Ok, at lunch today, I attended the armageddon study based upon the Time Mag Article at PG&E. Yes, we here at PG&E have a monthly bible study. Basically we discussed three passages Matthew 24:3-14, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 which I've taken the libery of listing down below along with a short commentary.
Matthew 24:3-14
3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[1] ' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
According to Randy Walker, bible study lead, this passage is the one passage that may have predicted something like 9/11 and the times that followed but even then it is pretty sketchy. (this is in response to a poll in the mag that stated some people (25%) believed that the bible predicted 9/11) Here, we see wars (Afghanistan), rumors of war (Israel)... but not much of the other signs. Perhaps false prophets in terms of muslim false prophets. We pretty much concluded that there isn't a specific place in the bible that decisively predicted 9/11. There was some suggestion that New York could have been represented metaphorically by the city of Babylon in Revelation 18 but most of those present didn't think it did. (I didn't only because Babylon is destroyed when "She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every detestable bird.", Rev. 18:2, and I know that we have brothers and sisters in NY right now, plus NY is hardly destroyed or "brought to ruin")
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10
6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
Here we talked about the quote from the Time Mag which says "They're asking people to believe that we have a God who simply can't wait to zap a Christian flight crew out of jets so they crash? You can't believe in a God who would do this kind of thing." (p. 44) Basically, people's misconception of a lovey dubby God (a Santa Claus type God). And we reiterated that our God is a just God, one who will judge all at the end times and throw many into the Lake of Fire.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
1Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Here we discussed our attitude toward the Lord's coming which I think most of us agreed that we should be both hopeful and mournful. Hopeful for the Kingdom of God, hopeful for the day in which we stand in the Lord's house...but mournful for those whom we love that will be left behind, those who will be thrown into the lake of fire. We also concluded that we should be mindful but we should not let signs of armageddon distract us from our faith, love, and hope. These things should not distract us from encouraging one another and building each other up...growing in our faith.
Matthew 24:3-14
3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[1] ' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
According to Randy Walker, bible study lead, this passage is the one passage that may have predicted something like 9/11 and the times that followed but even then it is pretty sketchy. (this is in response to a poll in the mag that stated some people (25%) believed that the bible predicted 9/11) Here, we see wars (Afghanistan), rumors of war (Israel)... but not much of the other signs. Perhaps false prophets in terms of muslim false prophets. We pretty much concluded that there isn't a specific place in the bible that decisively predicted 9/11. There was some suggestion that New York could have been represented metaphorically by the city of Babylon in Revelation 18 but most of those present didn't think it did. (I didn't only because Babylon is destroyed when "She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every detestable bird.", Rev. 18:2, and I know that we have brothers and sisters in NY right now, plus NY is hardly destroyed or "brought to ruin")
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10
6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
Here we talked about the quote from the Time Mag which says "They're asking people to believe that we have a God who simply can't wait to zap a Christian flight crew out of jets so they crash? You can't believe in a God who would do this kind of thing." (p. 44) Basically, people's misconception of a lovey dubby God (a Santa Claus type God). And we reiterated that our God is a just God, one who will judge all at the end times and throw many into the Lake of Fire.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
1Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Here we discussed our attitude toward the Lord's coming which I think most of us agreed that we should be both hopeful and mournful. Hopeful for the Kingdom of God, hopeful for the day in which we stand in the Lord's house...but mournful for those whom we love that will be left behind, those who will be thrown into the lake of fire. We also concluded that we should be mindful but we should not let signs of armageddon distract us from our faith, love, and hope. These things should not distract us from encouraging one another and building each other up...growing in our faith.
posted by AlfDaBruin at 3:10 PM
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