My favorite movie of all-time is Armageddon.

Seriously.

Apparently, I’m a dupe for feel-good action movies that unite humor, romance, bravery and Bruce Willis (Die Hard is in my top ten). This is one of those.

It is also a reminder, for those that need one, that ours is a fragile existence – both that of our planet and of the human race.

In Armageddon, the threat to that existence is a meteor. Only the most naïve, however, see that particular peril as the lone looming path to global destruction. In fact, it is far more likely that such a calamity will be prompted by human intercession than a fireball from outer space.

In January, the “Doomsday Clock” inched ever closer to midnight, now sitting at a mere 90 seconds before striking. For those that are unfamiliar with this metric, it is a symbolic representation of the likelihood of a man-made global apocalypse. It is an assessment rendered by the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The clock’s original setting, first published in 1947, was 7 minutes to midnight. Interestingly, while it has moved forward 17 times, it has also been adjusted backwards 8 times. Its most promising setting for mankind was in 1991 when it sat at 17 minutes to midnight. It now sits at its most pessimistic.

What are the potential scenarios that might fulfill the gloomy prognosis for our planet and our species about which these scientists hypothesize? Perhaps it is one of these:

• Nuclear annihilation;
• Cataclysmic climate change rendering our planet uninhabitable;
• A global pestilence or, more malevolently, bioterrorism;
• A technology meltdown or incursion rendering defense, financial, governmental and other systems inoperable leading to universal chaos;
• A technology takeover of global systems driven by irresponsible management of artificial intelligence enterprises;
• A precipitous decline in birthrates resulting from disease, sterility and/or evolving sexual practices; or
• Maybe just a meteor.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, I am neither in fear or despair. He told us such days – the last days – would come upon us. I hold, in fact, that we have been living in those last days since He died on the cross.

Certainly, the evidence of this conviction and the truth of Christ’s words have become increasingly profound.

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

Matthew 24:6-8

But it is not the continuous wars and the pervasive hunger across the globe that, by themselves, give validity to the notion we are in the last days. Nor is it global pandemics and worldwide devastation from earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, etc. that provide further indication of this time in history. For me, the most powerful evidence is not the assessment of atomic scientists, but the prognostication given by the Apostle Paul in his second letter to Timothy:

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

This, my friends, is the world in which we live. Oh yes, destruction and devastation are coming. But so is Lord Jesus.

The Bible tells us that His Second Coming will precede a final battle between the forces of good and evil – a battle in which Christ conquers the armies of the Antichrist.

And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

Revelation 16:16

The word Armageddon is found nowhere else in scripture. It translates to “the hill of Megiddo.” Because there is no actual mountain or hill on the plains of Megiddo, commentators differ in their assessment as to whether Armageddon represents a literal or symbolic location.

I do not know the answer. Personally, my research leads me to believe that the final conflict between the armies of Heaven and those of Satan will be an actual battle that will take place somewhere in current-day Israel. But the global apocalypse that ushers in the Great Tribulation and, subsequently, Armageddon, seems ever so imminent.

Ultimately, God is in control. It is His plan, His intercession. Those of faith can find peace in that knowledge.

For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

1 Thessalonians 5:2-10