The Bible tells us that in the last days one man will rule the world. He will rule over the entire human race politically, economically, and religiously, speaking great blasphemies against God and setting himself up in the Temple as God himself. But this man will not be God. He will be the very antithesis. He will even lead a rebellion against God, but he will be destroyed by the King of kings. History has deemed him the Antichrist, but he is known by other names as well, each being fully indicative of his character:
Through careful study of the Scriptures, we can learn much about the origins, disposition, and career of the one human being who will be the literal embodiment of Satan himself.
snip
7 Year Treaty with Israel
“He will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven” Daniel 9:27 (NLT)
The Antichrist will make a treaty with the people of Israel for a period of seven years. The details and nature of this treaty are yet unknown, but many have speculated that in a bid for Middle Eastern peace, Israel will agree to rely on the Antichrist for its national defense.
snip
Will Rule Politically, Religiously, and Economically
“He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and those who belong to this world to worship the first beast, whose death-wound had been healed.” Revelation 13:12 (NLT)
The Antichrist will exercise all the authority of the first beast, which is the revived Roman Empire. He will require the world to worship and give allegiance to this empire, which will be resurrected from the dustbin of history.
“And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.” Revelation 13:7 (NLT)
Not one person will escape the reach of the Antichrist and his governmental dominion. “He required everyone – great and small, rich and poor, slave and free – to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.” Revelation 13:16-17 (NLT) The Antichrist will have unprecedented control over the world’s financial transactions. He will have so much power that he will be able to determine on a case-by-case basis which individuals will be allowed to buy or sell anything.
and behead everyone who refuses allegience to him.
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. (Revelation 20:4-5)
How do we Know the Tribulation Will Last Seven Years?
snip
An understanding of Daniel 9:24-27 is necessary in order to understand the purpose and time of the tribulation. This passage speaks of 70 weeks that have been declared against “your people.” Daniel's people are the Jews, the nation of Israel, and Daniel 9:24 speaks of a period of time that God has given “to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.” God declares that “seventy sevens” will fulfill all these things. This is 70 sevens of years, or 490 years. (Some translations refer to 70 weeks of years.) This is confirmed by another part of this passage in Daniel. In verses 25 and 26, Daniel is told that the Messiah will be cut off after “seven sevens and sixty-two sevens” (69 total), beginning with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. In other words, 69 sevens of years (483 years) after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, the Messiah will be cut off. Biblical historians confirm that 483 years passed from the time of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the time when Jesus was crucified. Most Christian scholars, regardless of their view of eschatology (future things/events), have the above understanding of Daniel's 70 sevens.
With 483 years having passed from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to the cutting off of the Messiah, this leaves one seven-year period to be fulfilled in terms of Daniel 9:24: “to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.” This final seven-year period is known as the tribulation period—it is a time when God finishes judging Israel for its sin.
Daniel 9:27 gives a few highlights of the seven-year tribulation period: “He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” The person of whom this verse speaks is the person Jesus calls the “abomination that causes desolation” (Matthew 24:15) and is called “the beast” in Revelation 13. Daniel 9:27 says that the beast will make a covenant for seven years, but in the middle of this week (3 1/2 years into the tribulation), he will break the covenant, putting a stop to sacrifice. Revelation 13 explains that the beast will place an image of himself in the temple and require the world to worship him. Revelation 13:5 says that this will go on for 42 months, which is 3 1/2 years. Since Daniel 9:27 says that this will happen in the middle of the week, and Revelation 13:5 says that the beast will do this for a period of 42 months, it is easy to see that the total length of time is 84 months or seven years. Also see Daniel 7:25, where the “time, times, and half a time” (time=1 year; times=2 years; half a time=1/2 year; total of 3 1/2 years) also refers to “great tribulation,” the last half of the seven-year tribulation period when the beast will be in power.
For further references about the tribulation, see Revelation 11:2-3, which speaks of 1260 days and 42 months, and Daniel 12:11-12, which speaks of 1290 days and 1335 days. These days have a reference to the midpoint of the tribulation. The additional days in Daniel 12 may include the time at the end for the judgment of the nations (Matthew 25:31-46) and time for the setting up of Christ's millennial kingdom (Revelation 20:4-6).
I have in my limited abilities offered a few scriptures (not every one that I could provide) in posts 45, 58, 60, 62, 65, 85 to show:-God uses regular people who respond to Him in faith to do mighty things by His power -that Jesus has commissioned us to disciple and teach nations all that He commanded
But you did not show that Christ desires that Christians take over and run the government and rule over people.
"Teaching all nations all that He commanded" entails spreading the Gospel message so that as many people as possible can be part of the kingdom that Jesus Himself will set up on this earth, not human beings attempting to set up a kingdom for Christ or taking over earthly governments, which will all fail and cease to exist, for the purpose of governing people.
Nowhere in the Scripture does Jesus Christ tell Christians to rule over people.
The scriptures I provided do not seem relevant to you because there is not one in which Jesus explicitly says for Christians to seek “taking control over the government and ruling over other people” - in your words. Never mind that in earlier post 65 I mentioned the concept of governing being “serving”...obviously you think that governing means dominating or oppressing others, but, though that is the way of the world it is not the way that God would have us to look at it...and yes...Jesus addressed this very idea in Matt 20:25...
But the concept of "governing being serving" is your own and was never taught by Christ. People make the mistake all the time of deciding for themselves what they are going to do, and then declaring that what they want to do is what God wants them to do. Nothing could be further from the truth.
And Matthew 20:25 has nothing at all to do with running a government but is simply a teaching on leadership and authority - in all avenues of life. It is not some endorsement by Christ that Christians are to run government.
Deu 15:6 “For the LORD your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you... comments?
This is instruction given to the nation of Israel regarding cancelling all debts every seven years and the Lord blessing Israel and Israel not becoming indebted to other nations.
Now for a scripture where Jesus tells His followers to explicitly rule over the earth - please realize that Jerusalem was occupied by the Romans and the disciples didn’t have the opportunity that we have to steward our freedom and affect our government.
That makes no sense. So that then means that every single thing Jesus said or did not say pertained only to those who lived during the time of the Roman Empire?
So you're trying to tell me that nothing Jesus said would apply to anyone other than those living when He was on earth? You're trying to tell me that Jesus didn't tell His disciples to run the government because they lived under Roman rule but He really meant everybody who lived after that time to run their governments? Even though He never even gave the slightest hint whatsoever that that is what He wants His people to do?
Sorry. That's not going to fly. If you believe Jesus said Christians are to run governments, you need to produce Scripture that justifies that belief. Otherwise, the idea didn't come from Jesus Christ and looks a lot like Kingdom Come heresy.
“”And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’ Interesting that Jesus uses this language here...perhaps having authority over cities isn’t a bad thing after all.
The Parable of the Minas (Luke 19:11-27) is spoken by Jesus just before he enters Jerusalem for the last time. There are five major characters. The characters are: (1) the man of noble birth, (2) the subjects who hated him, (3) the servant who earned ten minas, (4) the servant who earned five minas, and (5) the servant who earned nothing. Each of these plays an important role. The man of noble birth is clearly meant to be Jesus, himself. He is to receive a kingdom and then return. The subjects who hated the man of noble birth represent the Jews who have rejected Jesus, and especially the religious leaders. The servant who earns ten minas and the servant who earns five minas both represent exemplary disciples of Jesus. The servant who earns nothing represents an unfruitful disciple of Jesus.
With the characters identified, we can piece together the meaning of the narrative.
A man of noble birth (Jesus) prepares to travel to a distant country and receive his kingdom (the kingdom of God). Before he leaves, he gives a single mina (responsibilities, abilities, opportunities, gospel message) to each of his servants (disciples) and instructs them to put the money to work (be fruitful with what Jesus has given them). A delegation of subjects who hate the man of noble birth (unbelieving Jews) protest his reception of the kingdom. Upon the man’s return (Jesus’ second coming at the consummation of the kingdom of God) he finds two servants (disciples) who invested (used their God-given abilities and opportunities) wisely. To these, he gives cities (heavenly rewards). The servant (disciple) who does not invest the mina (use the abilities or fulfill the responsibilities Jesus gave him) is reprimanded and has his mina taken from him and given to the servant (disciple) who earned ten minas. Finally, the subjects (unbelieving Jews) who hated the man of noble birth (Jesus) are executed (judged) for their rejection of the king (Jesus).
There seem to be at least five major points that the parable communicates. First, Jesus will leave his disciples for an undetermined amount of time. Second, Jesus will return to consummate his kingdom some time in the future. Third, disciples of Jesus who are good stewards in his absence will receive incredible rewards from him upon his return. Fourth, disciples of Jesus who are poor stewards in his absence will have their rewards taken away and given to the disciples who are good stewards. Fifth, those who reject Jesus as the rightful king will face a terrible judgment upon his return.
This parable is speaking of how we as Christians carry out the work Jesus has given us to do and the rewards which await each of us according to how obedient we have been. It has nothing at all to do with taking over governments and ruling over people.
Honestly, I don’t know why you oppose God’s people discipling the nations when it is so clearly and explicitly commanded by Jesus Himself in Matt 28 (already mentioned in post 65.)
And, yet again, the Great Commission, which is spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations, is about bringing people to Jesus for salvation.
No matter how hard you try and no matter how hard you may want it to be, you simply cannot wring out of that passage anything at all that remotely suggests that when Jesus told Christians to make disciples of all men, what He really meant was to take over earthly governments.
I’ve had some time to consider your post 92 and would like to streamline some comments to address what seem to be two main issues of contention in our discussion. This does not mean that I have no comments to the information and link you provided in response to my request regarding your end time beliefs and I hope to review it in more depth and comment soon.
However, my thinking is that unless some consensus can be attained on these two main points which I believe lie at the heart of our discussion, we are unlikely to benefit much from addressing related matters. (I recognize this is only my opinion and I am willing to consider a different perspective regarding the dynamics and benefits of our discussion should you see things differently.) With this stated up front I will proceed to the two main points.
1) it appears we have different understanding regarding the kingdom of God, and
2) it appears we have different understanding regarding man’s relationship to the kingdom of God.
Regarding my point #1, the kingdom of God:
a) The kingdom of God (God’s dominion and governance) is very much a dominant theme of Christ’s teaching, as recorded in the bible. Do you agree? You may conduct a word search on “kingdom of God” or “kingdom of heaven” to see how prevalent this subject is.
b) Along with the kingdom of God being everlasting into the future, the kingdom exists in the present - as Jesus said “at hand” (or even translated as “in our midst”). Do you agree with this? Feel free to recall other scriptures not referenced here.
c) The kingdom of God and God’s dominion extends over all of creation - including also, specifically for our discussion purposes, all the earth and its inhabitants past, present and future (including worldly kingdoms, institutions, cultures, civil government..etc.). The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it Psalm 24:1. Do you agree?
d) Among many things in His Word, God expresses many aspects of His will in regard to His kingdom. (see “a” above.) Agree?
Regarding point #2 - man’s relationship to the kingdom of God (God’s dominion or governance)
a) All men are subject to God’s Word, not just Christians or believers, but ALL MEN. Jesus quoted Deut 8:3... But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’” Mat 4:4....Do you agree with this?...and...do you agree that “it is a good thing” for man to be under the governance of God’s Word - knowing that it is essential to LIVING?
Summary:
OK - that’s it. I’m thinking point #2, a, pretty much sums it up...in that...
God’s Word is relevant and beneficial to all men throughout His dominion, including governors and public officials...and that man’s recognition, respect and obedience to God’s Word in civil government is a good thing. Do you agree?
Summary questions:
I.a. Do you think God desires recognition, respect and obedience to His Word in civil government?
I.b. So then do you agree that it would be good to encourage man’s recognition, respect and obedience to God’s Word in civil government?
I.c. Are unbelievers likely to encourage man’s recognition, respect and obedience to God’s Word in civil government?
I.d. Who do you think God might call to do it? (here’s where I perceive you may get into this “will of God thing” - so please refer back to question I.a.)
OK thanks in advance should you decide to answer all of my inquiries. I’m really not trying to give you homework, but, it would be helpful for me to understand where you are coming from here - cause we seemingly both have regard for the bible.
Lastly, a couple perplexing questions, cause I just got to know:
How can you write:
“...the concept of “governing being serving” is your own and was never taught by Christ...” right after the reference to Matt 20:25??!!??!!??!! Did you read it?
You also wrote: “...And Matthew 20:25 has nothing at all to do with running a government but is simply a teaching on leadership and authority - in all avenues of life...” IS NOT CIVIL GOVERNMENT AN AVENUE OF LIFE??!!??!!?!
...and, in a very much related question:
Why do you keep referring to governing as “taking over governments and ruling over people” and “take over and run the government and rule over people” when Matt 20:25 was offered for your consideration.
Methinks, perhaps, you are just trying to jag my chain, no?