Is the end closer than we think!

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Patmosman_sga

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Originally posted by Hoonbaba


Hi Donald,

To my understanding, you hold onto a view of Revelation that teaches that most end times prophecy was already fulfilled, similar to a partial preterist view of eschatology, which teaches that Christ will return in the future. Is this true?

-Jason

He sounds a lot like Kenneth Gentry to me: somewhat confused and confusing. Such a view appears, IMHO, to be built around the assumption that holding out for a "future return" of Christ is all that is necessary to keep one's eschatological views within the bounds of acceptable orthodoxy.

To get to the true Apostolic teaching, however, we must move beyond such labels as "preterist" and "futurist" and look at what we call "the eschatological hope" holistically, keeping our focus squarely upon the one decisive act of God in human history: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24) is as good a starting place as any. Let us look, in particular, at vv. 29-31:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Matthew, following the precedent of the Old Testament prophets, uses apocalyptic imagery to describe such "the coming of the Son of Man" after "the tribulation of those days" to "gather his elect from the four winds.” But what is this actually describing? The distinguished New Testament scholar N.T. Wright, in his book The Millennium Myth, (Westminster/John Knox 1999, pp. 41-42) addresses a popular misconception concerning this “coming.”

The central feature of the hope held out in the Bible is of course the personal presence of Jesus himself. Many Christians, not least those who tend towards apocalypticism, have reduced this feature of the hope to the belief that one day Jesus will appear, flying downwards from the sky, perhaps riding on a cloud. This event, the “second coming”, is in fact the event for which many of the groups who see great significance in the year 2000 are getting ready, not least those going off to Jerusalem to witness it.

However, most of the biblical passages that are quoted in support of the idea of Jesus returning by flying downwards on a cloud are best seen as classic examples of apocalyptic language, rich biblical metaphor. They are not to be taken with wooden literalness. “The son of man coming on the clouds”, in Mark 13:26 and elsewhere, does not refer to Jesus’ return to earth, but to Jesus’ vindication, “coming” from earth to heaven, to be enthroned as Lord of the world. And the one occasion when Paul uses the language of descent and ascent (1 Thessalonians 4:16) is almost certainly to be taken in the same way, as a vivid metaphorical description of the wider reality he describes at more length in Romans and 1 Corinthians.

Does this mean abandoning belief in the “second coming”? Certainly not. It means taking seriously the whole biblical picture, instead of highlighting, and misinterpreting, one part of it. The problem has been, in the last two centuries in particular, that certain texts have been read from within the worldview of dualistic apocalypticism, and have thus produced a less than fully biblical picture, with Jesus flying around like a spaceman and the physical world being destroyed. And if we really suppose—as, alas, many seem to—that this will be the meaning of the Millennium, we will miss the point entirely. Rather, the Bible points to God’s new world, where heaven and earth are fully integrated at last, and whose central feature is the personal, loving and healing presence of Jesus himself, the living embodiment of the one true God as well as the prototype of full liberated humanity. When we talk of Jesus’ “coming”, the reality to which we point is his personal presence within God’s new creaton.

So, if we are to fully understand the reality Jesus speaks of in the Olivet Discourse, we must, as Wright suggests, take seriously “the whole biblical picture.” In so doing, we will find that the often enigmatic apocalyptic language of the synoptics is interpreted more plainly within the canon itself.

John (who gave us his fill of apocalyptic with Revelation) states in clear language in his Gospel the exact means by which Jesus gathers his elect:

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish." He did not say this of his own accord, being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. (John 11:49-52)

It would appear that John equates Jesus' death with "gather[ing] into one the children of God who are scattered abroad." Paul agrees, proclaiming that the cross is God’s instrument of reconciliation:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility." (Ephesians 2:13-16)

But if the cross is the instrument through which Christ "gathers" his elect, what is the purpose of Matthew's apocalyptic imagery concerning something that, contextually, appears to be describing something that happens after the crucifixion? A careful reading of Matthew reveals that he is not ignorant of the significance of the cross in bringing "all these things" about:

And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, the were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!" (Matthew 27:50-54)

Luke, also, in an even more explicit manner, connects the cross with the cataclysmic "events" spoken of by Matthew and the other synoptics:

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. (Luke 23:44-46)

(It is significant to note that he "curtain of the temple," guarding access to the Holy of Holies, was a tapestry resembling the stars of heaven.)

Understanding the cross as the center of God's redemptive plan is key to understanding the eschatological prophecies concerning "the end of the age." For, in Christ, that "end" has come. Paul even goes so far as to equate Christ with "the end of the ages" (1 Corinthians 10:11). But history continues under the long shadow of the cross until it has served God's purpose in gathering all his people into one. For everything that God has spoken forth into being will endure for as long as it is accomplishing that for which he created it:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Meanwhile, a "new" temple is being built, not of stones and mortar but, as Paul continues in his epistle to the Ephesians:

And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:17-22)

This "temple" is, at one and the same time, a finished product (established from the foundation of the world) and a work in progress, building both upon and toward the ultimate victory of God in Christ.

The big transition which takes place in the midst of history after the cross, however, is that any and every "event" which takes place from now on is understood by looking back to Calvary, whereas previously (that is, in the Old Testament), all such "events" looked forward to it.

The fall of Jerusalem is the first major "event" to be understood from such a post-Calvary perspective. If one is looking for a precise event or series of events which bring the Olivet Discourse to fulfillment within history, one need look no further than the fall of Jerusalem some forty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Indeed, the fall of Jerusalem points us to the future, the consummation of the ages. But it does so by pointing us to an event which has already happened within human history: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For in this one decisive act, God has revealed for all time his will and purpose for humankind and, indeed, for all of creation. "All things" are to be restored to the splendor they had "in the beginning." The Risen Christ himself stands as the absolute, indisputable proof of this reality which transcends time and space, connecting our "present" with both the "past" and the "future." The Episcopal scholar George R. Sumner, in his essay "Turtles All the Way Down: Did Jesus Rise from the Grave?" states it well:

The entrance of God's eternity into time is expressed in the New Testament in terms of the invasion, or the anticipation, of God's kingdom. It prefigures here and now the consummation of creation under the manifest lordship of God. For this reason, in the twentieth century theology has been characterized in large part as reflection on Christian eschatology. In other words, the rethinking of time and eternity consequent to the resurrection must take the form of a rethinking of the relationship of the present (and past) to the future. And this rethinking is incumbent on Christians only because Jesus Christ, who lived an earthly life and died an earthly death, is now alive, the New Testament says, in the very mode in which the whole world will exist in the kingdom of God. (Emphasis added)

There are countless other "events" which have taken place since the fall of Jerusalem which have, for one all too brief moment, caused the whole world (or a significant portion of it) to be reminded of God's eternal truth, established from the foundation of the world and made plain in the death and resurrection of Christ: Whenever we are confronted with the harsh reality of our sinfulness and its devastating consequences, we cannot seek refuge in a temple made by human hands. We must go "back to the future," to Calvary, to be crucified with Christ, and find there the only path God has provided for redemption, restoration and resurrection.

What, then, is "the sign of the Son of Man?" It is the cross, shining with a splendor that outlasts the sun, the moon and the stars of heaven, casting its long shadow over the whole of human history, gathering God's elect and reconciling all things to God in Christ.

Vain speculations about “the end of the world” do not serve the kingdom of God well. Good stewards of the mysteries of God will guard well the grand depositum of faith bequeathed to us by the Apostles, who received it from our Lord himself. Central to the proclamation of the kingdom of God is the cross of Jesus Christ which is, at one and the same time, the sign and symbol of both the suffering servant and the glorified Son of Man who is forevermore King of kings and Lord of lords.
 
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food4thought

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"Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation" Mark 3:28-29.

" And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." Rev 13:16-18

"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Rev 14:11

I don't think we will be able to take the mark without knowing exactly what we are doing. Read the context of the passages in Revelation dealing with the mark. It will be closely linked with the beast, his image, and false worship. There will be an angel proclaiming a warning not to take the mark (Rev14:6-11), and most likely many of the seal and/or trumpet judgements will have already happened.

I would not personally take a chip in my body for alot of different reasons, but I don't think we need to worry that we might accidentally take the mark.
 
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Patmosman_sga

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In Hebrew and Greco-Roman culture, the forehead was the seat of perception, where one's inner being was shaped. The right hand was the seat of action, where one gave outward expression to their inner orientation. To have the "mark" on one's forehead means to have one's inner being shaped by the nature of the Beast, namely, blasphemy against God. To have the "mark" on one's right hand is to give outward expression to that inward orientation, that is, to manifest in one's actions the Beast's blasphemy.

The "Beast" is any entity, secular or ecclesiastical, which is corrupted by the fallen order and sets itself up in opposition to God and God's people, demanding the worship and homage due only to God.

In other words, we must be constantly vigilant because we can indeed "take the mark without knowing exactly what we are doing."
 
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rollinTHUNDER

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Originally posted by Patmosman_sga
In Hebrew and Greco-Roman culture, the forehead was the seat of perception, where one's inner being was shaped. The right hand was the seat of action, where one gave outward expression to their inner orientation. To have the "mark" on one's forehead means to have one's inner being shaped by the nature of the Beast, namely, blasphemy against God. To have the "mark" on one's right hand is to give outward expression to that inward orientation, that is, to manifest in one's actions the Beast's blasphemy.

The "Beast" is any entity, secular or ecclesiastical, which is corrupted by the fallen order and sets itself up in opposition to God and God's people, demanding the worship and homage due only to God.

In other words, we must be constantly vigilant because we can indeed "take the mark without knowing exactly what we are doing."

Get a clue. How would that stop anyone from buying or selling???
It appears you have more questions than answers. Someone that believes in your view of eschatology has to explain away too many things in the bible. Why believe any of it, if you don't believe all of it?? Just one clue : The Bible is not a Fairy Tale, and we are having lots of problems with you trying to force your view that requires no faith, into a forum that is designed for those of us who choose to have faith in something that we cannot see. That's what faith is all about. The problem comes in when people like yourself try to understand spiritual things with your human mind, and because you can't see it, you pollute the entire forum with your unbelief. Why do you insist on remaining in a forum that wasn't designed for you?? Don't you ever feel like a fish out of water, or a car out of gas??
 
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Patmosman_sga

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Originally posted by rollinTHUNDER


Get a clue. How would that stop anyone from buying or selling???
It appears you have more questions than answers. Someone that believes in your view of eschatology has to explain away too many things in the bible. Why believe any of it, if you don't believe all of it?? Just one clue : The Bible is not a Fairy Tale, and we are having lots of problems with you trying to force your view that requires no faith, into a forum that is designed for those of us who choose to have faith in something that we cannot see. That's what faith is all about. The problem comes in when people like yourself try to understand spiritual things with your human mind, and because you can't see it, you pollute the entire forum with your unbelief. Why do you insist on remaining in a forum that wasn't designed for you?? Don't you ever feel like a fish out of water, or a car out of gas??

You are truly a piece of work. I guess I just need a good laugh every now and then. I would suggest that the one who needs to be reminded that the Bible is not a fairy tale is you.
 
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food4thought

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Just a few things I think don't fit in with your interpretation. Please don't take offense.

[[GLOW=darkred]]"Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, " Men of Galilee, ehy do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." Acts 1:9-11[/GLOW]
[GLOW=silver]
"And he carried me away to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal." Rev 21:10-11
[/GLOW]

Was this fullfilled in AD 70?

Or Revelation 16? And why would Jesus depict the destruction and death in AD 70 as "the coming of the Son of Man"?

I heard it said once that if you tortue the facts long enough, they will confess to anything. It is much better to take what is said at face value than to start spiritualizing or turning Gods clear warnings and promises into metaphors.

A list of scripture dealing with the coming judgement of fire: Psalm 97:2-6; 102:25-26; Isaiah 34:4; 51:6; and 66:15-16; Micah 1:3-4; 2Peter 3:10-12.

A list dealing with the new creation: Psalm 102:26; Isaiah 65:17-19; Romans 8:20-21; 2Peter 3:13; and Revelation 21-22.

None of these prophecies have been fullfilled in history. All have to do with a judgement yet to come, followed by the physical reign of Jesus on Earth Rev 20:4-6.

Has Satan been bound during the last period of history Rev 20:1-3? Have the believers in Christ been caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord 1Thes 4:17?

Just 100 years ago people thought the regathering of Israel to their homeland would have to be metaphorical (Ezek 37), because allmost no one believed they would ever return to Jerusalem in any organized way. Yet today there they stand, also in fullfillment of Zech 12:1-3.

Again and again God has shown His faithfullness to fullfill His word, yet we still seem to have a hard time taking what He says literally.

To say that the mark is just a metaphor means that we as believers could unwillingly condemn ourselves to eternal judgement by misunderstanding some mysterious riddle. That is not a God of justice or love. To say that there is no millenium also makes God out to be a liar. If there is no rapture, then God also lied in saying that no man can know the day or the hour, because we can know the day. From the time of the abomination that causes desolation to the return of Christ we can count the days as listed in Daniel 12:11-12.

Keep reading and studying, and may God bless you!
 
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rollinTHUNDER

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Hello food4thought,
Welcome and Amen to your post!! You are a pleasant surprise to this forum today. As you can tell, some here only come for a good laugh, not realizing that they themselves are fulfilling prophecy. They are the scoffers of the last days. But I see them as having a different motive than they are willing to admit. They are here to divide the brethren. Who knows, maybe they are jealous of the faith that we have??
 
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food4thought

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I won't guess as to their motives. I do hope that my faith provokes them to jealousy, leading to an increase in theirs.

[GLOW=green]"Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature." 1Cor 14:20[/GLOW]


Shalom :wave: Mike
 
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postrib

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...then God also lied in saying that no man can know the day or the hour, because we can know the day...
Note that Jesus didn't say "no one will know the day" (future tense) but "no one knows the day" (present tense in translation, perfect tense in Greek). Note the exact correlation of the phrase and tense of "knoweth no man" in Matthew 24:36 and 1 Corinthians 2:11-12: "Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God." See also: "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth... and he will shew you things to come" (John 16:13).
 
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Do we realize that the issue we are dealing with is the unleashed power of Satan and the unquenchable wrath of God. 100 years ago no person would believe we are doing what we are doing now. The fact that Christian influence has greatly been hindered over the last 2 centuries leads us to know that the ignorance of the world could usher in a cashless system. Just look at electronic bill paying, deposits, and internet purchases.
 
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celtic_crusader

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I gotta wonder , If this mark of the beast is a litral mark , then are all the things said in revelations litral???

 

EG. straight after rev ch 13 ,within the same context and explination of the beasts mark, in the first verse of ch 14 , are the 144000 (12 multiplied) isrealite saints , is that a litral number and then we would have to wonder , is god going to litraly wright his name on there foreheads???? are they litraly 12000 from the 12 tribes of Isreal , considering 10 tribes are extinct??????

Revelation 14
<SUP>1</SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.


I have often wondered why people take something that is only mentioned in revelations and make huge doctrines out of it???

Ya just gotta wonder???? :scratch:

&nbsp;

Celtic.
 
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Brian45

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I have heard it said , that when the time comes , a particular group of religious jews will have the understanding of the meaning of 666 and the mark on forehead and hand .

I sometimes wonder if this is more literal than spiritual , have a quick look at these :

http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/tefillin/ashkenaz.htm


http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Judaism/tefillin.html

In the book of revelation ,&nbsp; Gods two witnesses are thumping out there message&nbsp; from Jerusalem .

I wonder ?

&nbsp;

DANIEL&nbsp; 7

<SUP>25</SUP>He shall speak pompous words against the Most High,
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Shall persecute<SUP>[4]</SUP> the saints of the Most High,
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And shall intend to change times and law.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Then the saints shall be given into his hand
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For a time and times and half a time.

&nbsp;

The above verse is very interesting&nbsp; , change times and law of what ?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Could it be the times and law of the wearing of the tefillin / phylactery&nbsp; ?

<SUP></SUP>&nbsp;
 
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