[freeman4]

Interpretation.

The Old Testament is replete with prophecies that predict the future millennial reign of Christ on Earth. Before we proceed with our study here, it would be profitable for us to look at a few from an Old Testament prophet that had a great deal to say about Christ’s millennial reign … the prophet Isaiah. He said,

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor decide by the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his waist. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek him, and his resting place shall be glorious. It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth. Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim. But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; together they shall plunder the people of the East; they shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; and the people of Ammon shall obey them. The LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; with his mighty wind he will shake his fist over the River, and strike it in the seven streams, and make men cross over dry-shod. There will be a highway for the remnant of his people who will be left from Assyria, as it was for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt. Isaiah 11

I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, that they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. Isaiah 41:18-20

For the LORD will comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Isaiah 51:3

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Isaiah 55:13

Zechariah 14:3­4,

Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and the half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

It shall come to pass in that day that the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his elders, gloriously. Isaiah 24:21-23

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? First Corinthians 6:2

I am sorry If you do not understand this, Like I said I just present what I do but God is the one who has to open the mind to understand.

I have given much scriptural information, I can do more.

[Wondergirl]

Interpretation.

The Old Testament is replete with prophecies that predict the future millennial reign of Christ on Earth. Before we proceed with our study here

Instead of all these copies-and-pastes, I would really appreciate it if you wrote from your own knowledge and heart like the rest of us do. I will not read long paragraphs of copied stuff, but will avidly read the honest and well-thought-out musings and questions and beliefs of the members on this site.

[classyT]

WG,

I agree. Freeman just talk to us.

I actually do believe the Lord will rule and reign for 1000 years. I believe Satan will be thrown in the abyss. And he will be let out towards the end, there will be many that follow him. Are we on the same page on this part?

[Wondergirl]

Are we on the same page on this part?

I'm on a different page. Are we choosing up teams? ;)

[classyT]

WG...
LOL... well I get to pick who is on my team. Freeman, sorry dude you haven't made the cut. I know you feel the same. It's all good.

But I am curious Freeman, how long have you been interested in Jesus, end times...

[N0help4u]

Revelation's prophecies are over and done with.

For instance, regarding Nero, Dwashbur's answer in the now-closed 666 thread was this: "In Hebrew, the name NRWN KSR numerically adds up to six hundred sixty-six. Thing is, a lot of manuscripts of Revelation read six hundred sixteen Why? Because there's an alternate spelling of the above name, based on Latin pronunciation rather than Greek or Hebrew. It comes out NRW KSR. That adds up to six hundred sixteen. So we know where that variant reading came from. When we fill in the vowels we get:

NERO CAESAR.

This is the "beast" of Revelation whose number was 666. As WG said, this stuff already happened. There is no future "antichrist" with this number coming in the future, he's already been here and done his thing and passed off the scene. Nero slaughtered Christians, was responsible for the execution of Paul and probably also of Peter, and nobody knows how many other innocent believers. From John's perspective, he was truly the raging beast described so symbolically in chapter 13."

The Bible says, there will be many antichrists but in the end THE antichrist. The Bible says that in the end times knowledge will increase, knowledge is increasing in the past century more than it ever did. Revelation also says there will be a one world government and many other things that have not happened. There is no way Revelation was fulfilled in Nero's day. Many antichrists before THE antichrist ----Hitlers name adds up to 666 as well as many other rulers.

[Wondergirl]

The Bible says, there will be many antichrists but in the end THE antichrist. The Bible says that in the end times knowledge will increase

Where in the Bible?

[N0help4u]

SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST

[freeman4]

Yes, we are on the same page. I am not really understanding what some want. I give my intake on something, that is not good enough, then I do what they want and give scripture and they do not want that. I am confused as to what some do want. I could and do explain it in my own words and that is not good enough. I give up.

But you are seeing what I am talking about.

[classyT]

Freeman,

My man! Yes.. just speak from what you believe. I am not sure anyone is reading the copy and paste stuff.

Well, so far we are on the same page. I am a Christian, probably accepted Jesus before I was 4. I don't know when I did. I was young. I don't know that we believe exactly the same but at least we are on common ground.

So... if I were to ask you... what must I do to be saved from hell? What would be your answer? In your own words from your own heart without trying to patronize.

[dwashbur]

The Bible says, there will be many antichrists but in the end THE antichrist.

Show me where. John's letters talk about many antichrists, but why did he mention it?

"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour."

They had heard that "THE antichrist" was coming; John corrects this misperception by telling them that there are many antichrists, not just one. There is no "THE antichrist." John wrote this verse specifically to counter that notion.

Also, I would love for anyone to show me a single place where the 666 character is called "antichrist."

And for those who think the whole thousand year thing is literal: a thousand years as measured by what? 365 day years? What about leap years? Suppose it turned out to be 999 years and 364 days; does that mean the Bible was wrong? Is it measured by the Gregorian calendar or the Jewish calendar? Or maybe the Julian?

Anyone who thinks anything in Revelation was meant to be interpreted literally knows zilch about actual biblical interpretation. And that includes the hacks who write books and make movies to tickle people's ears while separating them from their money.

[N0help4u]

My only point is HOW can anybody believe that the Book Of
Revelation WAS already fulfilled IN Neros day?

[freeman4]

I am 74 years old and have been a Christian for 40 years. I was a devout church goer from a protestant Church for some time. I was electrocuted with 7, 200 Volt of Electricity will I was working in the oil field.

God saved me from this with no physical injuries at all. I started searching the Bible for answers. If God was God I wanted to know. I searched and I searched and I begin to see some things which God was revealing to me and found that some others had the same insight as I.

You can not just look at something and say, boy, that is too much to read, I am satisfied with what I have and go on. God expects one to search Him out, not to just say I accept you God and that is it.

You see, I know who I am and what God has in store for me. And that is to help in giving out what I have and I will continue even through death if I have to.

God will not verbally give His warnings, he has some who will do that for Him. He said if those who know do not give warning they would be in danger from Him.

What danger our Nation is heading for is not being given and will surprise many very soon. I will continue to do what I do.

[dwashbur]

My only point is HOW can anybody believe that the Book Of
Revelation WAS already fulfilled IN Neros day?

We get that by reading it the way it was intended to be read. The biggest problem with people reading Revelation today is, they keep making the mistake of trying to read it literally. This type of book was never meant to be read that way. It's symbolic from the first word to the last. We know this for an established fact, because we have other writings from the same period that are just as symbolic, use fantastic imagery, and basically read like a bad mushroom trip.

Why would they write like this? To protect themselves. You encode the empire's despotic activities in mythical language with symbols like different colored horses, monsters like frogs, multi-eyed creatures rising from the sea, images of them being overthrown by an invasion from the sky, and a nice round figure - a thousand years - to illustrate that the good guys will win in the end. About the only thing that's really literal in that book is the word "John." And since in chapter 4 he goes into a trance, even that might not be literal.

When we read it with a view to decoding the symbolism and what it would have meant to John and his listeners, we can see where the images fit with historical personages such as Nero. The 666 thing was a common device for saying "This guy is a major jerk, but if I say it out loud he'll have me beheaded, so I'm going to encode it. You guys all know what I mean." We know beyond any doubt that this was how they did such things in John's day. There is no reason, not a single one, to suspect that John was doing something different when he wrote Revelation.

That's how we understand that it was fulfilled around John's time. John saw the beast, Nero, rise and persecute the church, including the execution of Paul. He also saw Nero's downfall and the introduction of more moderate emperors, and a lot of other stuff that we can match up with the imagery in Revelation. It's right there it you throw off the phony chains of literalism and read it the way he wrote it.

[freeman4]

I am going to be like others on here, where do you get such foolish information? You must believe in fairy tails. I know you do not believe this but what is happening in Egypt will spread to our Nation and soon. And it will be real, not symbolism.

[dwashbur]

I am going to be like others on here, where do you get such foolish information? You must believe in fairy tails.

Actually, I wasn't aware that fairies had tails. (Sorry, I couldn't resist. I think you mean "tales.") Where did I get it? History. The earliest Christians interpreted it this way, and there is really an unbroken line of interpretation that sees the book just this way. Confusion over all the absurd symbolism is one of the reasons that Revelation almost didn't make it into the canon. So-called literal interpretation, with all of its concomitant speculation about "current events" in every generation since the idea arose, is a relatively new idea. And once again, if we go with the style that John used, and what we already know about apocalyptic literature of the time, interpreting it literally is WRONG. That's basic historic fact. You are welcome to call it "fairy tails" if you wish, but you just undermine your own position by appealing to unfounded literalism.

Everybody wants to believe their generation is the one where all the big stuff will happen. It might be, or it might not. The symbols and all, as well as Jesus' own forecasts, are vague enough that any generation can find parallels in the imagery. That doesn't make any of it correct; in fact, one could argue that the note of desperation in the dispensationalists' and other literalists' arguments suggest that they are stretching the evidence as much as they dare in order to find parallels. The problem is, pretty much in every case, the parallels are more imagined than real.

I don't care about end-times speculation. I have my hands full trying to live my Christianity in the here and now. Idle speculation about the future has a way of elbowing out the more important matters of the faith, and I've had enough of that.

[freeman4]

I am glad for you.

[classyT]

WG and Dave,

Come ON! Quit giving Nohelp a hard time. NO. John never said there would be many antichrist in revelation... JESUS said there would be many who claimed to be the Christ. I believe THAT is what she refers to. I don't know for sure... but I assume. JESUS warns against people who say they ARE the Christ... they aren't.
John talks about in his first epistle of anti-Christ and the spirit of anti Christ.
And the spirit is here and now... it always has been here since Christ but it is worse. Jesus was a rejected man on earth.. he still is. You can say God but say the name of Jesus and people are offended. Thus the spirit of antichrist.

HOWEVER.. there is coming and probably he lives today ONE that claims to BE God. He will cause everyone to take the mark of the beast on his left hand or his forehead. Without this mark no man can buy or sell. If a person will not bow to him as God his head will be cut off. Are you telling me that NERO fulfilled this prophecy? Please. I don't THINK so.

[Wondergirl]

WG and Dave,

Come ON! quit giving Nohelp a hard time.

I'm not giving N0 a hard time. I simply asked a question 24 hours ago, and it still hasn't been answered. Where does the Bible say there is going to be ONE anti-Christ in our time?

[classyT]

WG..

Oooh oooh let me answer.. it doesn't.

I just like nohelp.. she is sweet.