Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Are We in the Last Days? - No.

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Matthew 24:6

There are people who have turned the misinterpretation of Matthew 24 into an industry. In verse 4 of this chapter Jesus warns you not to be deceived by any concerning this prophecy. Yet where Jesus says "the end is not yet (v.6), many reverse His admonition and say that this is the end time. Please do not expect a positive message from me on this.

Imagine a town located on a river below a dam. It starts to rain a whole lot in the area. There is flooding. Then the word goes out that the dam has burst. People panic thinking that the town will be wiped off the map.

Someone thinks to call the dam operators, and they find out the dam, so far, is intact. What a relief! The dam has not burst. So they decide to drive to a store to pick up a few things. There are lots of signs warning of high waters, but they go on as if they were not in danger because the dam has not burst.

This crude analogy is offered to help explain how things are today. No, the dam has not burst, so to speak.

There are specific events, well documented in the Bible, that will occur prior to the Tribulation. Daniel 9:21-24 gives us a timeline, accurate to the day, of a necessary event which has not yet occurred. It is the signing of a treaty that "many" in Israel will make with Antichrist, the man of sin. Has anyone heard of Israel making such an agreement?

Paul adds that the time of great trouble begins when this man of sin enters into the temple and proclaims himself to be god. Without a temple, without such a treaty or agreement there is no great tribulation. We all know how many in Israel desire to build the temple. There is an annual attempt to lay it's cornerstone, with big skirmishes shutting it down.

The time is not yet. So things must happen that have yet to occur, before the big trouble begins. Folks should not hurry up prophecy with false interpretations. The dam has yet to burst, but be cautious of local flooding.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-5
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. .v. 3

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