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A friend asked me the subject question, but in the context of the nearness of the year -- wondering if it might be in 2011 or 2012? I suspect her question was prompted by all the seemingly negative things going on currently upon the earth. Also, the short discussion we had indicated she was really asking about the nearness of the rapture, where Jesus Christ comes from heaven to take his church (true believers) to heaven before the Tribulation, a period of catastrophe and chaos upon the Earth.
I have addressed the subject of when Christ will return many times before, and I particularly recommend you read this Post#42 before you continue here.
Presuming you have now read the earlier post, first, a word about date setting. Post #42 teaches us that no one can know the day and hour of His coming. Yet in the same context we are told to watch, so that we will not be surprised by His coming. That we should pay attention to the signs and warnings going on around us, that we should be better prepared for that day and hour. And to do that, we gain help by understanding the times and the seasons.
In 1988, Edgar Whisenant, a writer/researcher published a book called "88 Reasons why the Rapture will be in 1988". Here is the link to the Wikipedia entry, which is worth reading.
By almost all accounts, Edgar Whisenant was a honest man, a man greatly desiring for the Lord to come, a student of the Bible -- yet where did he go wrong (besides in trying to set a date)?
One of his primary calculations occurred thus: Israel became a nation on May 13-14th, 1948. The Bible says that a generation will not pass away until all these things (the catastrophic things around His coming) are accomplished. The Bible generally speaks of a generation as being about 40 years, thus 1948 + 40 = 1988. This was one of his 88 reasons, but a major one!!
While I do not hold entirely to this following analyzation, I put it here as a matter of record as to an illustration of the latest thinking:
Many evangelical scholars, pastors, and teachers, think the first part of his argument may be correct, that the prophetic clock started ticking again in 1948. The wrong part was thinking that "a generation" was 40 years long. Instead, it may be 70 years long, the "3 score and 10" (three twenties & ten) that the Bible mentions as a reasonable, normal life of a person.
If you add the 70 years to the 1948, you get 2018. There are a few bible prophecy teachers that teach 2018 as a possible date of the Lord's return. But is this the date of the Rapture, or of the date of the ending of the tribulation where the Lord will come back in splendor and glory? If the latter, then the rapture would be 7 years earlier, in 2011.
There is a great danger to date setting, for (almost) all dates come and go without the predicted events occuring. But, there IS a date, a day and a hour, known only to God where the Lord will come for his church. We are to get ready, and to be ready and watchful! Perhaps it will be soon! Even so, come Lord Jesus.
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Sunday, March 21, 2010
94. Sorry, still getting organized
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Retirement: A time to catch up on all the things needed at home.
Yes, that definition seems to be true. Plus, it's Income Tax time, and ours is more difficult than usual. So, without belaboring the issue, I'm still not yet blogging full time.
But soon I will be, and I hope even before that time to post some things and thoughts off and on.
With all the things that are going on in the world and in our nation, it is not time to let our guard down. Do you have a copy of the Declaration of Independence and of the U.S. Constitution? Now would be a good time to read them again if you are unsure about what they say. The U.S. Constitution will become particularly important in the months ahead. If you have an Amazon Kindle, you can download the two documents together for $1.00. I just did.
I started blogging almost exactly 9 months ago, and I know this for certain: The "Things that are coming upon the world" are 9 months nearer than when I began blogging.
If they were 20 years away, they are now only 19 years and 3 months away. If they were 5 years away, they are now only 4 years and 3 months away. And if they were just 18 months away back when I started, they are only 9 months away now. Jesus said, "Be Watchful" and "Be Ready", for "you do not know when the Lord will return".
And next: a friend's question about the nearness of the Lord's return.
.
Retirement: A time to catch up on all the things needed at home.
Yes, that definition seems to be true. Plus, it's Income Tax time, and ours is more difficult than usual. So, without belaboring the issue, I'm still not yet blogging full time.
But soon I will be, and I hope even before that time to post some things and thoughts off and on.
With all the things that are going on in the world and in our nation, it is not time to let our guard down. Do you have a copy of the Declaration of Independence and of the U.S. Constitution? Now would be a good time to read them again if you are unsure about what they say. The U.S. Constitution will become particularly important in the months ahead. If you have an Amazon Kindle, you can download the two documents together for $1.00. I just did.
I started blogging almost exactly 9 months ago, and I know this for certain: The "Things that are coming upon the world" are 9 months nearer than when I began blogging.
If they were 20 years away, they are now only 19 years and 3 months away. If they were 5 years away, they are now only 4 years and 3 months away. And if they were just 18 months away back when I started, they are only 9 months away now. Jesus said, "Be Watchful" and "Be Ready", for "you do not know when the Lord will return".
And next: a friend's question about the nearness of the Lord's return.
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Sunday, March 7, 2010
93. Link to article in The End Time blog
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Elizabeth Prata has a great article on her blogsite about the many instances of weird weather. I recommend it highly:
Click here to read it.
You might consider adding Elizabeth's The End Time blog to your favorites -- it's one of mine...
Larry
Elizabeth Prata has a great article on her blogsite about the many instances of weird weather. I recommend it highly:
Click here to read it.
You might consider adding Elizabeth's The End Time blog to your favorites -- it's one of mine...
Larry
Friday, March 5, 2010
92. Near-Earth Flybys of Asteroids, Meteorites
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As an university Astronomy major in my pre-Christ days, I've continued my interest during my 38 years as a believer. And thanks to the miracles of modern telescopy, more and more we hear about potential "close encounters of the cataclysmic kind", celestial objects nearly colliding with Earth. In truth, most of these objects pass by far outside the orbit of the moon, which is on average about 240,000 miles away from earth -- but a few pass inside the moon's orbit.
There are many and varied attempts to find and catalogue these near-earth objects, most amateur and some professional. By saying 'amateur', I mean it not in any negative way, but only in the unpaid way, for it is true that as many as 90% of these potentially hazardous objects were initially found and catalogued by unpaid amateurs using such instruments as backyard telescopes, visual and radio, large and small.
The most notable professional group is NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's own "Asteroid Watch" initiative, which can be seen at this site: Click here for NASA. I also have them as a twitter favorite, at click for twitterlink.
What does all this have to do with the end-times, you ask?
At the very least, it may have to do with these words of Jesus specifically about the end-times: "There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven." (Lk 21:11), which may or may not include such physical encounters.
But did you know that the book of Revelation specifically mentions two events that can easily be interpreted as celestial objects striking the earth? I would add parenthetically that not even NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has any way of stopping such visitors from the cosmos.
The first of the two events takes place during the tribulation, sometime after the 3 1/2 year midpoint: "8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed." Rev 8:8-9.
The second takes place soon after the first, or at least as the next event after it on the prophetic calendar: "10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood (which means Bitterness). A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter." Rev 8:10-11
It could be that these verses do not describe asteroids or meteorites crashing into the Earth at all, but some unique catastrophic destruction sent especially as a further warning to rebellious unbelieving mankind before God brings down the curtain upon this world as it exists today.
Think on these things, but even more think about another occurance out of heaven:
He will be coming in great glory and splendor, a display for all the world to see and marvel -- some to eternal blessedness and some to eternal darkness.
.
As an university Astronomy major in my pre-Christ days, I've continued my interest during my 38 years as a believer. And thanks to the miracles of modern telescopy, more and more we hear about potential "close encounters of the cataclysmic kind", celestial objects nearly colliding with Earth. In truth, most of these objects pass by far outside the orbit of the moon, which is on average about 240,000 miles away from earth -- but a few pass inside the moon's orbit.
There are many and varied attempts to find and catalogue these near-earth objects, most amateur and some professional. By saying 'amateur', I mean it not in any negative way, but only in the unpaid way, for it is true that as many as 90% of these potentially hazardous objects were initially found and catalogued by unpaid amateurs using such instruments as backyard telescopes, visual and radio, large and small.
The most notable professional group is NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's own "Asteroid Watch" initiative, which can be seen at this site: Click here for NASA. I also have them as a twitter favorite, at click for twitterlink.
What does all this have to do with the end-times, you ask?
At the very least, it may have to do with these words of Jesus specifically about the end-times: "There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven." (Lk 21:11), which may or may not include such physical encounters.
But did you know that the book of Revelation specifically mentions two events that can easily be interpreted as celestial objects striking the earth? I would add parenthetically that not even NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has any way of stopping such visitors from the cosmos.
The first of the two events takes place during the tribulation, sometime after the 3 1/2 year midpoint: "8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed." Rev 8:8-9.
The second takes place soon after the first, or at least as the next event after it on the prophetic calendar: "10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood (which means Bitterness). A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter." Rev 8:10-11
It could be that these verses do not describe asteroids or meteorites crashing into the Earth at all, but some unique catastrophic destruction sent especially as a further warning to rebellious unbelieving mankind before God brings down the curtain upon this world as it exists today.
Think on these things, but even more think about another occurance out of heaven:
Matt 24:26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.and also,
1 Thessalonians 4:13 "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep(that is, have died), lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep (that is, die) in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.."
He will be coming in great glory and splendor, a display for all the world to see and marvel -- some to eternal blessedness and some to eternal darkness.
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91. A political comment -- and a promise
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First, the promise: This blog is NOT going to turn into a political blog, and is absolutely going to remain an end-times, last-days blog for the purpose of education, instruction, preparation, and warning.
However, I posted this comment today on a friend's blog, and thought it worth repeating here. This friend is a co-laborer in both the political and spiritual arenas.
Posting this here preserves and demonstrates my commitment to "not be so heavenly-minded that I am no earthly good." I thought that this relates much to "Future History", and I welcome your comments.
Sadly, in these days of issues-oriented voting (as opposed to values-oriented voting), there is no perfect candidate. This would include Scott Brown, at first glance a nearly perfect candidate, but with a closer look a very imperfect candidate (except for his perfect jaw-line).
For that reason, due to my commitment to 'values-oriented' voting, I will almost always vote for the better of the candidates, a defensive measure that may "improve" that individual office considerably.
Explaining more fully, if the only option I have is to replace a congressman who votes 1 time out of 10 for my values with a congressman who will vote 5 out of 10 times for my values, I consider that a vote and time well-spent, and I will have improved that office five-fold. And hopefully next time I can replace that person with someone who will vote 9 (or 10!) out of 10 times for my values-oriented positions (which I continually work to align with biblical values).
Always "improve the office" if we can. Never allow a stinker to stay if we have any other option. Besides, if we demand only 'perfect' candidates, it will keep many people with good values from running for office. We need to encourage imperfect people (like ourselves) to bring their values to Washington to better the common good.
This must not be taken as an approval of moderate views, but rather an acceptance of the principle that certain tasks and goals may be handled incrementally, as God indicates in Exodus 23:29-30: "29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 But little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land."
I welcome your comments!
.
First, the promise: This blog is NOT going to turn into a political blog, and is absolutely going to remain an end-times, last-days blog for the purpose of education, instruction, preparation, and warning.
However, I posted this comment today on a friend's blog, and thought it worth repeating here. This friend is a co-laborer in both the political and spiritual arenas.
Posting this here preserves and demonstrates my commitment to "not be so heavenly-minded that I am no earthly good." I thought that this relates much to "Future History", and I welcome your comments.
Sadly, in these days of issues-oriented voting (as opposed to values-oriented voting), there is no perfect candidate. This would include Scott Brown, at first glance a nearly perfect candidate, but with a closer look a very imperfect candidate (except for his perfect jaw-line).
For that reason, due to my commitment to 'values-oriented' voting, I will almost always vote for the better of the candidates, a defensive measure that may "improve" that individual office considerably.
Explaining more fully, if the only option I have is to replace a congressman who votes 1 time out of 10 for my values with a congressman who will vote 5 out of 10 times for my values, I consider that a vote and time well-spent, and I will have improved that office five-fold. And hopefully next time I can replace that person with someone who will vote 9 (or 10!) out of 10 times for my values-oriented positions (which I continually work to align with biblical values).
Always "improve the office" if we can. Never allow a stinker to stay if we have any other option. Besides, if we demand only 'perfect' candidates, it will keep many people with good values from running for office. We need to encourage imperfect people (like ourselves) to bring their values to Washington to better the common good.
This must not be taken as an approval of moderate views, but rather an acceptance of the principle that certain tasks and goals may be handled incrementally, as God indicates in Exodus 23:29-30: "29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 But little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land."
I welcome your comments!
.
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