikipedia)

"Proponents of the doomsday premise argue that ancient Mayan astronomers were aware of a rare alignment of the Earth, Sun and center of the Milky Way on the December solstice in 2012. According to this belief, the alignment is tied to the precession of the equinoxes and signals a transition from one world age to another.

In the Solar System, gravity causes the Sun and planets to share the same plane of orbit. In the night sky, this plane is known as the ecliptic. The twelve Zodiacal constellations move along or near the ecliptic, and over time, appear to recede counterclockwise by one degree every 72 years - that is, from our perspective looking up from the ground. This movement is attributed to a slight wobble in the Earth's axis as it spins. As a result, approximately every 2160 years, the constellation visible on the early morning of the spring equinox changes. This signals the end of one astrological age (currently the Age of Pisces) and the beginning of another (Age of Aquarius). Over the course of 26,000 years, the precession of the equinoxes makes one full circuit around the ecliptic."

While all of this can be interesting, the whole point and reason people are interested is because we want to know what the future holds. Why not go to the best source, God's Word and see what it has to say?

Although they don't give any definite end-of-the-world timetable, the signs of the end documented in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 indicate that the end may indeed by very near.

The sort of earth changes implied in various 2012 end-of-the-world scenarios could well be coming in the near future. The Bible does talk about signs in the heavens:

"And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven." (Luke 21:11)

"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;" (Luke 21:25)

For interest, here are some astronomical events that have been calculated to occur during 2012 (Source: Wikipedia)

1. January 31 - 433 Eros, the second-largest Near Earth Object on record (size 13×13×33 km) will pass Earth at 0.1790 astronomical units (26,778,019 km; 16,639,090 mi). NASA studied Eros with the NEAR Shoemaker probe launched on 1996-02-17. [For comparison the distance from the earth to the sun is 93,000,000 miles.]

2. May 20 - Annular solar eclipse. Path of totality runs through the Pacific Ocean from northern China to California.

3. November 13 - Total solar eclipse (visible in northern Australia and the South Pacific).

4. November 28 - Penumbral lunar eclipse.

On the sun, the solar maximum of Solar Cycle 24 in the 11-year sunspot cycle is forecast to occur. Solar Cycle 24 is regarded to have commenced January 2008, and on average will reach its peak of maximal sunspot activity around 2012. The period between successive solar maxima averages 11 years (the Schwabe cycle), and the previous solar maximum of Solar Cycle 23 occurred 2000 - 2002. During the solar maximum the sun's magnetic poles will reverse.

Nostradamus, a famed medieval writer, is claimed to have made predictions that fit in with the 2012 date. It is interesting that we are now (November, 2009) a little over three years from the supposed 2012 end of the world date. For the Biblical significance of three and half years in an end-time context and its connection to a Russian Scientist who uncovered some very interesting facts about ancient calendars go to Immanuel Velikovsky There could indeed be some spectacular signs in the heavens soon, so keep looking up.

Find more information in my May 2009 Newsletter.