Christianity and the End Times

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When Jesus says, But in those days, following that distress, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. He is talking about great political upheaval. It is a bit like saying that somebody celebrated a landslide victory. We would know that there was no actual land slide involved.

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Since some readers here perceive that I want say more about the matter of the overcomers in the end times, my reply here will sound skewed in a direction to include those concepts.I believe Jesus, in addition to speaking of international political and military turmoil, was speaking of upheavals in nature itself.The Apostle Paul concurs in saying the whole creation is "groaning" in some kind of travail waiting the manifestation of the matured sons of God.We fail to recognize that in God's original purpose harmonious creation hinges on human harmony with God. Though I may not be able to explain everything about the relationship, the travailing creation is connected with the manifestation of the sons of God. Romans 8:20-23 Who are the REAL environmentalists? It is those who have received "the firstfruits of the Spirit" that this divine life may grow in them to maturity. In full maturity even the physical body will be swallowed up in divine glory - "the redemption of our body" .The demonstration of the Son of God's command over nature were not arbitrary or miscellaneous. They preview "the powers of the age to come" enjoyed and exercised by some of the overcoming sons of God.Some limit enjoyment of this authority is experienced by some in the church age before the millennial age. When Jesus Christ comes down from the third heavens He will hover close to the earth in a concealed way. I believe that nature will be reacting with upheavals which scientists will not be able to explain.It is associated with His soon to touch down on the earth and the soon manifestation of the mature sons of God.More about this to come.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

Nothing in revelation claims that every serpent is Satan.Exodus 7:9 ... 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.'Numbers 21:6 The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people...Proverbs 30:19 The way of an eagle in the sky, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the middle of the sea...John 3:14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up...Mark 16:18 ... they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison...Etc.

Nor did I say EVERY serpent is Satan. Nut the serpent in Eden was Satan.

And you give no justification for that claim.

It's hard to tell whether you're being genuinely obtuse or deliberately obfuscating or something worse.The issue is the beginning, not who created the universe.If I said, "In the beginning, I painted my house blue," that would not be confusing. But if I said, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and I painted my house blue," that would imply that my painting was simultaneous with the creation.Similarly, if the creation of the heavens and the earth were both in the beginning, that implies that they were simultaneous. We know that they were not.

You applaud jaywill and you cheer Faith because they say what you want to hear, not because there is any strength in their arguments.

I wrote above -

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When Jesus Christ comes down from the third heavens He will hover close to the earth in a concealed way. I believe that nature will be reacting with upheavals which scientists will not be able to explain.

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Briefly, this concealed presence of Jesus NEAR the earth, soon awaiting to be OPENLY manifested to the earth is symbolized in Revelation 10 The Another Angel as in some other places in Revelation means Christ.He ascended from the earth and a cloud received Him out of the sight of the disciples. Then they were told that AS He left physically He would in like manner return someday.He comes near the planet concealed in a cloud in chapter 10.
Then in chapter 14 He is seen sitting upon the cloud.
Then in chapter 18 He comes to earth's surface and the whole earth is illumined with His glory. Chapter 10:1 Christ is concealed in a cloud near the earth.
Pillars of fire for feet stand for the steadfastness and holiness of God.
The rainbow upon His head a reminder of His covenant of mercy with the generation of Noah after the flood. In judging He will not totally wipe out all lives on the earth.But the earth does not see Him yet because He is hidden in a cloud.Then He is seen sitting on the cloud, meaning He is now visible. Two places reveal this. Revelation 1:7 He hovers over the Holy Land of Israel. When He is manifested all the tribes of the Holy Land will see Him.Then again He is not concealed in cloud but sitting on a cloud in the Harvest of the end of tribulation rapture.
Revelation 14:14-16
This is not the reaping of the secretive rapture before the start of the great tribulation. This is the reaping not of a remnant but of the majority of the saints from the earth. Through the great tribulation the crop of God has become ripe.This is the same event as predicted in First Thessalonians 4:16 at the END of the great tribulation. Finally Revelation shows Him not in the cloud or on the cloud but coming to earth illuminating the whole earth with His splendor. Revelation 18:1My intention here is to show that in successive stages Jesus Christ comes again. First secretly removing some fulfilling the charge to watch and be ready, then coming close to the earth CONCEALED from view in a cloud, then sitting visibly upon the cloud and coming over the Holy Land with the clouds, then touching down on the surface of the earth in such awesome splendor of visibility and supernatural radiance. Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.

But the serpent in the Eden myth told the truth and deceived no one. It is the God in the Eden story that lies, deceives, creates an attractive nuisance and then denies responsibility for creating the mess.

Interesting typo. Nut was an Egyptian goddess:

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"I am Nut, and I have come so that I may enfold and protect you from all things evil."

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What I quoted in Revelation is taken by the theological mainstream down the centuries to reveal the identity of the serpent in the Garden.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

The snake lied when he said they would not surely die. because they did die, first spiritually (when they could no longer communicate with God as they had before), and then also physically hundreds of years later. They would never have died at all if they hadn't eaten the fruit of the forbidden tree.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

Even being generous with interpretation it wasn’t a sure thing. If they had got to the Tree of Life before being thrown out they would have lived forever (Genesis 3:22)

This whole idea that God lies and the snake told the truth should be held up to the light of this scripture.

According to the story he serpent certainly told the truth and the assertion that Adam and Eve would die in the same day (2:17) that they ate the fruit is certainly not literally true.Is it your contention then, that Scripture commands us to lie about the story, and even calls lying good ?

They already had access to the Tree of Life. It became dangerous, however, after they'd disobeyed God because it would have fixed them forever in their sinful state separated from God. So God at that point barred them from it. Death at least makes it possible for them to be redeemed by the death of Christ; otherwise they (we) would have been fixed in their sins as the devils are, without hope of redemption.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.