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Thoughts on The Timing Of The Rapture
https://billrandles.wordpress.com/2020/05/08/thoughts-on-the-timing-of-the-rapture/ ^ | 05-09-20 | Bill Randles

Posted on 05/08/2020 4:37:58 PM PDT by pastorbillrandles

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:4-6)

The famous “Faith Chapter” in the book of Hebrews, begins with two Saints, Abel and Enoch as examples of faith which we are to imitate. Faith is the point, for faith is the only way to please God.

I once asked the LORD, ‘Why Faith? Why is that what you require?” I believe I received several answers in the form of scripture and impressions, from the LORD. God requires faith, because we simply cannot save ourselves. Only God can save our souls, no one can redeem themselves, therefore Faith is required, because faith glorifies God and not man.

Another reason for the requirement of faith that came to me, is that our problems began when we quit believing in the goodness of God. Adam and Eve were willing to entertain a false and degraded notion of God, that He was holding something back that would be good for the first couple. The Serpent bore false witness about the LORD, and they believed it.

The way back? It has to be faith. We must repent and believe again in the goodness of God.

The “hall of faith” begins with Abel and Enoch. One Saint who was murdered for his faith, and for bearing witness to God in a hostile world. There would be literally millions upon millions who would follow in his footsteps, being willing to let go of their life rather than deny the truth of God.

The other Saint, Enoch, was a man who lived in a kind of “end times scenario” living in the time leading up to the flood. It was a day of Apostasy, but Enoch walked with God, until God took Him home. He didn’t die , He was raptured. God took him home, to be with himself.

Faith was required of each of them.

I believe that we also live in an end-time. I have no doubt that Jesus is coming, and in our lifetime. What makes us unique is the re-emergence of the nation of Israel, in 1948, in fulfillment of the prophecies about the last of the last days. All of the prophets pre-supposed that there would be a national Israel, and a Jewish occupied city of Jerusalem, as well as a controversy over Judea, (The West bank) which would engulf the whole world.

The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (Zechariah 12:1-3)

Which brings us back to our two Saints at the beginning of Hebrews 11. One died, He was martyred for his witness to God. The other one did not die. He was Raptured. Both of these Saints lived by Faith and Pleased God.

I believe that this speaks to us in our generation.

No doubt. many of us will end up dying. Perhaps some of us will be given an opportunity to be martyred. We are Saints and love God, but all things being equal, unless the LORD returns, we will die, one way or another.

(Of course, Christians don’t really die, they “go to sleep”) but the real point is that Faith is the only way to please God.

But according to the scriptures, there is a unique end-times event, coming, as I hope I have pointed out in this series, called the Rapture, or “Our gathering together unto Him”, “the Episynagogue” and Jesus coming to “take us where (He)…is, unto himself”. The LORD is coming to snatch us off the earth with a swift and irresistable power”.

To participate in such an event is a rare honor among the countless Millions of Saints who believed in Jesus before us.

But whether we die, or are martyred, o whether we are raptured, the real point is that we must live our lives by Faith,which is the only way to please God.

This is why I do not enter into the countless discussions as to the timing of the Rapture. “Will The Rapture be pre- ,mid , or post Tribulation”?

Honesty, the only things I am sure about the Rapture at all are that it is:

* For God’s Saints only, and the prospect of it is a comfort.

* A Mystery revealed in the New Testament era.

* It occurs before the actual “Wrath ” of God.

* It involves the “dead in Christ” as well as “We who are alive, until the coming of the LORD”.

As far as I know, all else can only be speculation. God doesn’t want us to know the exact timing otherwise it would be clearer. I am glad there is a Rapture, and my prayer has always been that I be involved in it, while alive. But I cannot say with certainty what the timing of it is, so I don’t.

What counts is Faith in Jesus. Not dead works, but a living, vital, infectious faith. Let us have a faith which still moves us to confess and forsake our sins, to Love and seek God. To forgive and love our brothers, and a faith which moves us to share with others what God has shown to us. Is your faith alive? Do you have oil in your lamp? Are you current with God?

We Overcome the World by our faith. “This is the victory that overcometh the World…our faith”. We overcome the Spirit of antiChrist also, by our faith. So also we overcome the sins that so easily beset us, and the Coldness and soul deadening effect of this world, by our Faith.

Of course we want out of here, we can increasingly see that there is nothing in this World for we who believe, but rejection and opposition.I want Jesus to come, and Long for the Rapture. I am either going up in it, or I am gong to die, but one way or another we are leaving.

Either way, the point is Faith. So I will leave the timing of the Rapture to God, and just strive to be counted worthy to attain it, whether ded or alive.

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:35)


TOPICS: Charismatic Christian; Evangelical Christian; Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS: endtimes; escape; jesus; rapture
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To: MHGinTN
My pride is in the Lord - for the Bible Clearly refutes the 19th century Rapture philosophy as ungodly - 1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but [h]in sanctification. 8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

St. Paul wrote to the Thessalnian Christians because they were worried about those who died before Christ's return. Many in the ancient world believed that a person simply ceased to exist upon death. These was a rumor in Thessalonica at the time Paul wrote the letter that the dead Christians had lost out on any chance of a physical resurrection. St.Paul assures them that it was not so. In fact, "the dead in Christ will rise first" to meet Christ

Paul in his answer to their second question (5:1-12) that neither he nor anyone else knows the time of the Second Coming, there can be no question here of his either teaching or hinting at the imminence of the Parousia, as many moderns have thought. His utilization of Matthew 24 is conclusive of his conformity with Christ’s own teaching on the Parousia,Rapturists make the mistake of thinking "meet the Lord in the air" is about Christ not actually touching the earth.

Paul doesn't mention this 19th century rapture idea as occuring before the appearance of the antichrist and before the second coming is simple: it never entered into his mind that anyone would believe Christ would rapture His Church before the final Eschaton

In the apocalypse, that is referred to as the battle with Gog and Magog, Christians will participate in that confrontation because there will be no secret rapture before it. Our comfort rests in Him who will emerge from that confrontation as the Victor.

THAT is the reassurance Paul offers, not the promise of an escape from the great Tribulation.

841 posted on 06/16/2020 7:28:41 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: MHGinTN

Yes I do wish that you, MHGinTN would stop closing your ears and mind to Jesus’ teaching and be led astray by the 19th century secret pre-Trib Rapture philosophy


842 posted on 06/16/2020 7:29:50 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: MHGinTN
You follow Darby and pastors, who are a false teachers and reject Christ

I would venture that this is probably due to your sad drenching in the false religion of Rapture-nuts, right?

This is hallmarked by too many blasphemies for this forum thread. Your religion has blasphemies at its heart, darkening your soul to such a degree that you are left only the venue of mocking others in your dead soul arrogance.

I reject your pastor's false teaching and stick to the Word of God - Jesus Christ

You, MHGtintin should stop rejecting The Word of God which you do not even begin to comprehend.

When I offer to you the plain Word (such as 1 John 3:9) you mock the meaning to twist it to fit what pastor Bill and the rapture non-Christian philosophy has wrongly infected the mind of your soul with.

843 posted on 06/16/2020 7:32:43 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: MHGinTN
For you to learn - let's look at John 3
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
The only biblical use of the term “born again” occurs in John 3:3-5—although, as we shall see, similar and related expressions such as “new birth” and “regeneration” occur elsewhere in Scripture (Titus 3:5; 1 Pet 1:3, 23). In John 3:3, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The Greek expression translated “born again” (gennathei anothen) also means “born from above.” Jesus, it seems, makes a play on words with Nicodemus, contrasting earthly life, or what theologians would later dub natural life (”what is born of flesh”), with the new life of heaven, or what they would later call supernatural life (”what is born of Spirit”).

Nicodemus’ reply: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4). Does he simply mistake Jesus to be speaking literally or is Nicodemus himself answering figuratively, meaning, “How can an old man learn new ways as if he were a child again?” We cannot say for sure, but in any case Jesus answers, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, `You must be born again.”’ (John 3:5-7).

Here Jesus equates “born again” or “born from above” with “born of water and the Spirit.”

Clearly, the context implies that born of “water and the Spirit” refers to baptism.

844 posted on 06/16/2020 7:35:20 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: MHGinTN
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3 that he had to be born again - and he clarifies it two verses later "You must be born of water and the Spirit" which he stated with reference to baptism. John made that point clear to the reader, because as soon as he finished describing Jesus' discourse with Nicodemus in verses 2 to 21, he says next in verse 22 that After this Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea; there he remained with them and baptized

And a few verses later, John writes ho the pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John - in other words, when Jesus said that we must be born again, what he meant was baptism

845 posted on 06/16/2020 7:35:43 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: MHGinTN
1 John 3:9 “Committeth not sin”: That is, as long as he keepeth in himself this seed of grace, and this divine generation, by which he is born of God. But then he may fall from this happy state, by the abuse of his free will, as appears from Rom. 11. 20-22; Cor. 9. 27; and 10. 12; Phil. 2. 12; Apoc. 3. 11.

Why do you persist in closing your ears and mind to Jesus' teachings and stick instead to a 19th century man-made philosophy of secret pre-Trib Rap?

846 posted on 06/16/2020 7:37:16 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: Cronos
I doubt you are able to be honest, but just in case I will ask you the following:

Does The Word of God tell you that it is GOD Who is in you (if you are born again)?

Does 1 John 3:9 also tell you that it is GOD, by His Seed, abiding in the born again spirit?

Can you state that He is in you, now, abiding?

847 posted on 06/16/2020 7:38:21 AM PDT by MHGinTN (A dispensation perspective is a powerful tool for discernment)
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To: MHGinTN
Just so you know, I was born again in 1872.

Oh so you knew Darby as well

Or is reincarnation one of the many non-Christian philosophies like the secret pre-Trib rapture that you hold?

848 posted on 06/16/2020 7:38:47 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: MHGinTN
I have been reading and studying His Word ever since, and in more than just English

Really, then how come you didn't see that Jesus equates “born again” or “born from above” with “born of water and the Spirit.”

In John 3:3, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The Greek expression translated “born again” (gennathei anothen) also means “born from above.” Jesus, it seems, makes a play on words with Nicodemus, contrasting earthly life, or what theologians would later dub natural life (”what is born of flesh”), with the new life of heaven, or what they would later call supernatural life (”what is born of Spirit”).

Nicodemus’ reply: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4). Does he simply mistake Jesus to be speaking literally or is Nicodemus himself answering figuratively, meaning, “How can an old man learn new ways as if he were a child again?” We cannot say for sure, but in any case Jesus answers, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, `You must be born again.”’ (John 3:5-7).

Clearly, the context implies that born of “water and the Spirit” refers to baptism.

849 posted on 06/16/2020 7:40:23 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: Cronos
Your works based religion is exposed yet again, in your false teaching that the believer must keep GOD's SEED in his spirit. You are not capable of that feat and that is why it is GOD Who keeps you, keeps HIS SEED abiding in the spirit of the born again. IF you would be born again, you would know that, nit by Catholicism teaching but by knowing His OPresence in your spirit (Justified) and His urging (Sanctification process) you to live righteously not in sin.

Do you believe the Word of God teaches you have a spirit, a soul, and a body? Where does The Word of God tell you He abidews when your spirit is born again? (1 John 3:9)

850 posted on 06/16/2020 7:44:27 AM PDT by MHGinTN (A dispensation perspective is a powerful tool for discernment)
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To: MHGinTN
John 5:24 is an excellent passage for you to read and learn how false the philosophies like Rapture and others you espouse are - 5:24 Amen, amen I say unto you, that he who heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath life everlasting; and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life.

And read what Jesus Himself prophesied -- that Jerusalem would be destroyed within the lifetime of those listening to Him and his followers should run to the hills

And Jesus' prophesy in the Olivet discourse came to pass - the 2nd temple, the center of the Jewish world (to which the Jesus-movement Jews belonged) came to an end

that WAS the ending of the age

The period up to 69 AD were the last days of the Age -- Satan was loosed and his time was short until the destruction of the Temple as written about in the book of Revelations

And we have Christ's Kingdom, His Church

Let's read more of John 5, shall we?

John 5:28 Wonder not at this; for the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God. -- Jesus VERY CLEARLY said the hour was coming - to his listeners and this is the prophesy of His descent into the dead

Why do you persist in not believing Jesus who prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem in 69 AD? - this is said of folks like that (who believe in the fake 19th century pre-trib secret rapture) John 5:46 For if you did believe Moses, you would perhaps believe me also; for he wrote of me.

47: But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

How will you believe Jesus' words if you keep harkening after fake pastors?

851 posted on 06/16/2020 7:52:12 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: MHGinTN

Your fake works based rapture which is about a human work of accepting a mark or not is itself based on Satan’s telling the rapturists to ignore Jesus’ prophesy


852 posted on 06/16/2020 7:54:13 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: Cronos
You mocked with, "then how come you didn't see that Jesus equates “born again” or “born from above” with “born of water and the Spirit.”

I have not in any way denied that JESUS taught one must be born of water AND the Spirit. I just do not accept your false teaching that His reference to water is baptism, since HE HIMSELF clarified by telling YOU that what is born of flesh is flesh referencing back to the teaching He was giving to Nicodemus. Let's read that again from John 3:

John 3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” [NOTE, it is Nicodemus who brings up the notion of entering again into the water world of the womb.]

5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit

Dead soul, Jesus did not refer to baptism, He referred to Nicodemus's reference to being born from the water world of the mother's womb. Jesus even clarified what He was referencing by stating 'that which is born of flesh is flesh'. But you, as a false teacher, spout the teaching of your false religion, ignoring what JESUS HIMSELF gave to you for clarification!

You are a false teacher, dead soul. You are incapable of seeing truth when it is shown to you. Why? Because the spiritual things are discerned by the spirit, the ALIVE spirit where the Seed of God Life is abiding. Without His Seed in your human spirit, the things of the spirit are not discernible to your dead spirit.

853 posted on 06/16/2020 7:59:14 AM PDT by MHGinTN (A dispensation perspective is a powerful tool for discernment)
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To: Cronos

I refer to the mark of the beast, not a rapture mark. Try another way to form your lies.


854 posted on 06/16/2020 8:00:05 AM PDT by MHGinTN (A dispensation perspective is a powerful tool for discernment)
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To: MHGinTN
Your non-christian rapture focused religion is exposed yet again, in your false teaching rejecting Christ's very words

you reject Christ's word by mocking" that the believer must keep GOD's SEED in his spirit."

and then ignoring 1 John 3:9 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

you then reject

Rom 11:20-22 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

You reject 1 Cor 9:27 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

IF you would be born again, you would know that,

But MHGtin, it seems that you aren't born again of the spirit as Christ said -- due to your Darbyism -- In John 3:3, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The Greek expression translated “born again” (gennathei anothen) also means “born from above.” Jesus, it seems, makes a play on words with Nicodemus, contrasting earthly life, or what theologians would later dub natural life (”what is born of flesh”), with the new life of heaven, or what they would later call supernatural life (”what is born of Spirit”).

Nicodemus’ reply: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4). Does he simply mistake Jesus to be speaking literally or is Nicodemus himself answering figuratively, meaning, “How can an old man learn new ways as if he were a child again?” We cannot say for sure, but in any case Jesus answers, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, `You must be born again.”’ (John 3:5-7).

Here Jesus equates “born again” or “born from above” with “born of water and the Spirit.”

Clearly, the context implies that born of “water and the Spirit” refers to baptism.

Why do you persist in rejecting Christ?

855 posted on 06/16/2020 8:04:14 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: MHGinTN
See you at the rapture bro. 😁👍 We know it’s coming. If others don’t believe it, that’s on them.
856 posted on 06/16/2020 8:10:13 AM PDT by Mark17 (Father of US Air Force Officer, who graduated from Air Force pilot training, on 1 May 2020)
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To: MHGinTN
You refer to the mark of the beast - the coin of

remember The verses in the book of the Apocalypse says

Apoc 13:11 Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb’s but spoke like a dragon.

12 It wielded all the authority of the first beast in its sight and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed.

13 It performed great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of everyone.

14 It deceived the inhabitants of the earth with the signs it was allowed to perform in the sight of the first beast, telling them to make an image for the beast who had been wounded by the sword and revived.

15 It was then permitted to breathe life into the beast’s image, so that the beast’s image could speak and [could] have anyone who did not worship it put to death.

16 It forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to be given a stamped image on their right hands or their foreheads,

17 so that no one could buy or sell except one who had the stamped image of the beast’s name or the number that stood for its name.

18 [b]Wisdom is needed here; one who understands can calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number that stands for a person. His number is six hundred and sixty-six.
This beast with two horns "like a lamb" but which "spoken like a dragon" is Satan's parody of the lamb.

A key note is the difference between where the beasts arise -- the first beast arises out of the sea - the sea indicates gentile nations.

This parody of the Lamb represents corrupt leaders within Jerusalem. This parody is later identified by John as the "false prophet" in Rev 16:13; 19:20; 20:10)

As the "false prophet" this parody sets itself up against God's prophets in the days leading to 69 AD.

The false religious leaders who led the persecution of the Christ-sect of Jews in the days leading up to the destruction of the temple in 69 AD are indicated here

The mark of the beast is again a parody of the SIGN on the believers as we read in the letter to the Philadelphians -- the SIGN or Tau being the Hebrew letter which looks like a cross - so the sign of the cross as the christians did was the sign of God

The mark of the beast is linked to the number of the beast - as "wisdom is needed here... it stands for a person..." -- to reveal the identity of the beast to the Christians while hiding it from outsiders, St john used Gematria, the rabbinic numering system for names. When the Gematrian numbers of Nero's official name in Hebrew are added together (50 + 200 + 6+50 + 100 + 60 + 200) they total 666. The Christians KNew that 666 is the number of Nero

==========================================================

Remember back to the Mark of the Lamb alluded to in the 6th letter to the churches, to the Philadelphians - God's mark is mentioned specifically in the sixth seal of the initial vision (7:3). In Heaven God's faithful "servants shall worship Him; they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads"..22:4

The mark of the beast is Satan's parody of the sign of the cross. The sign on the forehead talks of loyalty and that on the hand of what we do with the loyalty

We see the same in 14:9 "anyone who worships the beast and its image" is shown as "receiving a mark on his forehead or on his hand"

Nero is the human whose symbol is 666, who demanded worship of himself.

This is the only time in history when the Church was persecuted by both the beast (the Roman empire) and the harlot (Jerusalem authorities)

ST John twice pauses to say "here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints" (13:10, 14:12). The first time, this is following a statement about not being in armed conflict against the beast "if anyone slays with the sword, with the sword must he be slain" (13:10)

The second time is not to have the mark of the beast -- to be clear the admonition agians thte mark of the beast is "do not worship the earthly power of the roman empire - THAT is the mark of the beast

857 posted on 06/16/2020 8:12:29 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: MHGinTN
Apocalypse 13:16-18 is based on Ezekiel 8 and 9. The "mark" symbolized the spiritual condition of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The ones with the "mark" were in allegiance with God. However, in Apocalypse, the mark is reversed. That is to say, the mark was on those who were against God and had allegiance to the "beast."

John wrote that the number "is the number of a man's name; and his number is 666." This tells us that those who received the "mark" were actually in allegiance with a "man," an actually person of the first century. So, who was he? Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus! Better known as Nero Caesar.

John used a puzzle called gematria in which numbers are used to represent certain letters. John used this puzzle to reveal Nero without actually writing down his name. Remember, the early churches were being persecuted during this time—not only from the Jews, but also from the Romans. The numerical values of the Hebrew letters in Neron Kesar (Nero Caesar) are:

Nero's Name

Nero Caesar fits the gematria code number "666." Using this code, his name would be rendered as "NRWN QSR." (NRWN QSR). The number values are:

N = 50
R = 200
W = 6
N = 50
Q = 100
S = 60
R = 200

which, when added together, equals 666. The fact that Nero fits the description of the "beast" is well documented. According to Suetonius, he murdered his parents, wife, brother, aunt, and many others close to him and of high station in Rome. He was a torturer, a homosexual rapist, and a sodomite. He even married two young boys and paraded them around as his wives. One of the boys, whose name was Sporus, was castrated by Nero. He was truly bestial in his character, depravity, and actions. He devised a kind of game: covered with the skin of some wild animal, he was let loose from a cage and attacked the private parts of men and women, who were bound at stakes. He also initiated the war against the Jews which led to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD..

Nero’s persecution, which was initiated in A.D.64, was the first ever Roman assault on Christianity. Roman historian Tacitus (A.D. 56-117) spoke of Nero's "cruel nature" that "put to death so many innocent men." He records the scene in Rome when the persecution of Christians broke out: "And their death was aggravated with mockeries, insomuch that, wrapped in the hides of wild beasts, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or fastened to crosses to be set on fire, that when the darkness fell they might be burned to illuminate the night." Christians were crucified, beheaded, burnt alive, and used as torches to light the palace gardens. Historically, Nero is the one that persecuted Christians beyond all comparison. St. John’s banishment to Patmos (where he wrote the book of Apocalypse) was itself a result of the great persecution of Nero. The apostle Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. The apostle Peter, who was crucified upside down, was another victim of Nero, .

As Church father Eusebius notes: "Nero was the first of the emperors who showed himself an enemy of the divine religion." Sulpicius Severus concurs: "He first attempted to abolish the name of Christian." In his Annals, Roman historian Tacitus points to those who were persecuted as "those who . . . were vulgarly called Christians." Roman historian Suetonius concurs, for in a list of the few "positive" contributions of Nero as emperor, he includes the fact that Nero persecuted Christians: "During his reign many abuses were severely punished and put down, and no fewer new laws were made:. . . . Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition."

Noted church historian J. L. von Mosheim wrote of Nero's persecution: "Foremost in the rank of those emperors, on whom the church looks back with horror as her persecutors, stands Nero, a prince whose conduct towards the Christians admits of no palliation, but was to the last degree unprincipled and inhuman. The dreadful persecution which took place by order of this tyrant, commenced at Rome about the middle of November, in the year of our Lord 64. . . . This dreadful persecution ceased but with the death of Nero. The empire, it is well known, was not delivered from the tyranny of this monster until the year 68, when he put an end to his own life." (L. von Mosheim, Historical Commentaries, I:138,139).

His bestial cruelty is evidenced in the writings of the Roman historian Suetonius (A.D. 70-160), who speaks of Nero's "cruelty of disposition" evidencing itself at an early age. He documents Nero's evil and states: "neither discrimination or moderation [were employed] in putting to death whosoever he pleased on any pretext whatever." Suetonius notes that Nero "compelled four hundred senators and six hundred Roman knights, some of whom were well to do and of unblemished reputation, to fight in the arena."

Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79) described Nero as "the destroyer of the human race" and "the poison of the world." Roman satirist Juvenal (A.D. 60-140) speaks of "Nero's cruel and bloody tyranny." Elsewhere, he calls Nero a "cruel tyrant."

Nero so affected the imagination that the pagan writer Apollinius of Tyana, a contemporary of Nero, specifically mentions that Nero was called a "beast": "In my travels, which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have seen many, many wild beasts of Arabia and India; but this beast, that is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it has, nor if it be crooked of claw, and armed with horrible fangs. . . . And of wild beasts you cannot say that they were ever known to eat their own mother, but Nero has gorged himself on this diet."


How Nero fulfills Prophesy

In Apocalypse 13:7, the Beast is said to "make war with the saints and to overcome them." Apocalypse 13:5 says that the beast would conduct such blasphemous warfare for a specific period of time: 42 months. The Neronic persecution was instituted in 64 AD and lasted until his death in June 68 AD, which is three and a half years, or 42 months! Nero fits the bill for the role of the beast!

Apocalypse 13:10 and 14 says the Beast not only slays by the sword, but ultimately is to die of a sword wound. Do you know how Nero died? According to Suetonius, he "drove a dagger into his throat, aided by Epaphroditus, his private secretary" (ch.49). Nero killed with the sword and was killed by the sword. That Nero did, in fact, kill by the sword is a well-attested fact. Paul, for example, is said to have died under Nero by decapitation by means of the sword. Tertullian credits "Nero's cruel sword" as providing the martyr's blood as seed for the church. He urges his Roman readers to "Consult your histories; you will there find that Nero was the first who assailed with the imperial sword the Christian sect."

Nero died in the middle of the war on June 8th, 68 AD, and Vespasian went back to Rome to fight to become the new emperor. During this time the Christians fled Jerusalem because they heeded the warning of Matthew 24:16; the Jews thought the respite was a sign from God of victory and they gathered in Jerusalem in great numbers. The Romans came back and destroyed the city.

Apocalypse 17:3 tells us that the beast is red. The red color may be indicative of the bloodshed caused by the beast. But Suetonius writes of the legend associated with Nero's ancestral parentage, which explains why he had a red beard, which was very unusual in those times.

Apocalypse 17:10 says, "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." The five "kings" were not ruling at the same time, for the text stated "five are fallen," meaning that five of those kings had come and gone. Then "one is," meaning the "king" who was ruling at the time Apocalypse was written. Here, in this verse, we have one of the clearest proofs for Nero being the beast. If we simply examine the list of Roman Emperors, we will be able to determine who the sixth king was. Flavius Josephus clearly points out that Julius Caesar was the first emperor of Rome, followed by Augustus; Tiberius; Caius (Caligula); Claudius; and the sixth emperor was…Nero (Antiquities, books 18 and 19), who assumed imperial power upon the death of the fifth emperor, Claudius, in October, A.D. 54. The matter is confirmed just a little later in the writings of Roman historians: Suetonius (Lives of the Twelve Caesars and Dio Cassius, Roman History 5). Nero reigned from 54AD to June of 68AD. John informs us that the seventh king was "not yet come." That would be Galba, who assumed power upon Nero's death in June, A.D. 68. But he was only to continue a "short space." As a matter of historical fact, his reign lasted but six months until January 15, A.D. 69.

What about the Beast's death-wound and his subsequent resurrection? Let us now consider John's revelation of the Beast arising from the dead (Apocalypse 13:3-4). At this point we need to reflect upon a most significant series of historical events of the A.D. 60s. First, with the death of Nero, the Roman Empire's founding family vanished from rule. Following the death of Nero was the extinction of the Julian line. Immediately, the Roman Empire was hurled into civil wars of horrible ferocity and dramatic proportions. These civil wars would strike everyone as being the very death throes of Rome, the Beast generically considered. Before the world's startled eyes, the seven-headed Beast (Rome) was toppling to its death as its sixth head (Nero) was mortally wounded with the sword.

Tacitus's detailed account of the ruin wreaked upon Rome almost equals in psychological horror, cultural devastation, and human carnage that which befell Jerusalem during the Jewish War, as recorded by Josephus and Tactius. The Roman civil wars were the first fruits of Nero's death. Josephus records that the destruction was so horrible, that the general Vespasian, "was not able to apply himself further in other wars when his native country was laid waste." Josephus agrees that during this time Rome was brought near to utter "ruin." He notes that "about this time it was that heavy calamities came about Rome on all sides." According to 4 Ezra 12:16-19, written around A.D. 100, the Empire was "in danger of falling": "In the midst of the time of that kingdom great struggles shall arise, and it shall be in danger of falling; nevertheless it shall not fall then, but shall regain its former power."

But what eventually occurred at the end of these death throes? Suetonius informs us that: "The empire, which for a long time had been unsettled and, as it were, drifting through the usurpation and violent death of three emperors, was at last taken in hand given stability by the Flavian family." Josephus sets forth this view of things when he writes: "So upon this confirmation of Vespasian's entire government, which was now settled, and upon the unexpected deliverance of the public affairs of the Romans from ruin, Vespasian turned his thoughts to what remained unsubdued in Judea." Thus, after a time of grievous civil wars, the Empire was revived by the ascending of Vespasian to the purple.

The point is not that Nero’s name is the primary identification of 666. The point is, instead, what the number meant to the seven churches. St. John’s Biblically informed readers will have already recognized many clear indications of the Beast’s identity. Nero arrived on the scene as the first great persecutor of the Church, the embodiment of the "666-ness" of the Empire, and – Lo and behold! – his very name spells out 666! It is significant that "all the earliest Christian writers on the Apocalypse, from Irenaeus down to Victorious of Pettau and Commodian in the fourth, and Andreas in the fifth, and St. Beatus in the eighth century, connect Nero, or some Roman emperor, with the Apocalyptic Beast ." There should be no reasonable doubt about this identification. St. John was writing to first-century Christians, warning them of things that were "shortly" to take place. They were engaged in the most crucial battle of history, against the Dragon and the evil Empire which he possessed. The purpose of the Apocalypse was to comfort the Church with the assurance that God was in control, so that even the awesome might of the Dragon and the Beast would not stand before the armies of Jesus Christ. Christ was wounded in His heel on Friday, the sixth day, the Day of the Beast – yet that is the day He crushed the Dragon’s head. At his most powerful, St. John says, the Beast is just a six, or a series of sixes; never a seven.

It is charged by some that Neron Kesar is merely a convenient "misspelling" of Nero’s name in Hebrew. This objection overlooks the fact that before the modern introduction of dictionaries the world was simply not as concerned as we are about uniformity in the spelling of names. Alternate spellings were common (e.g. "Joram" and "Jehoram" in the Old Testament), especially in the transliteration of words into a foreign tongue. But the allegation of misspelling is wholly wrong anyway. The form Neron Kesar is the linguistically "correct" Hebrew form, is the form found in the Talmud and other rabbinical writings, and was used by Hebrews in the first century, as archaeological evidence has shown. As F. W. Farrar observed, "the Jewish Christian would have tried the name as he thought of the name-that is in Hebrew letters. And the moment he did this the secret stood revealed. No Jew ever thought of Nero except as ‘Neron Kesar,’ and this gives at once . . . 666" (The Early Days of Christianity, Chicago and New York: Belford, Clarke& Co., 1882, p. 540). Of some related interest is the fact that if Nero’s name is written without the final "n" (i.e., the way it would occur to a Gentile to spell it in Hebrew), it yields the number 616 — which is exactly the variant reading in a few New Testament manuscripts. The most reasonable explanation for this variant is that it arose from the confusion over the final "n".

It may now be pointed out that in an Aramaic document from Murabba’at, dated to the "second year of the emperor Nero," the name is spelled ‘rsq nwrn’ as required by the theory (i.e., that 666 signifies Nero). The last two consonants of ‘rsq’ are damaged, but enough is preserved to show that no vowel-letter was written between the ‘q’ and ‘s’ (Apocalypse 13:18 and a Scroll from Murabba’at). The evidence can be seen by consulting the French work edited by P, Benoit, J. T. Milik, and R. DeVaux, Discoveries in the Judean Desert of Jordan II (Oxford, 1961), page 18, plate 29.

The Christians of the first century were under the military authority of Rome, a nation which openly proclaimed its rulers, the Caesars, to be divine. All those under the jurisdiction of Rome were required by law to publicly proclaim their allegiance to Caesar by burning a pinch of incense and declaring, "Caesar is Lord". Upon compliance with this law, the people were given a papyrus document called a "libellus", which they were required to present when either stopped by the Roman police or attempting to engage in commerce in the Roman marketplace, increasing the difficulty of "buying or selling" without this mark. This is the

essence of Scripture’s warnings to the early Christians against taking upon themselves the "mark of the beast".

858 posted on 06/16/2020 8:13:50 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: Cronos
You are an amazing illustration: 1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. KJV

14The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ESV

14But the sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God. For it is foolishness to him: and he cannot understand, because it is spiritually examined. DRV

14But [the] natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him; and he cannot know [them] because they are spiritually discerned; Sarby Translation

Thank you for illustrating the fact of this teaching on the carnal / natural man as juxtaposed to the spiritual.

859 posted on 06/16/2020 8:14:16 AM PDT by MHGinTN (A dispensation perspective is a powerful tool for discernment)
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To: MHGinTN

You have been led astray by Darby and other pastor’s lies.


860 posted on 06/16/2020 8:14:40 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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