Sunday, September 17, 2017

End of the World Series #2 - Part 156 of Riddles, Enigmas & Esoteric Imagery of Revelation


When Jesus walked the earth He revealed to His apostles that He was the only way to the Father in Heaven...I am the way, the truth, and the life...no man comes to the Father except through Me...John 14:6.  In today's society we hear there are many ways to Heaven, but do not listen to false prophets.  God is not a man that He should lie...Num. 23:19.  We must repent of our sins, accept the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins on the cross of Calvary, and we will enter Heaven.

Did the apostles of Jesus Christ ask Him about the End of the World?   When will this happen?...the disciples asked Him later, as He sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives...what events will signal Your return, and the end of the world? Matt. 24:3.

In this text, Jesus and His apostles had just left the temple of worship in Jerusalem.  His apostles were full of questions about the future.  People in the 21st century have the same questions on their minds as did the people in His day.  Jesus said to His apostles, as they observed the buildings of the temple...Do you not see all these things?...assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down...Matt. 14:1-2.

With exuberance the apostles prodded...When will this happen...what events will signal Your return, and the end of the world? We know that during the war of 70 A.D. Solomon's temple was thrown down, not one stone was piled on another - complete destruction of all buildings of the temple, as far as the eye could see.  His description did not include anything built underground.  This portion of His prophecy has been fulfilled.

Next, the apostles wanted to know...What events will signal Your return, and the end of the world?  Did you notice how their question connected His return with the end of the world?  After Jesus explained to them what must take place before He returns, culminating with the end of the world, He told them...But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only...Matt. 24:36.

The apostle Peter gives a very clear description of the end of the world, who also connects the return of the Lord Jesus Christ with the destruction of the earth.  Just after Peter told the followers of the Lord that Jesus is not slack in the promise of His return, but is not willing that any should perish, he went on to say...but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up...II Peter 3:10. 

Reread this statement by Peter, erase everything someone has told you it says, then ask yourself if his statement is ambiguous in any manner?  Even though this is a prophecy yet to be fulfilled, it is very clear language -- the day the Lord returns will be like a thief - unexpected - just as in the days of Noah the people were carried away by the flood...Matt. 24:39.  On this same day - Day of the Lord - the heavens pass away with a great noise, the elements will melt with fervent heat - both the earth and the works in it will be burned up. 

Peter admonishes us to be found in peace, without spot and blameless, as we look forward to the return of Jesus and the end of the world, because untaught and unstable people will twist prophecy, as they do the rest of scriptures - beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.  Grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells...II Peter 3:13-18.

How do we know when the end is near?  As in the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be...Matt. 24:37.  Two major signs for destruction from the days of Noah, that are evident in our society worldwide are: 

1.  Violence & moral degeneration 
2.  Eating, drinking, marrying - society living normally, yet rejecting their Creator.

While we don't have many details about Noah's generation, the books of Genesis and Job describe a civilization on the earth prior to the Garden of Eden event.  When God told Adam & Eve to replenish the earth, it is obvious that something took place on the planet before they arrived, since replenish means:  fill again.  God placed Adam & Eve in the garden to show the nations how well He can take care of human beings if they will only surrender their allegiance to Him.

Rather than being an example of righteousness to the nations, Adam & Eve sinned against God, and corruption eventually covered the whole earth, wherever men journeyed.  Earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence...so God looked upon the earth and indeed it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth...Gen. 6:11-12.

And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart...so the Lord said...I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them...Gen. 6:6-7.  We who study the Bible and historical documentation, even from secular sources, know that a great flood covered the earth and destroyed everything on it, except those on the Ark. 

If you think these things are true, or just possibly true, join me in this series on the End of the World so we can find out the truth of the matter.  Do we have a more detailed description of the End of the World generation than we did of those who perished in Noah's flood?  Stay tuned...

God's sheep question the doctrine of men...sheeple follow without question~~~


  


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