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This seems to clarify in my mind how there will be no "secret" rapture; the Resurrection will open many graves worldwide so the simultaneous event cannot be explained away. To believe "THE LIE"; of course aliens or some other invention will be used to justify the erroneous conclusion as to why many confessors of Christ remain afterward; and everyone else as well. We also have parallels with the 3 1/2 years of ministry of the 2 Prophets followed by Martyrdom and Resurrection 3 days later; as well as the False Prophet imitating things much as the Egyptian magicians did with Pharoah.
Many no doubt will think Antichrist is Christ; in whatever imaginations religion has given to those of all persuasions sans the true Gospel. I tend to think that Psalm 40 and later sections of Romans indicate the Rapture will help promote jealousy; and/or be the trigger mechanism for Israel to go through the process of purging and the 1/3 of the Nation to go through the fire and come out finally believing in the true Messiah as later chapters of Zechariah indicate.
I appreciate your continued faithfulness with your detailed analyses. The Lord has blessed me with a nursing home ministry; I started Genesis 1 Sunday; and will see how far i progross.
Agape; Rich P
Love your comments, thank you again for responding. God Bless
As to the aforementioned concepts; there is certainly a benefit to heartfelt prayer and being a "Berean" as to reading scripture.
We may not escape all things to come (at least for the present age) but if we are NOT wise things certainly can sneak up on us. Most are not (let's face it) concerned about a worldwide false peace being such a great deception FIRST; but clearly that will be the effect mesmerizing the earth after the 1st Seal. It is important to keep in mind that EVERYONE (sorry about shouting but seems important) whose name is NOT written in the Book of Life will worship the Beast. This is why we need to be cautious if we claim to be a Christian and are not testing ourselves to see if we are in the faith; fearing God; and obeying His commandments (according to their full interpretation under grace in the N.T.) Love and obedience go hand in hand; and anyone who doesn't get past the thorns and such of this world system and doesn't take their own helplessness seriously WILL fall away (sorry did it again). Right now it is heresy that is twisting the minds of many so called believers and mark my words these individuals will by far be our greatest cross to bear as the false worldwide religion comes to fruition (again I believe not until the church is removed in its entirety as the gates of Hell will not ultimately squelch out the light of the few individuals who remain in those sad congregations).
I am sure you are aware of the imperative of working until He comes. Seeing how the predictions tht 1948 was the last generation has caused so much error in calculating what year He must return by (my concept is that the last generation may be about to begin when Isreal overcomes it's immediate neighbors such as seen in Psalm 83) we see how many have fallen away.
I would also say that the Philadelphia church has "little strength"; the remnant is small and appears insignificant. I expect the real revival in the Tribulation.
Seeing white garments on the great multitude makes me think that it is certainly a strong possiblility that those who are not praying (agonia or agonize) to be worthy to escape all things to come to pass and escape (Luke; see also Rev. 3:10) will be left behind to render works of good fruit; which they have not attained post salvation now. That would be characteristic of the Laodician crowd who literally would be poor; blind; naked etc after the present delusion of the "prosperity gospel".
Basically; what I am saying is that BOTH realities could be the case. There isn't a later "rapture" so to speak; unless we refer to those who survive until the end of the Tribulation. The fate of the 144,000 could be a rapture; they are preserved from God's judgments and martyrdom it seems although it isn't certain; we know that those who are faithful help sustain them; nonetheless there is great suffering with the scorching sun; and general hatred no doubt. It likely speaks of the parable of those who visit the prisoners and show compassion; that isn't a work based Gospel but would speak of conditions during the Tribulation. The firstfruits began with Christ and many who came out of their graves and appeared post-Resurrection; then those who are there at His coming (which also is multifaceted as we see differences between the Rapture event and His 2nd Coming). There are; of course many parallels to the Jewish Wedding feast of 7 days and a 7 year Trib; as well as other patterns in scripture.
There has always been both those that escape judgment and those who go through it and are purged such as Lot.
The written word; through BELIEF of those written words, BECOMES the LIVING WORD:
The WORD of God is the SEED
Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: the SEED is the WORD of GOD.
John 1:1 In the beginning was THE WORD (the seed), and THE WORD (the seed) was with God, and THE WORD (the seed) was God.
The WRITTEN words are just a WITNESS, of the LIVING WORD.
John 1:14 And THE WORD was made flesh .....
Romans 8:3 God (the Word, the SEED) sending his own son (the WORD, the SEED) as SINFUL FLESH ....
ALL FLESH (the WORD, THE SEED became flesh) died on the Cross with CHRIST: ALL FLESH arose a NEW CREATION (the WORD, the SEED)
Psalms 12:6 The WORDS (YOU, all men; the new creation, by the WORKS of the resurrection) are pure (living) WORDS: as silver TRIED in the furnace of earth (you were first made of dust), purified seven times (this is speaking of the living WORD (YOU) not the written WORD (the letters of the law).
The WRITTEN WORD has to become the LIVING WORD.
1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible SEED (sinful flesh), but incorruptible, by the (living WORD, made known by the written) WORD OF GOD, with liveth and abideth forever.
Isaiah 59:21 As for me (God the WORD, the SEED), this is my covenant with them (the new creation in Christ, by his resurrection), My spirit that I have put upon THEE (CHRIST), and my (living) WORDS that I have put in thy (Christ's) mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed (the WORD), nor out of the mouth of thy SEED'S SEED (the WORD) forever.
God bless you.
So, I see that using Hupomeno or Hupomeinas does make a difference - and an important one at that. Thanks again & every blessing.
10 "And the gospel must first be published among all nations."
That would mean the gospel would be published in different languages so the people of "all nations" could read God's Word. God knew His word would be in many many different languages including English. And, God kept His Word pure.
I don't believe God expects people to know Hebrew and Greek to "really" understand and get the true meaning of His Word. He made His Word available to all. Praise the Lord! Thanks for your post Jimbob, God bless
That said, I recognize that any translation I read from may have some errors in translation. But I do believe that there are translation besides the KJV that are as accurate as the KJV or even more so, from what I have studied about the translations.
I am enjoying reading the KJV this pasty year or so, since I had never read it before, even though I have read the Bible since I was 9. God has been good to me (because He is good) in instructing me through the Word over the decades I have walked with Him in faith and love. I put my confidence in Him, not in any specific translation, although I don't recommend the paraphrase versions.
God Bless...thanks again for your response.
We can remember that Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses did not have a written Torah to refer to, but God actually spoke audibly to them over their lifetimes. God had the prophets just simply speak under the influence of the Holy Spirit without rehearsing their words. David poured his heart out to God in His psalms. How many of these were literate enough to read Hebrew? Moses was. perhaps David.
God is able to bring His message to whomever He wishes in whatever way He deems good. For centuries the Bible was in the hands of the church leaders because most people could not read and the printing press had not been invented yet. Even when it was invented, people needed to become literate and be able to also afford a Bible. So for most of history, people did not have a Bible to read and study. But God still made His will and character known in a variety of ways.
We are blessed to be literate, some of us in several languages. In fact in most other developed countries, they have their native language and also read and speak English and other languages. Americans are normally not literate in any other language but
English. So, we are at a disadvantage. But we have the Bible translated in English for us. And as a result, we have benefited from the scholarship of so many others.
I am very grateful to have been given a strong desire to read the Bible since I was 9 AND to have a Bible in my home to read all of my life. I was also very blessed to be in a family of faith. We went to church every Sunday and at church a selections was read from the Old Testament and the Psalms and Gospels and the Epistles every service. So I heard and read a lot of Scripture over the 20 years I lived at home before I went off to college to finish my teaching degree. I used to love to just sit and read the Bible in the 15 minutes before services began when people would sit or kneel to pray or read.
I know that even as a young child, God's Word spoke to me.
I know many see these verses as you, but if I may just give another understanding of John 14:1-6, we have had discussions and I think we respect each other, and both love the word and the truth. This was just before Jesus was going to be crucified and He said, "I go and prepare a place for you". In verse 2 He said in my Father's house are many mansions.
The Greek word translated mansion is #3438 monai, meaning; an abiding dwelling place and this word is only used twice here and in John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. Abode is the Greek word monia.
When Adam sinned God could not dwell in man, Jesus was on His way to shed His blood and undo what the first Adam did so that God could again through the Holy Spirit dwell in man. John 14:17 Romans 8:11 1 John 4:15. In these verses, we can see the place prepared for us by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
I understand you look to be taken to heaven and I am just putting something out there that you may study. Jesus said I will come again, He was on earth when He said I will come again.
God bless,
RLW
Thank you for sharing Hebrews 4:12. I do agree with you that the word of God is alive today, just as it was back then. But if I may answer your question "Without the Strongs Concordance then how would we know the Word of God is Alive today?"
Do we really need a Strong's Concordance to know that the word of God is alive today? Those words in Hebrews 4:12 were written sometime between 67 and 69 AD. They had no concordance. And even if they did, what language would their concordance be written in if what they had at the time was the Greek text? How would they have known that the word of God was alive back then?
Please know that I am not trying to be argumentative here. I am just trying to understand why we would need a Strong's Concordance to know that the word of God is alive today.
I also, along with GiGi, agree with what you are saying. Even though we are blessed to have Gods word in written form, I believe that if every bible in the world disappeared, God would still be able to communicate to us through other means. It is His Spirit that speaks to our hearts, and it doesn't have to be in writing. Before there was a bible in existence, God used various ways to reveal Himself and communicate His will to mankind.
There are places around the world today where bibles are not available, and in some places, it is against the law to have a bible. But in those places, Gods Spirit is still working, revealing Himself to those people. And as you say, The Jews had the WORD written in Hebrew. But even before the first five books (Torah) were written, God still communicated with them by other means.
Again, it is a blessing to have Gods word in written form and have the freedom to study from it. Who knows how much longer we will have that freedom? But even if our bibles were taken away, we still have Gods Spirit in us to communicate His will in our lives.
GiGi, I completely agree with your statement that "Some translations are better than others, but none is perfect." Amen!
This chapter tells of the dedication of the tabernacle. Each prince/leading elder of each tribe brought their offerings to the tabernacle to Moses and Aaron. There were six wagons, each drawn by an oxen. There were two princes per wagon. These were given to the Levites. Every prince brought the same utensils, animals and meal for each of the proscribed offerings/sacrifices listed in Leviticus 1-6. No one gave more or less than the other. Therefore all of the tribes shared equally in the offerings to YHWH.
The gifts for the offerings were staggered over twelve days with one tribe per day bringing their offering. Everything was done in orderly fashion. This is how we should approach God in worship, in an orderly, reverent way.
The last verses are most touching. Moses approached the tabernacle and he heard a voice come from between the cherubim on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. YHWH was having the last word. We, too, must tarry in the sanctuary a bit in worship to catch God's response to us.
Moses was familiar with the voice of YHWH. Let us pray to have such familiarity with the speaking of the Holy Spirit to us through His word and to our hearts. Jesus is the good shepherd and His sheep hear His voice. Listen for Him. His sheep will not follow another shepherd. Follow only what His Word says. (John Chapter 10) God wants to interact with us. We do not have a dry, lifeless relationship with God. It is full of life and truth and comfort and grace and mercy. It is full of assurance and hope and faith and confidence. it is full of joy, satisfaction, and gratitude. It is full of forgiveness, righteousness imputed, and provision. How wonderful is the richness of God's design for our relationship with Him.
Today is Palm Sunday. He road into Jerusalem knowing it will be His last time being there; knowing that, although the people that day hailed Him as the Messiah King, In a few more days they will cry out, "Crucify Him", rejecting Him.
The Bible only says that He inspired the original writers of the books of Scripture. But it doesn't say that He equally inspired any translators to chose words that show the exact meaning of what was originally written. In translating into another language there is difficulty finding the best words that match the original languages. This is why translators take into consideration the whole sentence and the bigger context around the word they are trying to translate to help them in selecting words and phrases for the translation. The translators of the various Bible translations had good intentions and desired to accurately translate the Scriptures. Some translations are better than others, but none is perfect.
There are some that are word for word translations such as the KJV and the NASB
There are some that are phrase for phrase translations such as the NIV and others.
Each person will choose the translation(s) that work best for them to understand what God is speaking in the Scriptures.
None of us have a problem with you concerning this verse. It states that Mary was a virgin. And that fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14.
But this verse does not prove in any way that Mary was sinless.
So please don't think that we disagree with you about Mary being a virgin--rather our disagreement is that the verse does not say she was sinless. I am not aware of any verse that attests to the sinlessness of Mary.
But I do believe she was a godly woman who was awaiting the coming of the Messiah. She did not know ahead of time that God would choose her to be the virgin prophesied. But her response shows that she was a woman of faith and humility and also a willingness to bow to the will of God in her life.
I would have to side with Jesse on this matter. The original languages of the Scriptures are the true words of God that were inspired at the time God wished for them to be written. Our translations are from these original languages: Greek for the new Testament and Hebrew for the Old Testament. Those who can read Greek and Hebrew are a great source for yus and we should be willing to hear from them.
I don't concur with you that the KJV is the sole repository of God's inspired Word, nor that it in its translating was inspired like the originals written by the writers of the Old and New Testament books. It is a good translation to use, but is not perfectly translated any more than and other translation.
You can read that citation in 2 Peter 1:21. I think this is what you were looking for.
I can't speak generally for Catholics, except from those in my circle of acquaintances, there has been a greater interest & hunger to learn more of the Scriptures, not just in the casual reading of them, but seeking to understand its meaning & application. I know that from the pulpit, some good messages are given, but when it comes down to scriptural analysis & in-depth study, the laity seems to be deprived & such study remains only in the realm of the clergy. So, I often get the exclamation, 'is that really in the Bible or does the Bible really say that?' I see this as a good 'hunger', as resting in & seeking only from the Word of God & not from man, can we ever gain deep insights & Truth that can bring us light & liberty. When the traditions & teachings of the Bible are adhered to & not those of the Church, our hearts are exposed to wonderful messages directly from the Spirit of God to our hungry hearts.
Holy men penned the words of God by the Spirit of Christ.
Where does it say holy men translated the exact meaning of God's word.
Only the anointing of the Spirit of Christ can bring you to truth of the of meaning of God's word.
The Jews had the WORD written in Hebrew, the gentiles have the WORD written in Greek, we have dictionaries and concordances; yet no one understands the WORD written; because the WORD is God, a living man, not LETTERS on a page written by flesh and blood.
1 John 2:27 But the anointing you have received of him (THE LIVING WORD) abideth IN YOU, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the SAME anointing teaches you all things, and is TRUTH, and no lie, and even as it (the anointing) hath taught you, ye shall abide IN HIM.
God bless you
Agape; RIch P
As to the other two things; I will repeat what I've said quite often that the gates of hell will NOT prevail against the church; but the saints (in general) will be overcome and martyred during the Tribulation which God Himself must cut short or no one would survive. He who restrains must be held back until he is removed (I would contend with the explanation of that being the method in which the Spirit works with the gifts and calling in the current church age). It is certainly not out of the question that as Daniel states "only the wise will understand" that indeed the man of sin may be evident to God's people before he becomes world dictator and perhaps that fits into the "midnight hour" parable as a sign.
The mark of the Beast is something accompanying worship of Satan and the image set up (which people likely will have some technological way to reproduce). If we take the Tribulation in basic chronological order we see seal judgments first; then sealing the 144,000; then after God's 2 prophets minister they are destroyed and resurrected and the false prophet imitates similar miracles such as fire coming down from the sky. I would strongly state that the covenant which is now likely in initial stages will be "confirmed with many" as Daniel 9:27 states. The first seal or false peace is the first delusion sent by God so those who don't LOVE the truth will be damned. That is clearly judgment as all seals are with Christ Himself opening them personally.
I will state that we all must be ready to die for His names' sake; as it is rapidly getting to where all will hate us from all nations and those who think they believe God will think as the scripture states that they are doing HIm a favor by killing us. False religion I believe comes first