What are your thoughts on what's happening in the middle east and the war?
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When has there not been wars and rumors of wars.
Remember when Reagan was the top nominee for the position of antichrist.
Remember when Reagan was the top nominee for the position of antichrist.
I can't tell if you are mocking Jesus and this prophecy or people who have pointed out that rumors of war have utterly exploded.
It is true that there were rumors two thousand years ago, that is why they had this word and could understand the concept. But the quantity has exploded since WW1.
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Is that your response I am mocking Jesus, so ridiculous I am defending His words .... He clearly stated to the people listening... "This generation...."
Study up on some history.
I am not mocking Jesus, again there are many in the church, mainly from the Reformed tradition who are not dispensationalists.
Study up on some history.
I am not mocking Jesus, again there are many in the church, mainly from the Reformed tradition who are not dispensationalists.
Matthew 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
This generation is clearly referring to those who see all these things, know that it is near. Go back to the question they asked:
24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
3 questions: When shall these things be referring to the destruction of the temple, what shall be the sign of your coming and tell us of the end of the world. When Jesus says "when you see all these things, know that it is near" He is not referring to the end of the world, He is referring to the signs of His coming. What signs did He just tell them to watch for?
1. Many will come in His name saying they are the Christ. We have seen this. It has become prevalent since 1948. I have seen 21 predictions of the rapture since 1948, but that doesn't count all the various cults and predictions of the end of the world and Armageddon since then. Prior to 1948 we saw this too, but it was much less frequent. I don't even think there have been 21 predictions of the rapture from the Apostle's time to 1948. Personally I know a few comets, the start of this millennium, and a couple of plagues.
2. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: Perhaps this has also happened for the entire 2,000 years. However Jesus mentioned "in divers places". Few if anyone cared about a war in Vietnam, or Korea or Ukraine or the Middle East in the US in the 1700s. We didn't have news wire services until the middle of the 19th century and that was probably when a rumor of a war in those places would actually concern us. After WW2, nuclear bombs and ICBMs we became much more concerned about what was going on in divers places. After TV, Radio and News wire services we heard many, many more rumors about potential wars. Much of this was pushed by the CIA, and other intelligence services to manipulate the populace. Then with the internet, Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter the volume of rumors has exploded exponentially.
3. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Jesus explains why we are concerned about these divers places, because we had world wars. If your country, like the US has not been in a war you don't pay that much attention, but after fighting in wars then you become gun shy thinking every little flare up could impact you. The US wanted to stay out of WW1 and WW2 but couldn't. So this is what gives force to the rumors. Likewise, famines, pestilences and earthquakes have been taking place for the last two thousand years. But when a famine or pestilence or earthquake affects you then you become much more aware. Since the 1918 flu there have been many more pestilences impacting the world, they have been much more frequent. This may be due to the increased population, it may be due to air travel, but a simple search of all the pandemics in human history will easily show they have also increased exponentially as have the earthquakes. Since 1950 the number of earthquakes have increased 10 fold. Also, prior to WW2 how would you even know about or hear about an earthquake in a diverse place? We needed seismometers to know about all of them quickly. We would only hear about the most destructive.
4. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
What we are seeing is frequency and intensity is increasing. For example we know there was a big tsunami in Japan in history, but this one recently that destroyed Fukushima, that is far more concerning to everyone in the world than previous tsunamis would have been.
5. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
In 1988 the "endangered earth" was named Time's person of the year. Seeds of every plant were stored in safe bunkers called Noah's ark. This is the sign that tells us we are about to see the coming of the son of Man. In Genesis 6 God says the earth was filled with violence, the Hebrew word is "hamas" and it means violence, cruelty and deceit. This is what you will see at the time of God's judgement. Noah's name means "grace" when read in reverse. This is the age of grace. Noah was 600 years old when the flood took place, but he didn't get the revelation of the coming flood until he was married and had three children. If we go back about 570 years in history we discover the first Bibles were printed, that is when we received the revelation that the end of the world was coming and what would happen. History tells us that Noah preached the gospel for 120 years, if we go back 120 years that is when the Gideon's began their ministry and in the last 120 years they have handed out 2.5 billion bibles worldwide. Another big day in the days of Noah is that Methuselah died, this was the fulfillment of the prophecy "when he dies the end comes" and that was when Noah and his family entered the ark. We have a similar prophecy concerning Damascus, the oldest continually inhabited city in human history. Isaiah 17:1 says it will become a ruinous heap and when that happens Isaiah 17 describes "that day" four times. We might just see this happen in the very near future.
6. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Are we talking about the apostles? They weren't "hated of all nations". Are we talking about those who were martyred in ancient Rome? They also were not hated "of all nations".
7. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
No one denies we had false prophets from the very beginning. But many? Certainly not compared to the age of the internet. The internet has allowed "many to arise".
8. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
The word abound here means "multiplied". We have had sin since the fall of man. But it is the internet that facilitates sin being multiplied. Yes, the printing press helped, TV helped, movies helped, but nothing like the internet to help iniquity be multiplied.
9. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
This looks like the last sign. Yes, because of the internet sin is being multiplied, but also so is the preaching of the gospel. I have a blog, 250,000 people (IP addresses) have visited this blog. They are obviously from all over the world. The same is true of so many others who have channels on Youtube, or Facebook or have their own website, etc. This clearly was not fulfilled during the apostles. So clearly, when Jesus said "this generation that sees these things" He was not referring to the apostles. That said they saw a whole lot, all of this was relevant to them, it just wasn't fulfilled during their time.
This generation is clearly referring to those who see all these things, know that it is near. Go back to the question they asked:
24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
3 questions: When shall these things be referring to the destruction of the temple, what shall be the sign of your coming and tell us of the end of the world. When Jesus says "when you see all these things, know that it is near" He is not referring to the end of the world, He is referring to the signs of His coming. What signs did He just tell them to watch for?
1. Many will come in His name saying they are the Christ. We have seen this. It has become prevalent since 1948. I have seen 21 predictions of the rapture since 1948, but that doesn't count all the various cults and predictions of the end of the world and Armageddon since then. Prior to 1948 we saw this too, but it was much less frequent. I don't even think there have been 21 predictions of the rapture from the Apostle's time to 1948. Personally I know a few comets, the start of this millennium, and a couple of plagues.
2. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: Perhaps this has also happened for the entire 2,000 years. However Jesus mentioned "in divers places". Few if anyone cared about a war in Vietnam, or Korea or Ukraine or the Middle East in the US in the 1700s. We didn't have news wire services until the middle of the 19th century and that was probably when a rumor of a war in those places would actually concern us. After WW2, nuclear bombs and ICBMs we became much more concerned about what was going on in divers places. After TV, Radio and News wire services we heard many, many more rumors about potential wars. Much of this was pushed by the CIA, and other intelligence services to manipulate the populace. Then with the internet, Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter the volume of rumors has exploded exponentially.
3. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Jesus explains why we are concerned about these divers places, because we had world wars. If your country, like the US has not been in a war you don't pay that much attention, but after fighting in wars then you become gun shy thinking every little flare up could impact you. The US wanted to stay out of WW1 and WW2 but couldn't. So this is what gives force to the rumors. Likewise, famines, pestilences and earthquakes have been taking place for the last two thousand years. But when a famine or pestilence or earthquake affects you then you become much more aware. Since the 1918 flu there have been many more pestilences impacting the world, they have been much more frequent. This may be due to the increased population, it may be due to air travel, but a simple search of all the pandemics in human history will easily show they have also increased exponentially as have the earthquakes. Since 1950 the number of earthquakes have increased 10 fold. Also, prior to WW2 how would you even know about or hear about an earthquake in a diverse place? We needed seismometers to know about all of them quickly. We would only hear about the most destructive.
4. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
What we are seeing is frequency and intensity is increasing. For example we know there was a big tsunami in Japan in history, but this one recently that destroyed Fukushima, that is far more concerning to everyone in the world than previous tsunamis would have been.
5. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
In 1988 the "endangered earth" was named Time's person of the year. Seeds of every plant were stored in safe bunkers called Noah's ark. This is the sign that tells us we are about to see the coming of the son of Man. In Genesis 6 God says the earth was filled with violence, the Hebrew word is "hamas" and it means violence, cruelty and deceit. This is what you will see at the time of God's judgement. Noah's name means "grace" when read in reverse. This is the age of grace. Noah was 600 years old when the flood took place, but he didn't get the revelation of the coming flood until he was married and had three children. If we go back about 570 years in history we discover the first Bibles were printed, that is when we received the revelation that the end of the world was coming and what would happen. History tells us that Noah preached the gospel for 120 years, if we go back 120 years that is when the Gideon's began their ministry and in the last 120 years they have handed out 2.5 billion bibles worldwide. Another big day in the days of Noah is that Methuselah died, this was the fulfillment of the prophecy "when he dies the end comes" and that was when Noah and his family entered the ark. We have a similar prophecy concerning Damascus, the oldest continually inhabited city in human history. Isaiah 17:1 says it will become a ruinous heap and when that happens Isaiah 17 describes "that day" four times. We might just see this happen in the very near future.
6. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Are we talking about the apostles? They weren't "hated of all nations". Are we talking about those who were martyred in ancient Rome? They also were not hated "of all nations".
7. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
No one denies we had false prophets from the very beginning. But many? Certainly not compared to the age of the internet. The internet has allowed "many to arise".
8. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
The word abound here means "multiplied". We have had sin since the fall of man. But it is the internet that facilitates sin being multiplied. Yes, the printing press helped, TV helped, movies helped, but nothing like the internet to help iniquity be multiplied.
9. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
This looks like the last sign. Yes, because of the internet sin is being multiplied, but also so is the preaching of the gospel. I have a blog, 250,000 people (IP addresses) have visited this blog. They are obviously from all over the world. The same is true of so many others who have channels on Youtube, or Facebook or have their own website, etc. This clearly was not fulfilled during the apostles. So clearly, when Jesus said "this generation that sees these things" He was not referring to the apostles. That said they saw a whole lot, all of this was relevant to them, it just wasn't fulfilled during their time.
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Jeremiah 9:2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. 3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord. 4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. 5 And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. 6 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord.
If I were Israel, I would notify the world and the people of Gaza, that we will level a 100yd radius of the launch point of any attack on Israel regardless of who occupies the site. The fact is, Israel knows within less than a minute where every rocket attack is launched from, and less than an hour where ground attack is launched from. The war would end quickly.
This is a complex subject to discuss as a whole...but 'be prepared', just means make sure your walk is right with the Lord Jesus Christ and you are being a witness to your friends and family as best as you can. It means to pray alot. Also, be prepared means be physically prepared with an emergency food and water pantry and ask God to prepare you mentally if we indeed have to go through the hard and dangerous times of the Tribulation.
Be prepared NOT to get the mark of the beast.
Be prepared NOT to get the mark of the beast.
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Yes, to me this is the key take away.
1. What would I do if I were in Gaza and how could I apply that to my situation here today in the US. Would I have left Gaza long ago? It is a difficult situation but trying to learn from it and apply it to our situation in the US I think is the most valuable use of my time.
2. What were Israel's errors and can I apply those lessons to myself in how I deal with those that sin against me? To me this is a major lesson from the middle east, make peace with those who sin against you as soon as possible or else you will not escape until you pay the last penny.
I'm not worried about judging who is to blame. I don't know enough to judge a single person, much less the millions that have been involved.
1. What would I do if I were in Gaza and how could I apply that to my situation here today in the US. Would I have left Gaza long ago? It is a difficult situation but trying to learn from it and apply it to our situation in the US I think is the most valuable use of my time.
2. What were Israel's errors and can I apply those lessons to myself in how I deal with those that sin against me? To me this is a major lesson from the middle east, make peace with those who sin against you as soon as possible or else you will not escape until you pay the last penny.
I'm not worried about judging who is to blame. I don't know enough to judge a single person, much less the millions that have been involved.
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DEAR ZNP, thank you for the wise and thoughtful response...
1. your answer: from what I'm told people in the middle east have a very different world view that us here in America. I say this because you ask if you would have left Gaza a long time ago.
2. It's hard to compare yourself and your sins to a country...there are so many political layers there. There might be some searching in the Bible to really get a handle on that subject.
I just remember that Bible verse, our battle is not against flesh and blood...the same goes for this situation.
DEAR ZNP, thank you for the wise and thoughtful response...
1. your answer: from what I'm told people in the middle east have a very different world view that us here in America. I say this because you ask if you would have left Gaza a long time ago.
2. It's hard to compare yourself and your sins to a country...there are so many political layers there. There might be some searching in the Bible to really get a handle on that subject.
I just remember that Bible verse, our battle is not against flesh and blood...the same goes for this situation.
I think were entering the end of the world, it is definately becoming so tech focused that I believe that Revelation 13:16-18 will be fulfilled in our time. Jesus said this was going to happen with wars and rumors of wars and kingdom against kingdom, Prophecy is definately being fulfilled before our very eyes.
5 million Palestinians have left. They are now in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. They can't return and that is a very important factor in making the decision. Also because of that there is a lot of political pressure on them from Arabs not to leave.
I think there is a very easy comparison between Israel and the Palestinians and Americans and the Native Americans. I also think it is quite Biblical to say that those who are judging Israel and yet live in the US, Australia or New Zealand are judging themselves.
In fact the Lord said "with what judgement you judge you shall be judged" so I think that proves we can compare out situation to that of others that we might be judging. You don't like the way Israel has treated the Palestinians? How about the way you have treated someone that you have had issues with?
I think there is a very easy comparison between Israel and the Palestinians and Americans and the Native Americans. I also think it is quite Biblical to say that those who are judging Israel and yet live in the US, Australia or New Zealand are judging themselves.
In fact the Lord said "with what judgement you judge you shall be judged" so I think that proves we can compare out situation to that of others that we might be judging. You don't like the way Israel has treated the Palestinians? How about the way you have treated someone that you have had issues with?
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