I know that I have make my thoughts known about this general subject before, and it was generally panned at the time. But I thought that on this rare visit I would say something about it again. But before I do, I must say that I do not deny prophecy, but what it is saying, whether literal or metaphorical, is really not so clear.
I'm clearly not going through all that has gone before, but the button that is supposed to take me to the post after the last one I read (a couple of months ago) took me to the last post instead.
From Nell (from two posts):
Quote:
#242:
Coming soon: New version of the Internet WEB3
Already here: Cryptocurrency
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#243:
In recent years a group of western Christians known as Boneh Israel has been working with officials from the Temple Institute to search for a perfect red heifer. A red heifer is necessary if Temple sacrifices are to be reinstituted, but one hasn't been seen in Israel for more than 2,000 years.
This is something that I have written about a few times over the years, because it directly relates to end times prophecies. For a long time, the search for a perfect red heifer seemed to be going nowhere, but now all of that has changed.
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(I note that the portion in #243 was not Nell's words.)
First, for all the potential lawlessness of a decentralized, blockchain internet, it is not evidence of the return of Christ. Man has been lawless since the fall. We may think we have gotten better, but not really. It is too often just hiding behind masks of civility.
Second, cryptocurrency? As a major bank CEO has recently said, it is a ponzi scheme. Whether he is right or not, it is too volatile to be the decentralized currency that the Wiki article discusses. Besides, what would it have to do with the end times that dollars, pounds sterling, or any other currency cannot do?
Red heifers? Maybe a red herring? Do we think that the sacrificial system cannot be begun, ended, and begun again before the actual return of Christ? We saw the 6-day war in 1967 as a “clear sign” of the return of Christ before the end of the generation. Well, it has been 55 years and those of us in our 60s and even 70s would not have been the “generation” that would not pass away. That generation is rapidly disappearing. Reading one prophecy as types and another as literal facts that can be followed with mathematical certainty is not a sound method of interpretation.
From Unregistered:
Quote:
The story link about the red heifers has no sources. It seems to be worded in a way common to conspiracy theory articles (or even advertising clickbait): It titillates with emotionally-laden possibilities. But it has no reliable sourcing of claims made. There is nothing verifiable. That is a red flag.
What brings the Lord back will not be the saints on jittery all-night internet rapture watch. It will be the saints choosing instead to watch in prayer, in bearing fruit, by gaining the oil. If we gained believers by excitement, we would lose them quickly. (Embarrassingly, I've had lots of experience bringing in college students who get excited at love feasts or conferences in the LR, we see them standing and shouting and calling on the Lord, their faces glowing. Wow!...and we never see them again).
This kind of thinking, that is, jumping to conclusions when we see an event that sounds similar to what we want to see, is not clear thinking. . . .
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You are onto something here. Whether we can actively do anything that hastens the return of Christ is uncertain. But going up to mountain tops dressed in white, or congregating on the web in prayer, is not it. The former has occurred too many times with no results (except the creation of yet another Christian sect).
But the notions of bearing fruit and gaining oil are not a lot clearer. What is bearing fruit? The metaphor would suggest that it is not simply more branches for the vine, yet what we call fruit is too often just that. And as to oil, is “gaining more oil” a function in seeking oil, or is it the result of entirely non-oil related “activities?” Sort of like teaching “God’s economy” v teaching a host of right things that result in God’s economy. (That would be the logical analysis of that passage written to Timothy. Bad teachings result in discord while good teachings result in God’s economy.) The commandments on us are not “gain more oil.” They are love God and your neighbor as yourself; live justly; and so on. Is this more likely the source of oil?
And no matter what the answers rightly are, is it more important to seek to be certain about the actual timing of the return of Christ, or to live the kingdom life that was commanded of us? Which will better set us up for that time?