One Last Post About Revelation and End Times

Okay, so maybe I worded the title poorly – don’t worry – I’m still standing my ground as a preterist Christian.

The reason I’m posting this and the reason I chose this title is because I have discovered that people will never stop setting dates and claiming the end is near. It is very tiring for me to write post after post about how it is not the end of the world, so here and now, I will refute the premillennialists and a-millennialists once and for all. Let us examine the Book of Revelation one last time here on Infinite Light.

Right. So first let’s review what the book of revelation is “about”.

Johns Revelation is a prophecy of the tribulation of Christians (the tribulation in Matthew 24 is referring to the tribulation and judgement of Jews).

Since this could very easily be a thirty page report, and since you want simple, direct answers anyway, I will simple post simple points with necessary detail rather than writing several paragraphs about each point. I will list points of interest, and definitive, premillennialist-refuting scripture throughout revelation in list fashion. Let us begin.

1. “I, John, who AM also your BROTHER and COMPANION IN tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle called Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 1:9

This alone should be proof enough that the Tribulation of Revelation has passed, since John states that he was currently going through tribulation with Christians at the time he wrote the book.

2. “The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks you saw are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:20

Here Jesus was telling John to write to the seven churches of Asia. Not only are there far more than seven churches in Asia, but there are millions of churches around the world. Even if you interpret this scripture to symbolize “kinds” or denomination of churches, the same still goes. There are now far more. Also, the seven churches that existed then would have absolutely no interest in prophecy that was intended to be fulfilled 2,000 years in the future.

3. It is well known that Babylon is another, more ancient name for Israel. When it is mentioned that Babylon has fallen, it is a reference to the Jewish people who betrayed Christ and sided with Caesar when Christ was on trial.

4. The beast of revelation is a double reference. It refers to both Nero Caesar (the man whose number is 666) as well as Rome itself. When the. I bible speaks of the beast coming up out of the sea, understand that the word “sea” was used in biblical text to refer to a chaotic society. Rome was most definitely chaotic around that point in time, and Nero rose up out of it as a promising leader who could bring Rome to peace and security. Obviously that failed to happen, but that’s beside the point.

5. The mark of the beast was something relevant to Nero Caesar as well. He forced his followers to receive a mark on their head or hand to symbolize their devotion and loyalty to him.

6. The fatal head wound that the beast received is referring to Rome again, rather than Caesar. It is symbolic, and it refers to the way that Rome truly should have been defeated by Christ and his ministry, and even though it actually was for a short time, it rose again. However, in regards to the beast being thrown in the pit and imprisoned, that prophecy was fulfilled when the Roman Empire collapsed and was never restored.

7. The reference to the beast being imprisoned for 1,000 years is symbolic writing once again. Notice that almost all other increments of time mentioned in the Bible are relatively specific. 1,000 years is symbolic language that we still use today to represent, in this case, a very long time:

“Oh, man! This food is so good! I haven’t eaten here in a thousand years!”

When we speak like this, it obviously isn’t literal, and in case you haven’t noticed by now, Revelation is a very symbolic piece of literature. It was a very long time after John wrote Revelation that Rome fell.

8. When it is said that new Jerusalem descended from heaven by the will of God and that no temple could be found within, it is obvious that this is our current Jerusalem. No temple stands there now, nor has one stood there since 70AD. There never will be (at least there will never NEED to be) a physical temple in Jerusalem again. The third temple is Jesus Christ, and we that live by His word will enter into Him when we leave this place. To put it simply, at the risk of offending Jewish readers, all things Jewish became irrelevant as soon as Christ physically died on the cross. Nothing matters now, because he was the mediant of the New Covenant. The temple, rituals, regaining of the holy land, etc. are irrelevant, being as all of that is pertaining to the old covenant. Everything jews have done since 70AD has been for their own humanly fulfillment and by their own will, not by God’s.

9. When it is mentioned that there is no need for the sun or the moon to give off their lights, that is a reference to Jewish traditions and ways of life as well. Jews in the old testament and even in the new testament often depended on solar and lunar phenomenon as signs to indicate what God was about to do, so to speak. For example, “Blood Moons” often stood as bad omens for Jews. New moons also signaled feasts. When it is said in Revelation that there is no need for the sun or moon because Jesus and God are the light, it means that celestial phenomena is no longer relevant, and is essentially meaningless. For example, the blood red moon we saw last December came and went with no Ill-natured events for Israel or the rest of the world. The one for. The year before that (2010) came and went as well, and as far as the ones that were succeeded by wars involving Israel(1948, 1967, etc) those wars were controlled, dictated, and willed by the Jewish people, not by God.

10. We are living in the symbolic “millennium” now. Remember, the thousand years are only symbolic, and we are very much living in a world where God, Christ, and the gospel is dominative. Take a drive through your city or town, and just count the number of churches, big or small. Tell me the gospel is dead. As far as the perfected bodies, though we may not be “perfect” in so many ways, we are improved compared to people back then. If you got stabbed or cut bad enough back then, you were as good as dead. Same goes for Illnesses and plagues. If you contracted a bad illness, you were very very unlikely to live. Fast forward to today, where we have antibiotics, treatments, surgeries, etc. that save millions of lives everyday. Christian lives.

If you have any questions that I didn’t cover here, feel free to email me or comment. I’m confident I’ll have an answer and if I don’t, I’ll find you one. Thank you so much for reading. Also, please understand that while I will continue to write about other things relevant to Christianity, this is the last Eschatology post I have in store, unless I stumble across an especially bizarre date setter.

In closing, thank you for reading, and God bless.

To the premillennialists and a-millennialists, I hereby officially refute you. Amen.

-N

Insight into Revelation

I’m going to try to make this as short and simple as possible.

 

Basically, there is strong evidence that the prophecies of the Book of Revelation have already been fulfilled.  For those of you who read my blog, you may remember an earlier post touching on this.  Basically, when you view the prophecies like this, it’s called taking a “Preterist View”.

 

Now, on with the evidence.

 

To save time for me, and to save room on the post, I will redirect you to this page, where you can read up on it.

 

Now, after you read that, here is some personal insight into the parts that are not explained there.

 

Basically, Satan manifested himself into Nero Caesar.  As you will read there, never in history – besides him – has there been someone to persecute Christians and take advantage of Jews the way he did.  Think about it.  I know it may seem as though Christians are persecuted very heavily in today’s world, but there has never been anyone like that, nor has the persecution been so disgusting.  You and I couldn’t take a walk to the market to pick up some bread without being ambushed, arrested, raped, beaten, scourged, and then beheaded if we were alive back then.  We may get yelled at by a couple atheists here and there today, but we have it pretty good compared to the days of Caesar.  And while there may be some muslim extremist leaders who despise us and want us exterminated along with the Jews, none experience sexual pleasure from watching the torture, rape, and murder of Jews and Christians like Nero Caesar did.

 

Today, you may also say that “lawlessness abounds”, but that’s not the case.  “Lawlessness” is the lack of law.  Today, we should rejoice when we turn on the 6 O’Clock news and see riots, and murders.  Why?  Because our police forces are doing something about it.  Consider this example.  Imagine one of those pictures of a fiery riot.  We see fire, burning buildings, screaming rioters, possibly armed rioters.  We may even see dead bodies lying in the street.  But we also see Riot Police and military forces working to dissipate the riot.  If lawlessness truly was abound here and now, we would have that same picture, minus the police forces.  In the days of Caesar, the authorities did not keep the law.  They worked to disregard the law.  They were the ones breaking the law.  That is lawlessness.

 

We have the issue of the 6000 year “plan” God set down for mankind.  To make a long, complicated subject that honestly deserves it’s own post simple, there is strong evidence (for me) that people are making it way too complicated than it is.  According to the Hebrew Calendar, we are in year 5776 right now.  Since God was the God of Israelites before he was God of Christians, it is relevant, in my opinion, to look to this calendar.  Notice that if you do, we have about 224 years left.  Considering that all Tribulation has been fulfilled, this means that the world will continue to become more and more glorious in the name of God and Jesus Christ until year 6000, when the end of humans occurs.

 

In regards to the last paragraph, perhaps we are living in the millennium now.  Sure, the world may not seem as peaceful and perfect as we may have thought, but that’s what an Evangelical Christian will do to you if you give him the chance.  By the way, where the heck is that third temple?!?

See, Eve’ies have it all wrong.  You’ll notice that most time in the Bible, when a period of time is given, it’s somewhat specific.  1,000 years is not specific, and we still use that sort of figurative speech today.  It signifies a long time.  Besides, Christ is supposed to be reigning during this time, isnt He?  Aren’t Christ and God immune to time anyway?  Exactly.  This means – to me – that things will continue getting better and more glorious until year 6,000 on the Hebrew Calendar, and then is when the final judgement will occur.  Society is certainly more Christian-friendly today than in the past.  It is less “wicked” as well.  Less addicted to drugs, less war than any other generation, etc.

And about that temple, I hate to break it to you guys, but really, it doesnt matter one way or another if it gets rebuilt.  It has been rebuilt twice, and the last destruction was the judgement of the Jews for not accepting Jesus Christ as the Messiah.  The third and final temple is Jesus Christ.  Enter into Him, and you enter into eternity.  It is far greater than any physical temple ever could be.  Jews will try to rebuild the temple, surely.  They may even do it someday.  But it will be insignificant to God, because it will be no more than mortar and bricks.  Everything they have done since 1948 has been mostly by their own doing, trying to find God, rather than by God’s doing, trying to find the Jews.

 

I could go on for hours, but all in all, don’t be disappointed if you do not experience rapture, tribulation, or a really mean king forcing you to get a tattoo.  All of that already happened – except for the rapture, because that has always been false – and we are living in times now where we are not enslaved by Satan.  We must still minister, of course.  We must still have faith, of course.  But the Tribulation of Matthew 24, Revelation, and perhaps even the 70 week prohpecy of Daniel have all passed already.  We are living in a time when we will continue to improve, and improve, and improve some more, until we reach 6,000, and the final judgement does commence.  224 years to go!

 

Stay faithful, friends.

 

Oh, and on a side note, you will notice words like “Soon”, “Shortly hereafter”, “Quickly”, etc. in all of the “end-times” prophecies.  2000 years is not the definition of any of those, and any longer certainly is not the definition either.  We must work as saints and priests now, and make this world white as snow.  Jesus is here now, and we should always work to please Him, even so when He wasn’t here, but especially now.  He is the arm of God, and we are His instruments.  Let us work for him, for because of Him, we are free of the devil’s snare.

 

God Bless

 

-N

Gifts and Curses

Many of us feel that while we may be “gifted” with some things, whether they are emotional, physical, or mental things, that these same things make us outcasts.  Different and sometimes totally unable to fit in with others.  We may feel unwanted, undesirable, and unacceptable to society, our families, loved ones, or even God.  Some of these inhibitors may include being overweight, being “abnormally” tall or short, or maybe even something as “simple” as having freckles.  For example, my hair is mainly jet black.  However, as of recently and despite my young age, I am starting to notice some grey hairs popping up.  I’m not the only one who notices them either.  In fact, it was my little cousin who first noticed it, and since she was seven years old at the time, that age when kids have no problem announcing things as they see them – and to the whole world, at that – she chimed right in and pretty much shouted, “Noah, you have a grey hair!” and proceeded to pluck it out, giggling as I winced in pain.  I was and still am to a point, self-conscious about it.  Especially since more have come in since then.  However, when my girlfriend noticed it, she informed me that she things it’s cool and unique.  She said it goes along with my facial hair (Though most of it is black, there are blonde-red  hairs here and there.)  See, though I see it as a nuisance and embarrassing to a point, others admire it.  It is God-given, as is everything else in life, and if something is God-given, it can’t be all bad.  The same goes for if you’re on the heavy side, or maybe very tall, and just as much so if you’re short.  God gave us all a pair of shoes that we must walk in, so to speak, and we can’t trade them in for a new pair.  So walk in your shoes with a sense of fulfillment and confidence.  Run in them.  Dance in them.  Rock them.

Anyway, on with this.  Some examples of the mental and emotional inhibitors I mentioned include ADHD/ADD, OCD, Bi-Polar Disorder, Depression, or even “little things” like trust issues.  I suffer from almost all of these, and it did get me down for quite a long time.  This is why I was an atheist for a good while.  I thought, “Hey, if I can’t even trust people that I see and speak with every day, why trust someone I can’t even see, and who doesn’t talk back when I talk to him?  And if he’s so judgmental, why should I even try when I’m so uncontrollably mean to people?”  I had fallen victim to trust issues caused by my father not being in my life at all, and by my friends who pretended to like me, but talked ill of me when my back was turned, which depressed me as well.  I have always suffered from Bi-Polar Disorder and OCD, which caused me to uncontrollably mistreat people.  All of this caused me to – for a very long time – avoid both people and God.  Only somewhat recently did I discover someone who was strong enough to withstand the trauma I sprayed out long enough to help me – my girlfriend.  She told me that to her, my flaws are beautiful and that everyone has them, but that I did need to get them under control and change some things.  Since we have been so in love from the start, and since we have always been able to be real and are best friends, I recognized that I didn’t want to lose what we had (and still do have.)  The only way to do that was to change – or to straighten up and get control of myself.  Long story short, I did, and I still strive to keep it that way.  The way I did it was by praying to the God that at the time, I was still unsure of, for guidance.  It then occurred to me that I should receive therapy.  I did so, and prayed for it to be successful, and so far it has been, and strangely enough, I learned after a few sessions that my therapist is a Christian as well.  I decided that, to some degree or another, God must be watching over me and hearing my prayers.  I accepted him and Jesus into my heart, apologized for denying them both, and thanked God for guiding me to where I need to be in order to receive not only control of myself, but God and Jesus’ love – The Holy Spirit – and of course, the unconditional love of my girlfriend, הארוס שלי כדי להיות.  We enjoy and give thanks for God’s love together now.

A large group of beautiful people who have to deal with having a massive gift and curse on their shoulders every day are our Jewish brothers and sisters.  It is told in the Bible that they are God’s chosen people, the inheritors of the Holy Land, and of God’s covenant.  On paper, they are superior people and I would personally love to have gotten the honor to have been one.  They are clearly blessed.  “Gifted”.  But in this world, they are persecuted, hated, and disliked.  Not by me, and I would hope not by any of you, but they are treated unfairly nonetheless, even if not as much as in the past.  At times, they must feel cursed.  It is unfortunate, just as all of our own personal gifts and curses are.  However, we can overcome, or at least harness our flaws.  Our Jewish brothers and sisters cannot.  However, we can show them our unconditional love and support, and involve them in our activities, and prey for them just as much as we do for each other.  Remember, Jesus was a Jew as well as all His apostles.  Our faith is therefore rooted in Judaism.  Let us therefore support our Jewish friends that we know personally.  Pray for them and involve them in our activities.  Pray for Jews all over the world.  Push our governments to continue to support Israel financially, as well as militarily.  Donate food to hungry Israeli children this Hanukkah, via Meir Panim, and pray for them some more.  To any Jews that may be reading this, know that I love you even though I don’t know you, and you are forever in my prayers.  Stand firm, brothers and sisters, and have a blessed, safe, happy Hanukkah.

Again, here is the link to Meir Panim, the organization which accepts donations to pay for food for hungry Israeli children:  Meir Panim

God Bless

-N

Explaining What “Gentiles” Are

This is actually going to be a very short post today, however, it contains very key knowledge regarding the Bible and end time prophecy.

Getting right to it.

In several instances in the Bible, particularly in the NT (As well as  a few times in the OT) we come across the word “Gentile” or “Gentiles”.  In Luke 21:24, we read

“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

First, lets identify exactly what a Gentile is.  There are a few definitions, but all yield the same point:  Gentiles certainly have not yet overrun Israel, and the last time they did was more than seventy years ago, and it is documented in the Bible.

Definition 1:  Someone who is not Jewish

Definition 2: A Christian

Definition 3: A non-Mormon (Mormons consider people who are not members of their church to be gentiles.)

Israel is, the last time I checked, an Israeli, Jewish state.  Now here’s a fun fact:  Two Palestinians attempted to infiltrate Israel’s border last night, but Egyptian Security Forces shot and killed them.  Overrun Israel, the infiltrators did not.

Now, you could say that Christians will overrun it someday, and that may be so.  However, if we look at Israel in the right light, they’re actually doing quite well right now, especially when compared to past times.  No SCUD missiles being fired into their cities, no bomb-clad, horse-riding suicide bombers attempting to ride in on a horse and blow stuff up, and they are certainly not being ceased by anyone.  In case you haven’t noticed, Israelis are very tough people.  They fend for themselves well.  Does this mean we should stop supporting them, economically, militarily, and with food aid?  Most definitely not.  Does this mean they will never be overrun by gentiles?  No.  Does this mean that, as far as any human can tell, they are okay right now?  Yes.  More importantly, has “the time of the gentiles” been fulfilled?  We can assume not, since despite how well Israel may be doing right now, they are not in good standings overall.  They’re like a rabbit surrounded by wolves – a tiny state surrounded by angry, hateful, anti-Semitic states.  Things are looking decent right now, but I believe Israel and Jerusalem will be overrun again.  After all, it must be.  The Anti-Christ and the Abomination of Desolation must take place.

Yet another way to look at it, is that it currently is not a 100% Jewish state, because of the Islamic Dome of the Rock that stands where Solomon’s Temple used to stand.  Gentiles are standing there already, and NO ONE has left.  They have not shown means of force to lead away the Jewish people, yet the Jewish people have not evicted the gentiles.  Perhaps we’re further back on the timeline than we think.

Regardless, please, I’m asking you and begging you dearly, please show support to your Jewish friends.  They are just as much our brothers and sisters as we are brothers and sisters.  Jesus Christ was Jewish.  Would you ever discriminate against Him personally, or let anyone else discriminate against Him?  I wouldn’t.  Please show your support, they need it.  Not just in Israel, but all over the world.  I know the economy is very rugged right now, but if you can afford it, send food to hungry children in Israel this Hanukkah.  One great way to do this is using the Meir Panim website.  A link can be found on the left sidebar on The Jerusalem Post or you can go directly to Meir Panim’s website, here.

Thank you all and God Bless you.

-N

Rapture-Believing Deceivers Getting Clever

As I was browsing around on the internet this morning, I found a website called “Now The End Begins”.  I wasn’t surprised when after just a few minutes of reading, I discovered that the author of this website is preaching the rapture.  Everyone seems to be doing that these days.  However, something was different about this website than the other ridiculous websites I have been writing about lately — This one actually attempted to be “Bible-Based”.

Nonetheless, it is still nonsense.  Read an excerpt:

“When you understand that the Church has to be taken out of the way before God can start the last week of Daniel’s prophecy,
everything starts to make sense. Else, how could the Antichrist rise to power and fool everyone if the world is filled with bible-
believing Jesus followers? It couldn’t happen. But if you imagine the utter devastation that would be caused by removing all
bible-believers at the same time, you can clearly see that in the ensuing chaos it would create the perfect time and space for
a great deceiver to rise and fool the people as to the true nature of what happened, and explain away the Rapture. Remember
that from the moment that God raptures out the church, there will not be one bible believer left on the face of the earth. Not
a single one. It’s at this point that God starts the timeclock again, raises up 144,000 Jews in Israel to take the Gospel around the
world one more time, and in perfect poetic harmony the bible ends where it began – with the Jews in Israel. The Pre-Tribulation
Rapture is the only one of the three positions that allows for this to happen. In a Mid-Trib situation, the church is still on the
earth, and therefore the Antichrist cannot rise, and if he did he wouldn’t fool anyone. The Left Behind book series sold nearly
70,000,000 copies, and at a minimum that is far too many people left on the earth for the Antichrist to fool. Besides, the
prophecies call for a 7 year Tribulation, not a 3.5 year Tribulation.”

Now, while this is a nice thought and everything, it makes no sense.  This “Rapture Game” is seriously beginning to turn into a free-for-all.  As if the original concept wasn’t goofy enough…

“Believers will be taken away from the earth before the great tribulation sets in.  Those left on earth will then be sure that Jesus Christ does exist, and that the gospel is true, however, salvation is no longer possible.”

This website takes it to a whole new level, suggesting that the non-believers on this earth are completely ignorant, and will not even notice that their believing are gone, and therefore will not even consider that the gospel their friends believed in MIGHT be true.  In other word, this is the breakdown of the theory found on this new website:

“The church (believers) must be gone in order for the anti-christ to rule and deceive.  Somehow, even though believers and nonbelievers are often friends, the nonbelievers won’t notice at all when their believing-friends are gone, nor will they consider the possible truth of the gospel their friends believed in.  The anti-christ will be free to deceive now, still without question from the nonbelievers.”

This is nonsense.  Don’t you think the nonbelievers would start to wonder, and become freaked out, and reluctant to trust anyone, let alone someone who is chopping the heads off of animals daily, claiming he is Christ, and then flips the script on everyone halfway through the year and starts bullying everyone?  I don’t.  While the bible certainly indicates that nonbelievers will not enter the kingdom of heaven, I do not believe they are that stupid.

And besides, if we actually look at the Bible rather than sitting in front of the computer and coming up with paranoid, secular stories about how “Barack Obama and Henry Kissinger are the leaders of the New World Order, and how they planned Y2K to distract people from 9/11/01, and will break out of holes in the ground and kill everyone on December 20, 2011” (Notice how none of these things have anything to do with biblical prophecy – or the Bible at all) we see that in Matthew 24:24

“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect”

Now HOLD ON A MINUTE!  What’s going on here?! “The very elect”?  But…  But…  They’re the guys that are supposed to get raptured?!?!?!?!

Sorry to burst your bubbles, but the Bible, in fact, JESUS HIMSELF just shot the ridiculous rapture theory down – again.  Oh.  And you might want to know, that when it hit the ground, the other apostles and even old testament prophets set fire to it.  Guess you could say it crashed and burned.  Not much of a fly-away situation.  Sorry.

On a side note, I would like to include some other facts that disprove the “rapturists”.

• Barack Obama is not the anti-christ.  His approval ratings would be much, much higher if he were.
• One verse “Rapturists” always forget is Matthew 24:24, which not only mentions false prophets (rapturists) but also disproves the whole theory of the rapture as well.  We all will be here for the tribulation.  We will all be tried, we will all suffer, and they will attempt to deceive us all.  We will suffer as Christ did as He was nailed to the cross, but we will also have glory when the suffering ends, just as He did.
• Henry Kissinger is not a member of an elite group of anything.  With all due respect to Mr. Kissinger, he’s to old for that sort of thing.
• The New World Order – if it even exists (Note that it is not mentioned either in the texts) would not need to be secretive.  They would be so powerful and dynamic that they could do all their dirty work right out in the open and would not be brought down by anyone – except for Christ and God of course.
• The Illuminati is secular, and giving them any credit whatsoever is secular as well.  No such thing is mentioned in the Bible.  If they were real, they could operate in the open just as the NWO.

God Bless

-N

More Rapturists Looking to Deceive Believers

As an earlier post of mine said, many rapturists are looking to December 20-21 as the new date of their rapture now. However, as you will see if you read this post, every bit of information they are using is falsified and altered. Altered only slightly, so that it still is believable, but still enough to be dangerous and corrosive.

The Correlation of the First Day of Hanukkah and the First day of Winter

These rapturists are saying that since the first day of Hanukkah falls on the first day of winter this year (an occurrence that happens once every seven years) that it is a strong signal that Jesus may return on that day. This may be a strong point – when this correlation really does happen. However, this year is not the year. Though it’s close, the beginnings do not quite correlate.

The first day of Hanukkah always falls on the Hebrew date “Kislev 25”. This is the first mistake these rapturists have made. They profess that Hanukkah begins on Kislev 24. Simply incorrect.

It just so happens that when converted to the gregorian calendar, Kislev 25 is December 20th.

The next problem, is the winter solstice (the first day of winter) falls on December 21. Clearly, they do not correlate. Exhibit one closed.

The Blood Red Lunar Eclipse on December 10th, 2011

Another thing the rapturists are pointing to is the “Blood Moon” that rose over Israel and western North America on the 10th. Undeniably, these phenomenons are mentioned in the Bible on several occasions, and are said to signal the coming of Christ, but what these rapturists fail to mention is that one happened last year around this exact same time. They are common occurrences, and while there have been three this century that really have been followed by Israeli-involved wars, there are many more that have come and gone with nothing. There is no reason to believe this one is any different. Besides, it has now been more than seven days since the blood moon.

What is the significance of this?

The three others this century were followed by wars that broke out EXACTLY 7 days after the eclipse. Nothing has happened, and we have not been “raptured” so that we can miss the war, either.

There are many other things rapturists are doing and saying and pointing to as “signs of the rapture”, but the unmentioned ones are ten times as ridiculous as the ones I have mentioned. They include talk of illuminati(nonsense), President Barack Obama being the Anti-Christ (he doesn’t have the nerve to ever claim that he is God, and besides, his approval ratings would be much higher than they currently are if he was the anti-christ), the NWO is already in place and that they have staged events like 9/11, the earthquake in Japan, etc.

We should be outraged by this, and we should silence them the only way possible. Avoid them. Do not buy into their pagan games, and their perversion of prophecy. For a group of people that call themselves “Fundamentalists”, they sure do take away the fundamentals of the religion. I would bet most children raised in Fundamentalist families have been taught to be more concerned about the rapture than Jesus Christ, or their relationship with God, or their observance of holidays and I bet their prayer has been conflicted. We must silence these “biblical perverts” once and for all.

God Bless You.

-N

Confusion Surrounding the Number “666”

People are on about the “rapture” again after a “Blood Red Eclipse” of the moon on December 10. It is now the 16th, and if we are to follow suit, it looks like we might be okay after tomorrow (All other blood moons that we have seen in this century had an Israel-involved war follow exactly seven days after, which would be the 17th in this case.)

Another thing people are considering, is that this year, Haunakkah falls on the first day of Winter. If this seems redundant or like a pointless observance ro you, good. You’re on the right track.

Yet another thing people are pointing to us the use of the number “6666” in order to calculate a number of days from a specific date. Standard practice for rapturists. This calculation brings (some of) them to December 20th for the date of the rapture, while it brings others to December 21 for the date of the rapture. Neither of which are logical choices such as December 16 – the day before the full 7 day period from the blood moon (Today) or perhaps December 24 – the first new moon after the blood moon.

Surprise, surprise.

Now, even though the correct number (666, rather than 6666) would have absolutely zero relevant effect on the equation, it is important that we remember that the number John gave in revelation was 666 – “Six Hundred and Sixty Six.” Not 6666 or “Six Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixty Six” or any other perversion of the number that you could think of in order to make your theory work. For example, if a recipe says that 3 tablespoons of water are required, you would never want to add 33 tablespoons instead. Do you know what is created when we do such things? A great, terrible mess.

And yet again, we can use common logic and find that the rapture is most likely false anyway. After all, if all believers and followers of Christ and God were to be taken away before the tribulation begins, or even half-way through it, why would John, let alone Jesus Himself take the time to warn His people what the tribulation would be like? Or, step further back, look at the bigger picture, and ask: “Why would He even tell us of a tribulation at ALL if we aren’t going to be here for it?”

And if all believers are to be taken away from the earth before or even halfway through the tribulation, why would John see “The souls of those beheaded for their testimony in Christ” (Rev. 3:10)? Wouldn’t all those who gave testimony to Christ be “raptured away” already? Rhetorical question. If you’re thinking “Exactly.” Right now, good job. I commend you.

Also, on a side note, just for the record, note that there was also a “Blood moon” last year around this time (In Late November / Early December). People are lying, saying there aren’t as many as there really are. Perhaps it’s inconvenient for them, that one passed without there being an Israeli war following it. Who knows why they lie.

Also, let it be understood that we CAN’T possibly be in the tribulation yet. In both the Olivet Discourse and in Revelation, we are told that the Tribulation will be a time of trouble which has never been seen before since the beginning of the earth, and that will never be seen again. Let us consider all of the disasters we are told about in the Bible, and that we have seen in modern times.

1) The Flood of Noah

2) The many wars of the Old Testament

3) The war between the Jews and Romans which entailed some of the most violent murders and vulgar displays of lawlessness, jewish persecution, etc.

4) WWII. No comment necessary here. Just look up the number of Jews murdered there, not to mention the stress and strain it put on the rest of he world.

5) The Iraq war. Again, no comment.

However, none of these are the worst. Right now, the Roman Rule over the Jews is the worst. Imagine that, spread worldwide, and amplified by ten, in order to get an IDEA of what the tribulation will be like.

-N

More Ridiculous Rapture Nonsense?

Today, I was browsing around as I do every day, searching for headlines in the world news that I may write about.  Long story short, I came across an article on a self-proclaimed “Christian Website” explaining how the end is at our door and that Harold Camping may be right.  I had a steady, lighthearted grin of contentment on my face for most of the article, because even though I used to be intimidated by such claims and projections, I now consider them humorous, and a fun way to pass the time.  However, about half way through the article I stumbled across something that ranks very high on my “Most Ridiculous Things Ever” list.  It was referred to as the “Rapture Index.”  I smiled bigger at first, but then as I scrolled past the table of nonsensical numbers and found the disgusting logic behind it, my facial expression turned to the usual pained and wary look that I get when reading about such things.

 

Since I have lost the hyperlink, I will, for now, just explain it to you briefly.  Consider a simple three column progressive list with about 50 “Categories” on it, and then a number beside each category.  Then, you add the numbers – or “scores” – up and you get the grand total.

 

Now, while this may seem remotely logical right now, it is the contents of the list that make it ridiculous.  There are things on there that have been proven time and time again to have absolutely nothing to do with the Bible, let alone end times prophecy.  The list of categories included:

 

• Unemployment
• Inflation
• Interest Rates
• The Economy
• Oil Supply/Price
• Debt and Trade
• Financial Unrest
• Drug Abuse
• Nuclear Nations
• Liberalism
• Kings of the East
• Beast Government

 

Please, tell me where one of these things are mentioned once in the Bible, specifically Revelation or any other book concerning Christ’s return, because according to my knowledge, either none of these are mentioned, or they are mentioned but are no longer realistic.  Point in question with that last statement?  “Kings of the East”.  There are no kings anymore.  Anywhere.  Nuclear technology did not exist in Christ’s time, I would venture to say that Drug Abuse did not, Unemployment is not mentioned in the Bible, nor is Inflation, Interest Rates, or Debt and Trade issues.  Financial Unrest is mentioned in certain parts, but it does not say that it will be a major sign of the end.  Economy, again, is mentioned indirectly, but it is not said to be a major sign of the end.  Oil Supply and Price are not mentioned because these things did not exist in Christ’s time.  Liberalism is indirectly referred to, but the Pharisees said that Jesus Christ was too liberal, so while I don’t agree with socialism or passing laws before they are even read by government officials, I do not think liberalism will play a big part in signaling the end.  As far as the last one, “Beast Government”, I have no clue what to even comment on that one.  Not once is that phrase used in any form in the Bible, and I have no clue what it’s supposed to mean.  It sounds like possibly the world government ran by the Antichrist, but at the same time, again, even if an Antichrist does exist, and the Beast John referred to in Revelation is him, he has not been revealed, and I truly don’t see anything happening like what John said would happen when the Beast is in control.

 

What do you think?  If I am wrong about any of these statements, please feel free to inform me via a comment, but please do include supporting scripture; I take this very seriously.

 

-N

Harold Camping’s Prediction is Now Laughable (Follow Up)

This is going to be a very short post (for once), and the only reason I’m making a separate post rather than updating the first one is because the content here is very important, and I want to make sure that all of you see it.

 

Anyway, I have some new information regarding Mr.  Camping’s prediction, specifically his “calculation”.  In my last post, I stated, simply put, that Camping miscalculated his dates (which are incorrect anyway) and the true result of the equation of 7000 – 4990 = 2010, when Camping stated that it worked out to be 2011.  However, I realized a slight error in my calculation today – I admit!  However, it does not make him any more correct, or close to being correct.

 

As I also explained in part one of this post, the Anno Domini calender (Which labels years either BC or AD) has no zero year, and that 1AD is directly preceded by 1BC.  If there were a year zero, that would make an additional value.

 

When we work with number lines, even though the zero point is a zero, we still count that as a value.  See this example:

5-4-3-2-1-0-1-2-3-4-5

compared to

5-4-3-2-1-1-2-3-4-5

As we see here, when we add a zero point (in this case, a zero year) we have an extra value, which is, in the case of the Anno Domini calendar, a false value because it does not exist.  Count the numbers on both of those lines.  The top one has 11 numbers, the bottom one has 10.  (Before we go on, to avoid confusion, note that I did not do this on purpose, and these numbers have no relation to the “Camping Calculation”)

When I worked out the equation on my calculator (7000 – 4990 = 2010), it did not occur to me at the time that calculators work off of a number line with a zero point.  Therefore, there is an extra value here that does not apply to the AD Calendar.  So what do we do to find the true answer?  We subtract that value.

Now even though, as I stated above, zero has no value when looked at as only a number, it does when it is on a number line.  Since the number line that I need to use to find my true answer has no zero point, the zero point that the calculator used in it’s equation is throwing things off by one.  So what we do is this:

-4990 + 7000 = 2010 – 1 = 2009

or

7000 – 4990 = 2010 – 1 = 2009

Either way, the answer is the same.  Thus, Mr.  Camping is even farther off than I had previously assumed.  His equation, had he performed it correctly, would have a result of 2009, in this case, year 2009AD (As in, two years ago.)

Now, some of you may remember that I mentioned a cosmetic year zero, so to speak, which is synonymous with 1BC, that people use to determine new millenia and centuries, therefore making new millenia and centuries begin in “01” (1001, 2001 and 1801, 1901, 2001, respectively.)  As far as I can understand, this cosmetic year zero is just that – cosmetic – and it does not effect the placement of years on the time line.  However, even if it did, it would simply add one value to the equation, and therefore we would arrive at 2010 again.

In short, the closest Mr.  Camping could possibly come with his equation is 2010, not 2011.

If this is confusing to you, I apologize, and just remember this:

Mr.  Camping is wrong about the date of the Great Flood of Noah anyway.  Biblical Genealogy (like the specific, detailed one in Genesis), time-lines, and testimony place it roughly at 2350BC rather than 4990BC.  This fact about Mr.  Camping alone should remove all credibility entrusted in him.

God Bless,

-N

Harold Camping’s Prediction is Now Laughable

As I was reading an article about Camping and his October 21, 2011 prediction, I came across a section that describes how he “calculated” this date for the end.  I read how he places the date of the great flood around 4,990BC, and assumes that Christ will make His return 7,000 years after that, so therefore, October 21st, 2011 is the date for the end of the world.  Even though it is common knowledge that the flood took place much later than 4,990 – actually in 2350BC – I thought, “What the heck?”  So I humored Mr. Camping’s theory and played along for a moment.  Obviously, the first step was to make sure that calculation adds up to 2011AD.  It was then, after spending but maybe 3 brief seconds tapping out the numbers on my calculator, that I came across the most shocking, disturbing, sickening, and hilarious discovery yet.

 

Are you ready for this?  Truly, prepare yourself.  This will change your life forever.  Here we go…

 

7000 – 4990 = 2010!

 

That’s right, regardless of what method you use, subtraction or addition, the result is the same!

 

7000 – 4990 = 2010

-4990 + 7000 = 2010

 

Is this not the most disgusting thing you have ever seen?  Of course, though, it is very funny as well.  I was fascinated by it all day, and it took a double-take to notice it for the first time.  I assumed since Mr.  Camping somehow managed to accurately fabricate every other one of his details, this would be the same.  I was very much expecting the result to be 2011.  What a beautiful surprise!

 

However, let us not forget that this man was also once a Civil Engineer…  This is scary, and may justify a call to action!  We should find out just what structures this man contributed to, and check them over for dangerous defects!

 

Anyway, now I will explain the calendar that was (or, at least should have been) used, because I know many of you want details, regardless of how giddy you may be.

 

The terms “Before Christ (BC)” and “Anno Domini (AD)” are very important terms to familiarize yourself with as a first step.  Before Christ, or BC is exactly what it sounds like; the years of history before the conception or birth of Christ.  They progress in a backward fashion, meaning, for example, 5,000BC was actually earlier than 2,000BC.  Consider it the “Negative” side on a number line.  Anno Domini, or AD, is a Latin phrase which means “In the year of our Lord”.  Thus, AD years begin directly after the last BC year.  An important note: Though this calendar does work like a number line with negative and positive sides, recognize that there is no zero year.  In other words, 1AD directly follows the year 1BC.  There is no year in between the two, since AD years begin immediately at the conception and/or birth of Jesus.

 

With this in mind, we arrive at two possible conclusions:

 

• Harold Camping is, in fact, the worst mathematician in history

 

• Harold Camping in fact has not studied the Bible as rigorously and devotedly as he claims.

 

See, the way Mr. Camping arrived at the number 2011 from that same equation, is he simply added a year into the mix that does not exist, so to speak.  That would be the zero year.  Even though zero has no value mathematically, in this scenario, it would be a space filler and would allow one to arrive at the number 2011.

 

Though there is no zero year, and one era begins immediately after the end of the era prior to it, sometimes 1BC is considered a metaphorical year zero to help with defining millenia.  For example, a new millenia actually begins on dates when the last digits are “01” (1001, 2001, etc.)  The same stands true for centuries.  True centuries actually begin when the last digits are “01” (1801, 1901, 2001, etc.)  So, in layman’s terms, even though 1BC is sometimes considered a zero year, it is strictly for simplicity’s sake.  Mr.  Camping is still wrong.

 

This, above all other things, should completely and totally disprove Harold Camping’s theory, and he should be dismissed, and in all of our prayers that God may have mercy on his deceptive soul when his personal judgment comes.

 

Just for clarity’s sake (and for a little bit of fun) I’m just going to make a quick, simple little list of all the false pieces of evidence that this false prophet used to spindle his false prediction.  Enjoy, and be at peace and free of worry, and may you find God’s grace today and every day.  Amen!

 

• The Doctrine of Futurism – Doctrine created in the mind of Francisco Ribera, Jesuit Priest, and not in the mind of God, in the 16th century.  Not in the Bible.

 

• The Doctrine of Annihilationism – Doctrine that says the souls of sinners and the unsaved will not be damned to eternal hell, but instead will be destroyed and cease to exist.  Not in the Bible.

 

• The Rapture Theory – A theory created by the “vision” of a 15 year old girl in Ireland in the 18th century, as well as the writings of John Nelson Darby, which says that true believers will be raptured away from the earth before the tribulation sets in.  Not in the Bible.  Was not practiced until the 18th century.

 

• The Doctrine of Predestination – A doctrine that suggests that before creation,  God already knew who, in all the years of the world, would and would not go to Heaven, and judged them prior to their birth.  Not in the Bible.  Not to mention, absurd, and goes against Camping’s own teachings.  First of all, if this were true, why would there be a need for a Judgement day or a Rapture?  Second, Camping said the door to salvation closed on May 21, 2011, and no one would be saved after that date.  How could there have ever been a door to salvation if everyone is “pre-judged” anyway?

 

• The Use of Numerology – Using numbers to calculate the end time.  This obviously did not work out too well for Mr.  Camping, and even if it had, another “date setter” false prophet said not too long ago that if his prediction for 2007 did not come to pass, numerology was the absolute worst, most unreliable method for predicting end times.  What is more absurd, is Camping completely changed important numbers from the Bible (The date of creation, the flood, etc.) and then when numbers continued to be problematic and not fit into his equation, he would pick random numbers and assign false, un-Biblical meanings to them, such as “5 is for atonement, 10 is for completeness, and 17 is for Heaven.”  No where in the whole entire Bible is this even implied.

 

• The Perversion and Twisting of Biblical Scripture – The first and foremost absurd example of this that comes to mind is Mr.  Camping’s statement that when the word “earthquake” is mentioned in scripture, it applies to humans, since humans were made of the dust of the ground(Gen. 2:7).  This theory is not supported or even mentioned anywhere in the whole Bible.  There are many, many other scriptures of which Camping has taught a mangled meaning, whether directly himself, or through doctrines and theories he believes in and teaches.  See my other posts regarding him for examples.

 

-N