[quote]haney1 wrote:
[quote]cueball wrote:
[quote]haney1 wrote:
[quote]cueball wrote:
[quote]haney1 wrote:
[quote]forbes wrote:
I recently watched a show on the history channel that was about the end of the world. For centuries, people have attempted to predict when the world will end. Now, as mere mortals, no one can truly know.
Jesus speaks in Matthew 24:7-14 of the build-up to this. He says:
"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
All these are the beginnings of sorrows.
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
But he who endures to the end will be saved."
How many people think we are in the end of days? [/quote]
sigh honestly I have to say that is a bad interpretation of this passage. Just before it the disciples ask him when with the temple be destroyed and this is Jesus response. To attribute it to anything outside that requires a strong justification.
[/quote]
Matthew 24:3 NIV
"As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
[/quote]
and? When will this happen is concerning the end of the temple. The end of the age most likely is being used in the sense that the temple age would end.
G165
�??�??�??�?�±�??�??�??�?�¹�??�??�??�??�??�??�?�½
aioÃ???n
ahee-ohn’
From the same as G104; properly an age; by extension perpetuity (also past); by implication the world; specifically (Jewish) a Messianic period (present or future): - age, course, eternal, (for) ever (-more), [n-]ever, (beginning of the, while the) world (began, without end). Compare G5550.
I also wouldn’t hang my case on one phrase.
[/quote]
I was referring to -“what will be the sign of your coming”-in response to only attributing the passage to the question of the temple. It seems the question was more than that.
[/quote]
Here is a question for you. Why would the disciples who clearly didn’t understand the following
- Christ was to be crucified
- would ascend into Heaven
Think that Jesus was coming again?
You do know that the word used for coming can also meaning presence and is used that way in the NT?
G3952
�??�?�±�??�?�¿�??�??�?�¹�??�?�±
parousia
par-oo-see’-ah
From the present participle of G3918; a being near, that is, advent (often, return; specifically of Christ to punish Jerusalem, or finally the wicked); (by implication) physical aspect: - coming, presence.
also cross that with the olivet discourse in mark
Mar 13:3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,
Mar 13:4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”
or Luke
Luk 21:5 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said,
Luk 21:6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
Luk 21:7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?”
Now when these other two gospels were written they clearly had knowledge of the ascension and claimed return of Jesus, yet neither of them even care to act like the disciples were asking when are you returning. Why should we force that upon the text of matthew?
[/quote]
Understood and good points. Mark definitely reads differently in that regard. I do notice that further along though in Jesus’ answer to them he is clearly explaining his return. He tells them that during the desolation brought by the abomination not to be deceived by fakes. Following the desolation is darkness and the stars falling and at that time they will see The Son of Man coming in clouds sending His angels to gather His elect.
I agree that the disciples may not have know what they were asking. Perhaps the temple was symbolic. Jesus used this question, as he knew the real meaning behind it, to tell them of His coming. It seems odd he would go into some detail of His coming if the discussion was only about the physical temple and it’s eventual ruin. Thoughts?
Mar 14-26
14"When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’[a]standing where it does not belongâ??let the reader understandâ??then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 17How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until nowâ??and never to be equaled again. 20If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. 21At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ[c]!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the electâ??if that were possible. 23So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
24"But in those days, following that distress,
" ‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
25the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[d]
26"At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.