Jesus Supplied Apocalypse-Proof Shelter

What Did Jesus Do?

The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
Proverbs 18:10


Does the grim news reported by the networks, CNN, and Fox News cause you to lose sleep some nights? Do the warnings of prophets of a modern day Depression and other calamities induce nightmares? Are you making preparation to weather a coming apocalypse? I am amazed at how many people, the majority of whom do not in the least resemble Bible-believing Christians, are so concerned with apocalyptic potentialities from A to Z (As in, from Atomic Apocalypses/Nuclear Winters, to any number of various Zombie Apocalypse scenarios). One friend is urging me to stockpile food and water, and arm myself with a gun or two to protect my hoard. Another is scouting out remote mountain hideouts/strongholds to remove to when it, whatever it is, happens. And, though I haven’t even Googled apocalypse yet, I am sure that I’d have several million “hits” in a few seconds. All this seems to me to betray a latent, but undeniable, insecurity. It seems that there are a lot of folks worried, just about scared out of their wits, over what they fear is coming in the not too distant future.

Well, I’ve played Humans versus Zombies, and you know what, the Zombies always win. Ammunition runs out. Water dries up. The last of the food is eventually eaten. The Zombies win in all apocalyptic confrontations. Me? I’m not losing any sleep over A-bombs or Zombies, because I have a safe place to run to that is 100% apocalypse-proof. You see, Jesus supplied all who turn to him with an apocalypse-proof shelter.

Oh, I am not suggesting that believers will all get a “Go directly to heaven” card, freeing them to bypass any and all possible apocalyptic events. But Christ’s followers receive something of infinitely greater value than a cache of weapons, a warehouse full of food, and a cave or concrete hideout. For, you see, the thing is, where the goal of arming, bunkering, hoarding, and retreating is to attempt to merely survive, the sure promise of calling on the name of the Lord is the provision of a strong tower of safety and security where one does much more than survive—one lives, and lives eternally!

You do know, don’t you, that apocalyptic cataclysms have been happening to disciples from the first generation unto today? What else would you call the persecution that broke upon the Church in the wake of the martyrdom of Stephen (see Acts 8:1-2)? Acts 12:1-2 tells us that James, the son of Zebedee, was put to death by Herod Agrippa. Peter and his brother Andrew are accounted to have been crucified. Thomas is believed to have been run through by a spear. Tradition holds that James the son of Alpheus was thrown down from the Temple by scribes and Pharisees, stoned, and his head crushed by a fuller’s club. This is to say nothing of the countless Christians who died in the Colosseum and other Roman venues, hacked to pieces by gladiators or torn apart by wild beasts. Then there were the believers in the Middle Ages who, when the Plague was ravaging Europe, stayed and ministered to the sick and the dying, rather than flee as far and as fast as they could as so many others did to try and escape that apocalypse. Could any modern-day calamity be any more terrible than these?

There is no denying that the world will never be free of cataclysm, disasters (just this morning there are reports of significant earthquakes in Chile and on New Guinea), persecutions, and wars. But all who look to Christ will find that He is the Strong Tower who has himself endured the very worst the world could do, and overcome. (John 16:33) If we would be free from nightmares and worry about apocalypses from A to Z, we need to run to Jesus, who is our apocalypse-proof shelter.

S.D.G.

Jim