There are many interpretations of eschatology. I believe God didn’t specify because he didn’t want people focusing on a date, but to work as though every day was the last. As you said the “end times” wasn’t mentioned by that term, but the other phrases were used. Daniel was told to seal up the book until the “time of the end” The SDAs believe the time of the end was begun by three historical events: the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the Papal captivity in 1798 and the Leonid meteor shower in 1833. The latter event coincided with an awakening of the studying of the prophetic books in the 1830’s and the rise of several Christian Sects.
Even today there are people like John Hagee who try and attach significance to events like the series of blood moon eclipses a few years ago.
I think the signs spoken of in the end times are more state of society signs than specific events. Will the ideas of hell spawned liberalism be dominant and bring in complete moral depravity and Christian persecution before Christ returns or will we be in a time of Christian sympathy as we are now with Jesus returning in relative peace?
I don’t believe God gave us a mystery to have to spend our time on earth trying to solve. In the almost 2000 years that’s passed since the writing of the New Covenant Scriptures, men have have attached their own opinions to these Scriptures and many ignore the time statements within the Scriptures.
Daniel 9:24 predicted:
The atonement for sin,
The cutting off of Messiah,
The making of reconciliation for iniquity,
For bringing in everlasting righteousness…
Isn’t this evident of fulfillment?
Romans 5:11 - Christ’s atonement
Cor. 5:18 - Christ accomplished reconciliation
Hebrews 9:26, Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself…Going into the Most Holy Place, Hebrews to establish His righteous reign - Hebrews 1:8 and 2 Peter 3:1234:
Jesus is the fulfillment of these words. He accomplished his mission in the first century.
Scripture was addressed to certain people when it was written. Jesus addressed the Jews. He did not teach any Gentiles. Paul’s letters were addressed to those early Saints living in first century cities. The writers of the New Covenant Scripture didn’t purport to write a book, much less a book of prophecy.
They are good for our learning, but they are not addressed to us.
One benchmark for me that precedes our Lord’s imminent return is the preaching of God’s two witnesses, their shutting up of the skies from rain and other plagues, their murder, their resurrection after three and a half days, and their being caught up into heaven. Rev. 11:3 -13.
I’ve never heard the two witnesses connected with shutting off the skies from rain. There are definitely going to be some major events like you mentioned, but as a pre- tribulation rapture guy, I don’t believe Christians will experience them.
There are differing beliefs on the two witnesses also. Adventists believe the two witnesses are the Old and New Testaments, who were “killed” during the French Revolution. Many believe they are Moses and Elijah. I lean towards them being Enoch and Elijah though any of them would be good guesses.
What if Christ returning wasn’t a single event…but an individual event that happened each time an individual’s time on earth was done. Christ came for each of us to take us home, or to judge us each individually for the life we lived and the sins we made. What if it isn’t a catastrophic event as we have all been lead to believe, but an even that happens to each Christian at the time of his or her life ending. I have never believed in the come one come all rapture. But that rapture comes to each of us individually. I believe that Revelations is a guide for each of us to know what will happen in our end time…Not that there will be an end time for all of the world. That will be at our own hands if it happens. NOT GODS.
I believe Jesus taught many gentiles. True, he went to the synagogues and taught in them, but most of the people he dealt with in his ministry and spoke to in the streets would have been gentiles. How many gentiles heard him preach.
Paul was sent specifically to the gentiles. His heart was for his own people, but God had other plans. Yes, some of his letters were to specific people, but some were to churches comprised of gentiles.
All of the words of the Bible were written, and most tellingly, preserved for us throughout the ages. We read in the New Testament “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”
God’s word is our instruction manual for life.
Yes, Jesus fulfilled hundreds of prophecies that were written about the Messiah in the Old Testament, and I don’t believe any more prophecies have to be fulfilled before he returns…
Knowing the character of Christ, and his desire for all to be saved, it wouldn’t make sense to assume his preaching wasn’t meant for everyone. We know, for example, that the woman at the well was a Samaritan.
You’re quote is one of the reasons I use the King James. Other translations, including the NKJV cause a lot of misunderstandings of doctrine and intent. In the KJV Matthew 15:24 says “But he answered and said, I am not sent BUT unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The word but is used here as “ONLY”, as in saying something like "What do you expect, he is BUT a child "
John in speaking of Jesus: “He came into his own, but his own received him not. But to as many as received him, he gave the right (authority) to become Children of God, to those who believe in His name. Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.” His own was his family - the Jews.
Under the Old Covenant of Moses, Children of God were produced by marrying and giving in marriage - by the will of man. Under the New Covenant of Christ, Children of God - Sons of God, are born by faith - like Abraham.
Jesus taught Jews who were under that Old Covenant of Moses. Gentiles were never under that covenant. He came to seek and save the lost. The lost sheep of Israel.
For the first 8 years, the gospel was preached exclusively to the Jews. On the day of Pentecost, Acts records those present as being “Jews from every nation under the sun.”
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
I’m not arguing Scripture is not Inspired by God. The word means “God breathed.” That doesn’t change the fact that Scripture is addressed to certain people living in the first century. We can read it, but with the understanding that we are reading someone else’ mail, otherwise it can cause confusion.
Since Scripture is inspired by God, it is infallible as well. Inspiration of the Scripture demands complete fulfillment of all aspects of God’s promises. If God does not keep the time part of his promises, he has not kept his promise.
God doesn’t do partial fulfillment of His promises. Partial fulfillment means complete failure. God Himself said in Deut 18 how to determine if a prophet true or false.
"But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’-- 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him. "
I see where you’re coming from here. Keep in mind that the Jews were God’s chosen people. They were chosen to reveal God to the world and demonstrate the benefits of having him as the ruler of a nation. Jesus was the necessary fulfillment of every OT prophecy and if every Jew accepted him as such at the time, Judaism would have ceased to be. The Jews rejected Jesus and thus their purpose they were chosen for, so God had the Apostles, especially Paul, to take the gospel to the gentiles and propogate the message of salvation through them.
The Jews were God’s chosen. They were chosen as the earthly family from which Jesus would enter the world. Jesus was “manifested in the flesh, raised in the Spirit.” 1 Peter. “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit;”
The Jews offered to make Jesus their king. He rejected them. He rejected their offer. Jesus withdrew from them when they were about to make Him King. John 6:15.
It was Jesus who refused their offer. The Jews did not reject Jesus until they understood the nature of His kingdom (Spiritual Kingdom - not of this world) and why his rejection of their offer to be an earthly king. They (like most people today) were looking for a physical/earthly kingdom with a physical/earthly king. They have been looking for it for about 2000 years now.
I don’t think scripture rules out a nuclear exchange between nations, but I think it unlikely. Israel, for example is a key player in end time events and as small as it is, it wouldn’t take many nuclear bombs to wipe it out. Much of the world hates Israel and it would be a prime target in a nuclear attack and the fallout of such an attack would affect the whole Middle East. I don’t think the major nations are stupid enough to attack each other, no matter how antagonistic they get towards each other. Maybe a rogue nation like North Korea might launch a weapon, but they would be quickly destroyed, which would prevent a full scale war from erupting.
Israel and the middle East nations survive till Armageddon as do Gog and Magog which I believe are Russia and China. I don’t think anything in scripture indicates man made destruction of the scale a nuclear war would bring.
I reject the doctrine of continuous history spin as belonging to the true message of Christ.
Anything that confusing, cannot be from God.
“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints,” 1 Co 14:33
The true message of Christ draws people. Jesus’ message is easy to understand and gives us reason for celebration.
John stated adamantly: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah and He will reign forever and ever.”
The Kingdom of God and of Christ includes the whole creation, both in heaven and on earth. God is in every aspect of our lives today. Everything that happens is within the divine scope of God’s authority. God reigns and rules throughout the entire creation.
Paul says: “put on Christ.” He is not expecting a transformation of the physical universe. He did not believe or teach an “end of time” scenario. He was telling the early saints how to conduct themselves in the New Covenant Age of Christ. That was “the age to come.” This is the age that people have been living in for almost 2000 years.
Paul’s message was covenantal. It had nothing to do with physical land. His message was the same as Jesus’ message. Both of their messages were full of hope and peace.
Hebrews 12:22 "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 His voice then shook the earth; but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken, as of what has been made, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
As I believe bin a pre- tribulation rapture, I’m not concerned overly with the specifics of the events. Reading Revelation though, it seems there will be a series of events much like the plagues God brought upon Egypt. Revelation talks about seals being opened and trumpets being blown. Indicates things God is going to do, not man. But again, could be a limited exchange of nukes leading up to the rapture…
The Revelation was addressed to the 7 Congregations/Churches which were in Asia in the 1st century.
There was no inspired writer alive to write after those things mentioned in the Revelation took place in the first century. We do have accounts written by historians that witnessed and recorded the destruction.
