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I don't worry about the end of times, and I don't think Jesus wanted us to. The apostles pretty much expected it in their life . Jesus made it plain that we were not to worry about it. I worry more about what I can do today to please the lord than trying to predict his return. Some people spend a lifetime trying to guess when Jesus will return. He doesn't know either. He said only the Father who sent me knows the time. In my opinion they have wasted a lifetime of loving and serving the Lord.
I believe that people will have the opportunity to be saved even during the tribulation period. There are others who disagree with me...but then why else would God send his 2 prophets if not to convice people that Jesus Saves? Rev. 11:3
And we are promised that God will wipe away all tears when we are with him in heaven. Rev. 7:17 So we certainly won't remember all those left behind and the heartache of knowing they were lost...actually there's a lot I don't want to remember!
Oh yes I agree! People will be have the opportunity to be saved during this time, but it will probably cost them their life. It won't be easy like it is now. And we won't remember the ones left behind.
If you knew some of my family, you'd understand why I'd rather forget some! There are some people who believe we'll be with our husband/wife and will know our family and friends in heaven just as we do here. I see it a little differently...and I've been married more than once and I sure don't want to be in that situation! And I don't want to know about those who aren't in heaven. I sincerely wish I could find something in the Bible to convince me that only the devil and his angels would be in hell and even if the others didn't make it to heaven, at least they'd just stay asleep forever. Hell is a scary thing and I surely don't want to know it if anyone I love goes there. I cannot imagine anyone being smug about "I'm in heaven and you're not...too bad" sort of way. What kind of Christian could possibly think that way?
Well, I can certainly understand the family thing,and the remarriage thing, (that could be uncomfortable).
I knew when I used the "smug" thing, that it wouldn't come out right. Sorry about that. What I was/am trying to say, is that there are some Christians who believe that they will have an "understanding", if you will, from God. An acceptance of his holiness, and that this is how things have to be. I still don't know if that's a very good explaination, but for the life of me, I can't think of a better way. (Although, I can say I know some folks, claiming the title "Christian", who would, indeed, be smug about it).
I mean, how can everything be alright, believing that one will leave loved ones and friends behind? The believer's future may be secure, but those other folks are kind of screwed, so doesn't that give pause for some concern?
Isn't this the same forum that gave Christians flak for Evangelizing???
???? He's talking about the generation AFTER the tribulation. What you highlighted actually does a pretty good job summing it up.
In a verse right before that he's talking about the temple being rebuilt and the 'abomination' spoken of by Daniel being in the temple...what gives???
Also, what's an NAB? I'm not familiar with that but I know that the Greek word there for generation is also translated 'race'. So, I don't know what that version is and I haven't looked it up in other versions...I'm sure it's the same and says generation as well...but still loook at the first phrase of what you copied/pasted. I've looked at that before but really, you should be able to see more than that, plad.
No, the word generation as used in Matt 24:34 is the greek word "genea" which means "by implication an age" ( the period of the persons, not the persons themselves. Here's some other NT passages the greek word "genea" is used:
Luke 1:50 "And is mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation"
Matt 1:17 "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations........
If Jesus has meant to imply RACE, he would have used the greek word "genos" meaning "kind or stock of peoples".
Which means, that Jesus REALLY meant that SOME of the people standing before him would be alive when the events he was describing occurred. Such was the case when Jerusalem fell in AD 70. Paul and Peter had been martyred, but John was alive on the Isle of Patmos where he had been exiled by Rome. Matthew 24 is about the fall of Jerusalem and doing away of the old covenant, to consumate Christ's Kingdom which is the Church. Matthew 24 is not about the end of the world.
Last edited by fromcenFL; 05-05-2007 at 10:55 PM..
I couldn't help noticing this passage from the Bible which was mentioned. There are some glaring errors concerning what we know about astronomy that I'd like to point out. This is from an age when people didn't realize that the sun was just a medium sized star and they still thought the earth was flat. The words "the stars will fall from the sky" seem to indicate that the author believed that the stars were not very large objects and they were apparently just perched high up above the earth. Having the stars fall from the sky wouldn't be that big of a deal if that were the case but it isn't. We all know that the stars are objects like our sun that are located extremely long distances away from the earth. The statement doesn't make any sense.
Also, the second coming or end days is the most postponed event in human history. People living in the time of Jesus did expect his return within their lifetimes and he didn't show up. There's been a whole series of sometimes amusing spectacles when thousands of people gathered for the predicted event and absolutely nothing happened. If you happen to attend one of these future gatherings where the faithful are assembled on a hilltop or some other suitable place I would advise you to pack a lunch.
Yikes. Lemme tackle this one.......
The men standing on the mount of Olives asking these questions and listening to Jesus were Jewish, and well familiar with the Torah and the books of the prophets, where language like this was very common. Take a look:
"For the stars of heaven and the constellations theroef shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine". Isaiah 13:10, (describing the destruction of Egypt.)
"And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Daniel 8:10 (within a section describing the destruction of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes)
"And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord will come. Joel 2:30-31 (describing the destruction of Jersusalem and the Templed for the last time)
You could fill a small book with passages from the OT using language like this. It is language of DE-creation. Strong language to describe God UNDOING something, like a nation, or a government, or a religious order. Much like the Levitical preisthood was rendered obsolete by the destruction of the Temple and the recorded geneologies of the 12 tribes.
And people have been thinking we are on the brink of the end of the world for years. Theres a book that documents all the known perpetrators of such hoaxes. Remember the book "88 reasons why Jesus will return in 1988"?". Hal Lindsey wrote that the generation living in the 1980's was the "terminal generation" and would see "armageddon" in his book The Late Great Planet Earth (unless I got two of his books mixed up). Hes still conducting prophecy seminars to this day and people go to see him.
The problem is NOT with what Jesus said, but how people are interpreting it incorrectly, and by reading their own preconceptions into it. Did anyone know the word "armageddon" is not even in Matthew 24, not is the word "antichrist"??
Isn't this the same forum that gave Christians flak for Evangelizing???
Exactly which way do you want it???
I'm afraid I'm not following you. What are you asking me? I didn't say anything about evangelizing, in my earlier post. I was talking about how would it be possible for believers to be content with their own secure future, with the Rapture, while knowing that their unbelieving loved ones have been left behind? That has nothing to do with evangelizing, unless of course, one was going to soothe one's heart with "by golly, I told 'em about Jesus!" But, as I said, I didn't bring up evangelizing.
According to the Christian Jesus, it should have happened 2000 years ago. What went wrong?
I don't understand what you mean by this
isn't there only one Jesus Christ
Are there different versions for like every version of the bible?
The Christian Version(obviously the only one that counts)
The Catholic Version(cause we ain't christians)
The Mormon version(cause they ain't christians either)
The Jewish version(cause in their version he is just a prophet)
Now see when it is put this way how utterly ridiculous it sounds
I don't understand what you mean by this
isn't there only one Jesus Christ
Are there different versions for like every version of the bible?
The Christian Version(obviously the only one that counts)
The Catholic Version(cause we ain't christians)
The Mormon version(cause they ain't christians either)
The Jewish version(cause in their version he is just a prophet)
Now see when it is put this way how utterly ridiculous it sounds
I use the term Christian Jesus or JC to differentiate between Jesus (the man, itinerate rabble-rouser and trouble maker) or 'Brian' as I sometimes call him (as in Monty Python's 'Life of Brian') and the biblical Jesus.
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There are some people who believe we'll be with our husband/wife and will know our family and friends in heaven just as we do here. I see it a little differently...and I've been married more than once and I sure don't want to be in that situation! And I don't want to know about those who aren't in heaven. I sincerely wish I could find something in the Bible to convince me that only the devil and his angels would be in hell and even if the others didn't make it to heaven, at least they'd just stay asleep forever. Hell is a scary thing and I surely don't want to know it if anyone I love goes there. I cannot imagine anyone being smug about "I'm in heaven and you're not...too bad" sort of way. What kind of Christian could possibly think that way?
and the remarriage thing, (that could be uncomfortable
).
I didn't say anything about evangelizing, in my earlier post. I was talking about how would it be possible for believers to be content with their own secure future, with the Rapture, while knowing that their unbelieving loved ones have been left behind? That has nothing to do with evangelizing, unless of course, one was going to soothe one's heart with "by golly, I told 'em about Jesus!" But, as I said, I didn't bring up evangelizing.
