End Times and Other Speculations

http://ray032.com/2011/11/29/the-armageddon-generation/

Disclaimer: I have no idea about anything definite regarding the end times, Armageddon, the Gog Magog War, the new millenium, except for the vague mental pictures we get from scripture.

These things are so mind-boggling to me, and I know that speculations abound, and have succumbed to some speculating myself, however, the truth is what it is and sometimes we just won't know until the day we see it happening. In the meantime Jesus only cautioned us to understand the times from the point of being aware of today, this moment in time. He does not require that we understand everything about what will happen tomorrow, next week, or next year, but to remain faithful and aware today, to keep our eyes open and lifted up in anticipation that it can be any time....and in fact if I were to die today, my next moment of what I will experience will be what is often called "the rapture" or the resurrection of the saints (some might also speculate that we will have awareness between that time of our death and the time our body is reunited with our spirit to again be a living soul...I guess we will know for sure when that happens.

I was watching a few Youtube videos about the Gog Magog War, and a few different ideas circulating about what it is and when it will happen....and it made me realize that with all of scripture the Lord wisely gives us just enough "manna" for today. He knows that our puny brains would implode with all that He knows, so He gives us just enough for today. As Jesus put it:

Matthew 6:33-34  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.   Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. 

Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.  (KJV)

So true.

So when I read the scriptures, I store away treasures that as the Lord sees the need, will bring to my remembrance and understanding the need of them for each day as it comes. I can learn from Mary:

Luke 2:19  But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. (KJV)

There is so much that we do not know, but so much that has already been revealed to give us enough food for thought to get us through the evil that will face us today, and Jesus promised that tomorrow would take care of itself, and we would be wise to continue to seek His righteousness (prayer).

Pretrib Assumptions vs What Does the Bible Really Say?

First off, let me begin by saying that I don't mean to offend anyone who visits and thinks this is an attack on their beliefs. That is not my intention. I was going to post a picture with this blog entry, but I decided not to because I thought that perhaps it would be interpreted as a mocking gesture, and I certainly don't mean it that way at all.  I want us all, me included, to challenge any beliefs that might trip us up in the long run, after all, eternity is a very long time, to hold onto wrong beliefs stubbornly out of wanting to be right regardless of whether we actually are. I hope we can all keep reexamining what we believe and why, and have Jesus search our thoughts and our hearts to really see if it is true with what He wants us to understand about Him. You might look at this article and think it is total rubbish, and that is ok too, but please give it an honest going over before you decide that, and ask Jesus to reveal to you if you indeed have been led astray with a false belief system which did not originate from Him at all.

Is the Pretrib doctrine "another gospel"?

Four changes that were made to support the pretrib doctrine:

1) a second Gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom, which is distinguished from the Gospel of Grace.
2) a second group of saints, called “Tribulation saints,” who are not the pretrib saints who (they say) have been taken out and will not be present during the Tribulation.
3) a second group of “the elect,” who constitute those “redeemed during the Tribulation,” as opposed to the elect, who are the Church.
4) another Second Coming, which is secret, invisible, seen only by those who are supposedly taken out prior to the Tribulation. This first Second Coming is not only invisible to “those who dwell upon the earth”; it is invisible to the honest, unbiased Bible student as well.

Read the article that I excerpted (and shortened) above from:
http://www.pearlofgreatvalue.com/FourFabrications.php

Ok, it's obvious that I don't buy this doctrine at all. There are many problems when you really dig into scripture, and this remake falls apart because like the above shows, you have to make categories that just aren't supported by the actual text and which then leads to further "reading into" the scriptures things that just are not there. 

I do believe that there will be many who are "taken away" prior to the Great Tribulation, by death. I think that Jesus knows who can handle what will happen during that time, and will strengthen them to do His will during that time. Many will die violent deaths like the early Christians of Jesus and the Apostle Paul's times when they were executed in the public arenas or lit on fire to light the way for Nero's ego. Many Christians are dying today, of heart conditions, or other health problems, or old age. They are being removed prior to the Great Tribulation. Could Jesus keep them alive to live and see what happens during that time? Sure He could...He can do anything, He could even have 2 second comings or a second coming in 2 parts as some people call it. But Jesus clearly states that when He comes EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM. He also warned about those who will say that He will come in secret or out in the desert, and not to believe them.

I do agree that certain parts of the Bible were specifically written to Jewish believers, such as the book of Hebrews...but that doesn't then mean that it has nothing in it for us. The book of Hebrews talks about alot of things that were specific to the Jewish way of life, that they could really relate to, so it made the teachings very accessible for them to apply to the things that they encountered in their every day normal way of life...and we could also learn from the book of Hebrews (a tough read, for sure), if we take the time to study it all out, so we too can learn from the lessons that specifically used examples from the Hebrew culture of Jesus' day. I'm using that as an example of how teachings were Hebrew specific, but available to Gentiles (the Church included here) as well.

Let us be sober minded and not have our ears tickled with doctrines that make an easy escape our rule for living. Let us remember what Jesus said about the persecution He suffered and that those who follow Him will also likewise suffer intense persecution. For us, that time of persecution has not yet arrived, but I believe it will be upon us soon. Let us be ready, like the wise virgins who had oil in their lamps, and were prepared for come what may, rather than only wanting to believe in an easy way out.