Was this supposed to be His resurrection tour?
Spot on!
SubMareener, thought you might find this interesting.
” no one knows the day or hour of His return “
That is pretty definitive.
COMING ON CLOUDS
“For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will be the COMING of the Son of Man. . . . the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. . . . and they will see the Son of Man COMING on the CLOUDS of heaven with power and great glory. . . . Truly, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” (Matthew 24:27-34)
Matthew 24 is packed with prophetic imagery. Included in this imagery are CLOUDS and cosmic disturbances. People who are not familiar with biblical imagery assume that such language is literal. When Jesus comes again He will literally appear riding a cloud (on a white horse per Revelation 19).
I dare say that not one Christian in a hundred understands the Old Testament context of New Testament prophecy. While this is startling to most evangelicals, there is overwhelming evidence that this happened at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70—in a non-literal way. This is the preterist view of eschatology.
The nature of the Second Coming is in part determined by its timing. Jesus promised that all such prophecies would happen in his generation (Matthew 24:34; Luke 21:22). There are over 100 passages in the New Testament that affirm this time constraint (“must shortly take place,” “about to happen,” “before some standing here taste death,” “soon,” etc.) Consider Matthew 10:23; 16:27-28; 23:29-39; 26:64; Revelation 1:1-3; 22:6-10; etc.
In the Old Testament, CLOUDS are used symbolically to portray God’s presence, judgment, or proclamation. People did not see God literally, but saw what He did or perceived his presence in other ways. Consider the following passage excerpts, where clouds are God’s FIGURATIVE abode or mode of travel. Often this is about God’s judgment on groups of people:
“The Lord descended in a CLOUD and stood with him there . . .” (Exodus 34:5-7)
“He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick CLOUDS dark with water. . . and the foundations of the world were laid bare.” (Psalm 18:4-15, judgment against David’s enemies)
“And the Lord is riding on a swift CLOUD and comes to Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence. . . .” (Isaiah 19:1-15, judgment against Egypt)
Now take a minute to look up these additional passages: Exodus 13:21; 16:10; 19:9; 33:9; Leviticus 16:2; Numbers 9:15-22; 11:25; Deuteronomy 4:11; 5:22; 31:15; 2 Samuel 22:8-15; 1 Kings 8:10-11; 2 Chronicles 5:14; Psalm 97:2-5; 104:3; Jeremiah 4:13; Ezekiel 1:4, 27-28; 10:3-4, 18-19; 30:3, 18-19; Daniel 7:13-14; Joel 2:1-2; Nahum 1:2-6; Zephaniah 1:14-15.
Jesus in the Olivet Discourse was claiming equality with Yahweh when He spoke of himself as “coming on clouds.” So, when we read Matthew 24, in light of this Old Testament language, we understand that Jesus’ Second Coming was a “coming in judgment” upon Israel, expressed in highly figurative, but common Hebraic apocalyptic language. His Second Coming is specifically tied to the destruction of the temple in Matthew 24:2-3.
In addition to the cloud language we see other astronomical perturbations associated with Jesus’ presence in judgment—sun darkened, stars falling, heaven shaken. This too is Old Testament imagery describing God’s “coming” in judgment. No one actually saw God, but certainly saw the EFFECTS of his judgment.
In AD 70, God used the Roman army as his instrument to punish apostate Israel. This coming/presence in judgment of Jesus in AD 70 was similar to Yahweh’s previous judgments against his enemies on multiple occasions in the Old Testament, most of which are accepted by scholars as having been fulfilled in the past.
Compare the similar language of cosmic disturbances in Matthew 24:27-31 with these Old Testament judgment passages: Isaiah 13:10-13 (against Babylon), Isaiah 34:4-10 (against Edom), Jeremiah 4:23-31 (against Judah and Jerusalem), Ezekiel 32:7-8 (against Pharaoh and Egypt), Joel 3:15-16 (against the nations), Amos 5:20, 8:9 (against Israel), Micah 1:2-16 (against Israel and Judah), Zephaniah 1:14-18 (against Judah, Jerusalem, and Judah’s enemies).
The New Testament writers emphatically taught that Jesus would return while many of his contemporaries were still alive (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8; Hebrews 1:2; 10:37; James 5:7-9; 1 Peter 1:13-20; 2 Peter 3:9-12; 1 John 1:18; etc.). Where did they get this? From Jesus himself, of course. I, for one, believe that Jesus fulfilled his promises in exactly the time and nature that He predicted. If He did not, He was a false prophet.
https://prophecyquestions.com/2014/02/01/articles-by-charles-meek
however;
Jesus scolded the Pharisees for not knowing the Signs of the age: “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times” (Matt. 16:2-3).
Nobody can say Jesus is NOT coming back with any more certainty that saying He IS coming back that day.
It’s more likely that He’s not because people are warning about it, but who knows?
Whatever happens, nobody can do anything about it.
No, but he has left Chicago.
but He IS coming back, just like He said...
Is He or isn’t He? I have some dry cleaning to pick up that day and I want to know whether it’s worth the trip.
Quite a group of friends you have here, Kaslin. Most love mocking Christ and tbelittling he ivery idea of a rapture.
>>Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. — Peter
I just got slammed with a big project at work, due by the end of the month. I was kind of hopin’...
I saw “the One” last night on Aud (audience) TV Channel- Michael Rood made a very compelling case that there is going to be an Armegeddon beginning on the 23rd. It is being rerun frequently, about 80 minutes, and very interesting...
I hope He waits till I finish my speech that night. Some Freepers would be upset.
I’m still going to worship this morning.
I hate to tell you...
The deeper I dig into the September 23rd, 2017 story, the more it seems likely. The coincidences are a rabbit-hole multi-verse. The most often heard objection? NO MAN KNOWS THE DAY OR THE HOUR. This misunderstanding of Christ’s warning would preclude anyone from ever reading Revelations at all. Yes, the FEAST OF TRUMPETS never has a set starting day, it only begins when the new moon is first noticed in the sky, which can be variable. Therefore no man actually knows the day or the hour in the past, but today we KNOW because of science. And besides, Christ’s admonition was before Revelations was written, therefore it can logically be discounted.
I seriously doubt that the rapture will happen on the 23rd as well... However, the revelation 12 sign is clearly prophetic, and clearly includes a reference to the rapture. The child which is “caught up to heaven” is the church, but exact timing is NOT given in this passage. The first event mentioned in this passage is the appearance of the great red dragon... NOT the birth. The dragon stands before the woman poised to devour the child AS it is born. Also mentioned BEFORE the child is “caught up” is the tail of the dragon sweeping a third of the stars to the earth.
SOMETHING is going to happen on or about this date... if nothing else, the astronomical sign which occurs only ONCE in earth history as it was perfectly described in scripture over 2000 years ago. This sign clearly signifies the end of an age, and the beginning of a new one. Will it happen on the 23rd??? Doubt it... but all of the other signs which this author mentions as prerequisites are sure to follow in very short order.
By the way... we have astronomical representations of everything mentioned in this passage except for the great red dragon. The stars representing the woman are there, the crown of 12 stars (Leo+3planets) is there, and we have the sun and the moon there. Where is the red dragon? It does not make much sense to me for God to place a sign in the heavens like this with the piece representing a primary figure totally missing. What do you think it is?
Whatever it is, I think we are going to see it on or soon after this date. That is for sure... and “men’s hearts will fail them from fear.”
Good idea to be ready anyway. Every day.