[OBW]

Hebrews speaks of those who followed and trusted God. And the "method" and ways of following God have been spelled out fairly consistently in the OT, then enhanced in the New, along with a new and better way.

Following the OT elders in faith would today be following Jesus in faith. But of all the things that Jesus said to follow, trying to figure out the end times and turning our attention to that at the expense of the following in this life is problematic. I am not talking about Nell. I am talking about almost everyone that I have heard get too deep into studying Revelation as a kind of mine to dig in for buried treasure rather than reading it as a significantly metaphorical picture of the coming end of this age.

It does take faith to accept and live with such an obviously catastrophic end to the age, followed by a better age than has yet been. But just putting verses out there about having faith in the God who is bringing us through the present does not really say much about it. If anything, that passage in Hebrews speaks to me of living this life in this age more than looking to the life to come. Yes, they trusted that there was something beyond their life here. But that was the thing that made them trust for today, not just look to the future.

And most of the digging through Revelation seems to send us toward despising today and pining for tomorrow. Looking for the evidence that the end is coming so we can "leave this place." I understand that thought as our natural life nears its end. The real pains of life become unbearable. Then our hope for the future becomes a more significant part of our thinking. Not saying we don't have that hope now, but it is directing us toward the living now that makes that hope solid and real. At that later point in life, we should be confident that our living was what was required and be looking forward with confidence of the hope we have held for the years.

In any case, just putting unrelated verses on the screen without comment creates the kind of questions that have been raised. And it generates differing opinions as to the intent of putting them there. So I think that my request for comment from the one who made the post is reasonable. It is just too postmodern for us to think that our interpretation is simply it because that is how we would think. Seems we don't all think the same way, therefore it is evident that the intent of the writer is needed.