Is Y2K Mentioned in the Bible?

by Bob Anes

Unless one lives in complete isolation, just about everybody living in Canada and the USA has by now heard about the computer "Millennium Bug," also known as Y2K, which is computer-speak for Year 2000. When the clock rolls over at midnight on December 31, from 1999 to 2000, many (especially older) computers, which are programmed in two digits, will see "00" and, as before, put "19" in front of them. These computers will either do their calculations as if it were January 1, 1900, or be so confused that they will shut down.

What will this mean in our society, which is unthinkable without computers? Opinions range from "This is all hype" to "This will be the end of the world." The truth, as usual, will probably be somewhere in the middle. The reaction from a (mostly un-informed) public also ranges from "Nothing I can do about it" to "Head for the hills." To those who think this is much to do about nothing, let me ask you a question: The five major banks in Canada have spent about $ 200 million EACH to deal with this problem. How many banks do you know that spend money on "Nothing"? Governments and business have been working on the problem, and it now appears that Canada and the United States are among the best prepared countries in the world. There may well be a few glitches in the economy here and there, but no major disasters in the form of power outages or bank failures are expected. Whatever is going to happen, or not happen, those who have some knowledge of Bible Prophecy are wondering if Y2K is mentioned in the Bible. The short answer is "NO," at least not directly.

Why is there so much confusion about Bible prophesy?

Before going into that however, let’s talk about Bible prophecy, which is completely ignored by some and fascinates others. Why the wide differences, even among sincere Bible-believing Christians? About one quarter of the Bible is prophecy, and I doubt if God would want us to waste our time on things that are not important. Many prophets, even Jesus Himself, talk about the last days, so we can’t just brush it aside. "Prophecy did not come in old time by the will of men; but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." states 2 Peter 1:21.

There are two major prophets of the end times, Daniel in the Old Testament and the apostle John with the book of Revelation in the New Testament. As one might expect, even though they are separated by centuries, they are writing about the same events and run parallel. The key to the widely differing opinions among Christians can be found in Daniel 12:4 where we read, "Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book to the time of the end, when many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." What Daniel is instructed to do is to "encrypt" these prophesies, so that they will not be understood until the end times. Why? Because these prophecies would not be relevant until then.

Another clue is given by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 24:32-34 where He talks about the parable of the fig tree and says that "the generation which will see these things will not pass until He returns." In prophecy, the fig tree stands for the Nation of Israel, and we know that, against all odds, Israel was restored as a Nation in May 1948.

The restoration of Israel started the clock ticking!

We can now understand that until Israel once again became a nation in 1948, Bible prophecy about the end times did not make much sense. But there were Bible scholars who recognized that when this event, which was predicted by Jesus, took place, it was the start of the unfolding of the end-time prophecy. On the other hand, there were (and still are) Christians who found it difficult to accept things that were completely new to them and different from what they had been taught all their lives. For many of these, it would not be relevant anyway, as the majority of these Christians, who include my parents, would be called home long before the return of Jesus, and hence would not have to deal with the interpretation of the signs preceding His return.

But the following generation would, and God called one man in particular to write books about Bible prophecy in non-biblical terms, which ordinary people, who may or may not be familiar with the Bible, could understand. That man was Hal Lindsey, author of The Late Great Planet Earth, a book that is second only to the Bible in the number of languages in which it was translated, and copies sold. Through this book, many Christians had their eyes opened to end-time prophecy: they could now understand the significance of the words recorded by Daniel and John, who had the difficult task of describing 20th and 21st century events in the language of their days!

I was not quite 16 years old when Israel became a nation, and although I was not aware of the biblical significance at the time, even as a boy I always believed that I would live to see the return of Jesus. When I read The Late Great Planet Earth, it opened my eyes to much of what I had never understood, and many other people had the same experience. In February 1999, I heard about a one day Y2K/Prophecy conference in Toronto, where not just one, but TWO men of God, Hal Lindsey (an American) and Grant Jeffrey (a Canadian), would be talking about these things. Both are well known best selling Christian authors, and when I heard about this conference, I could not wait to register. Never in my life did I even dream that God would give me the opportunity to stand within a few feet of these men and be able to talk with them!

Both of them agreed that Y2K is not mentioned in the Bible; however, Y2K could well be the event that sets the events described by the prophets in motion. Personally I do not expect much more than a glitch here and there in North America, but the same can not be said for much of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Since we now live in a global economy, Y2K could well be the event that leads to One World government and the cash-less society, both of which are predicted in the book of Revelation. Up until recently, much of what is predicted sounded unbelievable because the required technology had not yet been invented. That is no longer true: today all this technology is available. Maranatha.

Bob Anes is a member of The Pioneer editorial committee.