Re: PreTrib is invalidated because it does not uphold "no one knows the day or hour"
I'll be honest with you, Matt, I dont understand how these statements fit together
'You keep saying that "a year's provision" would be useless against what you refer to as "the Antichrist". Where do you get this information? The Bible says many, many believers will actually survive all the way to the "gathering of the elect" described to the believers in the Olivet Discourse (Peter, James and John). How do you think these people all survived to that day?'
'And if there might be tremendous famines during the Great Tribulation, why would it be "unwise" to have provisions set aside, if one is able to do so?'
with
'I never proposed "prepping". Dan473 lured me into describing what provisions I might have, whereupon you two began to engage in this weird ridiculing and chortling. Someone happened to 'gift' my family with these 6 months of food in the form of gallon-sized cans of canned food. Also, we happen to be a family of hunters and survivalist hobbyists. There's no more to it. Give your conspiracy theories a rest.'
Not sure what you're struggling with. Both my statements are true and factual:
1) Would it be a good thing to have provisions set aside? Sure, it would be great! When Jesus proposes people should run for the hills when they see the gathering armies and the "abomination of desolation"...wouldn't it be nice if they had the foresight to have stashed provisions in a hiding place? Of course it would...your strange "holy hesitation" notwithstanding.
And then...
2) There is the simple fact that I was NOT proposing "prepping" in this thread. That is a fact. I wasn't interested in such a topic in this thread. This thread was about a specific topic...the way in which PreTrib completely unravels on this one aspect about the "day and hour". That is ALL I have been interested in.
You dishonestly lured me into this sidebar...regarding what I might specifically happen to have stashed away for a rainy day...with your phony
"what would you advise, oh Rabbi"...whereupon you and Popeye began your chortling. Very offensive. As a courtesy, I allowed you to drag me away from my thread topic. I thought you were interested in my
"advice" because that was the word you dishonestly utilized.
Quite simply, I have not been super-interested in the topic of "prepping" because my best guess is, during the great tribulation, people will have to be on the run. As I explained to Popeye...we have more or less stumbled onto these provisions I have at my home. That's all there is to it. If I could buy a property way up in the hills, put up a structure and store provisions...that would not be a bad idea. But we can't afford all of that. So...like most believers in those days, we will be flying by the seat of our pants.
I still think there may very well be all kinds of economic chaos in the run-up to the actual Great tribulation. We're currently seeing the disintegration of the world's economies...and I'm pretty sure America's turn is coming next.
The whole thing is a lot more complex than what you seem to be envisioning. You have a bit of a 'sawed off' approach....in which you apparently think (given your jaundiced view of emergency provisions) there is going to be zero crises until the actual outbreak of the Great Tribulation. Jesus foretells of
many troubles leading up to the Great Tribulation.
But during the Great Tribulation, I think there may be "righteous" folks who provide secret safe haven for believers...the same way it happened during WW2. Corrie Ten Boom's book "The Hiding Place" comes to mind. In the same way Rahab the Harlot was declared righteous by God for her heroic act of faith in hiding the Israelite spies...I think many folks who hadn't been previously "Christianized" will intuitively, in a spur-of-the-moment act of de facto 'faith'...extend kindness and shelter to Christians on the run. Possibly, many "Rahabs" will obtain salvation thereby.
I think that's what Matthew 25:31-46 (the ending portion of the Olivet Discourse) is all about. The folks who offered cups of water
"to the least of my brethren" survive this judgement and enter into the Kingdom. We can see two categories here: Those who are the "brethren" of Jesus...and those who offered the food and water and are
just now being declared righteous.