March 17, 2013
To the readers of this document...
To the readers of this document...
Please consider what I have written here and bring it before the Lord with your questions. We are to study the scriptures--- instead of just accepting what we've heard all our lives and just receive what's been taught through the generations. This is number one for us as believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. REMEMBER, and this is KEY--WHO is speaking in the scriptures, to WHOM is the person speaking, WHAT is the TIME frame, etc. If you wrote me a note and asked me to come to your home, the note would be written by YOU and received by ME and the time frame would be while I am living, NOT 2,000 years from now...think about that and let it sink into your spirit and mind.
Also, consider reading The Last Days Identified by Don K. Preston, The Day and the Hour by Francis X. Gumerlock, Who is this Babylon? by Don K. Preston. Also, check out David Curtis. At the very least, read the reviews on Amazon.
This truth can be yet another layer peeled off of you and another release from the dark hole of deception and lies! If you are a truth seeker and you love the truth, you will take action, no matter the topic and find it as you look for it...we have our part as God guides and graces us! The Lord bless you with new freedom in Him!
~A Lover of the Truth, Donna
This truth can be yet another layer peeled off of you and another release from the dark hole of deception and lies! If you are a truth seeker and you love the truth, you will take action, no matter the topic and find it as you look for it...we have our part as God guides and graces us! The Lord bless you with new freedom in Him!
~A Lover of the Truth, Donna
Mat.
16:27-28--For the Son of man shall come in the glory of
his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his
works.
Verily
I say unto you, There
be some standing here,
which shall
not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his
kingdom.
Mk.
9:1--And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you,
That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not
taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with
power.
Mat.
24:1-44
Mk.
13
Luke
21:6-36
Acts 2:15-21--last days for Israel/prophecy of Joel
Hebrews 1:1--last day for Israel
Acts 2:15-21--last days for Israel/prophecy of Joel
Hebrews 1:1--last day for Israel
2 Peter 3:3-22--last days for Israel
1 John 2:18, 28--last time/His coming
1 John 3:2--appear
Jude 18--last time
Have you ever wondered about these verses I listed above? I
certainly have, time and time again! We know that a good bible student is
taught to notice WHO is speaking, and to WHOM is the person speaking to, and
what TIME FRAME or customs, etc. are they speaking about. That is why I always
had a difficult time trying to fit the verses into what I had heard or read. The
vast majority of people have been taught that these verses above refer to the
future, but that view has always puzzled me b/c Jesus was talking to His disciples about
the present time of His age and THEIR NEAR FUTURE.
I challenge you to be open and ask Jesus for His view of the
times in these verses and also His view of where we are at now. We ARE IN His
Kingdom now since the time of the disciples & continuing into the future, so
anyone who is truly IN Christ IS IN His Kingdom...the Kingdom of God is for NOW,
not something we are to be waiting for, except we will continue to be with Jesus
on the other side.
I do not have a label and I do not want one, but
for the sake of understanding, I take what Jesus said and do not try to fit it
into any other time frame except the one that Jesus was referring to. These
words, (near and quickly), bracket the Book of Revelation and are also
used in the gospels as Jesus gave His discourse to the disciples about His
coming. Near
and quickly do NOT mean thousands of years later.
As with all truth, it sets us FREE...free from our
own and other's interpretations, teachings, DVD's, CD's, books, notes, themes,
etc. and wondering about verses that don't seem to fit into this perspective
re: the end times. Anyone can enjoy the Kingdom of God within and preach to
others of the need for this Kingdom regardless of their eschatalogical
view, but my oh my, what freedom there is in the simple
and plain truth of Jesus' words to His disciples for that time period in which
they lived. And John clearly wrote to the churches (Rev.) in ASIA at that
time...any other interpretation is twisting or spiritualizing that truth to try and fit another perspective.
Btw, if John wrote the book of Revelation in the 90's the temple
could not be measured b/c it was DESTROYED IN 70AD. But Rev. 11:1 says--And
there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise,
and measure the temple
of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Here
are a few excerpts from this link.
http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/revelation.html There is
much more to check out on this site to give your proof texts.
The
Early Date Theory
"So,
where can we turn to find evidence for the dating of Revelation? Within the book
itself! It will be shown, from internal evidence, that Revelation was written
before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
John
must prophesy again
The
first point to consider in favor of the early date is the fact that John was
told that he "must
prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and
kings" in
Revelation 10:11. Now, if Revelation was written in AD 95-96, John would have
been over 90 years old and it would have been very difficult for him to travel
to the various "nations
and…many kings" and
preach. However, with Revelation written earlier, John would have been in his
mid 60's and at that age, his traveling would have been more feasible.
The
Seven Churches in Asia
Another
point is that John wrote Revelation to a specific group of churches in Asia
(Revelation 1:4). The importance of this
statement cannot be overlooked (even though it has been by many scholars).
There is only one small
window of time in which there were only seven churches in Asia. The early AD
60's. The
apostle Paul established nine churches in that area, but only
seven were addressed in Revelation. The reason for this is that the
cities of Colosse, Hierapolis, and Laodicea, were all destroyed by an earthquake
around AD 61. Laodicea was rebuilt soon afterwards, but the other two
cities were not. This left only seven churches in Asia during the five years
just prior to the beginning of the Roman/Jewish war.
Of
particular importance is the message to the church of Philadelphia (Revelation
3:7-13). In verse's 10 and 11, Christ told John to inform them that an
"hour
of temptation" was
"about
to come upon all the world,"
i.e., the Roman
Empire. Christ then told them that He was coming quickly and that they
should hold fast. The reason this is important (besides the fact that this was
directed to an actual church in the first century) is that the first persecution
of Christians took place under Nero Caesar in AD 64.
Therefore, Revelation must have been written before that time.
The
Temple was still standing
One
of the most compelling proofs that Revelation was written before Jerusalem was
destroyed is the fact that the Jewish temple was still standing!
Revelation 11:1-2, "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months."
How
do we know that this was the temple of the first century and not some future
one? First, there is not one verse in the entire Bible that speaks of a "rebuilt" Jewish Temple.
Not one. That
alone should be proof enough.
However,
this passage is very similar to Luke 21:20-24. Notice that Jesus told the
disciples that they would
see this event. They had asked Him about their
temple (verse 5), and Jesus told them it would be destroyed before their
generation passed away (verse 32). Notice again what Jesus said in
verse 24, "Jerusalem
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles."
This is the same thing Christ told John in Revelation 11:2. Therefore, since the
disciples' generation has long since passed away, Revelation must have been
written before the nations trampled Jerusalem under foot in AD 70."
_________________
So
I, along with many others believe that John wrote this book before 70AD because the
temple was still standing unto it's destruction in 70AD.
There
is much to write on this topic. I trust you will study it with your Teacher and
find out for yourself. Truth DOES make a difference, as we so well know.
Please
check out the videos for:
Matthew
part 1 & 2, Revelation part 1 & 2, Josephus' notes re: the destruction
of Jerusalem.
The
Second Coming in Matthew (Part 1) - Matthew 3:1-12; 10:23
The
Second Coming in Matthew (Part 2) - Matthew 16:27-28; 24:34; 26:64
Understanding
The Revelation Part 1 - Revelation 1:1-11
Understanding
The Revelation Part 2 - Revelation 13:11-18
Excerpt--
Brief summary of
Josephus' record:
The Judgment on Jerusalem according
to History and Destruction of the temple
| |
Heavenly
phenomena
|
|
Earthly
phenomena
(reported by
priests)
|
|
John's
Revelation - “And there were
noises and thundering and lightnings; and there was a great
earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since
men were on the earth.” (16:18)
Josephus - “for there broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, with continued lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth, that was in an earthquake. These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder; and any one would guess that these wonders foreshowed some grand calamities that were coming” (“Wars of the Jews” 4:4:5) |
John's
Revelation - "Now the great
city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations
fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the
wine of the fierceness of His wrath.” (16:19)
Josephus - “it so happened that the sedition at Jerusalem was revived, and parted into three factions, and that one faction fought against the other; which partition in such evil cases may be said to be a good thing, and the effect of divine justice.” (5:1:1) |
