End Times Bible Prophecy

[Theland]

I believe that the Bibles' descriptions of events leading up to the, "End Times," have remarkable parrallells to what we see and hear daily in the news bulletins.
Israel, and particularly Jerusalem, are central to this.
Have a browse around Bob Westbrooks' site to get a 'feel' for the subject, and then proceed to discuss it with me, or ridicule me, whichever flavour you prefer.

http://www.trumpetsounds.com/index.html

[Llamatron]

Cults and loonies throughout the ages have been predicting the end of the world. None have been right yet.

No doubt when this particular armageddon fails to come to pass there'll be believers ready to proclaim that it was all misinterpreted and it's actually next century or perhaps they'll say it was just a metaphor and should not be taken literally like much of the rest of the Bible (depending on who you talk to of course).

The only way the biblical end times will happen is if the fools in power are the same fools that believe this nonsense and set about fulfilling the prophecies themselves. Sadly some of them are.

Is it any wonder I'm an atheist.

[Theland]

Llamatron - Well thank you anyway for your comment. Always well received. And yes, I can't blame you for drawing attention to the self fulfilling aspect of the whole thing. There are some, like Ahmadinejad in Iran, who isreported to welcome chaos and war as it would hasten the return of the 12th and last Mahdi. No wonder he wants a bomb so much.

[Llamatron]

From what I've read there are members of the Bush administration that also think chaos in the Middle East is all part of the end times prophecies and that advancing it will help advance the rapture.

It's odd that they think they'll be the ones taken up to heaven when they're also the ones helping bring about massive death and destruction. I would have thought that that kind of thing would get you a free pass to hell.

[Theland]

Can't argue with that one Llamatron. Dangerous indeed. Foreign policy should be based on more than that.

[naomi24]

And regardless of which side they're on, they all think they're going to heaven.

[Skreecheeboy]

Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)


The Sheep and the Goats
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

[Skreecheeboy]

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

[naomi24]

Skreech - why don't you give us your views rather than someone elses? I'll be surprised if anyone bothers to read that.

[Whickerman]

there's a great monologue in the film 'Naked' about that. But I probably won't lose sleep over the chance of it happening...

[Whickerman]

Here it is...!
Johnny: Has nobody not told you, Brian, that you�ve got this kind of gleeful preoccupation with the future? I wouldn�t even mind, but you don�t even have a ******' future, I don�t have a future. Nobody has a future. The party's over. Take a look around you man, it�s all breaking up. Are you not familiar with the book of Revelations of St. John, the final book of the Bible prophesying the apocalypse?... He forced everyone to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead so that no one shall be able to buy or sell unless he has the mark, which is the name of the beast, or the number of his name, and the number of the beast is 6-6-6. ...What can such a specific prophecy mean? What is the mark? Well the mark, Brian, is the barcode, the ubiquitous barcode that you�ll find on every bog roll and packet of johnnies and every poxy pork pie, and every ******' barcode is divided into two parts by three markers, and those three markers are always represented by the number 6. 6-6-6. Now what does it say? No one shall be able to buy or sell without that mark. And now what they�re planning to do in order to eradicate all credit card fraud and in order to precipitate a totally cashless society, what they�re planning to do, what they�ve already tested on the American troops, they�re going to subcutaneously laser tattoo that mark onto your right hand, or onto your forehead. They�re going to replace plastic with flesh. Fact.

[Whickerman]

continued:

In the same book of Revelations when the seven seals are broken open on the day of judgment and the seven angels blow the trumpets, when the third angel blows her bugle, wormwood will fall from the sky, wormwood will poison a third part of all the waters and a third part of all the land and many many many people will die. Now do you know what the Russian translation for wormwood is? ....Chernobyl. Fact. On August the 18th, 1999, the planets of our solar system are gonna line up into the shape of a cross... They�re gonna line up in the signs of Aquarius, Leo, Taurus, and Scorpio, which just happen to correspond to the four beasts of the apocalypse, as mentioned in the book of Daniel, another ******' fact! Do you want me to go on? The end of the world is nigh, Brian, the game is up.

[naomi24]

Not a lot of point in losing sleep really, is there Whicker? Seeing as it's prophesied, there's little we can do about it.

[Llamatron]

Well roll on doomsday I say.
I guess it's the only thing that'll shut the loonies up.

[Romeo]

People have been heralding the end for a long time. During the Middle Ages there was war, famine, pestilence and death like people had never seen before, what with the Black Death, the Crusades, etc. So religion reached zealous levels, thinking it was the end.

I don't think it is curtain time just yet. But if it is, and I'm wrong, I promise I'll repent ;-)

[Theland]

Yes, people have been heralding the end .... forever! How true. Maybe a natural built in collective paranoia?
But the details in the Bible, the circumstances it describes, are there in the news every day. The muslim arab nations would love to see the annhialtion of Israel, and through their own efforts, and of the terrorists that act as a proxy for them, they continue to progress their plans.
Israel is surrounded by enemis as the Bible predicts, and also predicts that there will be no peace, until Christ Himself brings peace.
The point I am making is that evangelical Christians are not grasping at straws to find evidence for the end times eschatology, the evidence is there. You can write it off as numerous coincidences, but, so many coincidences? That is uncanny is it not?

[jake-the-peg]

Of course you're hoping for the end of the world aren't you Theland?

After all you'll be vindicated in your faith, be transported to heaven whilst the rest of us grind our teeth down here.

Isn't there just a smidgen of sinful pride in your prophesy?

[Theland]

Sinful pride? No, sorry, I don't get that Jake. I'm simply looking at what the Bible says, and then looking at the situation concerning Israel and its neighbours, that's all. The numerous, so called, "coincidences," are just a bit too numerous to be coincidence, in my opinion, that is.
As for me hoping for the end of the world, well, actually, no. I'm just trying not to bury my head in the sand, as world events appear to be escalating to a crescendo.

[mibn2cweus]

God�s little helpers do humanity a great disservice by not keeping their predictions (along with the rest of their crap) in their pants. Revelations, while predicting and paving the path of doom, reveals the startling nature of those who have contempt for humanity. Not satisfied with the toll their world view has levied on themselves they are hell bent on terrorizing us all into abandoning reason for the privilege of suffering along with them the consequences of their predilections.

[NJOK]

Thing is, it's not really much of a coincidence is it?

You talk of Israel being surrounded by enemies bent on its destruction as if it's something that no-one could have predicted without some divine wisdom. In reality, it's the most obvious thing in the world.

If you occupy someone else's land and drive out the people who live there, then of course you're going to be surrounded by enemies who want to bring about your demise.

Wooo! Freaky!

[jake-the-peg]

So you're not looking forward to it then? must be my imagination.

Seriously though end-oft-the-worldism is dead handy for religions looking for recruits who are very busy with their day to day lives.

Nothing like an imminant appocalypse to fill empty churches!

Just remember say "soon" and don't promise any actual firm time lines - there's nothing more embarassing than turning up for work after the end of the world with a sheepish grin on your face!

Now where did I put all those tins of spam expiry date 1/1/2000?