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Is The End Times Near?

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:34 pm
by Believer
Do you believe the End Times are near? You hear generation after generation claiming the end is near, but nothing happens, but is it? Can we know for sure? Dates? Signs? Etc...?

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 8:04 pm
by SUGAAAAA
I hope not... Natural disasters have been getting more coverage lately... but, check out this article, too.


New York — Despite the daily horrors in Iraq and seemingly regular spasms of terrorist-sponsored violence, the world is a much more peaceful place than it was a little more than a decade ago, a new study says.

Since the end of the Cold War, the number of armed conflicts has declined by more than 40 per cent, while the number of the deadliest conflicts -- those involving more than 1,000 battle-related deaths -- has dropped by 80 per cent, said the Human Security Report, which was released here yesterday.

"Over the past dozen years, the global security climate has changed in dramatic, positive and largely unheralded ways," the report states.

"Civil wars, genocides and international crises have all declined sharply. International wars, now only a small minority of all conflicts, have been in steady decline for a much longer period, as have military coups and the average number of people killed per conflict per year."

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The one dark spot, not surprisingly, is international terrorism, which has been on the rise since the attacks on New York and Washington in 2001, though the death toll from such attacks is only a tiny fraction of war casualties.

The report was produced by the University of British Columbia's Liu Institute on Global Affairs, and was funded by several Western governments, including Canada.

It represents the first comprehensive effort to track the number of wars, both interstate and civil, raging around the globe, as well as the human toll from armed conflicts, terrorism and genocide.

Andrew Mack, a UBC professor who led the study, said yesterday it is time to put to rest some common myths, including the overarching view that the world is spiralling downward into violence.

"As is often the case with criminal violence, there is a huge disjuncture between what people believe is the case and what is actually the case," Prof. Mack said.

"What is actually the case is that we've seen this extraordinary improvement across the board in nearly all forms of political violence, except international terrorism, which doesn't kill a lot of people. And yet most people believe things are getting worse."

The report lays out what it calls "myths and misunderstandings," including: The number of genocides is increasing; wars are becoming more deadly and claimed the lives of five million people in the 1990s, and 90 per cent of those killed in today's wars are civilians, mainly women and children.

"None of these claims are based on reliable data. All are suspect; some are demonstrably false," the report said.

The report's authors calculated that civil and external wars killed about 700,000 combatants and civilians in 1950 but that figure dropped to about 100,000 in 1992 and 20,000 in 2002.

Prof. Mack acknowledged that his data end in 2003, but insisted the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that have been raging for the past two years have not dramatically increased the death toll or reversed the long-term trend.

In 2004, there were just 25 armed secessionist conflicts under way in the world, the lowest number since 1976.

In addition to the Middle East, Africa remained mired in armed conflict. At the turn of the 21st century, more people were killed in wars in sub-Saharan Africa than in the rest of the world combined.

Prof. Mack, a former adviser to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, cited a number of reasons for the decline in armed conflicts around the world: the end of the post-colonial era and wars of independence; the end of the Cold War and ideologically driven engagements by superpowers and their proxies; the expansion of democratic government through much of the developing world; and the success of UN peacemaking and conflict resolution.

"There is absolutely no doubt that the UN has been a critical actor, albeit an imperfect one, in bringing the numbers down," he said.

Despite its failures in places such as Bosnia and Rwanda, the UN has frequently succeeded in preventing armed conflict or in maintaining peace once a conflict has ended.

Prof. Mack insisted the report is not offering a rose-coloured view of the world.

He noted there are about 60 wars being fought and a continuing threat of international terrorism, perhaps even of a terrorist group gaining access to weapons of mass destruction.

"We're not Pollyannaish on this. We don't necessarily think there is going to be an upsurge in new violence but we think it is quite possible," he said.

"But we also think that if the international community gets its act together, it could actually make a real reduction in the risk."

War waning across the planet

Wars between countries are more rare than in previous eras. The number of armed conflicts has declined by more that 40% since 1992. The deadliest conflicts, those with 1,000 or more battle deaths dropped by 80 per cent, and the number of international crises, often harbingers of war, fell by more than 70 per cent between 1981 and 2001.

Countries at war most between 1946 and 2003

Countries involved in the highest number of international armed conflicts

U.K. 21

France 19

U.S. 16

Russia 9

Australia 7

Holland 7

Israel 6

Egypt 6

China 6

Thailand 6

N. Vietnam 5

Turkey 5

Jordan 5

Portugal 5

Canada 5

Chad 4

Libya 4

Spain 4

Syria 4

Italy 4

Iran 4

Ethiopia 4

Iraq 4

N. Zealand 4

S. Vietnam 4

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:10 pm
by kateliz
I voted "yes", but don't really care to get into it now. So many different reasons. It's obvious when you know what to look for.

Exactly how soon I'm not sure. There's a verse in Hosea though that people say limits the Church Age to 2,000 years, which is coming up, and would mean that the Rapture is just that close. Let's see, if Christ was born in 3 or 4 BC, He was thirty-three when He was died, then the Church, which began on Pentecost around 30 AD, would hit it's Rapture deadline on Pentecost in 2030 or so. And, what was it? forty(?) days before that the dead, saved will rise from their graves just like how it happened the day Christ died, as prophesised somewhere in the OT.

But aside from that, world events scream it, and previous generations just didn't know how obvious it would get.

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:16 pm
by Believer
kateliz wrote:I voted "yes", but don't really care to get into it now. So many different reasons. It's obvious when you know what to look for.

Exactly how soon I'm not sure. There's a verse in Hosea though that people say limits the Church Age to 2,000 years, which is coming up, and would mean that the Rapture is just that close. Let's see, if Christ was born in 3 or 4 BC, He was thirty-three when He was died, then the Church, which began on Pentecost around 30 AD, would hit it's Rapture deadline on Pentecost in 2030 or so. And, what was it? forty(?) days before that the dead, saved will rise from their graves just like how it happened the day Christ died, as prophesised somewhere in the OT.

But aside from that, world events scream it, and previous generations just didn't know how obvious it would get.
That concerns me because I do have faith as small as a mustard seed and I am unsure of my salvation and I fear God and all that stuff :cry:. I know it's ALL true, *skeptics beware*, but I just don't know. I tried many times to get away from God, but didn't work, I am attached. Is there a year we can round around that this stuff would happen, because we have to take the Bible in whole?

Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:28 pm
by kateliz
A specific year based off the belief in a 2,000 year Church Age would require more knowledge than I currently have with me! There's a lot regarding correct years and all the complications of the dating stuff that I tried to read through before.

Funny thing is that, even though I basically believe in the 2,000 year thing, and it fits with my beliefs regarding time theologies and all that, last time I looked at whatever verse it was I didn't get a 2,000 year Church Age from it?! I'll have to look that up for everyone.

Oh, and I know most Christians, (and possibly all here,) believe that we cannot know the year or time of the Rapture ahead of time based on a certain section in the NT, I looked carefully at it once and found that it was misinterpreted. What couldn't be known, even by Christ and the angels, was something else, but always called the Rapture, or just the End Times. I believe it was Christ's return instead. I'll have to look at that again too.

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 3:52 pm
by Stormdancer
Remember,

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

This is not the sign of the end,

nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

this is not the end,

but false prophets shall rise up

and it is when the cry peace and saftey, that you know it is near.

Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 7:15 pm
by Jay_7
Believer wrote:
kateliz wrote:I voted "yes", but don't really care to get into it now. So many different reasons. It's obvious when you know what to look for.

Exactly how soon I'm not sure. There's a verse in Hosea though that people say limits the Church Age to 2,000 years, which is coming up, and would mean that the Rapture is just that close. Let's see, if Christ was born in 3 or 4 BC, He was thirty-three when He was died, then the Church, which began on Pentecost around 30 AD, would hit it's Rapture deadline on Pentecost in 2030 or so. And, what was it? forty(?) days before that the dead, saved will rise from their graves just like how it happened the day Christ died, as prophesised somewhere in the OT.

But aside from that, world events scream it, and previous generations just didn't know how obvious it would get.
That concerns me because I do have faith as small as a mustard seed and I am unsure of my salvation and I fear God and all that stuff :cry:. I know it's ALL true, *skeptics beware*, but I just don't know. I tried many times to get away from God, but didn't work, I am attached. Is there a year we can round around that this stuff would happen, because we have to take the Bible in whole?
Same as me im attatched. I dont think ill ever be an atheist, whenever i find evidence that proves God isn't real i dont stop believing.. which is good because i look into it more and find out that it isn't proof at all!

And yeah about the end times i still think it has over 150 years to go, because of unfullfild prohecies.

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 6:29 am
by puritan lad
I voted no because of unfulfilled prophecy. The Great Commission must be fulfilled (Psalm 22:27-28), so that the earth will become full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). This will result of the conversion of both Jew and Gentile (Romans 11:24-26).

kateliz,

The (2,000 year) argument has been used by "chicken little" pundits for years and with embarrassing results. Here are some example...

Harold Camping used this argument to support the end of the world in 1996. (I tried to find a link to the book, but I can't seem to find it available anymore. Go figure) Now he has revised his date to 2011. At least your guy chose a date, 2033, that is far enough away to where many people will forget about it by the time his prophecy doesn't come true.

Here is the godfather of the modern false prophecy movement, Hal Lindsey himself, talking about his "fig tree" generation:

"We are the generation that will see the end times... and the return of Jesus." (The 1980's: Countdown to Armageddon (New York, Bantam, 1980), back cover.

"What a way to live! With optimism, with anticipation, with excitement. We should be living like persons who don't expect to be around much longer". (The Late Great Planet Earth [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970], p. 145).

"What generation? Obviously, in context, the generation that would see the signs -- chief among them the rebirth of Israel. A generation in the Bible is something like forty years. If this is a correct deduction, then within forty years or so of 1948, all these things could take place. Many scholars who have studied Bible prophecy all their lives believe that this is so." (The Late Great Planet Earth, p. 54)

"Jesus said "this generation shall not pass, till all these things come to pass." What generation ? The generation that would see all these signs. We are that generation! I believe you cannot miss it. We're that generation, and I believe we're rapidly moving toward the coming of Christ." (Apocalypse Planet Earth videotape, 1990, HLM)

Of course, 1988 has come and gone, and we are all still here. Hal now has to do some backpedaling.

”I also said that 'if' a generation was forty years and 'if' the generation of the 'fig tree' (Matthew 24:32-34) started with the foundation of the state of Israel, then Jesus 'might come back by 1988.' But I put a lot of ifs and maybes in because I knew that no one could be absolutely certain.”

Hal has pretty much disappeared from the public scene since taking up with wife #4.

There are, of course, many many more examples (I could fill this page with the "Y2K" disaster alone.) It is therefore necessary to come to a hard conclusion. These modern day, self-proclaimed "prophecy experts" are experts in nothing except confusion. Why so people continue to listen to these guys?

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 5:59 pm
by Jac3510
I don't really feel that anyone can say "yes" or "no" to this and be intellectually responsible. Of course, a lot of this depends on what you mean by "near" . . . do you mean within our lifetimes? Do you mean within the next three years? Do you mean within the next century?

We are certainly in "the last days," but then we have been for two thousand years. Further, we are one day closer now than we were yesterday. I, for my part, personally think we are very near, in the sense of our own lifetimes, but it's not for any quantifiable reasons that can't be explained otherwise. It's just a belief based on my interpretation of the direction of the world. I certainly wouldn't make an argument out of it.

I will say this, though. It is a good thing that every generation has thought that it was the last generation. I think that was one of the reasons Jesus left things not only ambiguous, but ambiguous with the idea that it would be "soon." Every generation is told to be ready, because it could be at any moment. Part of being ready is having a genuine expectation that the Return is imminent. I would personally doubt the "readiness" of those who believe it is far off, although it certainly is no litmus test . . .

Just my two cents worth. I voted maybe.

God bless

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 9:48 pm
by Fortigurn
kateliz wrote:There's a verse in Hosea though that people say limits the Church Age to 2,000 years, which is coming up, and would mean that the Rapture is just that close.
Which verse would that be?

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 3:53 am
by IRQ Conflict
I would caution against date setting but here is a page that I believe is scriptually in line.

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 8:55 pm
by Iggy
i voted yes. i dont know why(i think its the end times)... i just feel it. things are "different. i cant really explain it. but i'll try...

first, there's the obvoious! wars, rumors of wars, so on and so forth.
next, doesnt the bible say that his people will know when something is about to happen? i dont know how or why i feel i know. maybe it was the MRE i ate for lunch... :oops:

i dont fear the wars, the natural disasters, the sicknesses, the hate or the future. i'm not afraid of death or sad for those who have died. i dont see anything past the year 2013. i know this isnt normal for a young person...
so these feelings are 1 of 3 things.

1- maybe it was the MRE i ate, like i said before.
2- it's the end of the world, because man has destroyed it.
3- it's the end times because jesus is on his way back.
or a 4th idea... both 2 and 3 are correct.

maybe jesus will return just before the world tried to end itself... we dont exactly take good care of it.

Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:36 pm
by Blacknad
A few reasons I voted yes...

Global Warming

Many scientists now believe that Global Warming is reaching the tipping point - the point of non-return. This will have an incredible impact on the earth. Apart from 'rapid weathering' and permafrost appearing in the Northern Hemisphere (mini ice ages), the sea level is predicted to rise by up to 20 feet:
"New projections suggest that the warming climate could melt the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets much sooner than previously thought, leading to a global sea level rise of at least 20 feet..."
This will place a large part of the land mass currently out of water, under water.

The potential impact of GW is being continually upwardly revised, and the timescale is being revised downwards. Some finds in Artic ice cores show quite a shocking potential for incredible change in just a few years once a tipping point is reached.

We better get used to things like Katrina because it is small fry compared to what may come.

Also:
23 March 2006
Increasing Soil Erosion Threatens World's Food Supply
While climate change hogs the headlines, a more insidious threat that is largely ignored is steadily destroying great swathes of the world's croplands...
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Avian Flu.

If H5N1 gains an ability to bind to the upper throat instead of the lower airways (virologists think this very likely), then we will see a pandemic of biblical proportions. We will never have had to witness anything like this. The Spanish Influenza killed an estimated 50 million worldwide. H5N1 will probably be the Spanish Flu's grown up evil twin. Spanish flew took weeks to get around the world - Once bird flu breaks, it will do it in days.

The damage it will do to the economy may trigger a world recession.
A study by the Committee for Economic Development says that a bird flu outbreak ranks alongside terrorism and social unrest in China as one of the biggest threats to the international economy.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4598150.stm

A panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos named bird flu as the number one global threat. Even a study by the U.S. Congressional Budget Office spells out the possibility that a new pandemic can develop that could kill 2,5 per cent of the 30 per cent of the U.S. population that would be likely to catch the flu. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in December 2005 warned that this could cost the [US] economy 700 billion dollars and an economic loss of 5 per cent of the U.S. GNP, ”brought on by fear and confusion”.

The point is that a virus' potential impact to this planet, due to the amount of air travel and the fact that we have a cohesive global economy, is without historical precedent.

This particular Horseman of the Apocalypse has graduated from a pony to a cross between a warhorse and a Grand National winner.
The fourth horseman (on the pale, or sickly horse, which may be the source of the notion of "pestilence" as a separate horseman) is explicitly named Death. The pale [green]ish color of the fourth horse means fear, sickness, decay, and death. The imagery of the horses and riders is similar to a passage in Zechariah.
But back to Avian Flu. Some choice quotes:
The most serious known health threat the world is facing today—avian influenza [bird flu]. The timing cannot be predicted, but rapid international spread is certain once the susceptible virus appears. This is a grave danger for all people in all countries.” —Dr. Lee Jong-wook, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO)
Most infectious disease experts [now] believe that the world stands on the verge of an influenza [bird flu] pandemic.” — Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies
If an influenza [bird flu] pandemic occurs before adequate preparations have been made, this could result in a public health emergency of unprecedented scale and economic crisis due to excess morbidity [illness] and mortality [death] in adults of working age, social disruption, and panic.” —Influenza Vaccine Supply (IVS) International Task Force
Australian-based Lowy Institute Think Tank indicated...Global economic losses could reach $4.4 trillion.
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Exponential Population Growth



According to population experts, it took almost 1,900 years for the world to slowly rise from an estimated 250 million at the time of Christ to a billion and a half at the beginning of the 20th century. Then, in the 20th century alone, the earth's population has exploded as it quadrupled in size. It has reached the staggering mark of six billion people. In spite of advances in birth control, the world population still rapidly climbs.

A glimpse at the trend shows why many are concerned. According to the United Nations Population Division, it took 123 years to move from one billion to two billion population. Yet it took only 33 years to reach the three billion mark and 14 years to arrive at the four billion level. Next it took only 13 years to reach five billion, and now, just 11 years later, we have crossed the six billion mark.

From now on, it is estimated, one billion people will be added every 10 years. Provided this rate of growth—adding some 80 million new people per year—continues, the planet's population will double again in 50 years.

What does this all mean? Is the earth able to sustain this level of population growth without bringing on dire consequences?

Signs of global environmental fatigue

Already the earth is showing serious consequences from this rapid population increase combined with the excessive consumption of the earth's resources. In 1989 the fishing industry reported a dwindling of fish catches in oceans, and the decline has continued. Diminishing reserves of metals, fossil fuels, forests, arable lands, freshwater and wildlife are facts of life.

Pollution has reached a global scale, with hardly any part of the earth free from contaminated air, water and soil. This is not an extremist view, but what world organizations such as the UN and the Red Cross are regularly reporting.

Perhaps in the United States, Europe and Japan, where funds are available to curb the most damaging effects of the rise in population, there is not so much concern. But these nations comprise only a sixth, or a billion, of the world's inhabitants. The rest of the world is in a far worse condition.
As the population grows, it strains the relations within cities and among nations. More crime, violence and disease will invariably appear as people are increasingly forced to live in cramped and unhealthy quarters.
How is this related to prophecy? First, according to the end-time scenario described in the book of Revelation, a massive army from east of the Euphrates will cross the river and bring a disastrous world war. "And I heard a voice . . . saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, 'Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.' So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million" (Revelation 9:13-16).

For this prophecy to come to pass, billions of people must exist on the planet for this region of Asia to field 200 million able-bodied soldiers. Until the latter part of the 20th century, Chinese and other Asian people could not muster even half that number. But now, for the first time in history, they can provide such a massive military force.

Also, as world population multiplied in the 20th century, so did the explosion of knowledge, made possible by improved communications, travel and technology. We can easily see the fulfilment of the prophecy God gave to Daniel: "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4).

So Pestilence is not the only guy being gifted a decent horse.
The third horseman, riding the black horse, is popularly called Famine. The black color of the third horse could be a symbol of death and famine. Its rider was holding a scale, which means scarcity of food, higher prices, and famine.

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The Tower of Babel Undone

The Internet is providing universal communication is a way the world has not yet seen. It will provide translation so all humanity can communicate in one tongue:
Babelfish: Real-Time Machine Translation on the Internet
Portable Universal Translators will soon follow, in fact rudimentary ones are already on the market:
Speech recognition software
Speech recognition software recognizes what you said and pronounces the translation in the selected target language.


The point being here is that the internet provides a forum for idea exchanges amongst the secular world and God had a big problem with that:
Gen 11:6-7
The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
The net provides a vehicle for wickedness to flourish.

Some stats on net pornography gathered by the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families:

Approximately 40 million people in the United States are sexually involved with the Internet
- Exposing Porn: Science, Religion, and the New Addiction, Paul Strand. Christian Broadcasting Network, 2004.

25 percent of all search engine requests are pornography related
- Internet Pornography Statistics: 2003, David C. Bissette, Psy.D. http://www.healthymind.com, 2004.

72 million Internet users visit pornography web sites per year
- Pornography Statistics 2003. Internet Filter Review. http://www.internetfilterreview.com, 2003.

At least 20,000 American adults visit Internet sex sites at least 11 hours per week
- Victims of Pornography Month Should Not Exist, Jan Larue. Christian Counseling Today, 2003 Vol. 11 No. 3.

According to Datamonitor, over half of all spending on the Internet is related to sexual activity. Each day 30 million people log on to pornographic Web sites
- Internet pornography statistics. Internet Filter Review, 2003.

In 2004, there were 372 million pornographic Web pages, 2.5 billion sex junk emails (8% of total emails), 100 thousand Web sites offering illegal child pornography, and 72 million annual worldwide visitors to pornographic websites
- Internet Pornography Statistics. Internet Filter Review, 2004.


And the Net is corrupting and weakening the church:

For every 10 men in church, 5 are struggling with pornography
- The Call to Biblical Manhood. Man in the Mirror, 6 July, 2004.

According to pastors, the 8 top sexual issues damaging to their congregation are: 57% pornography addiction, 34% sexually active never-married adults, 30% adultery of married adults, 28% sexually active teenagers, 16% sexual dissatisfaction, 14% unwed pregnancy, 13% sexually active previously married adults, and 9% sexual abuse.
- More Sex, Please. Christianity Today International, Winter 2005.

See:

http://www.nationalcoalition.org/resour ... /stat.html

Go to:

http://www.porn-free.org/

and read the 'Destruction Stories' of Christians and [Internet] porn.

In fact if you are a Christian and struggling with porn, or indeed anyone suffering from a porn addiction then go to porn-free.org and take some of its courses. It has been an excellent help for many Christians.

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The Fulfilling of the Great Commission

Some may correct me here, but the Commission is almost fulfilled. The gospel has very nearly been taken to all nations and all peoples.
Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.
There are few if any tribal peoples that have not received the gospel. The job may well be done.


See this page for more reasons:

http://www.contenderministries.org/prop ... dtimes.php



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I could go on to talk about the restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land after 1900 years.

The European Union and the Global Village clearly on it's way to making a One World Government ready for the Anti-Christ.

In fact I could go on and on....
EARTHQUAKES

Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes."

The number and intensity of earthquakes this century is at a level higher than any other time in history. A staggering number of seismic events occur around the world daily. The earthquake seismic monitor IRIS shows all major earthquakes for the last year. Indicated by yellow and red circles, the seismic events of the last 15 days provides strong evidence of the fulfillment of Matthew 24:7 in our day. By contrast, in the years from 1890 to 1900 there was only one major earthquake in the world.
See: http://www.iris.edu/seismon/



And on and on....



If anyone is really in any doubt that we are in, or rapidly approaching the end times then I would be very surprised and also a little worried for their grip on reality.

Regards,

Blacknad.

Maybe

Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:33 pm
by Canuckster1127
I answered mayb e.

Frankly, I think we are admonished in scripture to live as if we are in the last day. Be prepared.

That I agree with.

My beef is with those who utilize prophesy and try to make it "applicable" to todays news, and the try to translate that into fear to motivate people to whatever course of action they are advocating, whether that course of action is good or not.

I grew up under Hal Lindsey's influence. I look back on it without much affection. Frankly, looking back ay it now makes a lot of what he had to say as clearly wrong in its application. He effectively took the Scriptures, a newspaper and sought to reconcile them by showing how the Newspaper fell into the symbology of apolyptic literature. If you're going to do that, you had better be right is my feeling now. And frankly, I think the scripture is purposely vague for just the reason that God want's his people to live with a sense of urgency to their faith and the spreading of it. That is Scriptural Could Christ come today? He could. Could it be another 2,000 years? Could be.

Bottom line is I don't know and apparently God doesn't want me to know. I can conjecture. I can see applicably. That is a far cry from specific knowledge. I've come to see a litmus test. As soon as some ministry or teacher claims to have special knowledge to explain to me what I can't see in the Scripture for myself and presents a framework, I write them off.

It's that simple.

Been the Hal Lindsey route. The Scripture can speak for itself without me needing some "expert" to impress me with his or creative interpretation as to how he or she can make scriptural texts fit todays political science.

Been burned before. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice.

More often then not, this type of prophetic knowledge smacks of gnosticism, where someone claims to have special knowledge which helps to interpret the Scripture.

Thanks, but no thanks.

1948 or 1967

Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:52 pm
by bluesman
In a post 1948 was mentioned as Israel as a country . Therefore add a generation of 40 years gets 1988. Okay well we are still here and no Jesus yet.

Now there is the year 1967 thats used . Therefore add 40 years and we get 2007!! Better get ready!!

"Jerusalem would be trodden down by the gentiles until the time of the end. -In 1967 0f June for the first time in almost 2000 years the Jews stormed into Jerusalem and in that incredible six days war, they liberated the city from the gentiles (non-Israelites). At that point that was the last warning prophetically that we are at the time of the end. Luke 21:24) "http://www3.telus.net/thegoodnews/last1.htm

I would think to use 1967 we should maybe add a average lifespan .
Say maybe 70 or so years. Therefore, maybe 2037 ! Well that leaves a little time to repent. Except maybe subtract the 7 years of tribulation gives 2030 for the rapture.

Hmmmmmmmm

Mike