10 Prophecies Fulfilled in 1948
Member
Wow! Fast response...thanks!
Ok....that's good enough for me. They were strangers in a strange land.
Thank you.
Now, you still need to address the "430 = 400" claim I've set before you, taking into account significant digits considerations.
Will you now address this?
Member
Ummm.....there is no Scripture which addresses the issue of "significant digits".....not sure what your referencing....
Member
Jeremiah 19:5 King James Version (KJV)
5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
Loyal
So you think Israel is still burning their sons with fire as an offering to Baal? You think Israel is still doing this?
Member
The main issue here is whether the Kingdom came as Daniel said and Jesus affirmed in the time of the Ancient Roman Empire. Jesus taught that the kingdom is spiritual and only the born again can see it. Or Jesus and Daniel were wrong and there probably is a gap between the 69th and 70th weeks, unmentioned by scripture. And the kingdom is physical yet to come in a Millennial kingdom similar to what the Pharisees expected.
If Jesus was right saying the kingdom is spiritual and only the born again can see it. It explains why the Pharisees rejected him and many still look for it. Also, it means all of the Old Testament kingdom prophecies are symbolic of the Spiritual Kingdom. And why some can see the kingdom now, (Christ is the Temple, the Church is Israel etc.) while others look for the literal instead.
If Jesus was right saying the kingdom is spiritual and only the born again can see it. It explains why the Pharisees rejected him and many still look for it. Also, it means all of the Old Testament kingdom prophecies are symbolic of the Spiritual Kingdom. And why some can see the kingdom now, (Christ is the Temple, the Church is Israel etc.) while others look for the literal instead.
Active
Which Israel seeing not all Israel is born again Israel? Some are trusting their flesh as an outward Jew .If any man has not the born again Spirit of Christ in then neither are they members as his one bride made of all the nation She was renamed by the Father Christians in the book of Acts .A more befitting name Literally with no other meaning added “resident of the city named after her husband Christ."
Romans 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Romans 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Loyal
You said....
Jeremiah 19:5 King James Version (KJV)
5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
Saying they are still burning their children alive to baal in the hopes for better crops, is NOT the same thing as being hard hearted in following the Lord. They are no worse than the gentiles who dont care about God, whom God still gives rain, and many good things to.
Active
Yes those where the other Isreal. A Jew outwardly acording to the flesh not born agin inwardly of the Spirt it of Christ . In that way who soever has not the Spirt of Christ they do not belong to Him.
Romans 8:8-10 King James Version (KJV) So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness
Member
The first promise of Christ was easy to find. He made it to His disciples in
direct reply to their questions. They asked Him:
“Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy
coming, and of the end of the world?” 1
This verse is found in the twenty–fourth chapter of Matthew. Christ then
gave His disciples in the following words:
“But he that shall endure until the end, the same shall be saved. And this
gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness ...
then shall the end come.” 2
This was clear enough. The end would come, and Christ would return,
when His Gospel was preached throughout the world.
My next step was to discover when the Gospel of Christ was considered to
have been preached throughout the world.
A study of the spread of Christianity made by scholars of the 1840’s,
convinced them that the message of Christ had, by their day, already encircled
the globe. The Gospel was being taught in all the continents. By 1844 it was
being taught even in the interior of Africa, not by solitary missionaries, but on
an
1 Matthew 24:3.
2 Matthew 24:13–14.
organized scale. A commercial history of East Africa states: “Christian
missions began their activities amongst the African people in 1844.” 1
Dr D. L. Leonard, historian of the Mission movement, in his A Hundred
Years of Missions, says of the spread of the Word of Christ and His Gospel:
“... for the first time since the apostolic period, (there) occurred an outburst of
general missionary zeal and activity.”
He is speaking of the last years of the eighteenth century, leading to the
nineteenth century, to 1844, and beyond. “Beginning in Great Britain, it soon
spread to the Continent and across the Atlantic. It was no mere push of
fervour, but a mighty tide set in, which from that day to this has been steadily
rising and spreading.”
Another account states: “In 1804 the British and Foreign Bible Society
was organised. Students of the prophetic word felt at the time that these
agencies were coming in fulfilment of the prophecy.” 2
This was a direct reference to the prophecy of Christ that He would return
when His gospel was preached everywhere in the world.
Before 1804, the Bible had already been printed and circulated in fifty
languages. In 1816 the American Bible Society was formed. George Storrs in
the newspaper, Midnight Cry, on 4 May 1843, stated that these two societies
(British and American) with their innumerable branches were spreading the
Gospel of Christ in every part of the world.
G. S. Faber in Eight Dissertations, which was completed in the very year
of greatest prophetic fervour, 1844, declares: “The stupendous endeavours of
one gigantic community to convey the Scriptures in every language to every
part of the globe may well deserve to be considered as an eminent sign even of
these eventful times. Unless I be much mistaken, such
1 Year Book and Guide to East Africa, Ed. by Robert Hale Ltd., London, 1953, p.
44.
2 Our Day in the Light of Prophecy, Spicer, p. 308.
endeavours are preparatory to the final grand diffusion of Christianity, which is
the theme of so many inspired prophets, and which cannot be far distant in the
present day.’
M. H. Goyer writes in his book on prophetic fulfilment: “The British and
Foreign Bible Society (for one example) has issued, since its foundation in
1804, over 421 million copies of the Scriptures, in practically every country
known throughout the globe.”
In Our Day in the Light of Prophecy, Spicer wrote that the Gospel in his
day had been spread ‘to ninety-five per cent of the inhabitants of the earth.’ He
added: “It was in 1842 that five treaty-ports in China were open to commerce
and to missions—advance steps in the opening of all China to the Gospel. In
1844 Turkey was prevailed upon to recognise the right of the Moslems to
become Christians, reversing all Moslem tradition. In 1844 Alan Gardiner
established the South American Mission. In 1842 Livingstone’s determination
was formed to open the African interior.”
Dr A. T. Pierson in Modern Mission Century wrote: “India, Siam, Burma,
China, Japan, Turkey, Africa, Mexico, South America ... were successively
and successfully entered. Within five years, from 1853 to 1858, new facilities
were given to the entrance and occupation of seven different countries, together
embracing half the world’s population.”
There were many additional references which made it clear that the Gospel
of Christ, and its teachers, had entered every continent by the year 1844,
spreading the Word of Jesus the Christ throughout the world.
This was considered by the students of Scripture to be in exact fulfilment
of the words of Christ given in Mark:
“And the gospel must first be published among all nations.” 1
1 Mark 13:10.
In this same chapter, Christ warns that when this takes place:
“Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” 1
When this Gospel is published in all nations, Christ again promises:
“... then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great
power and glory.” 2
The millennial scholars of the 1840s felt that Christ’s first promise had
been fulfilled. They felt it had been clearly demonstrated that the Gospel of
Christ had been ‘preached in all the world for a witness’ and, therefore, the
hour for His coming must now be at hand.
I was convinced myself that the first promise of Christ had indeed been
fulfilled by the year 1844. There could be no doubt of this.
It was an interesting beginning.
The second promise
The second promise of Christ was just as easy to find. It was in the
twenty-first chapter of Luke. This promise was also made by Christ in reply to
a direct question asked by His disciples. They asked Him:
“... When shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these
things shall come to pass?”3
Christ warned them of false prophets in that day, who would bear His
name, then He gave them His second promise by which they could be sure of
His own return. He said:
“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall
1 Mark 13:33.
2 Mark 13:26.
3 Luke 21:7.
be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down
of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled ... And then
shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great
glory.” 1
The meaning of the term ‘times of the Gentiles’ was familiar and clear to
Scriptural scholars. I learned that it denoted that period of time during which
Jerusalem would be held in the power of aliens, non-Jews (or Gentiles), and
during which the Jews themselves would be excluded from their homeland.
In plain words, Christ promised that He would return to earth when the
Jews came back to their homeland following their period of banishment. Thus,
in the hour of their return, the ‘times of the Gentiles’ would be fulfilled.
I made a careful study of Christ’s second promise. The first part of it said:
“They shall be led away captive into all nations.” I found that within forty
years of His crucifixion, this part of His promise began its fulfilment.
Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman Titus, in AD 70, and the Jews were
scattered and exiled. The Jews tried to regain their freedom in AD 132 under
Bar Kochba, but they were crushed by the armies of the Roman Emperor
Hadrian. This time Jerusalem was devastated even more completely than it had
been by Titus. The site of the city was ploughed under and a new city, named
in honour of Hadrian, was built upon the ruins.
The Jews were banished. Many of them, exactly as had been foretold by
Christ, fell ‘by the edge of the sword’. They fled, scattered and were ‘led away
captive into all nations’.
It was permissible for colonists to enter Jerusalem, but it was a crime
punishable by death for a Jew to enter.
The Romans were the first aliens (Gentiles) after the time of Christ to
tread down the holy city of Jerusalem. The next
1 Luke 21:24–27.
aliens to seize and hold it captive were the Muslims. They conquered
Jerusalem in AD 637 and upon the foundation of the Temple of Solomon, they
raised the Mosque of Omar. During their period of occupation, Jews were
largely excluded from their homeland, the few remaining being proscribed.
The restriction came to end in the year 1844. Remarkable!
The famous Irish scholar and author, George Townshend writes, “... the
strict exclusion of the Jews from their own land enforced by the Muslims for
some twelve centuries was at last relaxed by the Edict of Toleration and the
‘times of the Gentiles’ were fulfilled.” 1
Townshend further points out that this document, the Edict of Toleration,
was issued by the governing authorities in the year 1844.
Worth Smith also mentions this Edict in his Miracle of the Ages. He
points out: “In the year of AD 1844 ... the (Muslims) under the leadership of
Turkey were compelled by the Western Powers, notably England, to grant
religious toleration to all (nations) within their borders.”
This included the Holy Land, Palestine. I was able to secure and study
copies of the original letters and documents that led to the signing of the so-
called Edict of Toleration in 1844. The Turkish Government agreed to permit
religious freedom and signed the document that guaranteed that ‘The Sublime
Porte (Constantinople) engages to take effectual measures to prevent
henceforward’ any further religious intolerance. For the first time in twelve
hundred years the Jews were guaranteed the right to return to Israel in freedom
and security. The date on this document was 21 March 1844.
Bickersteth in A Practical Guide to the Prophecies, wrote: “In a letter
from Tangiers, date 20 June 1844, given in the public journals, speaking of the
difficulties besetting the kingdom of Morocco, it is stated: ‘It seems that the
Moors
1 God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi, 1944 (Introduction by G. Townsend), p. iv.
(Muslims) have always had forebodings of this year. For a long time they have
been exhorting each other to beware of 1260 (1844) which according to our
reckoning is the present year’.”
These millennial scholars found strong confirmation in the New Testament
itself that 1844 was the year intended by Christ for the fulfilment of His second
promise concerning the ‘times of the Gentiles’. This confirmation came from
the Book of Revelation. In chapter eleven it states:
‘And the Holy City (Jerusalem) shall they tread under foot for forty and
two months.’
Thus, for the first time in the Scriptures, the exact duration of the ‘times of
the Gentiles’ is given. It will be for forty–two months. In the next verse of
Revelation this period of time is given in yet another way. It is said that it will
last for ‘1,260 days’.
Bible scholars insisted that the end of this period of forty–two months or
1,260 days was identical with the year 1844. This fascinated me, so I set down
their process of reasoning. They arrived at this conclusion by the following
deductions:
1. In the study of biblical prophecy, the period of time called a ‘day’
becomes a ‘year’ when calculating the passing of time:
2. This theory was supported by the following prophecies.
a) Numbers 14:34. “Even forty days, each day for a year.”
b) Ezekiel 4:6. “I have appointed thee each day for a year.”
There was general agreement on this formula.
In the compilation The Story of Prophecy by Henry James Forman, I found
the following: “... Biblical prophecy
students, after a scrutiny of the entire problem of Bible chronology, deduce the
following conclusions as virtually axiomatic—namely, that (1) ‘In symbolic
prophecy a day is the symbol for a year ...’”
On this same subject, F. Hudgings in his Zionism in Prophecy writes: “A
solar year, of course, contains a fraction over 365 days, but in computing
‘symbolic time’ as it is set forth in the Scripture, students of prophecy find that
the writers simply divided the year into 12 months of 30 days each. In other
words, a time or a year in Scriptural symbology refers to 360 solar years—each
day representing a year.”
Further study revealed that it was not such an arbitrary choice on the part
of these students of Scripture as might at first appear.
Their measuring rod was taken from the first book of the Bible, Genesis.
The axiom of 360 days for a year or a time was derived from the following
verses:
1. Genesis 7:11—The waters of the flood came on the 17 th day of the
second month.
2. Genesis 8:4—The waters abated and ceased on the 17 th day of the
seventh month.
3. Genesis 7:24:—The waters prevailed upon the earth 150 days.
From the 17 th day of the second month to the 17 th day of the seventh month
was exactly five months. These five months took exactly 150 days. Therefore,
they were five months of 30 days each. This, the scholars agreed, would make
a year of 360 days, or 12 months of 30 days.
Therefore, a day in calculating prophecy was a year of 360 days.
By using this accepted formula of a day for a year, the scholars calculated
that the Gentiles would tread the Holy City
(Jerusalem) under foot for 1,260 years. Therefore, the prophecy from
Revelation could now be read:
“And the Holy City (Jerusalem) shall they tread under foot for 1260
years.”
According to the second promise of Christ, these Gentiles (Romans-
Muslims) would tread the city underfoot until the hour of His return which
would be 1,260 years by the measurement of prophecy. During all that time,
the Jews would be banished from their own land. However, in the hour of
Christ’s return, the privilege of going home would be restored to them, and the
‘times of the Gentiles’ would be ended.
An examination of the calendar of the Muslims, who held the Holy City
captive, revealed to these millennial scholars an astonishing thing: The year
1,260 of the calendar of the Muslims coincided with the year 1844 of the
calendar of the Christians.
The year 1,260 given in Revelation as the time when the days of the
‘Gentiles’ would be ended and the Jews would be permitted to return to their
homeland, was the same year as that of 1844 when the Muslim rulers were
forced to sign the Edict of Toleration permitting the return of the Jews to Israel.
I began to understand the growing enthusiasm of the Bible scholars of the
1840s. Christ had promised that when the ‘times of the Gentiles’ was fulfilled,
He would come back to earth. To these students of Scripture, the second
promise of Christ was exactly fulfilled, and the date (1844) established without
question.
I was inclined to agree. This made me more eager than ever to test the
third and final promise.
The third promise
I found the third promise of Christ to be the most interest-
ing of all. It was given in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew.
The third promise was again given in direct answer to the questions of His
disciples:
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him
privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be
the sign of thy coming?” 1
Christ foretold that ‘iniquity would abound’ in that day, and that the ‘love
of many shall wax cold’; then He makes His third promise in these words:
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth let him
understand.)” 2
The chapters of Daniel which deal with this subject are those from eight to
twelve inclusive. These chapters (according to millennial scholars, as well as
my own research) foretell not only the second coming of Christ, but to my keen
interest, His first appearance as well.
It was this link between the first and the second coming of Christ which
give to these chapters of Daniel such great importance in the study of the
subject, and indeed this third promise was considered to be the most important
of the three.
In these chapters, Daniel prophesies that from the issuing of the decree to
rebuild Jerusalem, until the time when the Messiah shall be cut off (crucified)
there are appointed 70 weeks. Daniel gives this prophecy in two different
ways:
1. As 70 weeks.
2. As 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and one week; during which the Messiah
confirms the covenant.
However, both ways total up to 70 weeks or to 490 days. This becomes
490 years in prophecy with a day for a year.
1 Matthew 24:3.
2 Matthew 24:15.
In His first coming, it is prophesied that from the issuing of the decree to
His cutting off, or crucifixion, 490 years will pass. The important thing then
was for me to discover at what time the decree had been issued.
I found that there were four decrees to rebuild Jerusalem. They were as
follows:
1. Issued by Cyrus in the year 536 BC . This decree is recorded in the
first chapter of Ezra. It went unfulfilled.
2. Issued by Darius in the year 519 BC . This decree is recorded in the
sixth chapter of Ezra. It also went unfulfilled. Only the Temple was
rebuilt.
3. Issued by Artaxerxes in the seventh year of his reign in the year 457
BC . This is recorded in the seventh chapter of Ezra. It was fulfilled
by the fourth decree.
4. Issued by the same Artaxerxes in the year 444 BC . This is recorded in
the second chapter of Nehemiah. This decree fulfilled the third.
Most of the students of Scripture accepted the third decree of Artaxerxes
as the one referred to by Daniel. They reasoned that since the fourth decree
was merely an extension of the third, and was issued by the same king it was in
reality the same decree. Therefore, they favoured the decree issued in 457 BC .
With this knowledge, it was now possible to state the prophecy of Daniel
as follows: From the issuing of the decree of Artaxerxes in the year 457 BC
until the time of the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ, there would be appointed
(or pass) 70 weeks, 490 days—or in prophecy, 490 years.
Many Bible scholars merely subtracted the 457 from the 490. This gave
them 33 years. The Messiah (Christ) in His first coming would therefore be 33
years of age when He was cut off or slain.
I found that authorities differed widely as to the date of the birth of Christ,
as well as to the date of His death. According to the Gospels, His birth took
place before the death of Herod. Many historians calculated the death of Herod
to have taken place in the month of April in the year 4 BC . Some said it was
the year 5, some 6, some as early as the year 8 BC . Therefore, some of these
scholars maintained that Christ was only 28 or less at the time of His death.
Others give a different year and a different day. However, they all centre
around the period foretold by Daniel. Thus with amazing accuracy, Daniel had
given the time for the first coming of Christ. No wonder Jesus Himself was so
emphatic about Daniel’s prophecy concerning His second coming or return.
He told His disciples to ‘stand in the holy place’ when Daniel’s prophecy about
the ‘abomination of desolation’ was fulfilled. In that day He promised:
“... they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven ...” 1
I followed the pattern of the millennial scholars of the 1840s and carefully
examined Daniel’s prophecy concerning the ‘abomination of desolation’. His
exact words were:
“How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the
abomination of desolation, to give the sanctuary and the host to be trodden
under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred
days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” 2
Thus, Daniel prophesied that two thousand three hundred days (2,300)
would pass before the sanctuary would be cleansed. Following this time, all
things would be made pure again. Before this time, the people would have
fallen into a state of ‘abomination’ without love for God or man; then the
1 Matthew 24:30.
2 Daniel 8:13–14.
Messiah would appear and restore their Faith and the purity of their belief.
This was the general conclusion.
When would this take place? Daniel said it would come to pass in 2,300
days. In prophecy, this becomes 2,300 years.
Using the same frame of reference for the second coming, as was used for
the first coming (the decree of Artaxerxes), the Bible scholars made the
following calculations:
1. The decree was issued in 457. They subtracted 457 from 2,300 and
arrived at 1,843. Thus the year 1843, they said, would mark the
beginning of the end of the ‘abomination of desolation’.
2. Some scholars pointed out that from the issuing of the decree in 457
until the birth of Christ there were 456 years, not 457; therefore, it
was necessary to subtract 456 from 2,300. This left the year 1844.
Although many disputes arose as to the exact month, day, and hour, there
was a basic agreement among nearly all that Christ’s return must take place
between the years 1843 and 1845, with the year 1844 as the central point of
reference.
One group of Christian scholars worked out Daniel’s prophecy in the
greatest detail. They even built a special chart to show that Christ would return
in the middle of the year 1844. 1
E. P. Cachemaille, sometime scholar of Cambridge University, in a new
edition of H. G. Guinness’s book Light for the Last Days, maintains that this
book had been recognized for over thirty years as a standard work of
chronological prophecy. He quotes Guinness as saying the following about
Daniel’s prophecy: “The decree (Edict of Toleration) was published in the
1260 th year of the (Muslim) calendar. It is dated 21 March 1844. This date is
the first of Nisan in the Jewish year, and is exactly twenty three centuries
(2,300 years)
1 Bible Reading, Ed. Review and Herald Pub. Co. (Battle Creek, Michigan), p. 94.
from the first of Nisan, 457 BC , the day on which Ezra states that he left
Babylon in compliance with the decree given in the seventh year of the reign of
Artaxerxes.”
Thus the year 1844 was firmly established in their minds as the year for
the fulfilment of the third promise of Christ concerning Daniel’s prophecy.
I found that all three of Christ’s prophecies to His disciples had been
fulfilled exactly as He promised.
1. The Gospel had been preached in all the world for a witness.
2. The times of the Gentiles had been fulfilled.
3. The prophecy of Daniel given by Christ as the time to stand in the
holy place had come to pass.
Each of these prophecies had been fulfilled in the year 1844!
Thief in the Night by William Sears
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direct reply to their questions. They asked Him:
“Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy
coming, and of the end of the world?” 1
This verse is found in the twenty–fourth chapter of Matthew. Christ then
gave His disciples in the following words:
“But he that shall endure until the end, the same shall be saved. And this
gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness ...
then shall the end come.” 2
This was clear enough. The end would come, and Christ would return,
when His Gospel was preached throughout the world.
My next step was to discover when the Gospel of Christ was considered to
have been preached throughout the world.
A study of the spread of Christianity made by scholars of the 1840’s,
convinced them that the message of Christ had, by their day, already encircled
the globe. The Gospel was being taught in all the continents. By 1844 it was
being taught even in the interior of Africa, not by solitary missionaries, but on
an
1 Matthew 24:3.
2 Matthew 24:13–14.
organized scale. A commercial history of East Africa states: “Christian
missions began their activities amongst the African people in 1844.” 1
Dr D. L. Leonard, historian of the Mission movement, in his A Hundred
Years of Missions, says of the spread of the Word of Christ and His Gospel:
“... for the first time since the apostolic period, (there) occurred an outburst of
general missionary zeal and activity.”
He is speaking of the last years of the eighteenth century, leading to the
nineteenth century, to 1844, and beyond. “Beginning in Great Britain, it soon
spread to the Continent and across the Atlantic. It was no mere push of
fervour, but a mighty tide set in, which from that day to this has been steadily
rising and spreading.”
Another account states: “In 1804 the British and Foreign Bible Society
was organised. Students of the prophetic word felt at the time that these
agencies were coming in fulfilment of the prophecy.” 2
This was a direct reference to the prophecy of Christ that He would return
when His gospel was preached everywhere in the world.
Before 1804, the Bible had already been printed and circulated in fifty
languages. In 1816 the American Bible Society was formed. George Storrs in
the newspaper, Midnight Cry, on 4 May 1843, stated that these two societies
(British and American) with their innumerable branches were spreading the
Gospel of Christ in every part of the world.
G. S. Faber in Eight Dissertations, which was completed in the very year
of greatest prophetic fervour, 1844, declares: “The stupendous endeavours of
one gigantic community to convey the Scriptures in every language to every
part of the globe may well deserve to be considered as an eminent sign even of
these eventful times. Unless I be much mistaken, such
1 Year Book and Guide to East Africa, Ed. by Robert Hale Ltd., London, 1953, p.
44.
2 Our Day in the Light of Prophecy, Spicer, p. 308.
endeavours are preparatory to the final grand diffusion of Christianity, which is
the theme of so many inspired prophets, and which cannot be far distant in the
present day.’
M. H. Goyer writes in his book on prophetic fulfilment: “The British and
Foreign Bible Society (for one example) has issued, since its foundation in
1804, over 421 million copies of the Scriptures, in practically every country
known throughout the globe.”
In Our Day in the Light of Prophecy, Spicer wrote that the Gospel in his
day had been spread ‘to ninety-five per cent of the inhabitants of the earth.’ He
added: “It was in 1842 that five treaty-ports in China were open to commerce
and to missions—advance steps in the opening of all China to the Gospel. In
1844 Turkey was prevailed upon to recognise the right of the Moslems to
become Christians, reversing all Moslem tradition. In 1844 Alan Gardiner
established the South American Mission. In 1842 Livingstone’s determination
was formed to open the African interior.”
Dr A. T. Pierson in Modern Mission Century wrote: “India, Siam, Burma,
China, Japan, Turkey, Africa, Mexico, South America ... were successively
and successfully entered. Within five years, from 1853 to 1858, new facilities
were given to the entrance and occupation of seven different countries, together
embracing half the world’s population.”
There were many additional references which made it clear that the Gospel
of Christ, and its teachers, had entered every continent by the year 1844,
spreading the Word of Jesus the Christ throughout the world.
This was considered by the students of Scripture to be in exact fulfilment
of the words of Christ given in Mark:
“And the gospel must first be published among all nations.” 1
1 Mark 13:10.
In this same chapter, Christ warns that when this takes place:
“Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” 1
When this Gospel is published in all nations, Christ again promises:
“... then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great
power and glory.” 2
The millennial scholars of the 1840s felt that Christ’s first promise had
been fulfilled. They felt it had been clearly demonstrated that the Gospel of
Christ had been ‘preached in all the world for a witness’ and, therefore, the
hour for His coming must now be at hand.
I was convinced myself that the first promise of Christ had indeed been
fulfilled by the year 1844. There could be no doubt of this.
It was an interesting beginning.
The second promise
The second promise of Christ was just as easy to find. It was in the
twenty-first chapter of Luke. This promise was also made by Christ in reply to
a direct question asked by His disciples. They asked Him:
“... When shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these
things shall come to pass?”3
Christ warned them of false prophets in that day, who would bear His
name, then He gave them His second promise by which they could be sure of
His own return. He said:
“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall
1 Mark 13:33.
2 Mark 13:26.
3 Luke 21:7.
be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down
of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled ... And then
shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great
glory.” 1
The meaning of the term ‘times of the Gentiles’ was familiar and clear to
Scriptural scholars. I learned that it denoted that period of time during which
Jerusalem would be held in the power of aliens, non-Jews (or Gentiles), and
during which the Jews themselves would be excluded from their homeland.
In plain words, Christ promised that He would return to earth when the
Jews came back to their homeland following their period of banishment. Thus,
in the hour of their return, the ‘times of the Gentiles’ would be fulfilled.
I made a careful study of Christ’s second promise. The first part of it said:
“They shall be led away captive into all nations.” I found that within forty
years of His crucifixion, this part of His promise began its fulfilment.
Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman Titus, in AD 70, and the Jews were
scattered and exiled. The Jews tried to regain their freedom in AD 132 under
Bar Kochba, but they were crushed by the armies of the Roman Emperor
Hadrian. This time Jerusalem was devastated even more completely than it had
been by Titus. The site of the city was ploughed under and a new city, named
in honour of Hadrian, was built upon the ruins.
The Jews were banished. Many of them, exactly as had been foretold by
Christ, fell ‘by the edge of the sword’. They fled, scattered and were ‘led away
captive into all nations’.
It was permissible for colonists to enter Jerusalem, but it was a crime
punishable by death for a Jew to enter.
The Romans were the first aliens (Gentiles) after the time of Christ to
tread down the holy city of Jerusalem. The next
1 Luke 21:24–27.
aliens to seize and hold it captive were the Muslims. They conquered
Jerusalem in AD 637 and upon the foundation of the Temple of Solomon, they
raised the Mosque of Omar. During their period of occupation, Jews were
largely excluded from their homeland, the few remaining being proscribed.
The restriction came to end in the year 1844. Remarkable!
The famous Irish scholar and author, George Townshend writes, “... the
strict exclusion of the Jews from their own land enforced by the Muslims for
some twelve centuries was at last relaxed by the Edict of Toleration and the
‘times of the Gentiles’ were fulfilled.” 1
Townshend further points out that this document, the Edict of Toleration,
was issued by the governing authorities in the year 1844.
Worth Smith also mentions this Edict in his Miracle of the Ages. He
points out: “In the year of AD 1844 ... the (Muslims) under the leadership of
Turkey were compelled by the Western Powers, notably England, to grant
religious toleration to all (nations) within their borders.”
This included the Holy Land, Palestine. I was able to secure and study
copies of the original letters and documents that led to the signing of the so-
called Edict of Toleration in 1844. The Turkish Government agreed to permit
religious freedom and signed the document that guaranteed that ‘The Sublime
Porte (Constantinople) engages to take effectual measures to prevent
henceforward’ any further religious intolerance. For the first time in twelve
hundred years the Jews were guaranteed the right to return to Israel in freedom
and security. The date on this document was 21 March 1844.
Bickersteth in A Practical Guide to the Prophecies, wrote: “In a letter
from Tangiers, date 20 June 1844, given in the public journals, speaking of the
difficulties besetting the kingdom of Morocco, it is stated: ‘It seems that the
Moors
1 God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi, 1944 (Introduction by G. Townsend), p. iv.
(Muslims) have always had forebodings of this year. For a long time they have
been exhorting each other to beware of 1260 (1844) which according to our
reckoning is the present year’.”
These millennial scholars found strong confirmation in the New Testament
itself that 1844 was the year intended by Christ for the fulfilment of His second
promise concerning the ‘times of the Gentiles’. This confirmation came from
the Book of Revelation. In chapter eleven it states:
‘And the Holy City (Jerusalem) shall they tread under foot for forty and
two months.’
Thus, for the first time in the Scriptures, the exact duration of the ‘times of
the Gentiles’ is given. It will be for forty–two months. In the next verse of
Revelation this period of time is given in yet another way. It is said that it will
last for ‘1,260 days’.
Bible scholars insisted that the end of this period of forty–two months or
1,260 days was identical with the year 1844. This fascinated me, so I set down
their process of reasoning. They arrived at this conclusion by the following
deductions:
1. In the study of biblical prophecy, the period of time called a ‘day’
becomes a ‘year’ when calculating the passing of time:
2. This theory was supported by the following prophecies.
a) Numbers 14:34. “Even forty days, each day for a year.”
b) Ezekiel 4:6. “I have appointed thee each day for a year.”
There was general agreement on this formula.
In the compilation The Story of Prophecy by Henry James Forman, I found
the following: “... Biblical prophecy
students, after a scrutiny of the entire problem of Bible chronology, deduce the
following conclusions as virtually axiomatic—namely, that (1) ‘In symbolic
prophecy a day is the symbol for a year ...’”
On this same subject, F. Hudgings in his Zionism in Prophecy writes: “A
solar year, of course, contains a fraction over 365 days, but in computing
‘symbolic time’ as it is set forth in the Scripture, students of prophecy find that
the writers simply divided the year into 12 months of 30 days each. In other
words, a time or a year in Scriptural symbology refers to 360 solar years—each
day representing a year.”
Further study revealed that it was not such an arbitrary choice on the part
of these students of Scripture as might at first appear.
Their measuring rod was taken from the first book of the Bible, Genesis.
The axiom of 360 days for a year or a time was derived from the following
verses:
1. Genesis 7:11—The waters of the flood came on the 17 th day of the
second month.
2. Genesis 8:4—The waters abated and ceased on the 17 th day of the
seventh month.
3. Genesis 7:24:—The waters prevailed upon the earth 150 days.
From the 17 th day of the second month to the 17 th day of the seventh month
was exactly five months. These five months took exactly 150 days. Therefore,
they were five months of 30 days each. This, the scholars agreed, would make
a year of 360 days, or 12 months of 30 days.
Therefore, a day in calculating prophecy was a year of 360 days.
By using this accepted formula of a day for a year, the scholars calculated
that the Gentiles would tread the Holy City
(Jerusalem) under foot for 1,260 years. Therefore, the prophecy from
Revelation could now be read:
“And the Holy City (Jerusalem) shall they tread under foot for 1260
years.”
According to the second promise of Christ, these Gentiles (Romans-
Muslims) would tread the city underfoot until the hour of His return which
would be 1,260 years by the measurement of prophecy. During all that time,
the Jews would be banished from their own land. However, in the hour of
Christ’s return, the privilege of going home would be restored to them, and the
‘times of the Gentiles’ would be ended.
An examination of the calendar of the Muslims, who held the Holy City
captive, revealed to these millennial scholars an astonishing thing: The year
1,260 of the calendar of the Muslims coincided with the year 1844 of the
calendar of the Christians.
The year 1,260 given in Revelation as the time when the days of the
‘Gentiles’ would be ended and the Jews would be permitted to return to their
homeland, was the same year as that of 1844 when the Muslim rulers were
forced to sign the Edict of Toleration permitting the return of the Jews to Israel.
I began to understand the growing enthusiasm of the Bible scholars of the
1840s. Christ had promised that when the ‘times of the Gentiles’ was fulfilled,
He would come back to earth. To these students of Scripture, the second
promise of Christ was exactly fulfilled, and the date (1844) established without
question.
I was inclined to agree. This made me more eager than ever to test the
third and final promise.
The third promise
I found the third promise of Christ to be the most interest-
ing of all. It was given in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew.
The third promise was again given in direct answer to the questions of His
disciples:
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him
privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be
the sign of thy coming?” 1
Christ foretold that ‘iniquity would abound’ in that day, and that the ‘love
of many shall wax cold’; then He makes His third promise in these words:
“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by
Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth let him
understand.)” 2
The chapters of Daniel which deal with this subject are those from eight to
twelve inclusive. These chapters (according to millennial scholars, as well as
my own research) foretell not only the second coming of Christ, but to my keen
interest, His first appearance as well.
It was this link between the first and the second coming of Christ which
give to these chapters of Daniel such great importance in the study of the
subject, and indeed this third promise was considered to be the most important
of the three.
In these chapters, Daniel prophesies that from the issuing of the decree to
rebuild Jerusalem, until the time when the Messiah shall be cut off (crucified)
there are appointed 70 weeks. Daniel gives this prophecy in two different
ways:
1. As 70 weeks.
2. As 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and one week; during which the Messiah
confirms the covenant.
However, both ways total up to 70 weeks or to 490 days. This becomes
490 years in prophecy with a day for a year.
1 Matthew 24:3.
2 Matthew 24:15.
In His first coming, it is prophesied that from the issuing of the decree to
His cutting off, or crucifixion, 490 years will pass. The important thing then
was for me to discover at what time the decree had been issued.
I found that there were four decrees to rebuild Jerusalem. They were as
follows:
1. Issued by Cyrus in the year 536 BC . This decree is recorded in the
first chapter of Ezra. It went unfulfilled.
2. Issued by Darius in the year 519 BC . This decree is recorded in the
sixth chapter of Ezra. It also went unfulfilled. Only the Temple was
rebuilt.
3. Issued by Artaxerxes in the seventh year of his reign in the year 457
BC . This is recorded in the seventh chapter of Ezra. It was fulfilled
by the fourth decree.
4. Issued by the same Artaxerxes in the year 444 BC . This is recorded in
the second chapter of Nehemiah. This decree fulfilled the third.
Most of the students of Scripture accepted the third decree of Artaxerxes
as the one referred to by Daniel. They reasoned that since the fourth decree
was merely an extension of the third, and was issued by the same king it was in
reality the same decree. Therefore, they favoured the decree issued in 457 BC .
With this knowledge, it was now possible to state the prophecy of Daniel
as follows: From the issuing of the decree of Artaxerxes in the year 457 BC
until the time of the crucifixion of Jesus the Christ, there would be appointed
(or pass) 70 weeks, 490 days—or in prophecy, 490 years.
Many Bible scholars merely subtracted the 457 from the 490. This gave
them 33 years. The Messiah (Christ) in His first coming would therefore be 33
years of age when He was cut off or slain.
I found that authorities differed widely as to the date of the birth of Christ,
as well as to the date of His death. According to the Gospels, His birth took
place before the death of Herod. Many historians calculated the death of Herod
to have taken place in the month of April in the year 4 BC . Some said it was
the year 5, some 6, some as early as the year 8 BC . Therefore, some of these
scholars maintained that Christ was only 28 or less at the time of His death.
Others give a different year and a different day. However, they all centre
around the period foretold by Daniel. Thus with amazing accuracy, Daniel had
given the time for the first coming of Christ. No wonder Jesus Himself was so
emphatic about Daniel’s prophecy concerning His second coming or return.
He told His disciples to ‘stand in the holy place’ when Daniel’s prophecy about
the ‘abomination of desolation’ was fulfilled. In that day He promised:
“... they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven ...” 1
I followed the pattern of the millennial scholars of the 1840s and carefully
examined Daniel’s prophecy concerning the ‘abomination of desolation’. His
exact words were:
“How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the
abomination of desolation, to give the sanctuary and the host to be trodden
under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred
days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” 2
Thus, Daniel prophesied that two thousand three hundred days (2,300)
would pass before the sanctuary would be cleansed. Following this time, all
things would be made pure again. Before this time, the people would have
fallen into a state of ‘abomination’ without love for God or man; then the
1 Matthew 24:30.
2 Daniel 8:13–14.
Messiah would appear and restore their Faith and the purity of their belief.
This was the general conclusion.
When would this take place? Daniel said it would come to pass in 2,300
days. In prophecy, this becomes 2,300 years.
Using the same frame of reference for the second coming, as was used for
the first coming (the decree of Artaxerxes), the Bible scholars made the
following calculations:
1. The decree was issued in 457. They subtracted 457 from 2,300 and
arrived at 1,843. Thus the year 1843, they said, would mark the
beginning of the end of the ‘abomination of desolation’.
2. Some scholars pointed out that from the issuing of the decree in 457
until the birth of Christ there were 456 years, not 457; therefore, it
was necessary to subtract 456 from 2,300. This left the year 1844.
Although many disputes arose as to the exact month, day, and hour, there
was a basic agreement among nearly all that Christ’s return must take place
between the years 1843 and 1845, with the year 1844 as the central point of
reference.
One group of Christian scholars worked out Daniel’s prophecy in the
greatest detail. They even built a special chart to show that Christ would return
in the middle of the year 1844. 1
E. P. Cachemaille, sometime scholar of Cambridge University, in a new
edition of H. G. Guinness’s book Light for the Last Days, maintains that this
book had been recognized for over thirty years as a standard work of
chronological prophecy. He quotes Guinness as saying the following about
Daniel’s prophecy: “The decree (Edict of Toleration) was published in the
1260 th year of the (Muslim) calendar. It is dated 21 March 1844. This date is
the first of Nisan in the Jewish year, and is exactly twenty three centuries
(2,300 years)
1 Bible Reading, Ed. Review and Herald Pub. Co. (Battle Creek, Michigan), p. 94.
from the first of Nisan, 457 BC , the day on which Ezra states that he left
Babylon in compliance with the decree given in the seventh year of the reign of
Artaxerxes.”
Thus the year 1844 was firmly established in their minds as the year for
the fulfilment of the third promise of Christ concerning Daniel’s prophecy.
I found that all three of Christ’s prophecies to His disciples had been
fulfilled exactly as He promised.
1. The Gospel had been preached in all the world for a witness.
2. The times of the Gentiles had been fulfilled.
3. The prophecy of Daniel given by Christ as the time to stand in the
holy place had come to pass.
Each of these prophecies had been fulfilled in the year 1844!
Thief in the Night by William Sears
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Member
Having the disciples asked JESUS :
1 - what would be the signs of the END of the world? ;
2 - and the signs of His COMING; ?
The signs of JESUS's coming are clearly perceived by the events and sufferings / sorrows caused by them in the whole world.
jESUS listed the happenings / events as the beginning of sorrows and signs of His coming, as follows, and they are LITERALLY fulfilling:
- 1- Appearance and manifestation of false Christs/messiah ; (this event will still happen according João 5:43 combined with Revelation 13:11)
- 2- Wars and rumours of war ; (this is fulfilling LITERALY)
- 3- nation shall rise against nation ;
- 4- and kingdom against kingdom; (Kingdom of GOD X Kingdom of Devil - Revelation 11:15 and 12:7-12- Take a look.) ;
- 5- famines ;
- 6- pestilences ; and
- 7- earthquakes in divers places.
- 8- all these are the beginning of sorrows. ( (Yes, these are the beginning of sorrows and in continuation the everlasting punishment, yes, for ever)
JESUS warned. Take heed that no man deceive you. (this was the first concerns of JESUS). It seems that many have not kept this warning of JESUS and are being deceived by false and devilish theories and false interpretations of the Word of GOD spread in the world, mainly through internet. Check it in 2Corinthians 11:13-15.
It is necessary to seek discernment of spirit, as says the Word of GOD. "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of GOD: because many false prophets (false preachers of the Word of GOD-the TAIL of the red Dragon-Isaiah 9:15-16) are gone out into the world.
And in addition to the false preachers of the Word of God, an esoteric and kabbalistic and SPIRITIST false messiah will also manifest itself-Revelation 13:11-14 combined with John 5:43-47)- , perhaps in this current or next year, and will easily deceive the world through his great signs of lies . (2 Thes.2:3-4 and 9).
Be careful or then get ready
P. Script
Has eternal punishment begun? Will be?
In fact it is LITERALLY already running.It's very hard to understand and to say, but the Truth is that we have entered in the period of sorrows, a time of great sufferings until the END of this current world, and of the coming of JESUS. There shall be upon the earth distress of nations, and men's hearts failing them for fear looking those things which are coming on the earth. - Luke 21:25-28.
Be sure that the ETERNAL punishment had a specific and pre-determined time to start (this time arrived), I MUST tell it has already started, the question is that it will NEVER END, it will NEVER STOP, it will be for ever ande ever. Get ready.
Active
No sign was given as to the last day. The lord desires we walk by faith(the unseen things of God).
He calls those who seek after signs before they believe rather than prophecy an evil generation they look to the temporal things seen not the unseen eternal things of God
Wars and rumors of wars etc has been going on from the beginning of the fall . On the last day the Spirit of Christ that works in those born from above will leave like a thief in the night And the new heavens and earth will come into view . The former things of this corrupted world will not be remembered or ever come to mind forever more.
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ABOUT GOD, GOD THE FATHER
First of all, the Word is GOD, is Self-executing, understand? No man has seen GOD at any time - GOD is Spirit - , the only begotten Son, which was in the bosom of the Father, he has declared Him. In His prayer to the Father, JESUS said: "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was -John 17:5.
HERE'S THE EXPRESS IMAGE OF GOD THE FATHER
Hebrews 1: 1-3
1 GOD, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these LAST DAYS (last two days or 2000 years) spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of His glory, and the EXPRESS IMAGE of his Person (Person of GOD-the Word), and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
JESUS said: All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth-Matthew 28:18.
Well, your opinions, and imaginations are not able and have not power to replace what JESUS preached revealing about the signs of his coming, and also of the signs of the END of the current world of Devil.
What matters and prevails is what JESUS said. According your words, your thinking is from a human perspective, not from GOD's perspective.
Active
Wars and rumors of wars marrying and given into marriage etc (history repeating itself) has been going on since the fall . No sign was given to the last day. we walk by faith the eternal not after the temporal under the sun.
Jesus said it's a evil generation (natural un-converted mankind that does seek after a sign before they will believe in a God not seen .The last the sign of Jonas The three day an nights demonstration was fulfilled with the son of man Jesus .
Signs and wonders for unbelievers . . .prophecy for those who do believe God has spoken.
Wondering remain wondering not believing .Believing is as a anchor to ones soul as a law.
Matthew 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
Luke 11:29 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
Loyal
I'm wondering if you've ever seen a rainbow?
Gen 9:13; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
Gen 9:14; "It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,
Gen 9:16; "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
Member
Member
I work with the Word of GOD, the Word is GOD, understand? and self-executing.
What did JESUS said?
Likewise, when ye shall SEE all these things to happen, know that it is near, even at the doors-Matthew 24:33. (What is your intention in contradict JESUS?)
Now learn the parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. The material things are figures of spiritual things, the parables of the LORD is a good example.
JESUS came unto His own, and His own received Him not-John 1:11. Do you know the why they received not JESUS, the true Messiah? They received not JESUS because they (His own) were an EVIL generation, and JESUS spoke right to their face: "Ye serpents, ye GENERATION of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Woe unto you, hypocrites!" I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come ALL THE RIGHTEOUS BLOOD shed upon the earth, from the blood of RIGHTEOUS ABEL unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this GENERATION. (evil generation)
Why does the righteous blood of Abel may fall upon the EVIL generation as JESUS said? Aren't they generation of Cain, who was of Devil,-1John 3:12- even the one who killed Abel?
I work with the Word of GOD, the Word is GOD, is sefl-executing. There are many signs, by your testimony it seems you know not them, your lamp is going out, or went out completely, and are walking in darkness, after all it's midnight on GOD's clock.
About signs JESUS said: Luke 17:26-30
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the Day -the LORD's Day- when the Son of man is revealed.
Mathhew 24 - Many signs
Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
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.
For nation shall rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom:
and there shall be famines,
and pestilences,
and earthquakes in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows. (After, in continuation, the everlasting punishment)
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you:
and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
And then shall many be offended,
and shall betray one another,
and shall hate one another.
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. - Aleluia!!!
And this gospel OF THE KINGDOM shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; AND THEN SHALL THE END COME.
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms OF THIS WORLD are become the kingdoms of our LORD, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever - Revelation 11:15, and the NATIONS WILL BE ANGRY-Revelation 11:18
Active
Yes, near . . . . . . . still the same nearness . The literal last day will come like a thief in the night .
The word thousand is a metaphor used in parables .
Revelation (1; 1) the signified understanding of parables. Parable are not absence.Eithout them Christ spoke not. .
Thousand years a unknown .God desires we walk by faith (Christ in us) after the unseen things of God . the signified understanding called hidden manna in 2:17 .the Amil no literal thousand years.
Revelation 1 King James Version verse 1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Not just sent as a literal translation .
Active
That is in reference to the last sign as a wonder. Jesus said its a adultress generation that does seek after sign to wonder after (wondering is not believing) .
It is why I think Jesus said to Nicodemus a Pharisee a sign and wonder seeker .Marvel not .
Marvling or wondering is a design of the father of lies .The wonder in regard to Jonas became sight during the three days and night demonstration with the son of man Jesus..
Signs and wonder are to the whole unbelieving world .Prophecy to those who believe yoked with Christ.
Just like in Egypt a metaphor to represent the whole world . The believers were trusting the prophecy that spoke of 400 years later . the unbelieving world had no use for the unseen things of God prophecy (called them fools)
God moved the by fullfiling the sign killing their first born again literally moved them out of the way.
Exodus 4:5-8 That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. (dead)And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; (born again )and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign