Posted on 12/21/2004 11:49:02 PM PST by JohnHuang2
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
By Joseph Farah
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness. From then on and forevermore ..."
– Isaiah 9:6-7 (NASB)
As we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ this week and prepare for 2005 next week, I can't help but think about how close we must be to the Second Coming – when the Lord will return for His church and personally rule over the Earth for 1,000 years.
Oh, I know, some of you don't believe in such things. You think it's just a bunch of silly superstition. Even some Christians don't believe in the Second Coming. Many prefer I stick to writing about news events of the physical world rather than arcane spiritual matters.
But, as a journalist, I can't ignore hard evidence – no matter where it may lead me. And the more I study the prophetic scriptures of the Holy Bible and look at the condition of our world today, the more convinced I become that we are nearing that time. In fact, I think we are very close.
For just as Jesus' virgin birth in Bethlehem was foretold by the Hebrew prophets hundreds of years earlier, so, too, was His return to Earth predicted. The only question is when.
The most dramatic evidence for His imminent return our generation has witnessed was the rebirth of the nation of Israel more than 50 years ago. The Jews, God's chosen people, were, as prophesied, scattered over the whole earth for nearly two millennia beginning shortly after Jesus' death on the cross. Yet, in my opinion, the scriptures leave no doubt that the Jewish state would exist once again before He returned.
Interestingly, Orthodox Jews have long taught that the world would last for 6,000 years before the Messiah would come and usher in a 1,000-year period of restful human history. Since God created the world in six days, according to Genesis 1:31, and rested on the seventh day, according to Genesis 2:1, they reasoned the world's history would climax the same way. They cite Psalms 90:4, which says: "For a thousand years in Thy sight are like yesterday when it passes by."
Likewise, Christians have looked to II Peter 3:8: "But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
The early church understood this "six-day theory" of world history. It was widely accepted teaching for the first three centuries of the church. From the time of Adam, we've got genealogical records to show that 4,000 years passed until the time of Christ. From Jesus' time until the present age represents another 2,000 years for a total of 6,000 years or six days.
There's also a three-day theory: Jesus rose on the third day. Would the beginning of the third millennium – or thousand-year period – not be the likely time for His return to Earth? There is even strong scriptural evidence for such a theory provided in Hosea 6:2: "After two days will he revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight." Note that this prophecy is not about the Resurrection of Jesus – it's either about the resurrection of Israel after 2,000 years of dispersal or the physical return of the Lord.
In 1772, Edward Gibbons published "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," in which he cites early documents suggesting the Christian disciples of the first century were taught that Jesus would return after 2,000 years. We'll soon find out if they were right.
For many reasons, I believe Jesus is returning soon. But I'm especially drawn to II Timothy 3:1-5, which describes the state of the world in the "last days." Tell me if this doesn't sound like our world:
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
To me, that sounds like our world today.
Christmas represents a time of great hope for Christians. Of course, we're grateful that Jesus came about 2,000 years ago and died for our sins. Now we should be hopeful and expectant of His imminent return.
Merry Christmas. And happy birthday, Jesus.
Do you have a chronic problem
trying but mostly failing at
DISCRIMMINATING between relative amounts of things?
Or are you not that detailed in your understanding and knowledge of history?
What a wonderful advertisement for your lack of discernment your posts tend to be.
One of these days, the look on your face is going to be priceless, though extremely sad, all at the same time.
Wouldn't begin to wish evil things on you.
Spend some time thinking of ways to try and provoke you to search out the facts better and hopefully spare your hide.
A caffeine addicted second coming zealot glued to the Mount of Olives Carpenter-Cam. I don't think it suits me.
P.S. Can you buy Tribulation Coffee or is it only going to be marketed after the Rapture ?
I am a history major. I understand history.
I am waiting for proof that today is worse than the middle ages...worse enough that it is as bad as Noah's day.
I think we're closer than we were yesterday.
If the Word says "a thousand years," then my interpretation is "a thousand years."
It would be a thousand years.
22. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son.
In some key areas, I don't think we are quite as bad as Noah's day
YET.
I believe the global culture is racing to get there at a horridly rapid speed--and that the USA is far too much in the forefront of that race. Europe is worse.
It may be that it will take the 2nd 3.5 years of the Great Tribulation before things are as bad or worse than Noah's age.
However . . .
Governments in EUROPE, the USA and much worse in some other countries are almost overtly in league literally with satan toward an evil global government. This has never been achieved to this degree before.
The levels of corruption at government, church and other major institutions are at least approaching the worst to date. They will surpass those levels.
It is long past and already worse than CLOCKWORK ORANGE.
Even our beloved military is riddled with puppet master stoolies. The Senate and State Department surrendered to puppet master control long ago. President's have largely kowtowed and danced to their tunes at least since Ike and sadly, including Ike far more than he wanted.
Even Evangelical Christianity is riddled with wholesale compromise with the ways, evils, methods and too often too many of the goals of satan and the world.
The media and entertainment industries have almost been far too near totally overtly glorying in the death, gore, witchcraft, sadism, perversities, seductions, murder, mayhem, satanism, anarchy, nihilism, hopelessness which are satan's tools in trade, currency and goals.
Murder, tyranny, genocide, torture, brutality at national government levels occur ongoingly in certain regions of the world and the self-righteous, duplicitous, puppet master controlled media hardly even bothers to yawn in notice.
Black is called white; good is called bad; bad is called good and evil becomes "in" far too frequently on even our national stage and hideously even in churches and universities founded as Bible colleges.
The RELIGION OF SCIENCE has multiplied the shockingly nihilistic, horrid, ruthless to almost valueless legions of ways to kill and manipulate God's prized Creation--man--as well as all lesser creatures and aspects of life. And in response to complaints, the high priests of science shirk and decry any notions of responsibility--claiming to merely be explorers or tools of witless evil politicians.
Yeah, we're in great shape. /sar.
I would agree that we certainly are in a bad state.
My one concern is we have got to be careful in alleging it is getting close to the end, as they thought the same before the turning of the year 1000.
However, if there is anything that may point genuinely to the close return of Christ, it is just how corrupt today's churches have become. It is almost as bad if not worse than just prior to the Reformation.
Have watched the end times, studied the end times issues and prophecies since Jr High.
Given Israel becoming a nation again in a day in 1948 as Bible predicted, we are on safe grounds to consider the climax of history as we have known it to be in our era.
I wouldn't pontificate as I do about it if I were not so utterly convinced that the evidence was overwhelming in that direction.
"When will Jesus return?"
When he's good and ready. He's the son of God, that means he makes his own hours.
I imagine Steven wasn't too thrilled to see the incoming rocks, but he DID...
ACTS 7:56
"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
At the very least, will be able to document and convince the Jews that he is.
And the others???
The only reason they are 'dubious' is because they do NOT contain certain scriptures that are included in the KJV.
The problem compounds, however, when these 'dubious' ones are found to be written EARLIER than the ONLY KNOWN ONES OF THE TIME that the KJV was compiled.
So we are left with a bigger problem:
Was something TAKEN away later, or was something ADDED later??
We must be careful not to make a TRANSLATION more 'sacred' that the original language texts...
Matthew 24: 27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
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