J
Jimmy_B
Guest
Read post #40.
- Status
M
Muzhik
Guest
Actually, the role of a Prophet in the Bible wasn’t to predict the future, it was to predict the present. A prophet needed to be able to accurately “read the signs” and say that it was now time to plant the crops, etc. and to accurately state the condition of the people. If and ONLY IF the prophet was accurate in his predictions of the present could he or she be trusted to predict the future.
Yes, you are. What you see as predicting future events is an attempt to accurately interpret scripture when scripture says such-and-such will happen when the End of Days are near. To predict the future means that they have been gifted by G_D to state (outside of scripture) that such-and-such an event will occur at this time. I don’t see very many Christian organizations actually trying to do that, mostly because anyone who does so knows the punishment G_D will give out to a false prophet.
Actually, if you go to the “Back Fence” section of the “Water Cooler” forum, you’ll find a quite lively discussion of End Times material.
<><
J
Jimmy_B
Guest
C
celticcrusader
Guest
there has been an interesting discussion going on in The Back Fence section called end times speculation… check it out.
J
Jimmy_B
Guest
Tick…Tick…Tick…Tick
J
Jimmy_B
Guest
Maybe, I should have left out the words, “Soothsayers”, “forbidden”, “False Prophets” and “witchcraft”, which appear in my first post. This stuff (End-Time Predictions), has turned into a multi-million dollar industry and I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard non-Catholic Christians talk about all this “End-Times” nonsense.
I hope that some here now realize that it is wrong to try to predict the future.
People involved in, ”End Time Prophesy"… help to emphasize the problem associated with the errant, non-Catholic Christian belief in “Personal Interpretation of the Bible"!
Don’t you agree?
J
Jimmy_B
Guest
C
celticcrusader
Guest
You are right about the industry just look at all the tabloids which have the ancient mayan proph. and the seceret writtings of john the baptist and , and, and, interesting stories sells papers. there seems to be a lot of end times talk though, there has always been end times talk but there seems to be more now. I know my end times could be 1 Second from now so be prepared because you never know.
M
mike00077
Guest
M
mike00077
Guest
A
allhers
Guest
I thought we were all in the end times and have been ever since Jesus Ascended to heaven.
We just don’t know the day or the hour.
We just don’t know the day or the hour.
J
Jimmy_B
Guest
K
Katia0203
Guest
Ok, so here’s what I remember from briefly studying End Times stuff out of curiousity:
The End Times are the times very near Christ’s Second Coming. These Times were predicted and spoken about in scripture, specifically in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Thessalonians, 2 Peter, and all of the Gospels at some point. These books tell believers to watch for the signs of these times, which will tell believers that we are in the “season” of the End Times, and that Christ will be returning soon. If everyone followed this correctly, there would be no datesetting, monthsetting, or yearsetting. All that we can do is speculate on whether current events going on in the world are fulfilling prophecy regarding the End Times. One person who is an expert on the End Times as well as focusing on current events in the Middle East is Joel Rosenberg.
Anyway, Christ’s Second Coming is divided into 2 phases. The first phase is called the Rapture, where Christ calls all Christians up to heaven but does not actually set foot on earth itself. Millions, maybe even a billion people suddenly dissapear, all Christians. The world is thrown into a state of chaos and confusion, and people will be looking for someone to pull them out of the chaos and restore peace. This person will be the AntiChrist. He will convince the world he wants peace but will secretly be working on his own agenda to get complete control of the entire world and control everything everyone does. Israel will sign a treaty with the AntiChrist for 7 years, which is the length of something called the Tribulation. The Tribulation is one last chance for those who were unbelievers to choose to follow Christ instead of the ways of the world. This is also a time of severe punishment from God; those who denied him will feel his wrath but also have a chance at redemption. Things get progressively worse as the 7 years go on, and at the halfway mark or 3.5 years, Satan will indwell the AntiChrist and work through him to do whatever he wants, including severely persecuting those who become Christians during this time. But God is still in control, sticking to His plan.
At the end of the 7 years, the second phase of Christ’s Second Coming commences with His Glorious Appearing and the battle of Armaggedon. Christ and believers completely demolish the AntiChrist and his armies, and those in Heaven and those still on earth reunite. Christ sets up His Kingdom on earth for 1000 years. The Great Seat Judgment occurs where Christ judges the living and the dead, condemning unbelievers to hell and believers to heaven. Once this is done, he begins to rule his Kingdom on earth. But all will not stay so peaceful.
Those born during the millenium will still have to make the choice to follow Christ, who will personally rule this Kingdom and be visible to everyone. Even then people will refuse his free gift of salvation in favor of living their own way. At the end of the 1000 years, Satan is loosed for a time and gathers all those who reject Christ during the millenium and challenges Christ in battle, fully believing he can win. Christ completely destroys everyone, pretty much with the wave of his hand. Then all those people are thrown into the lake of fire in Hell with Satan. Then (I’m unsure about this) all of Christ’s followers ascend to heaven with Christ to spend eternity in New Jerusalem, that shining city John was unable to describe in Revelation because it was beyond words.
The Left Behind books are based off of these beliefs, and many people believe in this End Times scenario. It is not just an industry, it is what people believe. There are hundreds of message boards on the net dedicated to discussing the End Times and speculating on whether prophecy is being fulfilled. Almost all boards are in aggreement that we are in the “season”. They still stick to the belief that we cannot know the exact moment we will be raptured, but they are dedicated to being “watchers” which is rewarded in heaven.
So that’s what I know about it. I can’t really go into really specific detail about it b/c I just don’t know much more than this. One board you could go to would be RaptureReady, but its very anti-catholic, so stay away from the Apologetics and Modern Cults forums because Catholics are not welcome there apparently (learned that the hard way).
The End Times are the times very near Christ’s Second Coming. These Times were predicted and spoken about in scripture, specifically in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Thessalonians, 2 Peter, and all of the Gospels at some point. These books tell believers to watch for the signs of these times, which will tell believers that we are in the “season” of the End Times, and that Christ will be returning soon. If everyone followed this correctly, there would be no datesetting, monthsetting, or yearsetting. All that we can do is speculate on whether current events going on in the world are fulfilling prophecy regarding the End Times. One person who is an expert on the End Times as well as focusing on current events in the Middle East is Joel Rosenberg.
Anyway, Christ’s Second Coming is divided into 2 phases. The first phase is called the Rapture, where Christ calls all Christians up to heaven but does not actually set foot on earth itself. Millions, maybe even a billion people suddenly dissapear, all Christians. The world is thrown into a state of chaos and confusion, and people will be looking for someone to pull them out of the chaos and restore peace. This person will be the AntiChrist. He will convince the world he wants peace but will secretly be working on his own agenda to get complete control of the entire world and control everything everyone does. Israel will sign a treaty with the AntiChrist for 7 years, which is the length of something called the Tribulation. The Tribulation is one last chance for those who were unbelievers to choose to follow Christ instead of the ways of the world. This is also a time of severe punishment from God; those who denied him will feel his wrath but also have a chance at redemption. Things get progressively worse as the 7 years go on, and at the halfway mark or 3.5 years, Satan will indwell the AntiChrist and work through him to do whatever he wants, including severely persecuting those who become Christians during this time. But God is still in control, sticking to His plan.
At the end of the 7 years, the second phase of Christ’s Second Coming commences with His Glorious Appearing and the battle of Armaggedon. Christ and believers completely demolish the AntiChrist and his armies, and those in Heaven and those still on earth reunite. Christ sets up His Kingdom on earth for 1000 years. The Great Seat Judgment occurs where Christ judges the living and the dead, condemning unbelievers to hell and believers to heaven. Once this is done, he begins to rule his Kingdom on earth. But all will not stay so peaceful.
Those born during the millenium will still have to make the choice to follow Christ, who will personally rule this Kingdom and be visible to everyone. Even then people will refuse his free gift of salvation in favor of living their own way. At the end of the 1000 years, Satan is loosed for a time and gathers all those who reject Christ during the millenium and challenges Christ in battle, fully believing he can win. Christ completely destroys everyone, pretty much with the wave of his hand. Then all those people are thrown into the lake of fire in Hell with Satan. Then (I’m unsure about this) all of Christ’s followers ascend to heaven with Christ to spend eternity in New Jerusalem, that shining city John was unable to describe in Revelation because it was beyond words.
The Left Behind books are based off of these beliefs, and many people believe in this End Times scenario. It is not just an industry, it is what people believe. There are hundreds of message boards on the net dedicated to discussing the End Times and speculating on whether prophecy is being fulfilled. Almost all boards are in aggreement that we are in the “season”. They still stick to the belief that we cannot know the exact moment we will be raptured, but they are dedicated to being “watchers” which is rewarded in heaven.
So that’s what I know about it. I can’t really go into really specific detail about it b/c I just don’t know much more than this. One board you could go to would be RaptureReady, but its very anti-catholic, so stay away from the Apologetics and Modern Cults forums because Catholics are not welcome there apparently (learned that the hard way).
J
Jimmy_B
Guest
L
Lev23
Guest
Then why do you keep quoting yourself saying the same thing over and over?
4 pages in and I guess the point you want to get across is in post #46 about personal interpretation of scripture.
L
Lev23
Guest
I would say the reason for the agreement of in “season” is because they recognize Israel is in and still coming into the land of Israel.
Sadly, there are those who are Christians who look down at his event in history and ironically, join the unbelieving world in saying this ongoing event is not of God.
K
Katia0203
Guest
Don’t you think that God played a part in Israel being reinstated as a country?
B
Benadam
Guest
Does anyone else see a parallell with Sarah’s attempt at manipulating a prophetic event into existence and the psychological dynamics operating within the victorious nations of WWII that resulted in the state of Israel?
Somehow I thought God’s hand would be unmistakeable in the rebirth of Israel.
Somehow I thought God’s hand would be unmistakeable in the rebirth of Israel.
J
Jimmy_B
Guest
Then why do you keep quoting yourself saying the same thing over and over?
4 pages in and I guess the point you want to get across is in post #46 about personal interpretation of scripture.
Then why do you keep quoting yourself saying the same thing over and over?
4 pages in and I guess the point you want to get across is in post #46 about personal interpretation of scripture.
Then why do you keep quoting yourself saying the same thing over and over?
4 pages in and I guess the point you want to get across is in post #46 about personal interpretation of scripture.
Then why do you keep quoting yourself saying the same thing over and over?
4 pages in and I guess the point you want to get across is in post #46 about personal interpretation of scripture.
L
Lev23
Guest
- Status