Airing on The CW, Fridays at 9:00pm ET, this suspenseful action drama series follows several characters affected by a mysterious object that plummeted to Earth and exploded in a blinding flash, sending out a shock wave that briefly stops their hearts. As they regain consciousness, suddenly life takes on a new and frightening reality. Most mysterious of all is the figure known only as The Man, who has shown up after the sudden event. He may or may not be the Devil.

The pilot kind of creeped me out. Of course, that’s the draw for many about a supernatural good vs. evil show. The creepier the better. What I found interesting about this new CBS series and several movies about to hit the silver screen are the subjects of end times, of Armageddon, of man’s extinction. Recently, the Bible’s Revelation was reenacted by a major studio (Left Behind) as well as by every independent faith-based film company meaning to spread the gospel. But mostly, these films aren’t so much suggesting the need for religious development as they are outlets for sci-fi enthusiasts enthralled by nature taking revenge upon mankind via gigantic floods and off-the-richter-scale earthquakes. Also about to roar into theaters, a new Mad Max where only the strongest and fastest have managed to survive. These movies are mainly about action and studio CGI effects.

Still, there’s a lot of these end times fueled adventures coming our way. Is Hollywood sensing some sort of destruction about to befall man?

Well, they might just be right. Now, no man knows when Christ will return (Matthew 24:36), but we are told to look for signs (Matthew 24:7, Luke 21:11). And there are signs. While most of our nation’s citizenry is focused on equal rights and T-ball games, messages from God’s Word are becoming apparent to those willing to glance up from their handheld communicators and look about. Is it time for us to be packing our spiritual bags?

My question concerning The Messengers is just how much of God’s Word are we going to get from a series made by CBS and the Warner Bros.? The first installment was about something from the sky crashing into the desert, its sonic blast affecting several sensitive souls who drop dead, then spring back to life with invisible wings, no less. It’s very violent, and switches between being unnerving to just being irritating (a few too many questions raised before we’re giving any clarification about what this show is really all about).

As with most end-times-themed action/dramas, this program is more about people undergoing challenges than biblical lessons being taught. Ultimately, it’s a TV series dedicated to entertaining us. How successful or just annoying it is has yet to be established. For me, that first episode didn’t cause an interest in sticking around for the next one. (But I’m not much into television series these days.) And when it comes to end-times productions, I’m skeptical that any TV series called The Messengers is going to eventually proclaim Christ as man’s Savior. That said, perhaps it will cause people to read the final chapters of the Revelation. And then read the rest.