Questions for futurists

[mkgal1]

QUESTIONS FOR FUTURISTS WRITTEN BY Charles Meek :

1. Why have Christians made failed predictions about the end of the world for 2000 years?

2. If time means nothing to God, why does God constantly use time-restricted statements about the fulfillment of prophecy—such as: must shortly take place, at hand, near, quickly, soon, last times, last hour, last days, this generation, etc.?

3. If “no one knows the day or the hour,” why did Jesus frequently insist that his PAROUSIA (Coming)—and indeed the fulfillment of all prophecy—would be fulfilled while those living in the first century were still alive (Matthew 10:23; Matthew 16:27-28; Mathew 26:64; Luke 21:22, 28, 32; Revelation 1:1-3; Revelation 22:6, 12, 20)? Was Jesus simply wrong? If so, can we trust Him on other things He said?

4. If the teaching that one day is a 1000 yrs, and a 1000 years is as a day to the Lord. . . DOES THAT MEAN?—1000 years in Revelation are a single 24 hour day (2 Peter 3; Revelation 20)?

5. If any of the New Testament was written after AD 70, why is there no mention anywhere in the New Testament IN THE PAST TENSE about the incredible events surrounding the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in that year?

6. If the Great Tribulation is still future to us, why did Jesus tell the first century Christians that they could avoid it by fleeing to the mountains (Matthew 24:16; 21)? And why did the Apostle John tell his readers a few years later that THEY were in the tribulation (Revelation 1:9)?

7. If the book of Revelation is for us today, why would John write to the seven churches if it had nothing to do with them? Why would John torture these first-century Christians with impossible and intricate symbolic labyrinths that applied only to people 2,000 years later? Why does Revelation say some 30 times that the events MUST be fulfilled SOON? (Examples: Revelation 1:1-3; 22:6, 12, 20)

8. Why does Hebrews 10:37 say that in a VERY VERY (“very” is there twice in the Greek) LITTLE WHILE Jesus would return and not delay? Were the writer of Hebrews and the other biblical writers that expressed the same thing FALSE PROPHETS?

9. If the biblical “last days” are in the 21st century, why does Peter and the writer of Hebrews both say the last days were in their time (Acts 2:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-2)?

10. If the biblical “last days” started in the first century, but continue to this day, why did Peter say the end of all things was at hand, and the judgment was about to begin when he was writing (1 Peter 4:7, 17)? Given Jesus’ condemnation of the Jews of his day, which He said would be in their generation (Matthew 23:29-39), isn’t it logical that this is the Great Judgment of which the New Testament speaks?

11. John said it was the “last hour” (1 John 2:18) when he was writing. Does that mean that its fulfillment is now 17 million hours late?

12. If the GREAT COMMISSION is not yet fulfilled, why did Paul say it had been fulfilled when he was writing (Roman 1:8; 10:18; Colossians 1:5-6, 23)?

13. If “heaven and earth” have not yet passed away, does that mean that every jot and tittle of the law is still in effect (Matthew 5:17-18)?

14. If the NEW JERUSALEM is a future physical location, how is it possible that the Hebrews in the first century were already there (Hebrews 12:22)?

***Just for clarification. I do believe that Jesus will come again and that we still await the physical resurrection of our bodies - just as all partial preterists believe.

 

[Douggg]

Regarding the general approach to end times bible prophecy,
all of end times bible prophecy has been presented to man in segments. Each segment only contains partial information. The segments may cover the entire 7 years, or maybe only half of the 7 years, or maybe prior to the 7 years and end of the 7 years.

Daniel 7:19-27 , for example, is a segment, covers the little horn, his beginning and his end. But it doesn't mention the abomination of desolation, for example.

Matthew 24:14-31 is another segment. But it doesn't say anything though about the vial judgements, for example.

Revelation 11:3-11:13 is also segment. About the two witnesses.

Revelation 12:6-17 is also a segment. Addressing specifically Israel and the Jews.

Those are just some examples. All of the end time bible prophecies have been presented that way to man - in segments.

Within each segments there appears to be q chronologically driven order given. But then we have to figure out how that information fits in conjunction with the information in the other segments.

 

[mkgal1]

Within each segments there appears to be q chronologically driven order given. But then we have to figure out how that information fits in conjunction with the information in the other segments.

Which question is this an answer to, Douggg?

 

[pdudgeon]

1. A.because they don't have enough information to match the events to the prophesy.
B. They haven't studied Revelations.
C. They are impatient.

2.Time is relevant for us, not for God, who is outside of both time and space. The time references are mainly there to give us hope and assurance that there is an end to suffering, a hope for deliverance, and a promise that we won't be forgotten.

3. If you stop and think, you will realize that it's for our PROTECTION, and also so that we won't be deceived or led astray to follow a false prophet. And there have been some of those in history already.

4.Well since there is no time in heaven, and God is not restricted by time Himself, He has to use a description that relates to our world, and speaks of an infinite amount of time. so He compares a thousand years to a day.

 

[pdudgeon]

5. Once again, it was for the protection of the Early Christians this time.
So to write down the date when Rome would be destroyed would put a marker on the Early Christians. As it was, enough of them were fed to the lions and had their houses burned down, or were crucified and then burned like torches.

6. Because it was a sanctuary city, and because they were being persecuted.

7, 8, and 9 all deal with time again. But what the First century Christians dealt with in being persecuted would set the stage for persecution that continued to this day and beyond.

10. Because it was an on-going judgement/persecution here on Earth by the enemies of Christ, but it would come to an end, that a Remnant would be spared. And no, it wasn't "The Great Judgement". That takes place in Heaven.

(to be continued)

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[pdudgeon]

14.In this question, you've combined all of the previous errors into one. Sorry about that.

First of all the Author of Hebrews is writing to Jewish Christians of his day. This does NOT refer to the New Jerusalem.
The reason he is writing is that they are in danger of slipping back into being Jews again. So they are still living in the original Jerusalem, and not the new Jerusalem.
The purpose of the book of Hebrews is to both contrast between the old and the new, and also to renew their hope in Christ.

 

[dailyprayerwarrior]

Thanks for posting these questions!

1. Because the Bible says no one knows the end of the world.

2. Time is relevant to us. The Jewish calendar is also incredibly important in endtime prophecy which is obviously tied to tracking time.

3. Taken out of context. God cannot lie so there's something deeper occurring in those scriptures. It's prophetic/future, not present day.

4. Likely a pun. Not in the sense of being funny but a play on words. Perhaps to differentiate how we view time and how God views time.

5. The Word was written by men as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God didn't tell them to write in the past tense. The Bible is an incredible book written by 40 different authors who didn't write what they did in a group. They independently wrote what they did yet it all ties together. Awesome!

6. This is prophetic and is not written to the first century Christians. This is written for the Jews. When they see the antichrist start to mess with their temple they are to flee and to flee fast because it's about to get ugly.

John was talking about being in tribulation not in THE tribulation.

7. The letters to the seven churches was actually written by Jesus. John penned it of course. And there were actually 7 real churches that existed at that time if you do some digging. He likely talked about things being fulfilled soon because in the light of the duration of the existence of man compared to the AGES to come, it is such a small duration.

8. It is soon. It is closer to happening today than it has ever been. They were not false prophets.

9. The "Last Days" is a play on words. It's a duration of time that started some 2000 years ago. To us it may seem like a long period of time, but to God, again, it's a short period of time. Since the Bible was written by men as they were led by the Holy Spirit, He is God too and He will have the authors describe things as He sees it.

10. See my answer in #9. To God, the endtimes is short. No, we have not seen the great judgement. We, the Church, will be in Heaven. Revelation 1-3 is for the Church. We will be in Heaven watching Revelation 4+ roll out. Thank God.

11. Again, God uses puns. Plays on words (not to be funny). To God it may be that the time is so short that its like a "last hour" since the Spirit of God had men write the Bible (2 Pet 1:21).

12. The great commission has not been fulfilled yet or the Church would be raptured. Of course, that is, if one believes in the rapture.

13. Every part of the Bible will be fulfilled. A jot and tittle means like the crossing of every "t" and the dotting of every "i". When this age is finally wrapped up, everything prophesied in the Bible that is to be fulfilled, will be fulfilled. Powerful!

14. They were not there. The New Jerusalem is yet to come down to earth - somehow. I certainly don't know how but the first century Hebrews were not there yet.

This is just my two cents. I am probably wrong on several accounts but I had fun wracking my brain as to what I believe the answers might be.

Bless you!

 

[AlexDTX]

***Just for clarification. I do believe that Jesus will come again and that we still await the physical resurrection of our bodies - just as all partial preterists believe.

Good to know.

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm