Zager and Evans: "In The Year 2525"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew01FGfOZdE

Being a true science fiction fan, I loved this song. Though I hoped God would show up long before 2525 A.D., I still loved this one-hit-wonder group's futuristic song from the year 1969. Listen to it here.

Nobody knows when Christ will return. Even so, each generation of Christians has hoped they would be the ones to see Acts 1:10 and 11 (Bible in Basic English) fulfilled in their lifetimes. "And while they (the disciples) were looking up to heaven with great attention, two men came to them, in white clothing, And said, 'O men of Galilee, why are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come again, in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.'"

Before that, Christ told the disciples it was none of their business about future events which they didn't need to know. Acts 1:6 and 7 (BBE) reads, "So, when they were together, they said to him, 'Lord, will you at this time give back the kingdom to Israel?' And he said to them, 'It is not for you to have knowledge of the time and the order of events which the Father has kept in his control.'"

So what do we do? Christ spoke a parable in Luke 19:12 and 13 (BBE) which should be our instruction. "So he said, 'A certain man of high birth went into a far-away country to get a kingdom for himself, and to come back. And he sent for ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds and said to them, "Do business with this till I come."'"

For those concerned about rewards, they're in good hands. Luke 14:13 and 14 (BBE) reads, "But when you give a feast, send for the poor and the blind and those who are broken in body: And you will have a blessing, because they will not be able to give you any payment, and you will get your reward when the upright come back from the dead."

ManfredMann: "Machines"

This band and its leader were popular during the British Invasion of the sixties. They had a following in the UK but they achieved only a few hits in North America. But Manfred Mann wasn't content with love songs so he penned this science fiction song about machines running our lives. Listen to it here.

It seems odd to me that God had to impose rest on the Israelites. After all, today's people feel that two days off is too short. Even so, rest is necessary for any people group.

Exodus 20:9 and 10 (Bible in Basic English) reads, "On six days do all your work: But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on that day you are to do no work, you or your son or your daughter, your man-servant or your woman-servant, your cattle or the man from a strange country who is living among you:"

So God set one day in seven for people to worship him and enjoy respite from their labours. But the Pharisees took the word "rest" to extremes. They invented so many regulations on every little detail of people's lives that the Sabbath became a burden.

One example of this was recorded in Luke 13:14 (BBE) when Jesus healed a woman who couldn't stand upright. "And the ruler of the Synagogue was angry because Jesus had made her well on the Sabbath, and he said to the people, 'There are six days in which men may do work: so come on those days to be made well, and not on the Sabbath.'"

Jesus had the perfect answer to those rule bound leaders when the disciples plucked some grain heads. Mark 2:27 (BBE) says, "And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath;'"

So enjoy the God-given reward for your work. As King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:22 (BBE), "So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work--because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?"

If Christ hasn't given us rest from this evil world by Saturday, I hope to post about the empires of this world and how they'll all fall.