Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[Darris McNeely] Last night in my home the world stopped. Not because of football, but
because of Downton Abbey. That's right. The third season of this BBC special has begun
airing on American PBS stations, and we watched the first two hours of season three last night.
In thinking about this, it's a fascinating story and of course people are caught up in
this, both in Great Britain and in the United States. It's a story of a country manor home
in England. The story begins in 1912 at the sinking of the Titanic, goes through World
War I. Now this third season, they are beginning into the year 1920.
It's the story of a family in a country home, the lord and the lady and their families,
and really a story of a way of life changing around all these characters in England and
the world, but primarily in the country home situation of England. And people at various
levels understand this, except it seems those at the highest levels of the family. The world
is changing. That whole style is changing and people can't see what is taking place.
And therein I think is a lesson for all of us who are engrossed and enthralled by this
story of England and that way of life, which has always been a captivating influence for
us Yanks here in America. But there's a larger story I think that is probably being woven
into this that all of us should probably take note about.
[Steve Myers] One of the interesting things is as you look back in history you can see
pivotal points in history where there was a hinge of where things were going to go,
what was going to happen. Some people were aware of it. They realized they were in the
midst of making history. And other times people had no clue what was on the horizon. And I
think therein is where part of the lesson comes from.
[Darris McNeely] The pivotal year in this story of Downton Abbey is 1914 because that's
the year World War I begins and it is with World War I that these changes that are already
beginning to ferment explode upon the scene - not just in England, but throughout the
world. And the world changes that began with the World War I and then ultimately World
War II are still with us today and impacting our world. But they were monumental changes
that began right here. Nobody could see them in 1913, just 100 years ago from today, the
year 2013. People couldn't see it then. Can people see any changes today that is going
to make a significant impact, especially when it comes to prophecy?
[Steve Myers] And I think that's where we have to step back. As we fast forward a hundred
years to today, are there things happening that maybe you're not aware of? Are there
prophetic things that have been spoken about that will impact the entire world in the very,
very near future? And of course the answer is absolutely yes. There is no doubt.
So, have you been studying your prophecy?
Do you know what Christ talked about when He talked about the end times and the times
we're going to be facing just ahead? In fact in Matthew chapter 24 there is this comparison
with Downton Abbey where He says, "For as in the days before the flood," this is in
Matthew 24:38, it says, "They were eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage
until the day that Noah entered the ark." So in a way, people had no clue what was going
on. And yet for us, for those who have a connection with God, have a relationship with God, who
understand Bible prophecy, we better be on our toes because in verse 39 it says, "They
did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of
the Son of man be." And of course right now people are eating and drinking. They're just
going on as though nothing matters.
[Darris McNeely] I think that's the connection. Christ was describing the world before the
flood. He was describing His world then. And He was also describing the world before the
coming of the Son of man. And that's probably the connection, or at least the lesson that
we should note as we get caught up in this very popular story, a fictional story of Downton
Abbey, but telling a very real story about people and about a time and a place that does
have some very interesting parallels to our world today and certainly in terms of the
themes of life and history and even prophecy as Christ brought out. Those things are with
us at this time.
So, enjoy the series. Understand the themes that are running behind it, but pause every
once in a while just to think about what are the lessons for us to learn today. And keep
in mind the words of Jesus here.
That's BT Daily. Join us next time.