What Do Christians Say About 2012 and the Mayan Calendar End of the World Prophecy?

By now you probably have heard about the Mayan Calendar and the prediction or prophecy of the end of the world on December 21st, 2012. Many others have seen the movie 2012 which predicts the end of the world as we know it. What do most Christians think of this prediction? What do most non-believers think of it? What do the Mayan’s themselves believe about it? Is there any shred of truth to the prediction or prophecy of the end of the world according to the Mayan Calendar? Should we be stockpiling supplies in advance of this alleged prophecy?

The Mayan Calendar

This issue has been a frequent “water cooler” topic of conversation for many of my co-workers. Of those that spoke about the movie 2012, the majority were less concerned about the movie than they were with the prediction of the Mayan Calendar. The calendar, contrary to popular belief, is somewhat like the calendar that we use today. Our calendar runs out on December 31st every year but no one sees it as a prediction of the end of the world. The Mayan Calendar is cyclical too. The ancient Mayan Calendar was no different from any calendar. It was good for only a set period of time. It was simply based upon a set number of days and was intended to keep a record of a collection of days for each year.

The way the ancient Mayans measured time was much different than the way that we do today. They used centuries instead of years but their intent was not to match the end of their calendar with the end of time as they knew it. Much of what the movie 2012 is based upon is not anything about the Mayan’s beliefs at all, but is a fictitious scenario constructed from Western imaginations. The Mayan’s descendants do not use the ancient calendar anymore. They use the same calendar that most of the world uses and like the one that we use today. The Mayan Calendar started in 3135 B.C., their time, and it was not calibrated with the present calendar we use today, called the Gregorian calendar.

What Do the Mayans Say?

Modern day ancestors of the Mayans, when interviewed about December 21st, 2012, had no clue about any significance of that date. When local reporters went to the modern day descendants of the Mayans and asked them what they thought of that date or the Mayan Calendar prediction of doom for 2012, they didn’t have a clue about it. In fact, they could not have cared less. The only thing that they were concerned about was having enough rain this year for their crops.

The Mayans are not concerned and know nothing about nor are concerned in any way about some alleged prediction of the end of the world. No archeological evidence has ever been unearthed to validate this myth of the Mayan Calendar’s prediction doom on December 21st, 2012. If you bring up the end-of-the-world topic of the Mayan’s 2012 calendar with the local Mayan elder, Chile Pixtun, he is completely puzzled by it. So too are the local indigenous tribes of the Guatemalan Apoloinaria who are the direct descendents of the Mayan Indians. Mayor Pixtun will be the first to say that these doomsday myths are not from his own culture but must be from Western imaginations.

Is The Earth Doomed?

This reminds me somewhat of the 2YK scare where everyone thought that the world’s computers would not be able to handle all the “zeroes” when the calendar turned to the year two thousand. They believed that since computers were necessary for the Stock Exchange, airlines, businesses, banks, and industries that all the computers crashing would produce wide-spread chaos and food shortages. That concern caused many to buy tons of dry goods, water purifiers, and 55-gallon drums for storage of their supplies. They were stocking up on clothing, firewood, and many other every day staples. It turned out to be absolutely nothing at all.

No one knows the day when Christ will return (Matt. 24:43, Luke 12:39). Not the Mayan Calendar, not any preacher or pastor who claims to know but only the Father in heaven. If someone predicts the coming of Christ, you can know for a fact that you are listening to a false prophet. Mark 13:32 says, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.“ Even the Bible says nothing about the end of the world. It describes an end of the age and a new heaven and a new earth but Ecclesiastes 1:4 says “Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.” Revelation 1:2 tells us that the Holy City, Jerusalem, will descend out of heaven and comes down to the earth.

The Importance of 2012

Anyone that has or ever will ask me about 2012 is an opportunity to show them the real 2012 to be concerned about that is neither legend nor myth. If there is any 2012 that I would tell them to think about in a serious manner it would be, ironically, Revelation 20:12 which says, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” Revelation 20:12 speaks of the Great White Throne Judgment in which those who are not Jesus Christ’s own will be judged for eternity.

If you were to die today and are not found written in the book of life, then truly you do have something to worry about; and for all eternity. “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him” (Rev. 20:6). Revelation 3:5 is where your name, this very day, can be written down in the book of life and here is what will be said of you, “The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.” I pray this is so.

What Have You Heard?

Do you have something to add to what this article has stated? If so, share it in the comments below. We love to hear from our readers! Here are some other articles that you might like to read:

What are the Signs of the Second Coming of Jesus?

What Do Christians Believe About Dinosaurs?

Does The Bible say What the Devil Looks Like?

Sources

The Holy Bible, New International Version

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tagged as: 2012, Christian Answers, End of World Prophecy, Mayan Calendar