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Reload this page Future Scenarios

Here are my notes on future scenarios in Eschatology — the study of "End Times", with predictions about the "end-of-the-world".

TEOTWAWKI = The End Of The World As We Know It

 

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on this pageBiblical Events on this pageDispensationalism on this pageExpect Rapture? on this pageShould We Know The Date? on this pageEnd Times Scenarios on this pageForums of Debate on this pageAdditional Reading

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    Top of page Approaches

      Each Biblical prophasy can be interpreted with one of these approaches:

      • Futurist — The Bible verse is an explicit forecast of a future yet to unfold.
      • Preterist (from the Latin praeter which means "before") — The prophecy has already been fulfilled before today, such as in the first century.
      • Historical or Presentist — The prophecies are being fulfilled now, during the period between Yeshua's resurrection and his second coming.
      • Idealist — The verse is not intended to be historical but a timeless allegory, such as the conflict between good and evil.

     

      It is not a puzzle book meant to conceal, but a picture book meant to reveal.

     
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    Top of page Biblical Events Predicted


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    Top of page Dispensation


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    Top of page Millennialism

      There are several views about the return of Christ and the "thousand years":

        The pre-millenial view says Christ will return before the millenium period.

        The post-millenial view says Christ will return after the millenium period.

        The amillenial view says there will be a "golden era".


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    Top of page The Rapture


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      Top of page Should Christians Expect Rapture?

      Yes!

      It happened before: There is historical precedence in the Bible:

      • Noah escaped the flood with 8 people.
      • Enoch was translated and did not know death.
      • Psalm 40:1-3 says, "I WAITED patiently for the LORD; and he inclined (bent down) unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit (as Jeremiah was taken up out of a pit), out of the miry clay (our bodies of clay), and set my feet upon a rock (Heaven), and established by goings. And the hath put a new song (sung after the Rapture in Revelation 5:9) in my mouth, even praise unto our God: MANY SHALL SEE IT, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD."
      • Isiah 26:20 says "Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by."

      The Bible says it will happen:

      • John 4:23-24 (nasbu) "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

      • Zephaniah 2:3 "Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger."
      • Psalm 27:5 "For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock."
      • Revelation 3:8,10 (NIV) “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.”
      • I Thessalonians 5:4-9 says, "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober...But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath."
      • "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." (Romans 5:9)
      • In Rev. 11:12 the two witnesses are told, "Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."
      • The Song of Solomon 2:8-13 alludes to it.


      Bible commentators with this "Dispensational", "Pre-millenial", "Futurist" View:


      New Agers

      offer their own rapture scenarios: James Redfield's best-selling Celestine Prophecy series ends up with their "elect" vibrating their way out of here, supposedly like the Mayans.



      No!

      “The trouble with the future is that it usually arrives when you least expect it.” —Arnold H. Glasow

    • Chuck Missler on the Rapture
    • Adapted from Instant Nullification:
      • I still have my whole life ahead of me.
      • I don't believe that there is an all-powerful God.
      • I don't believe that the Bible was written by God.
      • I don't believe in Heaven.
      • I'd rather go to the other place and be with all my friends.
      • I don't believe that people can just disappear.
      • Christ isn't coming back until long after I'm dead.
      • Christ isn't coming back until the world gets its act together.
      • This stuff is too scary for me to even think about.

    • “The rapture is wishful thinking”

    • The Post Trib Network
    • The Premillennial Deception and rapture.
    • In II Thess 2:6, the person who will be taken out of the way (as a precursor to the tribulation) are not people, but angels such as Michael who appeared in Daniel 10:12.
    • Why shouldn't we suffer as much as the Early Church? We are no better than they.
    Bible commentators with the "A-millenial" view:
    • 4th Century Augustine concluded that the "kingdom of God" was already manifest in the presence of the Church.

    • Bob Mahlstedt believes the "great tribulation" occurred at the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in the 1st century (72 AD).

    • Michael F. Blume believes that "pre-tribulation rapture teaching is dangerous, since it encourages people to sit and expect deliverance from this world should any severe trouble come our way. And that is not good. But so long as we stay in victory in Christ we will be ready whether tribulation comes our way or not! Victory in Jesus keeps us safe either way!"

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      Top of page Should We Know The Date?

      No!

    • Mark 13:31-37 32 But of THAT DAY AND [that] HOUR KNOWETH NO MAN, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. 33 Take ye heed, WATCH AND PRAY: for YE KNOW NOT WHEN THE TIME IS. 34 [For the Son of man is] as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. 35 Watch ye therefore: for YE KNOW NOT WHEN the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, WATCH.

      Here's Marilyn Agee's interpretation of this passage:

      You said that Jesus "said no-one would know." That is what many say, but take another look at what Jesus really said, "But of that day and hour knoweth (present tense, at that moment) no man (Jesus was not just man, but man and God)" (Mt. 24:36). He was careful how he phrased that. He did NOT say that no one would ever know.

      Therefore, we say that he spoke as a man, not as God. Actually, it goes deeper than that. He phrased his statement very carefully. He said, "no man." Well, he was not just a man. He was a God man, one of a kind. He was actually excluding himself.

      You mentioned only the Father knows when he will return to get his bride. Of course, Jesus and the Father are one. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. When Jesus said that no man knoweth the day and hour, that was true. Knoweth was present tense. No man knew at that time. Besides that, Jesus was not just "man." He was both man and God, one of a kind. He worded that very carefully. That statement was sort of a delay switch to keep us from searching too soon for what manner of time the prophets spoke about. It sure kept me from really looking into when things would happen until after the Six-Day War had already taken place.

      It was not for the apostles to know the times or the seasons. That was reserved for us at the end of this age, after the Sign of the End of the Age (the Six-Day War of 1967, when Israel grew) appeared.

      In Mark 4:21-25, Jesus showed that we are to tell what we know. "And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what he hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath"

      Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2 by Marcel Duchamp.   Get this print framed on your wall!
      Get this print framed for your wall!



      Yes!

    • Those of the last generation are the little children of whom I John 2:18,20 said, "it is the last hour...and ye have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One, and YE KNOW ALL THINGS."
    • The Second Coming after the Tribulation is different from the pre-tribulation Rapture. When Jesus said Acts 1:6 "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority." He was answering their question "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
    • Noah was told "Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made. And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth. " Genesis 7:4
    • Jonah walked into Nineveh and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown" (Jonah. 3:4). And don't forget that Noah knew the year. See Gen. 6:3: "his (man's) days shall be an hundred and twenty years." Noah knew when to complete the Ark.
    • It is now time for the church to receive "their portion of meat in due season" (Luke 12:42).
    • John 16:13 says that when "the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth...and HE WILL SHEW YOU THINGS TO COME."
    • Solomon said "A wise man's heart discerneth both TIME and judgment" (Eccl. 8:5).
    • Amos 3:7 says, the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
    • In Mark 13:23, Jesus emphatically said, "But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things."
    • In Luke 12:2, Jesus said, "For there is NOTHING covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known." In Matthew 10:26, Jesus said, "Fear them not therefore: for here is NOTHING covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known." Jesus said, "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee" (Rev. 3:3). If we watch, we will know the hour he will come upon us.
    • Daniel 12:10 says, "None of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand."
    • Daniel 12:4 says "Seal up the book until the time of the end when many will search and true knowledge will become abundant",
    • The prophets who dutifully recorded the time clues did not necessarily understand them. But, they "prophesied of the grace that should come to YOU: searching what, or what manner of TIME the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify" I Pet. 1:10,11).
    • Jesus scolded the Pharisees for not knowing the time. Matthew 16:3 says, "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" They could have figured out the time of the First Advent from Daniel 9:24-26, but they did not. imilarly, in Luke 12:56, he said, Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?"
    • "For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."

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    Scripture “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.” — Hebrews 11:1

    Top of page "End Times" Scenarios

     


    Just because others have been wrong about dates does not make the next one wrong
    —Marilyn Agee, who was wrong


    Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.
    —Marcus Aurelius

    A Casandra is someone endowed with the gift of prophesy, especially for predictions of misfortune and disaster, but fated never to be believed.

     
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    Top of page Taking the "mark"

      I think that the "mark" will be an outcome of the need to protect citizens against terrorism by muslim extermists.
     


    Just because others have been wrong about dates does not make the next one wrong
    —Marilyn Agee, who was wrong


    Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.
    —Marcus Aurelius

    A Casandra is someone endowed with the gift of prophesy, especially for predictions of misfortune and disaster, but fated never to be believed.

     
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    Top of page Additional Reading

      I am personally not persuaded with so called "discoveries" of equiletter distances.
    • Marked by God
    • James Harrison
    • I think that it's cool if God spelled his name using every 7th letter in the 5 books of Moses. I believe it. It's a way of detecting whether a document was tampered with.
    • But I think that we have gotten carried away when we try to find other words in it.
    • Let's explore the text of the Bible itself.
  • visions and dreams —Malachi Watchman

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    Top of page References

    • Feasts of Isrealanother page on this site
    • The Nations in Prophesy by John Walberg (Dallas Theological Seminary)
    • Bible Stores for Adults (BSA)
    • End Time Ministries (ETM)
    • Chuck Missler
    • Dolphin
    • Ray Stedman
    • PBS FRONTLINE's report "Apocalypse!" companion website

    • Top of page Forums of Debate


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      Related:
      another page on this siteForecasting

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