Signs of the Apocalypse
Mike Smith
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The Book of Revelation—the very last book in the Christian Bible—has long been considered by many of its readers to be the preferred source for prophetic statements about the end of the world. For many, it’s been considered the place to turn to for apocalyptic imagery, promises of eternal damnation or salvation, and—should you happen to be named either Tim LaHaye or Jerry B. Jenkins—bizarre ideas for your next hurriedly written prequel.
Featuring cryptic visions purportedly seen during the first century by a man known as John the Apostle, the Book of Revelation brims with ominous predictions of a world on fire, an army assembled against the bestial embodiment of evil, and an ultimate battle in which the forces of light face down and destroy the forces of darkness.
People seem to like it.
Fans of that book and its portrait of the world’s end may want to turn their attention, this week, to New Mexico—where it seems many of Revelation’s more frightening end-time scenarios are now leaving their pages and becoming reality.
To start with, there’s the fire.
“And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire,” reads Revelation 17:16, one of that book’s more lucid passages, and New Mexico has recently seen its share of fire.
On May 14, 2008, as reported in that day’s Artesia Daily Press, an Artesia police officer, Officer Jon Perez, evacuated anlocal family from their home when he saw that the family’s back porch was on fire—when he saw that their porch was burning much as the souls of the damned will burn, though they will burn forever and ever, for all eternity, hallelujah, amen.
(Oh, and there was the Trigo Fire, pictured above. In the Manzano Mountains. That burnt down almost 14,000 acres. Destroyed dozens of homes. And is still smoldering. ...That one.)
And then there is the army—the army that will face the beast.
“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army,” proclaims John in Revelation 19:19, and surely, the force he’s referring to could be only one: the ragtag but serious army of human machines that is the Silver City, New Mexico Tai Chi for Seniors class.
That class was part of a larger health workshop held recently for Silver City-area senior citizens, and though it was hoped that instruction in the ancient Chinese martial art would be good exercise for the area’s older residents, little did anyone realize that by training these New Mexican women, an ancient prophecy was being readied for fulfillment.
(Though they can certainly be forgiven for missing that....)
“One of the goals of the day's activities, [Cecilia Acosta, the Executive Director of New Mexico Senior Olympics] said, is to encourage seniors to become involved in a local event,” reported the May 19 Silver City Sun-News. “Local seniors demonstrated such games as Pickleball and air gun as well as Tai-Chi.”
Which brings us to the battle.
The last battle.
Revelation 16:14 says, “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty,” and it seems that final battle might just take place in-state, just north of the central New Mexico town of Stanley.
“There is a...diner on N.M. 41 that will be blown up at the end of the month because of a post-apocalyptic battle to destroy a waitress and the unborn messiah she carries,” read the May 15 Mountain View Telegraph, a paper covering the rural areas east of Albuquerque, in a story that, at first glance, one might think some larger periodicals would have picked up on.
Of course, it turns out that the diner is not a real one, and that its story is just part of Legion, a movie starring Dennis Quaid that's being filmed there about a band of misfits trying to save humanity from the end of the world.
So, that one might not be a sign of any impending Armageddon—and yet, a building will be blown up, so there will be some fire—fire—fire, just as was prophesied.
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