Matthew 19:24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Of course, that verse is pretty incomprehensible. What is it exactly that makes the rich so bad?
The situation gets worse when you consider these verses:
Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
Matthew 7:14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Apparently, it's not just the rich who have a problem. Everybody has a problem.
It's helpful to remember that the kingdom of heaven (God) is actually on Earth, not heaven. The return of Jesus is about the establishment of a government called kingdom of heaven (God). Who shall be worthy to enter this kingdom?
On the day Jesus touches down to Earth, who is there to greet him?
Most of the planet has already been wiped out. Everybody has been made to take the mark of the beast or die. There is literally only a token amount of Christians hiding out in the wilderness.
"The Process" is the Punishment
The police and justice department sometimes use "the process" as the punishment. They know they'll lose, but you are going to have to pay thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, in order to defend yourself. Just going through it is the punishment, even if you win.
In the process (over decades) leading up to the return of Jesus, there will be harvests (nuclear wars), the fake Jesus (false prophet) and the mark. By the time Jesus returns, he won't have a lot of work to do in separating the sheep from the goats. Most people are dead. Everybody with the mark is a goat. There are a few hundred thousand sheep, maybe a million, scattered around the planet. The process automatically sorted everybody even before the arrival of Jesus.
Now you can see why everybody has a problem. But what about the rich?
When the harvests come you'll need to get out of the way. You'll need to pay attention to geopolitical events, and when you hear rumors of nuclear war directed at your land, you'll need to leave. Eventually, you'll need to end up in a second-world or third-world nation. If you come from a rich land then you are never going to leave. You will think it is better to die than leave. But your death will be unfavorable.
Rich lands would include the West and Japan, and probably other nations like South Korea and Taiwan. These are all at grave risk of harvests (big wars). Would any of those people like to move to a second-world or third-world nation? Not many.
Matthew 25 seems to cover a lot of this. When the harvests come the vast majority of Christians won't get out of the way and just die along with everyone else. This is the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. The lazy servant is killed by a harvest when he wouldn't get of the way.
Matthew 25:30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Note the harvest mentioned here:
Matthew 25:26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?
That refers to the harvesting of the weeds. If you don't get out of the way then you get harvested too.
Just so we are clear on the meaning of harvest. Isaiah 17 refers to the obliteration of Damascus. It includes a reference to harvest:
Isaiah 17:5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain, gathering the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
In conclusion, someone rich probably means someone from a rich country. They will refuse to avoid the harvests and just die. Note that currently America is experiencing threats of nuclear war from both Russia and China.
Of course, that verse is pretty incomprehensible. What is it exactly that makes the rich so bad?
The situation gets worse when you consider these verses:
Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
Matthew 7:14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Apparently, it's not just the rich who have a problem. Everybody has a problem.
It's helpful to remember that the kingdom of heaven (God) is actually on Earth, not heaven. The return of Jesus is about the establishment of a government called kingdom of heaven (God). Who shall be worthy to enter this kingdom?
On the day Jesus touches down to Earth, who is there to greet him?
Most of the planet has already been wiped out. Everybody has been made to take the mark of the beast or die. There is literally only a token amount of Christians hiding out in the wilderness.
"The Process" is the Punishment
The police and justice department sometimes use "the process" as the punishment. They know they'll lose, but you are going to have to pay thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, in order to defend yourself. Just going through it is the punishment, even if you win.
In the process (over decades) leading up to the return of Jesus, there will be harvests (nuclear wars), the fake Jesus (false prophet) and the mark. By the time Jesus returns, he won't have a lot of work to do in separating the sheep from the goats. Most people are dead. Everybody with the mark is a goat. There are a few hundred thousand sheep, maybe a million, scattered around the planet. The process automatically sorted everybody even before the arrival of Jesus.
Now you can see why everybody has a problem. But what about the rich?
When the harvests come you'll need to get out of the way. You'll need to pay attention to geopolitical events, and when you hear rumors of nuclear war directed at your land, you'll need to leave. Eventually, you'll need to end up in a second-world or third-world nation. If you come from a rich land then you are never going to leave. You will think it is better to die than leave. But your death will be unfavorable.
Rich lands would include the West and Japan, and probably other nations like South Korea and Taiwan. These are all at grave risk of harvests (big wars). Would any of those people like to move to a second-world or third-world nation? Not many.
Matthew 25 seems to cover a lot of this. When the harvests come the vast majority of Christians won't get out of the way and just die along with everyone else. This is the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. The lazy servant is killed by a harvest when he wouldn't get of the way.
Matthew 25:30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Note the harvest mentioned here:
Matthew 25:26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?
That refers to the harvesting of the weeds. If you don't get out of the way then you get harvested too.
Just so we are clear on the meaning of harvest. Isaiah 17 refers to the obliteration of Damascus. It includes a reference to harvest:
Isaiah 17:5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain, gathering the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
In conclusion, someone rich probably means someone from a rich country. They will refuse to avoid the harvests and just die. Note that currently America is experiencing threats of nuclear war from both Russia and China.
