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No one, not even Jesus knows when that day is to come. Maybe tonight, while we sleep?

I don't know what your soteriology/eschatology is, but I'm sort of a 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith sort of person. With that in view, In John's Gospel we are told that the Father chooses which people will be saved and "given" to the Son. In 2 Peter 3 we read that our LORD will return when the last of the elect is redeemed. So as far as prophecy goes, since it is the Father who chooses, it makes perfect sense that the Son, in the way that the Trinity functions from our perspective, would "not know" the day of His return since it is the Father who decides and brings that person to faith.

The passages in the Olivet Discourse concerning "wars and rumors of wars...earthquakes...famine" speak of these things as common place and NOT to be interpreted as precursors of the Last Day. The only thing that determines the Last Day, is the last of the elect being redeemed.

But, there is this interesting thing in Scripture that tells us what the Days will be like at His return, He compares the days to those of Noah and Lot. If you take in all of the descriptions in the Gospels where this is mentioned, our LORD describes relative prosperity where people are still giving in marriage, buying and selling, building, eating and planting. Since the prediction is made for all believers all over the world out of every nation, then I would think that this relative prosperity would be global in nature.

Has there been any recorded instance where the entire world can accurately state that all of these things are taking place within their own borders? Personally, I think that was one of the Divine Missions of the West in general and the US in particular - to provide global security, peace, technology, and a financial platform so that the entire world could enjoy a slice of prosperity. After the Soviet Menace went into remission, and Communist China got out of its drug haze and has become the economic powerhouse that it is, the relative global prosperity has finally been realized (as far as recorded history is concerned).

This gets into my pet theory of the Upper Limits. Right now, not concerning which of the Elect is still on the cusp of being redeemed (which we will never know), the world meets all of these qualifications stated by our LORD. Now for the Blue Bird of F'ing Joy: what happens when global polticial events take place that undermine that state of prosperity? What happens if the Sodomites in the US cause marriage to be irrelevant so that it doesn't matter if people do it anymore? What happens if our economic policies cause our food supply to be destroyed which would precipitate famine? Then we would be outside of that environment which our LORD said would exist at His Parousia.

What do we see right now? We see the engine of global prosperity and peace being irretrievably undermined. IOW, we are approaching the Upper Limits and will soon be moving away from that specified state. As President Soros and the Congress causes the US to collapse, then we can expect one thing for certain: A thousand years of darkness. So, according to my thinking, we are presently in that sweet spot of time, soon to be exiting that frame for another thousand years.

I'm not advocating working in a manner to accelerate the decline, because the Parousia might still be many generations off, and I still want to go to my grave in a manner other than martyrdom or war. But connect the dots and maybe it might take some of the edge off of your anxiety. IOW, President Soros might be the last US president because all of the things that needed to be accomplished by the West and the US have already been fulfilled - bringing health, wealth and peace to the entire globe.

What this means to me is that 8/28 probably was a good time had by all who participated, and kudos to Beck for pulling this off for it certainly has created splendid memories and new friendships that wouldn't otherwise come about, but in the larger picture, doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

The Ezekiel 38-39 composite predictions concerning the Church being opened to the Gentiles and completed in the Pariousia is something for another day.

“I don’t know what your soteriology/eschatology is, but I’m sort of a 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith sort of person. With that in view, In John’s Gospel we are told that the Father chooses which people will be saved and “given” to the Son. In 2 Peter 3 we read that our LORD will return when the last of the elect is redeemed.”

Greetings, again, Theophilus!

I’ve re-read your complete post. I admit ignorance about the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith—perhaps you would be kind enough to enlighten me?

I cannot respond beyond the above quoted portion of your comments until I more clearly understand your points. May I pose a few questions to help me receive further clarification?

Questions:

“In John’s Gospel we are told that the Father chooses which people will be saved and “given” to the Son.”

Are you referring to John 10:1-30?

“In 2 Peter 3 we read that our LORD will return when the last of the elect is redeemed.””

Are you referring to this passage?

II Peter 3: 7-9

7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Additionally, in order to help you with where I am coming from, allow me to address this statement,

“”I don’t know what your soteriology/eschatology is,”

Please do not misunderstand what I am about to say. It is not meant to be a flippant statement, although I do understand why you might interpret it as such, but please trust me when I say...

I really only follow what the Bible says. That is my soteriology/eschatology. When I highlight a passage to support a point, I have taken into consideration the context in which that passage occurs. I see the Bible as one complete message with no contradictions and all sufficient for what is necessary in order to be in fellowship with God.

I realize if we continue our conversation, we will be moving in a completely different direction from where I started in #220, but if that is what you would like to do, I will be glad to join in. Though, if you see you don’t have time to move in this direction, I will respect that as well.

Blessings for your day!
Daisy