I would like to discuss this idea further; what else needs to be fullfilled? I have heard people say that things need to be fullfilled, but what? Is it a checklist... if so then how could Jesus "he would come like a theif in the night"? I get confussed, please help in this regard

 

I would guess the final judgement of checking names in the Book of Life.

I would like to discuss this idea further; what else needs to be fullfilled? I have heard people say that things need to be fullfilled, but what? Is it a checklist... if so then how could Jesus "he would come like a theif in the night"? I get confussed, please help in this regard

 

Yeah, I'll e-mail you a copy of the official end times, Left Behind checklist...:lol:

 

First, the rapture...then Buck and the airplane pilot have to get saved...what's his name...Rayford?

 

I kid, I kid...

 

Seriously, I don't claim to have all the answers...I know what I believe right now, but that could change in the future as I study the Bible more and hopefully learn more.

 

To my knowledge there hasn't been anything happen on earth that fits the description of the trumpet judgements...

 

The First Trumpet - 1/3 of the trees and all green grass burned up

The Sixth Trumpet - kills 1/3 of mankind

 

The two witnesses from Revelation Chapter 11...witnessing, being killed, rising in 3 1/2 days...

 

The Bowl judgements...

 

Second Bowl - every living creature in the sea dies

Sixth Bowl - Euphrates River dried up

 

And for certain the events from Revelation 19-22 cannot be explained to my satisfaction to make me believe they've already happened.

 

 

That doesn't cover everything, but it's some immediate questions that come to mind for me.

I too believe the Book of Revelation prophesies future events. I think that Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins have given us a fairly accurate script of how it could happen. I cannot prove anything they wrote is wrong. There are some minor points I believe will be different but cannot prove it anymore than they can.I can fit most of what they write into my own interpretation without any major disagreements. I am not always in agreement with what they see as imagery and exact translation.

There are many views concerning end times. The dispensational view (as set forth in the Left Behind Series) and the historical view which involves either premillenial, amillenial, and postmillenial positions when discussing the 1000 year reign. Also, there are those who believe that there is an actual anti-christ yet to be revealed while others (our church and others like us) believe that the anti-christ is a system already in place (papacy). This is not meant to offend anyone---simply answering the question that has been put forth. Our church takes the amillenial position that the Second Coming of Christ and the Day of the Lord are one in the same. Thus no millenial reign. I am attaching a link to a scholarly article which deliniates our position more fully and with much more depth than my meager mind could employ. Hope you find it interesting. http://www.graceonlinelibrary.orgIn the search bar Look under a "Brief sketch of Amillennial Eschatology." The article will appear with links to other articles on the same topic.

Tim Laheye has a book that talks about where his views came from. It was an interesting study and his points can be backed up with a certain interpretation of Scripture.

The premillennial view makes the most sense to me.

Tim Laheye has a book that talks about where his views came from. It was an interesting study and his points can be backed up with a certain interpretation of Scripture.

 

That's always the key, isn't it?

I would like to discuss this idea further; what else needs to be fullfilled? I have heard people say that things need to be fullfilled, but what? Is it a checklist... if so then how could Jesus "he would come like a theif in the night"? I get confussed, please help in this regard

 

Mr. Fundamental,

 

There are a lot of things that need to be fulfilled for Jesus to come back, some have been fulfilled, some are yet to be fulfilled. He mentions some of the signs in Matthew chapter 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13. In terms of coming "like a thief in the night," he says that when we see the signs we will know that he is near, but he will come at a day and hour when no one expects. One person I know always says "We won't know the day or hour but we will know the time and season."

 

While there are many prophecies in the Old Testament that predict near-future events (Example: Daniel predicting Alexander the Great), and a lot that predict Jesus, there are some prophecies that predict the end of time. The book of Daniel contains end time prophecy, especially in the later chapters. Another good area of fulfilled and unfulfilled prophecy is the book of Ezekiel. Read chapters 38 and 39, which contain a prophecy he made about a coalition of nations that would gang up and attack Israel. That big attack is yet to happen, but here is one part of the prophecy that has been fulfilled:

 

7 " 'Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.

 

Look at verse 8. This refers to when Israel became a nation on May 15, 1948. After World War II, a large number of Jews migrated to Israel. You will also find similar information about Israel's one day rebirth in Isaiah 66:8.

 

 

 

Jesus will come like a thief in the night. No one knows the day or the hour of his return. Many people have tried (and still continue) to guess when exactly he is going to come back. Some of the signs have been going on for hundreds of years, some have been fulfilled in recent years, while others are yet to be fulfilled. Although there are some events unfolding as of late like the rebirth of Israel that have people wondering if the end is near, no one knows exactly when Jesus is coming back.

My biggest question is: what does it matter? I don't mean that to sound hateful, rather to point out that the Bible says Jesus will come "as a thief in the night;" there won't be time to make things right, so to speak.

 

So if we live a Christian life, do what is requested of us in preparation, it shouldn't matter when He comes.

There are a lot of things that need to be fulfilled for Jesus to come back, some have been fulfilled, some are yet to be fulfilled.

 

This is where the dispensationalism view is flawed . . . we can't be expecting Jesus to come any day if there are yet "lots of things that need to be fulfilled." I, for one, am watching and waiting because nothing needs to happen before Jesus can come back . . . it could be ANY time, today, tomorrow, 50+ years from now. Even so, Lord Jesus come.

My biggest question is: what does it matter? I don't mean that to sound hateful, rather to point out that the Bible says Jesus will come "as a thief in the night;" there won't be time to make things right, so to speak.

So if we live a Christian life, do what is requested of us in preparation, it shouldn't matter when He comes.

 

Unless we are having loved ones that are not living a Christian life and doing what is requested in preparation.

 

Than it matters a whole lot.

Mr. Fundamental,

 

There are a lot of things that need to be fulfilled for Jesus to come back, some have been fulfilled, some are yet to be fulfilled. He mentions some of the signs in Matthew chapter 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13. In terms of coming "like a thief in the night," he says that when we see the signs we will know that he is near, but he will come at a day and hour when no one expects. One person I know always says "We won't know the day or hour but we will know the time and season."

 

While there are many prophecies in the Old Testament that predict near-future events (Example: Daniel predicting Alexander the Great), and a lot that predict Jesus, there are some prophecies that predict the end of time. The book of Daniel contains end time prophecy, especially in the later chapters. Another good area of fulfilled and unfulfilled prophecy is the book of Ezekiel. Read chapters 38 and 39, which contain a prophecy he made about a coalition of nations that would gang up and attack Israel. That big attack is yet to happen, but here is one part of the prophecy that has been fulfilled:

 

7 " 'Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. 9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.

 

Look at verse 8. This refers to when Israel became a nation on May 15, 1948. After World War II, a large number of Jews migrated to Israel. You will also find similar information about Israel's one day rebirth in Isaiah 66:8.

 

 

 

Jesus will come like a thief in the night. No one knows the day or the hour of his return. Many people have tried (and still continue) to guess when exactly he is going to come back. Some of the signs have been going on for hundreds of years, some have been fulfilled in recent years, while others are yet to be fulfilled. Although there are some events unfolding as of late like the rebirth of Israel that have people wondering if the end is near, no one knows exactly when Jesus is coming back.

 

 

If it's about Israel becoming a nation again (after the time Ezekiel I presume) why is this not reference to the Macabbean Revolt and the independence of Israel in the 2nd century BC? They threw out Antiochus Epiphanes in a homegrown revolution and rededicated the temple that had been desecrated when Antiochus slaughtered a pig on the holy of holies?

 

As to Isaiah 66:8 I'm not sure that you aren't reading something into a long allegory of birth and the birth relationship of a mother (God) with her child (Israel). Every nation is born in a day just as every child is born on a day.