Rich Prepare for Apocalypse

“Orthodox” 16th Century Representation of the “Apocalypse”

The following news item was of interest:

The rich prepare for the apocalypse

Baltimore Sun – March 24, 2009

By Dan Rodricks, award-winning columnist for the Baltimore Sun since 1979…

There’s something else going on. I call it: hoarding up for the apocalypse.

I have been watching the concentration of wealth in this country accelerate during the past 10 years in particular. The gap between middle class and rich has become wider and wider, and the gap between rich and poor has become so vast as to be immeasurable…

Knowing that it wasn’t always so, I’ve tried to figure out why so many millionaires of the corporate class do everything within their power to become multimillionaires and even billionaires, piling on layer after layer of wealth, beyond anything most people can imagine as necessary in a lifetime…

Hoarding for the apocalypse calls for belief that the end is coming and that wealth will insulate the wealthy from the misery that will befall the rest of us. (The rest of us might harbor apocalyptic fears, from time to time, but we haven’t figured out what to do about them. We’re wage-earners, for the most part, or the owners of small businesses. We haven’t all that much to hoard – not enough to make a difference, anyway – so we keep working to keep the bills paid and the kids fed.)

The apocalyptic rich have hoarded cash and assets – and they continue to accumulate as much as possible – and they’ve built retreats to allay a deep fear that, when the world starts to fall apart, they will be at the top of a mountain, in a secure compound with its own source of energy and potable water (and a decade’s supply of cabernet), isolated from the screaming, rioting masses.

As the world’s population grows, as the recession expands and unemployment worsens, as the globe continues to warm and the oceans rise, as questions about the future of energy and natural resources become graver, as civil unrest becomes a greater concern, the masters of the universe grab all they can. It’s an Idaho panhandle mentality on Wall Street – hoard money and assets, and enough golf balls to ride out the coming cataclysm. There’s social Darwinism at play in this, to be sure – survival of the richest – but it’s the most cynical and self-centered kind, based not on enterprise or capitalism, but on a dark view of the future. Their concept of the greater good is gone, and they certainly display nothing you might call civic-mindedness or patriotism.

Of course, the cynics always existed among us, but they’ve grown in number in recent years, and they have more power and influence than ever. Those who work in financial markets and deal in commodities, those who watch global trends in energy and food production and population growth – those who have seen the numbers – I believe they have become gravely pessimistic about what life on Earth in the next quarter-century will become, and that’s what drives them.

Certainly they would not say these things publicly, and they will dismiss my two-bit theory as two-bit pop psychology. But I think there’s something to this. Why else would they keep buying and upgrading their private jets? The day will come when they need to make a quick escape to their mountain retreats, leaving the rest of us suckers on the ground. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.rodricks24.1mar24,0,6859525.column

While some are making preparations, the rich (and everyone else) may wish to notice what the Bible warns:

24 Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! (Mark 10:24)

1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days (James 5:1-3).

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21).

19′They will throw their silver into the streets, And their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them

In the day of the wrath of the LORD; They will not satisfy their souls, Nor fill their stomachs, Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity (Ezekiel 7:19).

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works (Matthew 16:24-27).

Even though everyone should consider some physical preparations (see Physical Preparation Scriptures for Christians), the idea that many wealthy may have about survival is not the answer.

Notice the only group that God promises physical protection for the entire 3 1/2 years:

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,…10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth (Revelation 3:10).

14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:14-17).

The above shows that even among Christians, only some (the Philadelphians) will be protected and the others will not be.

So, while some physical steps are wise, it is necessary to be truly a Philadelphian Christian for protection during the time of the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. Wealth is not physical salvation.

Some articles of related interest may include:

What is the Meaning of Life? Who does God say is happy? What is your ultimate destiny? Do you really know? Does God actually have a plan for YOU personally?
Are You Saved? Do You Love Jesus? What is a True Christian? What is the Gospel? Evangelist Richard Ames answers those important questions.
Physical Preparation Scriptures for Christians. We all know the Bible prophecies famines. Should we do something?
Is Third Tithe Still Valid Today? Some in the COGs no longer teach payment of third tithe, is this biblically correct?
What is a True Philadelphian? Many claim to be part of the Philadelphia era of the Church, but is claiming enough? This article has biblical and historical evidence about who really are the Philadelphians.
The Philadelphia Church Era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God, now essentially the Living Church of God.
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory.
Is There A Secret Rapture for the Church? When and Where is the Church Protected? What does the Bible really teach? Does the Church flee or is it taken up just prior to the great tribulation? Who really is left behind?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2009, 2010, or 2011? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?