Replies

>> No one has yet sat in the “temple of God” and claimed that he was “God.” <<

The study of history can prevent you from making statements like that above: Antiochus Epiphanes, who gave himself the title, Theos Epiphanes, meaning “the manifest God," believing himself to be an incarnation of Zeus, issued coins of himself with the inscription, “King Antiochus. God Manifest, Bearing Victory," and later erected a statue of Zeus in the Jewish temple, offered the burnt offering of the pigs, and commanded that the sacrifices be repeated each 25th of the month in celebration of his birthday. Zeus was identified as Ba'al Shamen, lord of heaven. In Hebrew, the name was Ba'al Shamayim and was identified as Yahweh, Lord of heaven. So when Antiochus identified himself Zeus, aka Ba'al Shamen, he was claiming to be Yahweh, Ba'al Shamayim, the Lord of heaven, having sacrifices offered to himself in the temple of Yahweh.

>> No one has yet sat in the “temple of God” and claimed that he was “God.” << popes have been doing exactly that for about 1500 years.

So, you are equating Rome with the "temple of God"?

I thought the only structure so named was built by Solomon in Jerusalem, destroyed by the Babylonians in 586BC, restored 70 years later and then finally destroyed by Romans in 70AD. Or course, Christians are also called the "temple of God" (1 Corinthians 3:16), but it is hard to understand 2 Thess 2:4 as referring to anything but a physical temple.

A reconstructed temple in spiritual Sodom (earthly Jerusalem where our Lord was crucified--Rev 11:8) appears to be a prerequisite.

The Pope calls himself the "vicar of Christ" and I am disturbed by the implications of this claim. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim 2:5). However, the "first beast" has not yet received the "[deadly] wound by a sword" and been healed by the second beast (Rev 13:11-14). These events, which must precede the "day of the Lord" (Rev 14:14-16), have not yet happened.

Partial Chronology of the Tribulation

Pictoral Chart of the Book of Revelation

We do not know the day or the hour of Christ's return, but we are not ignorant of the detailed events which must precede it and, therefore, will not be deceived, as many will be, by the arrival of the false Christ who has been permitted to make war on the children of God.

None of these events have happened. Christ's return is not imminent (May 21st).