Floundering by False Hope

“At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.” (Jer 50:46 AV)

When the hope of all people is gone, the mankind will be moved like never before.  I have never seen this, but I have heard of such a thing.  It is similar to the sudden loss of young father, a pastor, or a national leader.  The hope that is attached to that person is overwhelming to the point that all future rests in his person.  If he goes, then so does the hope of the future.  In our passage, it is not a person, but a place.  I imagine it would be much like the loss of a national capital.  As when Paris fell to the Axis powers.  It is not just their future, but the very definition of who and what they are.  When the world places its identity, hope, and survival in the person and government of the Antichrist, it will shake the world to its core when both he and it falls.

I am not old enough to remember when President Kennedy was assassinated.  To this day, that even still effects the lives of those who went through it.  Party affiliation does not matter.  There was such hope in his leadership.  Economic prosperity and the willingness to face down the Communists made this President more than popular.  Not until an actor from California had the country had such pride and hope in her leader.  And not since then either.  I was born the year after Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas.  So, I have to rely on the stories of those who were so impressed with such a tragedy.  Remembering where they were when the news came seems to be common.  Weeping for the loss deeply felt by all seems to be a common refrain.  It is said that Junior and Senior High classes, as a whole, stopped their course of study and wept at the loss of their great leader.  When Babylon falls, it will be far worse.  Kennedy was president during a relative time of peace.  At least when one considers the world.  He served in times of trouble, but not nearly as deeply as when the AntiChrist will.  When he falls along with his government, there is no more future for a God rejecting world.  It is all over.

Which brings us to the major point here.  The only hope that is reliable and certain is the hope that a relationship with Christ through His sacrifice on Calvary can bring.  The only future worth looking forward to is an eternal one.  This life will end.  This planet will cease to exist.  Eternity will go on.  If our hope rests in Christ and Christ alone, then no matter the circumstances, we will not be moved to despair.  Governments may fall.  Rules will eventually perish.  Just the other day I read scientist were concerned with the volcano at Yellowstone.  If the earthquakes in California are any indication, we may be in for an event that may take the majority of life in our fragile nation.  If Christ is our Savior, there is nothing to worry about.  If not, then there is everything to worry about.  It all depends upon who or what our hope lies.