The Last Days

[Forever Atlas]

I was sitting here and thinking deeply on things.... and I was wondering... one of the things i was thinking about are what the Bible refers to as the Last Days....

The Bible uses the expression “last days” to refer to the concluding time period leading up to a divinely appointed execution that marks the end of a system of things. The Jewish system with its worship built around the temple in Jerusalem experienced its last days from 33 to 70 C.E. What occurred then was pictorial of what would be experienced in a greatly intensified way and on a global scale at a time when all nations would be facing the execution of judgment decreed by God. The present wicked system of things, which extends worldwide, entered its last days in 1914, and some of the generation alive then will also be on hand to witness its complete end in the “great tribulation.”

do you think we are living in those times?

Why or Why not?

[Vexond]

I really dont know and the truth is no one REALLY knows for sure. If we are living in the Last Days then we just have to accept it, if we arent then we are lucky.

[Forever Atlas]

I personally think we are... once again if some of you have read other posts in other threads, through Bible study i've gained knowledge of things... but some reasons i believe so are because of this:

“Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom” (Matt. 24:7)

War has marred life on the earth for thousands of years. International wars and wars within nations have been fought. But beginning in 1914 the first world war was fought. This was not merely a conflict between two armies on the battlefield. For the first time, all the major powers were at war. Entire nations—including civilian populations—were mobilized to support the war effort. It is estimated that by the end of the war 93 percent of the population of the world was involved. (Regarding the historical significance of 1914, see pages 239, 240.)

As foretold at Revelation 6:4, ‘peace was taken away from the earth.’ Thus the world has continued to be in a state of upheaval ever since 1914. World War II was fought from 1939 to 1945. According to retired Admiral Gene La Rocque, as of 1982 there had been another 270 wars since 1945. Upwards of 100 million persons have been slaughtered in warfare during this century. Also, according to the 1982 edition of World Military and Social Expenditures, there were in that year 100 million people engaged directly or indirectly in military activities.

Is more required in order to fulfill this aspect of the prophecy? There are tens of thousands of nuclear weapons deployed for immediate use. Leading scientists have said that if the nations were to use even a fraction of their nuclear arsenals, civilization and possibly the entire human species would be destroyed. But that is not the outcome to which Bible prophecy points.

“There will be food shortages . . . in one place after another” (Matt. 24:7)

There have been many famines in human history. To what extent has the 20th century been afflicted by them? World war led to widespread starvation in Europe and Asia. Africa has been stricken by drought, resulting in extensive food shortages. Late in 1980 the Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that 450 million people were hungry to the point of starvation, and up to a billion did not have enough to eat. Of these, some 40 million a year actually die—in some years as many as 50 million—because of the shortage of food.

Is anything different about these food shortages? Revelation 6:6 indicated that a small quantity of such staples as wheat or barley would be selling for a day’s wage (a denarius; see Matthew 20:2) but that supplies of such items as olive oil and wine used by people who are well-to-do would not be harmed. So apparently many would suffer shortage while others could still get what they wanted. This situation is no longer local, but global. In 1981 The New York Times reported: “The improvement in living standards and the growing demand for food around the world have put pressure on food prices, making it harder for the poorest countries to import their food needs.” In many lands the production of food, even with the aid of modern science, has not been able to keep pace with the increase in total population. Modern food experts see no real solution to the problem.

[Angel Shards]

Originally Posted by Smooth

do you think we are living in those times?

no .

[Forever Atlas]

‘Christ’s true followers to be objects of hatred by all nations on account of his name’ (Matt. 24:9)

This persecution is not because of political meddling but ‘on account of the name of Jesus Christ,’ because his followers adhere to him as Jehovah’s Messianic King, because of their obeying Christ ahead of any earthly ruler, because of their loyally adhering to his Kingdom and not becoming involved in the affairs of human governments. As modern-day history testifies, that has been the experience of Jehovah’s Witnesses in all parts of the earth.

‘This good news of the kingdom preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness’ (Matt. 24:14)

The message that would be preached is that God’s Kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ has begun to rule in the heavens, that soon it will put an end to the entire wicked system of things, that under its rule mankind will be brought to perfection and earth will become a paradise. That good news is being preached today in over 200 lands and island groups, to the most distant parts of the earth. Jehovah’s Witnesses devote hundreds of millions of hours to this activity each year, making repeated house-to-house visits so that everyone possible is given the opportunity to hear.

[Angel Shards]

Originally Posted by Smooth

‘Christ’s true followers to be objects of hatred by all nations on account of his name’ (Matt. 24:9)

This persecution is not because of political meddling but ‘on account of the name of Jesus Christ,’ because his followers adhere to him as Jehovah’s Messianic King, because of their obeying Christ ahead of any earthly ruler, because of their loyally adhering to his Kingdom and not becoming involved in the affairs of human governments. As modern-day history testifies, that has been the experience of Jehovah’s Witnesses in all parts of the earth.

I believe they are hated by all nations, because many Christians preach "FOLL0W JEZUS OR U BERN IN H3LL///ONEONEONEfbhsdbshjfjsd"

‘This good news of the kingdom preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness’ (Matt. 24:14)

The message that would be preached is that God’s Kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ has begun to rule in the heavens, that soon it will put an end to the entire wicked system of things, that under its rule mankind will be brought to perfection and earth will become a paradise. That good news is being preached today in over 200 lands and island groups, to the most distant parts of the earth. Jehovah’s Witnesses devote hundreds of millions of hours to this activity each year, making repeated house-to-house visits so that everyone possible is given the opportunity to hear.

So...do you think Ghandi is burning in hell for not believing Jesus is the son of God?

[Vexond]

This kind of stuff has been happening for millions of years

[Forever Atlas]

“There will be great earthquakes” (Luke 21:11)

It is true that there were major quakes in centuries past; furthermore, with their sensitive equipment scientists now detect more than a million quakes a year. But no special instruments are needed for people to know when there is a great earthquake.

Has there actually been a significant number of major earthquakes since 1914? With data obtained from the National Geophysical Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, supplemented by a number of standard reference works, a tabulation was made in 1984 that included only earthquakes that measured 7.5 or more on the Richter scale, or that resulted in destruction of five million dollars (U.S.) or more in property, or that caused 100 or more deaths. It was calculated that there had been 856 of such earthquakes during the 2,000 years before 1914. The same tabulation showed that in just 69 years following 1914 there were 605 of such quakes. That means that, in comparison with the previous 2,000 years, the average per year has been 20 times as great since 1914.

“In one place after another pestilences” (Luke 21:11)

At the close of the first world war the Spanish flu swept around the globe, claiming upwards of 20 million lives and at a rate unparalleled in the history of disease. Despite advances in medical science, a heavy toll is exacted every year by cancer, heart disease, numerous sexually transmitted diseases, multiple sclerosis, malaria, river blindness, and Chagas’ disease

Originally Posted by Angel Shards

I believe they are hated by all nations, because many Christians preach "FOLL0W JEZUS OR U BERN IN H3LL///ONEONEONEfbhsdbshjfjsd"



So...do you think Ghandi is burning in hell for not believing Jesus is the son of God?

no because if you read before I dont believe in hell because the Bible doesnt teach it.

Originally Posted by Vexond

This kind of stuff has been happening for millions of years

I can understand why you feel that way. We were born into a world and these type of things are everyday news. But historians explain that there is something drastically different about the 20th century...

“Looking back from the vantage point of the present we see clearly today that the outbreak of World War I ushered in a twentieth-century ‘Time of Troubles’—in the expressive term of the British historian Arnold Toynbee—from which our civilization has by no means yet emerged. Directly or indirectly all the convulsions of the last half century stem back to 1914.”—The Fall of the Dynasties: The Collapse of the Old Order (New York, 1963), Edmond Taylor, p. 16.

“People of the World War II generation, my generation, will always think of their conflict as the great modern watershed of change. . . . We should be allowed our vanity, our personal rendezvous with history. But we should know that, in social terms, a far more decisive change came with World War I. It was then that political and social systems, centuries in the building, came apart—sometimes in a matter of weeks. And others were permanently transformed. It was in World War I that the age-old certainties were lost. . . . World War II continued, enlarged and affirmed this change. In social terms World War II was the last battle of World War I.”—The Age of Uncertainty (Boston, 1977), John K. Galbraith, p. 133.

“Half a century has gone by, yet the mark that the tragedy of the Great War [World War I, which started in 1914] left on the body and soul of the nations has not faded . . . The physical and moral magnitude of this ordeal was such that nothing left was the same as before. Society in its entirety: systems of government, national borders, laws, armed forces, interstate relations, but also ideologies, family life, fortunes, positions, personal relations—everything was changed from top to bottom. . . . Humanity finally lost its balance, never to recover it to this day.”—General Charles de Gaulle, speaking in 1968 (Le Monde, Nov. 12, 1968, p. 9).

Will anyone at all be alive on earth after the end of the present world system?

Definitely yes. The end of the present global system will come, not as a result of indiscriminate slaughter in nuclear war, but in a great tribulation that includes “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.” (Rev. 16:14, 16) That war will not destroy the earth, nor will it bring all mankind to ruin.

Matt. 24:21, 22: “Then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.” (So some “flesh,” some of humankind, will survive.)

Prov. 2:21, 22: “The upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it.”

Ps. 37:29, 34: “The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it. Hope in Jehovah and keep his way, and he will exalt you to take possession of the earth. When the wicked ones are cut off, you will see it.”

[Angel Shards]

Dude, natural disatsers happen. It'sa cycle that has been going on for years. Before the ice age, the Earth heated up tremendously and there were a bunch of earth quakes, floods, etc. Of course, no one was around to document it. The same thing is happening again. It doesn't mean end of days...the Earth is going through it's natural cycle...

[The Froad]

"The day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night" (I don't remember the exact verse, sorry)

God intentionally made Revelation obscure enough so that you wouldn't know exactly when.

[Forever Atlas]

Originally Posted by The Froad

"The day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night" (I don't remember the exact verse, sorry)

God intentionally made Revelation obscure enough so that you wouldn't know exactly when.

that would be the LORDS DAY, not the Last Days :-p the Lords Day comes at the end of the Last Days.

And as for Revelation, i have something you may want to check out. :-D just for yourself if you'd like. I found it very helpful. Cause just about all has been revealed.... sure there are still many things we dont and wont know. But a lot of Revelation has been revealed. PM me if you are interested in what it is.

[Angel Shards]

Why don't you just post it here? Honestly...

[Forever Atlas]

Originally Posted by Angel Shards

Why don't you just post it here? Honestly...

because its a book.... lol that does a verse by verse analysis of Revelation

[The Froad]

Touche Miss Shards.

Signs of the Last Days have been popping up at several moments in history, and no Apocalypse so far (at least I hope not).

[Angel Shards]

Then why do we have to PM you if we are interested in what it is? Clearly I am interested, so just post here.

And Froad, there wont be a "bibical" apocolypse.... The sun will just explode when it reaches the end of it's life...but I'm sure we'll all be dead by then due to disease, pollution, wars, etc. Not a result of what the Bible calls "end of days". but because of human stupidity and selfishness.