Prophecy Unfolding

[TagliatelliMonster]

Not any day, but at the appointed time..


...knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:3-9

No kidding.

I can assure you that for the past 2000 years, every time somebody came with his religious doomsday message of "the end times are upon us!!!", there were other people laughing about it.

I also assure you that this will also be the case in the future.

 

[metis]

Someone made a false prophecy, followers couldn't accept it was false, so redefined 2nd coming as secret - none in their own midst even saw Jesus come, but "he is here", otherwise their leaders were wrong?

Who's to say?

 

[metis]

That’s amillennialism. I have always thought that kind of allegorical perspective of the scriptures in nonsensical. The Bible is very specific to repeat 1000 years six times in Revelation. That tells me is means a literal 1000 year period.

According to Anglican theologian William Barclay, about 1/3 of the local churches did not use the Book of Revelation for two reasons, with one being that there is no confirmation of this [1000 years] in any other source, plus there is a question of authorship even though it says "John on Patmos". Thus, "1000 years" can be used symbolically as such numbers are used many times as in early Judaism as there several such numbers, such as 3, 7. 12, and 40. Thus, there is no necessity of taking it literally because there's a viable alternative.

Also, the question of authorship can be possibly explained in terms of disciples writing in the name of their mentor to give him honor. The Koine Greek experts note a change in language form as one reads Revelation.

 

[paarsurrey]

" Revelation 17:12 "
Revelation 17:12 is not from Jesus, one may please note. Right?

As I said " Revelation 17:12" is not from Yeshua-the Jewish Messiah, since it has not been colored in red in the following Red Letter Bibles:
New Testament (RLE): The Revelation of Saint John the Divine
The Apocalypse of St. John
World Messianic Bible Revelation 17
It ,therefore, means it has neither been spoken by Yeshua nor authored by him nor written by him.
It is futile ,therefore, to look into future from it and take guidance from it, one gathers, please. Right?

Regards

 

[idea]

Allow me to ask you what you think a loving God would do/should be doing. Here's how I understand it now: I no longer believe that life just came about by itself without divine intervention. I believe and accept what the Bible says about Adam and Eve. The Bible says "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That's the first sentence. This involves what you might think about God. The scriptures do include those nations beyond Israel but there is a reason why the nation of Israel was formed and why God concentrated on it for a long time.

A loving God would give equal resources to all, as this doesn't exist, I must conclude that a loving God does not exist. It would be cruel, to tell an impoverished child of Santa bringing gifts to "good little children", get their hopes up, then dash them on Christmas. I feel the same about the Christian god- it is a cruel teaching. The Tao Te Ching brings me the most peace, and spending time in nature.

The Christian teaching from my experience is abusive, sexist, racist, and triggering to me.

 

[idea]

No kidding.

I can assure you that for the past 2000 years, every time somebody came with his religious doomsday message of "the end times are upon us!!!", there were other people laughing about it.

I also assure you that this will also be the case in the future.

I have seen people live their entire lives in fear, stockpiling guns and food storage that rots and rusts, wasting free time and energy living in fear - they died. We had to get rid of all their stock piles, never used. They lived their life cowering in a dungeon of their own creation.

I have seen others who filled their time traveling, learning from other cultures, exploring - unattached to any single dogma, unattached to political and religious groups, they were free and happy.

 

[idea]

Who's to say?

Unfulfilled Watch Tower Society predictions - Wikipedia

Not such a good track record....

 

[Sheldon]

I no longer believe that life just came about by itself without divine intervention.

Life demonstrably exists, and there is no objective evidence for any deity or anything supernatural, so you'd need to demonstrate something beyond bare assertion, or an argument from incredulity fallacy.

 

[Sheldon]

I believe and accept what the Bible says about Adam and Eve.

You can believe the moon is made of cheese if it makes you happy, but it is an objective fact that humans. like all living things evolved over billions of years, the evidence is irrefutable,

 

[YoursTrue]

Life demonstrably exists, and there is no objective evidence for any deity or anything supernatural, so you'd need to demonstrate something beyond bare assertion, or an argument from incredulity fallacy.

Life demonstrably exists! Good one.
I think. Somebody might argue with that, but as far as I know, I'm alive and see life around me. I believe dead people or animals do not see life.
Now a person might ask how do I know that? I know that because the Bible tells me that, and I put the scriptures together so I understand that when a person or animal dies, he knows nothing. He's not alive. He does not see life.

 

[YoursTrue]

You can believe the moon is made of cheese if it makes you happy, but it is an objective fact that humans. like all living things evolved over billions of years, the evidence is irrefutable,

My first laugh of the evening. Thanks!

 

[YoursTrue]

A loving God would give equal resources to all, as this doesn't exist, I must conclude that a loving God does not exist. It would be cruel, to tell an impoverished child of Santa bringing gifts to "good little children", get their hopes up, then dash them on Christmas. I feel the same about the Christian god- it is a cruel teaching. The Tao Te Ching brings me the most peace, and spending time in nature.

The Christian teaching from my experience is abusive, sexist, racist, and triggering to me.

I realize you are not alone in your thinking. On the other hand, what offer of equality do you see in evolution?

 

[YoursTrue]

A loving God would give equal resources to all, as this doesn't exist, I must conclude that a loving God does not exist. It would be cruel, to tell an impoverished child of Santa bringing gifts to "good little children", get their hopes up, then dash them on Christmas. I feel the same about the Christian god- it is a cruel teaching. The Tao Te Ching brings me the most peace, and spending time in nature.

The Christian teaching from my experience is abusive, sexist, racist, and triggering to me.

I was never taught to believe in Christmas. But I also was never informed about the falseness about Christmas until later. I would also like to say that I was not a believer in God for many years.

 

[idea]

I realize you are not alone in your thinking. On the other hand, what offer of equality do you see in evolution?

Equality does not exist?
Experiment, would you rather
a) killed by cancer, other natural cause?
b) killed by sadistic evil abusive father.

Most choose a - it's much better to chalk evil/pain up to just nature and natural laws, then to see it as purposefully created by an evil father figure.

 

[idea]

I was never taught to believe in Christmas. But I also was never informed about the falseness about Christmas until later. I would also like to say that I was not a believer in God for many years.

I was never taught Santa was real either. I was raised by Christians, used to have a "testimony". Abuse and education changed all that. I'm now a "none", not affiliated. Find group-think, tribal behavior of religious and political groups fascinating. We are social creatures, follow herds, loyal to this or that group... just one herd of animals vs another - one religious group vs another.

I've experienced "elevation", no longer see it as being from God, no longer see anything as being from God, just chemicals.

For the same reason you might believe other religious groups to be false, I see all religions to be false.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Humans have been claiming the presence of various end-time prophecies for centuries. History is largely cyclical, and confirmation bias coupled with a tendency to sometimes perceive meaningful--or, in this case, apocalyptic--patterns where none exist is not new or unusual.

I don't believe some geopolitical development in the Middle East means the world is ending. Furthermore, the lending of unique significance to specific Middle Eastern countries in Biblical prophecies seems to me a result of the Bible's origin in the Middle East more than anything else. After all, religious texts are often a function and expression of the values and priorities of their respective cultures of origin.

Well over a thousand years, certainly.
The day someone predicts something truly specific and unlikely and events conspire to make it happen, I'll pay attention.

'and 'lo, on February 27th, 2067, Kermit the Evergreen will be deposed as the first Monarch of Upswalia by his younger brother Scooter. And Scooter will find the cure for cancer and sell it at just $3m per pill, which sounds like a lot, but after factoring in the crash of monetary systems following the great pork wars of the 40s really isn't too bad at all...'

 

[Watchmen]

I don’t think it is actually possible to bend the scriptures to suit one’s needs. Maybe some or many have done so, but it is not a legitimate use of the scriptures.

Your first and second sentence contradict each other.

1. It’s not actually possible to bend scriptures to one’s need.

2. maybe some or many have done so….


Which is it? Methinks it’s the matter and that you yourself are among the “some or many.” Don’t bother responding. You’ll deny it but your faith and zealotry won’t allow you to see the truth of the matter.

 

[InChrist]

Your first and second sentence contradict each other.

1. It’s not actually possible to bend scriptures to one’s need.

2. maybe some or many have done so….


Which is it? Methinks it’s the matter and that you yourself are among the “some or many.” Don’t bother responding. You’ll deny it but your faith and zealotry won’t allow you to see the truth of the matter.

Maybe my wording wasn’t the best. I do realize that many false teachers and false prophets do twist the scriptures. This happens all the time. Also, some people may bend the scriptures more unintentionally, nevertheless still misinterpreting them. What I meant is that such twisting, bending, or misinterpretation s are not legitimate, but what the scriptures themselves say or teach concerning future events are valid and will come to pass according to God’s will and timeline.

 

[Sheldon]

Life demonstrably exists! Good one. I think. Somebody might argue with that, but as far as I know, I'm alive and see life around me.

Well they can present their arguments by all means, this is a debate forum, so the perfect place for that.

I believe dead people or animals do not see life.

I don't believe dead people see anything, since there is no evidence to support the claim, and much of the evidence refutes this idea. The second claim is preposterous, unless you mean dead people and dead animals? Only the way you have worded looks like you believe live animals don't see life?

Now a person might ask how do I know that? I know that because the Bible tells me that,

That a subjective belief, not knowledge.

and I put the scriptures together so I understand that when a person or animal dies, he knows nothing. He's not alive. He does not see life.

Subjective interpretation of claims from an archaic superstition is not knowledge. Knowledge contains facts and information that can be objectively scrutinised.

 

[Sheldon]

Sheldon said: ↑
You can believe the moon is made of cheese if it makes you happy, but it is an objective fact that humans. like all living things evolved over billions of years, the evidence is irrefutable,

My first laugh of the evening. Thanks!

Anytime.