Things That Go Beep in the Night

I'm generally a pretty good sleeper. I'm not quite as good as my youngest who claims that sleeping is actually her profession! However, when there are sounds that aren't part of the usual flow of the evening, or early morning, that's when I find myself awakened. Like last night. What is it with smoke detectors only doing their "battery low" chirp in the night? You don't ever hear them at noon, or at the dinner hour. Only between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. does it seem that they realize their power is fading and that they had better alert someone to their need for a new Energizer or Ray O' Vac. Now I know that this is actually a good thing. In spite of the ensuing grogginess for the lack of sleep from 2 am on, I realize that this fail safe is designed to not allow undue procrastination which might result in loss of life. It's a warning; a warning that you might be in danger of a larger catastrophe if not attended to. Sometimes the warnings come in larger measure. This past weekend a Boeing 737 suffered a tear in the fuselage above the passengers while cruising somewhere near 35,000 feet. The tear was around five feet in length. Fortunately, the flight landed in Yuma, Arizona without further incident. It was a warning. A warning that there was significant fatigue in the body structure of this airplane. As more planes are inspected, due to this warning, further fatigue is being noticed and hopefully, tragedy averted. Scripture, especially in the prophetic writings, are filled with warnings as well. Some are heeded, some are ignored. Generally, when ignored, tragedy strikes. Jesus himself spoke with warnings. Matthew's gospel records the Seven Woes, all beginning with the phrase (in the NIV) "Woe to you" which in a way is saying, "I'm warning you." Largely, it is a warning against hypocrisy. On the heels of that set of warnings, he begins to talk of end times; again, a warning of sorts to be ready. I don't think any believer can watch the drama unfolding in the Middle East right now and not think that in a way, it's a warning. Scripture is clear that what happens in that region of the world is central to any eschatology. And while I'm not a proponent of taking every event that unfolds and trying to attach it to a time line of certainty, I am convinced of the centrality of that area to the unfolding of God's ultimate plan for the consummation of his church. As Billy Graham once said when asked about a date for the second coming, "We're closer today than we were yesterday." That about sums up my level of comfort with nailing down a time and date. To watch the events unfold in that geographically small but eschatolocially huge area and NOT think that these are at least "birth pangs" is to scripturally have our heads in the sand. It's a warning, I believe. And in that sense, Jesus' words ring clear: "Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." (Matthew 25:13 NIV)