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"The Rapture is a racket." The "system" was born of a young Scottish girl's vision in 1830, later fleshed out by a late-19th-century British preacher, John Nelson Darby. Darby conjured up the idea of Rapture based on scriptural texts that, read by most, indicate no such thing, and he devised the concept of "dispensations" - distinct epochs in God's time, with different rules, to account for biblical inconsistencies and, shall we say, ease of prophecy.
In 1970, America got its own Rapture hawker in Hal Lindsey, who penned the best-selling "The Late, Great Planet Earth." But as Rossing points out, over the years Lindsey has had to quietly "adjust" his own firm "prophecies" as the world has changed; where once Russia, then "red" China, represented the forces of evil, now it's Islam.
Russia and non-aligned Arab countries attack Israel and are defeated.
This sounds like wishful thinking. Where is China in all of this?
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Originally Posted by Simple Living
***God's judgment and Satan's wrath occur.
Shouldn't God's judgment come after Satan's wrath? That would make more sense. I don't understand why the two would happen at the same time as that would only confuse people even more. And, it sounds like god is allowing Satan to have his way, why?
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Originally Posted by Simple Living
***A war in heaven.
Why Heaven? Or do you mean figuratively since you did not capitalize the H?
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Originally Posted by Simple Living
***Near the end of the millennial reign, Satan is loosed on the earth again. (The final rebellion of descendants of those who entered the millennium in mortal bodies.) There's a fire judgment on the rebellion and Satan is permanently cast into the lake of fire alive.
How is Satan freed? Once again, if God is all powerful why doesn't he just keep him bound? Saying that it was prophesied does not satisfy the question. Once again it seems as if God wants Satan to torture humans, which to be quite frank is not the way to sell God to non-believers.
I really don't think that Satan would mind being cast into fire, dead or alive. Doesn't he like fire anyways? I am not trying to be funny. These allegories do not make sense.
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Originally Posted by Simple Living
***Resurrection of the unsaved for the Great White Throne Judgment. (This won't be good for those who aren't believers.)
Why would this portion be any worse? As far as I can tell things weren't rosey for the non-believers from the get-go.
This sounds like wishful thinking. Where is China in all of this?
It's not wishful thinking, it's Bible prophecy.
The Bible says that, for the battle of Armageddon, they'll come from the North, South, East and West. Let’s take them one by one:
The North is Russia, Ezekiel 38:15,16. If you draw a line from Israel to the North Pole, you go right straight through Moscow.
Then there’s the king of the South, in Daniel 11:40, and that is Egypt and an Arab Federation. They unite with the king of the North.
Then later, we have the kings of the East. That’s Revelation 16:12, the kings of the sun-rising as China and North Korea and others come across the Euphrates River on their way to Israel. And it’s the bloodiest battle in history – Revelation 9:14-18.
But situated there already is the king of the West, the European Union, who made the peace agreement in the first place, in Daniel 9:26. Now that it’s broken, they are there to defend that part of the world, according to 2 Thessalonians 2:4.
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Shouldn't God's judgment come after Satan's wrath? That would make more sense. I don't understand why the two would happen at the same time as that would only confuse people even more. And, it sounds like god is allowing Satan to have his way, why?
The judgment rendered here is on the saints who were raptured. This takes place in heaven while Satan's wrath is being released on those still on the earth.
As far as asking, "Why is God letting Satan have his way?" I can't answer fully. God is sovereign and there is a reason for everything He does. In His sovereignty, all of these events are ultimately His judgments. But it is clear that some of them are active judgments directly initiated by God, while many of them are passive judgments—initiated by wicked people and Satan, but used by God for His purposes.
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Why Heaven? Or do you mean figuratively since you did not capitalize the H?
Revelation 12:7-8 talk about Satan's final assault on God before the second coming of Jesus. The second coming is different from the rapture. Jesus comes down in the clouds and Christians are caught up with Him there, in the rapture. The second coming is Jesus physically touching down on the earth again to set up His earthly kingdom for 1,000 years.
Actually, there's always been war in heaven, since the fall of Satan. (Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:11-18) Satan and his demons have always actively opposed God's angels and God's people. This war just reaches it's peak during the tribulation period. There isn't much said in the Bible about this battle except that the Archangel Michael and his angels wage war with the dragon.
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How is Satan freed? Once again, if God is all powerful why doesn't he just keep him bound? Saying that it was prophesied does not satisfy the question. Once again it seems as if God wants Satan to torture humans, which to be quite frank is not the way to sell God to non-believers.
God allows Satan to be released at the end of the 1,000 year Millennial Reign. The rest of the answer gets complicated, and long, for a message board.
Life will continue in the 1,000 year reign as it does right now. The earth will be reconstructed and repopulated. People, during this time will still be capable of sinning. A vast part of the population, born of the believers (those who missed the rapture and accepted Christ during the Tribulation period) who entered the kingdom, will, in that perfect environment, love their sin and reject the King (Jesus.) Those who were raptured with Christ will be in their glorified bodies, reigning with Him, enforcing God's will and judging disputes.
During this time, Christ rules with unopposed sovereignty, with Satan bound in the pit. At the end of 1000 years, he is released one last time to lead a final rebellion of sinners. The people who survived the Tribulation period, and accepted Jesus during that time, will be redeemed but still have their sinful natures. They won't have their glorified bodies yet, like the saints who were raptured will. Because they still have their sinful natures, sin will still be capable.
When Satan is loosed, he will provide the supernatural leadership needed to bring to the surface all the sin and rebellion left in the universe. He will pull together all the rebels, revealing the true character and intent of those Christ-rejecting sinners, making it evident that God's judgment of them is just.
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I really don't think that Satan would mind being cast into fire, dead or alive. Doesn't he like fire anyways? I am not trying to be funny. These allegories do not make sense.
Hell isn't a place that will be ruled by Satan, like you see in Hollywood movies. It's hell for him, too! He will suffer eternal torment just as everyone else who is there will. Only his, will be worse than everyone elses. Believe me, Satan does NOT want to be in hell.
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Why would this portion be any worse? As far as I can tell things weren't rosey for the non-believers from the get-go.
Hell will make the Great Tribulation look like a walk in the park. It's torment unspeakable and never-ending. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Personally I don't believe any of this incredible stuff, but I really think there is something terribly wrong with people who wring their hands with excitement looking forward to the death and destruction of most of the people on earth...I believe it is one of the sickest beliefs that any religion has ever come up with, and there are some doozys!.....Then on the other side of their mouths they will proclaim their god as loving...
Personally I don't believe any of this incredible stuff, but I really think there is something terribly wrong with people who wring their hands with excitement looking forward to the death and destruction of most of the people on earth......
That is why we (Christians) are telling people about Jesus so hopefully they won't face death and destruction. What we believe is going to happen to the unbeliever is not what we look forward too, what we look forward to is seeing Jesus, our Lord and Savior face to face.
Yeah, well it makes no difference to me. In other words are you trying to frighten all the billions of unbelievers into your way of thinking...Too bad if they don't huh? Your loving god will destroy them and save only you believers. Rather a selfish outlook I must say. You get to shake hands with jesus, so what if billions are destroyed.
Personally I don't believe any of this incredible stuff, but I really think there is something terribly wrong with people who wring their hands with excitement looking forward to the death and destruction of most of the people on earth...I believe it is one of the sickest beliefs that any religion has ever come up with, and there are some doozys!.....Then on the other side of their mouths they will proclaim their god as loving...
As I stated twice before in the other post, Christians aren't gleefully waiting for unbelievers to be cast into hell. It horrifies us! But, the Bible says that when we receive our glorified bodies, we will have the understanding of why God must do this and it will be viewed as justified. Don't forget, unbelievers have their part to play in this, too. By rejecting Jesus, they are condemning themselves. That's why Christians evangelize, even to the point of persecution and death right now. Because that price is high enough to pay to help redeem even one person from that fate.
God is loving. Right now, in the midst of the wickedness and rebellion that ALL men have committed against Him, He still extends the hand of Salvation that saves from damnation. Even during the Great Tribulation while He's pouring out His wrath on a wicked and sinful world, He is still loving and merciful because He will still offer sinners salvation. As His wrath increases, so will His evangelistic efforts.
Yeah, well it makes no difference to me. In other words are you trying to frighten all the billions of unbelievers into your way of thinking...Too bad if they don't huh? Your loving god will destroy them and save only you believers. Rather a selfish outlook I must say. You get to shake hands with jesus, so what if billions are destroyed.
But, if a person truly doesn't believe in God, then they have nothing to fear at all.... right? Life will continue as it is until you die and become worm food, never to worry again.
But, if a person truly doesn't believe in God, then they have nothing to fear at all.... right? Life will continue as it is until you die and become worm food, never to worry again.
Well, I'll say one thing for you. You really are an optimist! That's OK, I still like having you around...
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