|
Post by mike on Dec 30, 2017 23:10:44 GMT -6
I have a lot of catching up to do on this thread. domagb I can move your posts to a new thread of you wish to continue the dialogue, however while this thread is open for questions I want to keep it on topic with respects to the original poster position. The thread is developing and yet to be completed. Again I can move your posts elsewhere or you could start a new thread with your position on the Kingdom, or both.
|
|
|
Post by domagb on Dec 30, 2017 23:26:22 GMT -6
I have a lot of catching up to do on this thread. domagb I can move your posts to a new thread of you wish to continue the dialogue, however while this thread is open for questions I want to keep it on topic with respects to the original poster position. The thread is developing and yet to be completed. Again I can move your posts elsewhere or you could start a new thread with your position on the Kingdom, or both. That is fine, so when someone creates a thread on a topic, it is only to be centered around the original poster's ideas? I just wanna make sure I follow rules here. Thanks!
|
|
|
Post by barbiosheepgirl on Dec 31, 2017 11:40:45 GMT -6
domagb , as a reader (not a moderator) one of the things that keeps me fed in my Christian walk via Unsealed is when I get to see how a person has come to interpret the Word. From there I build upon my faith in its truth if it is being revealed as truths to me. I see that you have some very indepth interpretation as well, yet two things come about that are cumbersome to someone like me: 1)when there is links to other places that are claimed to be the support for the explanation by a third party, and 2)when there is a whole website to check out that explains an entire position or witness or revelation or has a teaching by the poster. Both 1 and 2 are helpful, dont get me wrong. But sometimes there is so much behind a teaching (especially if a teaching is not what the majority is teaching) that a broken down, piece by piece progression of how one came to believe in those interpretations is warranted to build one's case here at Unsealed. As a moderator now, if this thread goes on to talk more detail about Daniel's 70 weeks, it needs to go to a new thread. @silentknight was bringing it in because there was a specific request in how it related to God's Plan for His Restoration. While I do think domagb that you have some key points, is there something specific that you can bring in from your website that equates or debates the things mentioned here in this thread? An example is the topic of the kingship mandate of Judah and how they failed at that and how that plays in to modern day.. Back to reader barbio: From my understanding of your posts domagb, material in it is paralleling and not arguing against, yet has a broader topic within it with a bunch of good scripture support. It looks like a topic about the millenial reign specifically? or could be a great topic about how we view or understand what Hell is? I am beginning to see the necessity to understanding the correct terms of Hell and how it is described in the Bible in a separate thread. My bolding of the word Unsealed is to emphasize that members here come from all walks of life. We all have some level of understanding of the Word. Some of this understanding is in concert with each other some of it violates rule #1 (basic Christian doctrine), and some of it is truth that needs to correct/clarify historic doctrine or misinterpretation. When we are linked to places outside of Unsealed, those links to me are now not under the rules of Unsealed. I know it seems laborious, but as a reader I prefer to see the view points brought physically to this website point by point. Its kind of a nice protection for both the person contributing and the reader, who could very much be a new believer and become overwhelmed.
|
|
|
Post by Natalie on Dec 31, 2017 19:23:14 GMT -6
So, can I offer some hints as you begin this journey of interpreting prophecy? Sure! In general: 1. If it talks about a great situation at the end - it is talking about the spiritual 2. If it talks about destruction - it is talking about the physical That may seem a bit contrived - but think about it - do we believe the heavenly will be destroyed? Of course not. Therefore destruction can only be of the physical. Since we know the goal is to manifest the kingdom of God, we know it must be the heavenly kingdom that is blessed. Not the physical. Other guidelines: 1. If it talks about Judah or Israel inheriting land - it is talking about spiritual We know this because we understand that our inheritance is the glorification of our body. Not property. We also know that God removed Israel and Judah from the root and will graft them back in as they come into belief in the Savior - and the grafting is into the Root - Jesus. But there are some confusing passages that are talking about blessing earthly Jerusalem at certain points. These are always temporary situations. Also, we need to check when the prophecy happened. Some prophecies are only for the local time in which they are given. Or they could have multiple fulfillments. One for the physical and another for the spiritual! Not much of an answer, I know. I’ll try to come up with some better stuff, but this will get you started…. Thank you for answering my questions. I thought you did a fine job explaining it. At least, I am pretty sure I understand what you are saying and where you are coming from. I have found that digging into when the prophets were writing, who they were writing to, and the basics on Israel history has helped me a lot when I now read through the OT. I agree that some prophecies have already been fulfilled and others are for the future. Multiple fulfillments are a bit harder.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2018 11:11:13 GMT -6
The Nine Kingdoms
When Israel refused to follow God’s instructions God reached out and used other kingdoms to execute His judgement against the house of Israel. To Israel at the time this would often appear as an enemy coming and waging war with Israel. Occasionally, a prophet would come and warn the people that judgment was coming at the hand of an enemy.
Today, when we experience trials, we often blame the person or situation causing our frustration. Other times we blame it on Satan. But when we do this, we miss the point of what is happening in our life. God uses other people, satan, and events to bring judgment in our lives. Typically, we are not in touch enough with ourselves and God to recognize the hand of God in these things. But just like Jacob saw the face of God in his enemy / brother Esau. So must we. We should embrace the trial and the enemy as a welcome judgment. Die to ourselves and accept the hand of God in our lives. This is very hard to do, but when we don’t, God takes what could have been a wooden yoke and exchanges it for an iron yoke. This turns what could have been a simple fire and learning experience into a much more intense or longer period of judgement.
Jer 28:13 Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.
Eventually, Assyria was used by God to capture Israel. And then Babylon was used by God to capture Judah. But Judah was first given the option to be under a wooden yoke. Jeremiah told Judah that if they accepted the the wooden yoke of allowing Babylon to rule over Judah for a period of time, they could stay in their houses and cities and keep their temple. But if they refused to accept God’s judgment, then God would allow Babylon to completely enslave Judah and take them into captivity into Babylon. This would be the iron yoke and included the destruction of the city and temple.
Judah did not accept the judgement of God and so the wooden yoke was not to be, instead they were forced to live under the iron yoke. The result of this was that Judah was under the control of one kingdom after another for most of their existence. We should note, however, that by being “captured” by the “enemy”, Israel was also kept safe from other enemies. So while they were under judgment, they were also protected at the same time. So God used judgement as a form of protection. Both mercy and justice were being carried out at the same time.
Dan 2:31 "You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. Dan 2:32 "The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, Dan 2:33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. Dan 2:34 "You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Dan 2:35 "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Dan 2:36 "This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. Dan 2:37 "You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; Dan 2:38 and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. Dan 2:39 "After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth. Dan 2:40 "Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. Dan 2:41 "In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. Dan 2:42 "As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. Dan 2:43 "And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. Dan 2:44 "In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Dan 2:45 "Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy."
This passage forms the basis of kingdom history. We see six kingdoms described in this passage and we will add three more to fill out the nine.
1. Israel (not mentioned in this passage - because they were already in captivity) 2. Judah (not mentioned in this passage - because they were already in captivity) 3. Head of Gold = Babylon 4. Breast of Silver = Media-Persia 5. Thighs of Bronze = Greece 6. Legs of Iron = Rome (active when John wrote the Revelation) 7. Feet of Iron and Clay = Papal Rome(Christianity) / Muslims 8. Mystery Babylon (not mentioned, active now - and in some ways, active always) 9. Stone = Saints of the Most High God
Rev 17:10 And there are seven kings: five[1-5] are fallen, and one[6] is, and the other[7] is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth[8], and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
The 8th kingdom is really part of all the first 7 kingdoms. Mystery Babylon has always been at work as we have spoken of before, the spiritual kingdom of Babylon has been at war with Zion since the beginning. But during the time period of the 8th kingdom - which is now - there is no earthly kingdom in charge other than the 7 - which is not really a kingdom, but a religious proxy. Instead - all earthly kingdoms are under the control of the 8th kingdom - Mystery Babylon.
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
In verse 37, Daniel makes the claim that God gave the king of Babylon the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory. Nebuchadnezzar did not accomplish this on his own. Judah did not fall because of Satan - God gave the kingdom to Babylon. And as we can see, Nebuchadnezzer was given charge of “wherever the sons of men dwell to rule over them all”. This gives us the scope of how God perceived this situation. Effectively, Nebuchadnezzer inherited the kingship mandate when he took Judah into captivity. It was now his responsibility to manifest the kingdom on earth. This is confirmed by Jeremiah:
Jer 27:5 "I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight. Jer 27:6 "Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him also the wild animals of the field to serve him. Jer 27:7 "All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant.
Later, in Daniel 9, we see that Daniel had discerned the time that Jeremiah had declared Judah would be in captivity to Babylon. Daniel enjoined the Lord to forgive the people and allow them to return to Jerusalem - for God’s sake.
What Daniel did not realize, is that because of Judah’s refusal to accept the wooden yoke, the judgment would last 7 “times”. How do we now they were to be judged 7 “times” ? From here:
Lev 26:23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Lev 26:24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. Lev 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
God could multiply 7 by 1, 3, 7, 10, 30, 49, 70, 360, etc. Of course, He is God so He could multiply by whatever he wants. But these are the typical numbers we see in His historic judgements.
We are all familiar with the time, times, and half a time = 42 (30’s) = 1260. The 7 times is twice this amount. We know 1 time is 360 in this pattern.
Whether days or years - the important element are the multipliers. So, Jeremiah said the judgment would be 7 times 10. 70 years. But since Judah had not accepted the wooden yoke, they were put under the iron yoke of 7 times 360. And as it turns out, the duration was in years. So we end up with 2520 years.
Side note: We see the same pattern for Israel. Who began the first portions of their captivity in 745 BC. And the final fall of Samaria(Capitol) in 721 BC. So we see that 2520 years later - is 1776(Declaration of Independence), and 1800 (year capitol moved to Washington DC). I’m not going to dwell on this in this thread. Things that make you go, hmmmmm.
And so through Daniel we find that the mandates passed from one beast kingdom to another over the course of 2520 years. Israel failed. After the split, Judah failed. They were already in Babylon, after this would come Media Persia. Greece would follow and then Rome. Rome eventually divided into an Eastern and a Western Kingdom - symbolized by the two legs of iron. Once Rome fell, there was not a solid kingdom that ruled over Jerusalem again. Instead, it passed back and forth at times and was jointly held at other times. Fought over by Muslims and Christians. This is why Daniel sees that the feet and toes kingdom “will be a divided kingdom” and “will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery”.
Now something is very clear in this statue - it started at the top and ended at the earth - there was nothing else. We have seen these kingdoms come and go and are in the 7th and 8th kingdom now. Why 7th and 8th? Because Mystery Babylon is the eighth, but is also of all the previous kingdoms. So formally, the 7th kingdom still owns the mandate and the 8th kingdom has taken an unofficial position of authority as it rules from behind the scenes. Choosing to remain a mystery.
From verse 44 we see that the ninth kingdom is not part of the statue - which was made by hands of man - but was made by God - cut out without hands. Each of the kingdoms will come to an end, but Daniel says the stone kingdom will destroy the system of beast kingdoms and will not be followed by any other kingdoms. Instead it will “became a great mountain[kingdom] and filled the whole earth.” The ninth kingdom does not come to an end. We see this again here:
Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Dan 7:18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. Dan 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. This time is quickly approaching when this stone[sons of God - with Jesus as their head] will be cut out (from the body) and will manifest the kingdom of God on earth. This work will continue until the kingdom of God covers the whole earth. How do we know this time is soon? Because the 2520 years granted to the beast kingdoms ended in 2014-2017. It was a three year process for Jerusalem to fall from 607 BC to 604 BC.
Technically, this time would have ended in 1917, and this is when Britain gained possession of Jerusalem. However, during the Greek possession of the kingdom, Judah had a 100 year period of independence from 163 BC to 63 BC. Therefore, the beast kingdoms were owed 100 more years. This 100 years extends the beast kingdoms reign to 2017. During this 100 years, much has changed. Judah/Esau has come back into the land and now added a third interested party to the Christians and Muslims: Jews. Mystery Babylon began to take more and more control over the earthly nations and has been reigning with a firm hand. But the time has come to an end, and I believe the sign on 9/23 (1 day into the Hebrew calendar of 2018) was a sign from God that it is time for the Kingdom to be given to the saints of the Most High God! But the beast kingdoms are not going to just give up. They will fight for their possession. It is this fight, that starts with a Heavenly decree, that spills over into the physical and we see documented in the Book of Revelation.
Jer 50:33 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
Jesus tells us:
Luk 19:11 While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. Luk 19:12 So He said, "A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return.
Even Jesus could not claim the kingdom prior to the appointed time - God is just and timing matters. The time was not right yet - Jesus would claim the kingship - but could not manifest the kingdom until the beast kingdoms of the world had finished their appointed times and failed to manifest the kingdom. So he went into a far land - heaven - to receive the kingdom - and then return!
Before we conclude this post - I’d like to include the following just to get your thought processes moving. I won’t comment much about it, but it fits within this post. It is very likely we will come back to it later. My hope is that it might begin to reshape your opinion of “antichrist.”
- - - - - - -
Dan 7:2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. Rev 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
- - - - - - -
Dan 7:4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. Dan 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. Dan 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. Dan 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. Dan 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
lion had 1 head, bear had 1 head, leopard had 4 heads, 4th beast had 1 head, 10 horns; total of 7 heads and 10 horns.
Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
- - - - - - -
Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
- - - - - - -
Dan 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were set up, … Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Rev 20:5 .... This is the first resurrection.
- - - - - - -
Dan 7:9 …and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. Dan 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
- - - - - - -
Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
- - - - - - -
Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
In the next post, I will start describing what I think all of this means for us at this time. This will help to put the “end times” events into perspective and will likely answer some questions. And probably produce some more.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2018 20:13:09 GMT -6
2 Thessalonians 2
Please indulge me with another sidetrack. This is a very connected sidetrack, and it will help us.
To be clear, when Paul was writing this letter, the religious establishment of Judaism had taken their “seat” in the temple and were worshipping a false god. If you read through the book of Acts you will see quite a conflict between those that wanted to hold onto Hagar and those that wanted to let her go. The conflict was such that even then, people were dying over it. This wasn’t just between Jews and Christians, but also between some Christians and other Christians.
In the first century, this led to the destruction of Jerusalem. This destruction solved the problem for a great many years. Christianity was able to flourish and the Jewish system and law subsided. The Old Jerusalem and attached physical kingdom had been “killed.” But then something miraculous happened, God brought Judah / Esau back to the land to allow them the opportunity to do what no other kingdom could do - but that Esau had never had the chance to prove. But the world thought that this was Israel coming back to power and with it, the son of perdition, the man of lawlessness revived - and his deadly wound was healed. Modern Zionism was "born again" and the move to, once again, place the physical Israel and the physical temple above the temple of God that was within the believers gained new life. And so now we find ourselves today in the same situation that David found himself with Absalom and Ahithophel. The same situation that Jesus found himself with the Chief Priests and Judas. We have a physical Jerusalem system and a son of perdition(much of Christianity) betraying the King again.
They are betraying the King because they are supporting Hagar instead of the Sarah. They are declaring the value of a physical temple instead of the spiritual temple within the believers. And they are supporting a deceptive usurpation of the birthright name of Israel instead of the spiritual Israel.
Paul told us to cast out the bond woman - but instead we are casting out[apostasia] Sarah! This is one side of the apostasy that must come. But there is another side.
2Th 2:3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first …..
The apostasy is the official divorce papers. The word for apostasy is apostasia - it is the female version of apostasion. Which is found here:
Mat 5:31 "It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE[apostasion]'; Mat 19:7 They *said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE[apostasion] AND SEND her AWAY?" Mar 10:4 They said, "Moses permitted a man TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE[apostasion] AND SEND her AWAY."
Three times we see this reference. We also see this apostasia when Paul was accused of telling the Jewish converts to “forsake [apostasia]” Moses - the Hagar system.
Act 21:21 and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake[apostasia] Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.
Jer 3:8 "And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.
The apostasy, is the moment when God confirms his writ of divorce to Judah - when her time is up to have brought in the kingdom under the umbrella of Esau. And this divorce will be punctuated by a permanent destruction.
Jer 19:10 "Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you Jer 19:11 and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial. Jer 19:12 "This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants," declares the LORD, "so as to make this city like Topheth. Jer 19:13 "The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned sacrifices to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods."'"
When this happens, it will also reveal the lies that have been taught for so long and it will reveal the man of lawlessness - the son of perdition - the 21st century Judas.
Please take note that the man of lawlessness was already in effect during Paul’s time, it became subdued when Jerusalem was destroyed, but as Jerusalem was rebuilt so was the lawlessness, and it is in effect again now. The restraining was already taking place when Paul wrote this letter. It would not do this passage justice to ignore this verse and insinuate that this was something that would start later, in the last days.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
Only we don’t know it, because it has not been revealed. We have been sent a delusion and allowed to believe a lie:
2Th 2:11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,
Why would God do this? Because if we could discern the truth - we would stop our wickedness and God’s plan would not work out. So God gives a strong delusion in order to work His plan. But if God has sent a strong delusion, how are we reading this right now? Isn't this "penetrating" the illusion? I don't believe that everyone is deluded. Just many.
When will it be revealed? Well Paul tells us something is restraining that revealing - and what most teachers miss is that Paul, immediately, also tells us what it is that restrains.
2Th 2:6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
Pretty simple if you keep it simple: you know what restrains him - so that in his time….Time is what restrains God. God is waiting for the appointed time to be fulfilled. Let's not get fancy and read into this anything about Church or the Holy Spirit. Paul says that the restraining is so that he will be revealed in his time. God's timing restrains and God enforces His timing.
In reality, there will actually be three revealings. Christ will be revealed at His coming, the Sons of God will be revealed at His coming, and the man of lawlessness will be revealed at His coming.
Here is a new way of looking at 2 Thessalonians 2, but to see it, you may have to stifle those years of training!
Paraphrased 2 Thessalonians 2: Please don’t be concerned that you have missed the Day of the Lord, the coming of Jesus, or our gathering together to Him. The time will come when many Christians cast out Jesus instead of Hagar, and the final divorce of Jerusalem will be served. These two things will happen first. This will reveal those that stood against Jesus and those that declared a physical temple to be holy instead of the true temple. Jesus is God and those that proclaim the Hagar system as an object of worship will be revealed. When I was with you we talked about this stuff. I told you what keeps God from removing the lawless one. God must wait until the appointed time. Then both Jesus and the lawless one will be revealed and we will be gathered to Him. And Jesus will testify to the truth and destroy the lies and those that followed lawlessness. Until then, God will continue to confuse people so that they cannot discern the truth.
I know I keep asking us to look at scripture in new ways. But once you begin to see the big picture, each popular passage can be shown to support that picture. If we go through each passage we begin to see a whole new truth being presented. Once again - I report what I see or have been shown. There is much I still don't understand. And at this point, you do not need to agree with every little piece in order to see the big picture is very different than the popular big picture.
It was necessary to shape this passage in order to help me present a "where are we at and what's gonna happen" post. Of course, I'm hoping most of you are already coming to these conclusions on you own.
|
|