Flat Earth and the End of the World
A Tale as Old as Time: 1857 Years of Failed Predictions of Christ's Return
It’s happening once again: The End of the World is drawing nigh!
When persecutions increase, people hear of wars and rumors of wars, and evil men wax worse and worse, the prognosticators of End Times events come out of the woodwork.
This is alarmingly true in the Flat Earth community.
But this shouldn’t take anyone by surprise. Curiosity over these culminating events is common. Even the Disciples, before receiving the Holy Spirit wanted to know, “Is this the end?”
What Did Jesus Say?
Consider the dialogue the disciples had with Jesus shortly before His ascension to heaven to sit on the right hand of power:
And being assembled together with them, He [Jesus] commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:4-8
Jesus tells His disciples in no uncertain terms to stop focusing on the time of the end, instead to focus on building the Kingdom. That’s why He was sending the Holy Spirit, to enable them to keep the great commission, which included teaching the nations to obey everything He commanded (see Matthew 28:18-20).
So one might ask, “Why is the world so consumed with the end of the world?’
Let’s trek through time, to see what a few people have thought about the events leading to the Return of Christ.
1857 Years of False Predictions of the End of the World.
“He whom Daniel foretells would have dominion for a time, and times, and an half, is even already at the door, about to speak blasphemous and daring things against the most high.” — Justin Martyr, c 165 AD
“For you ought to know and to believe, and hold it for certain, that the day of affliction has begun to hand over our heads, and the end of the world and time of Antichrist to draw near, so that we must all stand prepared for the battle.” — Cyprian of Carthage, c 250 AD
“But this aforesaid Antichrist is to come when the times of the Roman empire shall have been fulfilled, and the End of the world is now drawing near.” — Cyril of Jerusalem, c 350 AD
“It should be emphasized especially to those who do not bear fruit, that the End of history is at hand, that the Day of Judgment confronts us.” — Maximus of Turin, c 423
“Lo, all the things of this world, which we used to hear from the sacred page were doomed to perish, we see already ruined. Cities are overthrown, camps uprooted, churches destroyed….Thus we see before our eyes the evils which we long ago heard should come upon the world.” — Pope Gregory the Great, c 592
“For the things which have been written have now been fulfilled, and the signs which had been predicted, received their end; nothing remains then, except the coming of our enemy, Antichrist, should appear.” — Pseudo-Ephraem, c 625
“It is the will of God that through the labours of the crusaders Christianity shall flourish again at Jerusalem at these last times, so that when Antichrist begins his reign there — and he shortly must — he will find enough Christians to fight.” — Benzo, bishop of Alba, c 1095
“So, today, when the Second Coming of Christ himself is approaching or already soon imminent, that same dragon, destined to be sent into the abyss, in the person of the final Antichrist rages against the Holy Church in the cruelest fashion.” — Gerhoh of Reicherberg, c 1163
“All wise men believe that we are not far removed from the times of Antichrist.” — Roger Bacon, c 1268
“The great day of the Lord is nigh, and cometh fast, and wonders approach quickly; it shall not tarry long.” The Lantern of Light, c 1400
“It is already the time of Antichrist, as is manifestly clear in Matthew 24. The Lord makes it know that when the Gospel of the kingdom is preached in the whole world, then the Abomination of Desolation is to be seen.” — Thomas Muntzer, c 1525
“The last month of the great year of the world is come upon us; we are in deep December.” — Thomas Adams, c 1633
“These things duly considered, I imagine afford us ground to suppose, not only that the effect of the sixth vial is already begun, but that some progress is already made in it, and that this vial is now running apace. And when it is finished, there is all reason to suppose that the destruction of Antichrist will very speedily follow.” — Jonathan Edwards, c 1757
“[I am] fully convinced that sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21st, 1844….Christ will come and bring all his saints with him.” — William Miller, c 1843
“Hitler himself is spelled out in the puzzle given in Rev. 13:18. This puzzle when worked out, will indicate a certain man. We have only three numerals, 666, but through them, we find the man’s name. So we must numeralize the alphabet…Hitler is 666.” — The Coming Antichrist, c 1943
“May 21, 2011 is the day of the Rapture, it is the day that Judgment Day begins.” Harold Camping, c 2005
“About four-in-ten U.S. adults believe humanity is ‘living in the end times.’” Pew Research Center, c 2022
This is merely a smattering of predictions that have been made throughout the last two millennia. If you’d like to read even more soothsayings gone awry, may I commend to you, “The Day and the Hour: Christianity’s Perennial Fascination with Predicting the End of the World” by Francis X. Cumberlock? He shares 300+ pages of quotes and predictions of the end of the world spanning from AD 41 to AD 3836.
If you’d like to get your hands on a copy, while supporting my work, you may order the book through my affiliate link at Amazon here: The Day and the Hour.
What About Number 17?
You might wonder how I can be so confident that 40% of US citizens living now are dead wrong about their current belief that we are living at the time of the end of history.
It’s because of Psalm 110:1 and many other prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. Christ is reigning now from heaven. And the Bible teaches that He must remain there until all His enemies are a footstool for His feet. The final enemy is death. Then comes the end.
I’ve written before on this topic. Consider diving in deeper here:
Time to Stop Focusing on the End and Start Building the Kingdom
We need to take Christ’s advice and stop focusing on the end. If the church would be about her business of declaring the Lordship of Christ over ALL creation, we wouldn’t see Satan’s ugly head popping up to kill, steal, and destroy.
Satan may be the “god” of the world system — but he is NOT the “God” of the world. That belongs to Christ. He paid for it with His blood and defeated the devil (and all his demons) at the cross.
However, it takes faith to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. If we believe Satan wins down here, he’s going to start winning. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. When we recognize the Adversary is defeated, we will battle him with powerful spiritual weapons that will tear down every stronghold and send him running.
If you have come to believe in the true nature of Biblical Cosmology, i.e., Flat Earth, you have more understanding than 99.9% of the world.
Don’t fall prey to the old fairy tale that Satan wins down here. It’s a flat-out lie (and one of his favorite strategies).
Christ wins! And there’s lots of work to do.
Let’s get busy.