[OBW]

I decided that yet another unwanted post in the thread on prophecy and the end times would just be placed here.

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I guess my actual question is not clear enough. Let me restate it.

Do you read Revelation to figure out how things may be pointing to the end times, or do you recognize that the end times are always "at the door"? That the world is always inundated with darkness and the gospel is always moving into that darkness? That the time of reckoning for each of us is uncertain and could be either many years in the future, or before we would otherwise lay our heads down to sleep for the night? Do we live as if that judgment seat that we will stand before is not necessarily years away, but possibly only moments?

If that is your understanding. If the otherwise nondescript day is actually your portal into what is to come, or alternately, just one of many on that road. In view of all of that, how are you living your life? Are you living to be the one taken . . . or the one left behind?

Yes, there is a lot of imagery about what is going on behind the scenes. And while it may not actually look quite (or even much) like John wrote it down, it is not insignificant. But if it turns us toward that future more than it turns us toward today — with or without any apparent sign that the end is upon us — have we missed the point?

The purpose of the imagery is not to define details of the end, but to impress that God ultimately does fully redeem his people, and after much time an opportunity, will punish those who refuse him.

If that understanding is true, then why are we wasting our time with reading the signs right rather than ensuring that we are the ones who are always ready? And while I do not see either of you doing this, why do so many focus more on whether in our resurrected bodies we can fly or do a supernatural version of "beam me up, Scottie" to get from one place to another? It seems to be an exercise in missing the point.

From Daniel and on through the apocalypses of the brief period before Christ, and then on to Revelation, these writings do two things: 1) bring the end (or the culmination) of the present problems/evil forward to the present, and 2) comfort us that right does prevail. These writings were primarily during the period of exile of Israel and continued through the progression of occupiers up to Rome, then with Revelation, the understanding of the church as continually dwelling within the world, which is referred to as "in the evil one."

So I never diminish Revelation and its message. The question is what message is being received? Is it a litany of triumphs over evil and streets of gold, or is it a reminder to actually have the right to be those who obtain whatever those images actually portray? That means to be living right now. Not just with white robes standing on the top of some hill or mountain because the end is near, but faithfully living day by day in the world as a citizen of the Kingdom of God.

The present nation of Israel could be wiped off the earth and the truth that is contained in Revelation is not diminished. If you think otherwise, then you don't believe in much of a God.