What not to do in the final days

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Sep 1, 2015 at 15:19

Hi again, Waz

You asked me a question, which I mistook for a declarative statement (i.e. rhetorical question)::

If and when times like that occur - what will I do? Throw my hands up in the air and leave it to fate or take down as many of the bastards as I can?. At this stage and knowing myself enough to anticipate my reactions, I'd say the latter.

If it was actually a question, the Bible says much about, as the Whole Earth Catalog once said, "What to do until Messiah comes":

1. Continue in Well Doing

Gal 6:
[9] And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
[10] As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

2. Be patient, and continue in Well Doing

James 5:
[8] Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
[9] Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
[10] Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
[11] Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
[12] But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
[13] Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
[14] Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
[15] And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
[16] Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
[17] Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
[18] And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
[19] Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
[20] Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

There are many other exhortations, all of them similar to this. Right up until Messiah comes, all men will continue to display their innate character. If they have been spending their lives following Jesus and trusting in the resurrection, they will endure unto the end and overcome the enemy:

Rev. 12:
[10] And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
[11] And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

For those in the IDF, defending Israel, I suppose that requires "taking down as many of the bastards as they can"; because it is a good thing to try to protect your loved ones against those who want to harm them. It may also require "throwing your hands up in the air" when cornered and ordered to do so. It would be more profitable to die as a true martyr, patiently suffering while giving testimony, than to be cut down in a futile act of attempted self-defense. Jesus and the disciples are examples of this. They are also examples of fleeing and hiding, as the opportunity presented itself.

That last paragraph talks about what to do when being hunted down and persecuted; but those times will not last long -- 3½ years, at the most. Even then there will probably be a long wait before the "knock at the door in the middle of the night" comes; and even when in prison, there is opportunity for well-doing:

Acts 16:
[24] Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
[25] And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
[26] And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
[27] And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
[28] But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
[29] Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
[30] And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
[31] And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
[32] And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
[33] And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
[34] And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
[35] And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
[36] And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.
[37] But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.
[38] And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.
[39] And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
[40] And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

The ungodly, of course, will act according to the character they have built up over their lifetimes:

Rev. 16
[10] And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
[11] And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

The last time a great "End of the World" scare came among friends of mine was in the mid-1980s. Some false prophet had gotten them all worked into a tizzy, and seduced them into overdrawing their checking accounts. After the day came and went without event, they went back to work and began paying back the heavy burden of debt they had incurred. That is not what the Bible says we ought to do in such times.

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